Long day journey into the night.

It was nice ranting to Jo some of the problems that I had. I haven’t rant in a long time Lord. Her nice cutesy beautifully bluish fonts cheered me up quite a bit – on top of picturing her speaking those words out. It is also quite amazing in that in the few times that I talked to her, she will always be able to point out a similarity that I share with Teck Tee. Haha. Seems like he can be my evil twin soon.

And I pray that as I keep up living a more prayerful life Lord, that I can keep track of the refining through fire moments that shaped me into the man I am tomorrow.

The Lord said nothing.

Patience and trust, even in the midst of the monotony of your daily routine, will be the best preparation to courageously handle the stress and strain of a greater opportunity, which God may someday send.

Being still isn’t a character flaw. God stood in the power of stillness, the holy and silent lamb. It is good to recognise there is a place of stillness that allows God the opportunity to work for us and give us peace. It is a stillness that ceases our scheming, self-vindication, and the search for a temporary means to an end through our own wisdom and judgement. Instead, it lets God provide an answer, through His unfailing and faithful love, to the cruel blow we have suffered.

I pray for this silent power and submissive spirit.

the Reply.

Hey Shen Kiat,

Thanks for your email It was a lovely surprise. Don’t you sleep at all?!

I believe in the power of the written word, in improving the human condition. The spread of knowledge and information in the public sphere propels public awareness of societal issues that leads to public action. My decision to study Political Science is due to this belief; that to be able to make an impact through journalism or other forms of media, I’d first have to be trained and to have a good grasp of what the world is. Like what you said, i too believe that this desire is something that God deposited in me 6 semesters into my studies, my passion for human interest and politics have been fueled further.

Politics is more than institutions, laws, structures or a bill of rights. It is very much about people, describing how the elite make decisions that affect a disproportionate number of people, for the better or for the worse. The pronounced social inequality that the world is experiencing today is due to many factors, chief of which stemming from reasons that are political and economical. The disparity between the rich and poor is ever increasing, even as we celebrate the overall increase in standard of living globally.

Through the study of politics and political sociology, I’ve learnt that there is a need to deconstruct the meanings of “buzzwords” that disguises deliberate political action as a natural progression of human history. The spread of democracy, for example had at one time been seen as human progress but in recent years, been heavily criticized by scholars as perpetrating global American hegemony. The tension between political theory and political action is omnipresent across space. It sometimes fascinates and other times confound me. Rhetoric put forth by leaders can sometimes come across as awe-inspiring but subsequent actions taken might turn the logic on its head, most recently exemplified in the war on Iraq. Democracy forcibly imposed upon a people is a paradox by itself; the quest for American national interest in this “War for Democracy” has not escaped the notice of the world.

Moreover, phenomena such as globalization have been marketed as the latest gadget for greater economic prosperity for all, as increased global links will diffuse economic benefits to all. However, this diffusion has not occurred evenly, but developing regions such as the Middle East have continued to lag behind. The myth of a global economy disillusions those who place the most hope on it, and this I believe, is one of the mitigating factors for international terrorism today. Religious fanaticism has been fanned by such economical inequalities and allowed to flourish in impoverished conditions that many are faced with today.

Palagummi Sainath, a award-winning development journalist who has covered the reality of Indian’s most impoverished, is an inspirational figure to me. Sainath believed that news should not be “entertainment” covering the consumerism of the urban elite, but rather, he put focused his reporting on ½ billion rural Indians who live in extreme poverty in the aftermath of globalization. Through his works, he provided an unabashed and accurate political and socio-cultural explanation of the culture of poverty. It was also the first time that I learnt that “muckraking” is not necessarily a derogatory term associated with a scandal-mongering journalist, but can be a means to serve the public interest, by uncovering political fraud, waste, corruption and other actions by those in power that compromises the human condition. My encounter with his works ignited my interest in investigative journalism.

I believe that God has given me the gift of writing and it is intended for me to put it to use that would glorify Him This year i started writing a newsletter for the Navs after our exco prayer, crystallizing what God has been teaching us and I sense God’s pleasure as i write Almost like Eric Liddell in Chariots of Fire huh.

Will send you one of the newsletter i wrote later. Have a blessed day ahead!

Love,
WT

A letter to a friend.

Hello WT.

I thought I should start sharing and get the process going. Heh. You know I’m always quite proud when my tutor for Singapore Society calls me a ‘Political Scientist’. It gives me a sense of purpose and reinforce that identity of mine, that I should continue to cultivate the mind of a political scientist, and be one of the top people in my field so that I can use the position to glorify God. Which suddenly dawned upon me that I should start introducing myself to other people as a “political scientist” rather than a student majoring in political science.

The fascinating thing about politics, for me, is that all political culture, political institutions, etc are all created by man. Nothing is fixed. As humble citizens of a state we are used to thinking laws are unchangeable and eternal, whereas if you look closely at power you see that everything is the result of interaction between men. In politics evidently there is no Supreme Word. it is always only a case of men influencing other men. Yet it is this imperfect, highly flawed system that governs the world and takes charge of every single affair, from the public sphere of safeguard and allocation of resources etc… to the private sphere of practice of religion and family planning for instance. The most important part is how the use of force and coercion are used to make people comply with laws, while the fluidity of the world’s economies help to facilitate the mass migrations, and diluting the impact that a country can exert on a law-abiding citizen.

I love to ‘enlighten’ people that being a political scientist does not entail in me becoming a politician in the future. I used to find it irritating that most layman, and even some of my closest friends hold a very microscopic view of the study of political science, but I took this chance to revisit what is alluring about politics in general, and to let my passion as a political scientist take charge so that when I explain to them, I say it with such clarity and passion that they will be won over and be enlightened.

Being passionate is not an end unto itself however. There are many other things that I can possibly be interested in (like Law or Economics for example). I’m not sure it is entirely rational for anybody to be interested in political science just by chance, so I attribute the passion to something that God has implanted in me. And one of the (many) reasons I love talking to you and having you as a friend is because we always strive to see God’s hand in politics. . Which is pretty useful because politics dominate the landscape of the world, and is the stage where far-reaching policies on mankind are constantly being made and played out. This gives us a macro view of how the world can possibly pan-out, and give Christian Political Scientists like us to see for ourselves first-hand how God’s global glory can pan out, and how ourselves are immersed in this bigger plan of His as a community. Was very inspired by Obama’s speech on a “More Perfect Union”, which touched on divisive race issues. Rather than being divisive, politics should serve to bridge and reconcile the chasms in society. I know I can never be an Obama, but I do hope I can bring glory to God in a way only “Shen Kiat” can.

That’s all for now. Hope to get your reply soon. Take care and God bless!

Love,

Shen Kiat

We have a life to live.

Good Friday was spent in a different way this year. Yiwen, Ywee Ern and I brought 7 of the incoming PRC NUS students under our care to a free movie showing(only for the students) cum evangelistic programme at Lido organised by Queenstown Baptist Church. I enjoyed the movie “August Rush” tremendously, and it was interesting and gladdening to see the child prodigy blend both the styles of his mother and father’s music together and fill in the missing parts with the benefit of a full orchestra. I’m not good at writing reviews (especially after I’ve seen those written by Weiting) so I’m going to leave the movie as it is!

Morrie said the most important thing is to give out love, and let love come in. “Let it come in. We think we don’t deserve love, we think if we let it in we’ll become too soft. But a wise man said it right. Love is the only rational act”.

My close pal Zhi Jian recently commented that I sounded different to him. It seems to him that I have experienced a “religious rebirth”. I have the suspicion that he thinks I sound like a bit like Morrie.

“The culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn’t work, don’t buy it”, says Morrie. After coming back to Christ, I desired to develop my own culture that works for me. Instead of letting my wasting my life around watching sitcoms, playing computer games or to catch up with the tabloids and be addicted to other people’s life other than my own, I seek to find out what is my passion, what drives it and what are the skills that I need to develop to nurture this passion – and ultimately my personal identity for life.

I try to spend more time reading and expanding my knowledge, to travel the world and also quite a fair bit of my time writing emails and letters to friends, and through each sharing, deposit another bit of hope and anticipation into my future. For the sharings enriched me, and they moved me as I embraced both the world of God not only as an intellectual, but also as a human being. I talk to friends not only just about politics, but on how we can see the hand of God in it.

I love to muse on how science and arts embrace each other instead of stratify. And the affection and satisfaction that I get from talking to my friends have been rewarding. As humans, I strongly believe we need to continue to develop our own culture through a cocoon of invariably human activities – conversation, interaction, affection.

Christ died on the cross for us, and gave us freedom of a new life. We have the duty to let this freedom that Jesus gave us to run and find itself. Only when we have truly found ourselves, that we will only can claim to have truly found God.

Consider Christ Week

Consider Christ week is a three day long outreach and educational programme in NUS organised by VCF to educate the students about the meaning of Easter, and its significance to Christians. I signed up for the “陪谈” so that I can talk to interested students after the week is over. Talked to Eunice and Esther (the twins) today! One more person to visit in Malaysia. They stay in Klang. : ) With the lack of internships knocking on my door for a year 1, it would be a good time of consolidation and spending time with dear friends, especially those coming back from all over the world that I could not do during semester time.

There was a skit titled “hands”, that briefly shared on what Christ meant to us.

Kumu shared a very interesting testimony. Didn’t know he was a first generation believer…

There was a mini-worship session before LT Jaya (a worker from Ravi Zacharias ministry) talked to us about Christianity. He said many interesting things that gave me more than my fair share of food for thought. This is on top of the sharing that Lawson and Pam (a missionary couple) gave when I was at FES with Rixin and Jasmine earlier in the day.

Adrian a graduate! Currently working at MCYS. He is closer to me that I am closer to him. Lol! : ) He is 3 generations in front of me as chair of IFG. Am thinking already how to involved future generations of IFG grads in the work that we are doing. Let the vision continue to fester!

My PGP neighbour Khoa, IFG people Noi and Jae came down for the programme. Were so glad that they stayed. I pray that God continue to open up their ears to listen and their hearts to accept the most wonderful gift on Earth.

A neater table.

I like the way my desk looks now! Neater and more organised. Spent some time cleaning the table and throwing out old worksheets and essays. Never been in a better condition to start work. : )

A couple of things to give thanks for.

from left: Dijie, Diwei, Weijie, Me, Huishan, Yueting. God is good!

Give thanks for the batch of A’level kids who delighted and encouraged me with their faith in the Lord. 7 of them, including Bella and Jianhui did quite well or well enough to take them into the courses that they want. I give thanks for Charmine, Eric, Huishan, Yueting, Jianhui, Weijie and Isabella. It would be nice to see more of AGPC people around in school this year. This picture is taken for you too Di Song. : )

This is my gold medal from the Inter-Faculty-Games Touch Rugby! My first NUS medal of sorts. : ) Nice to hold something ‘metalish’ in my hands. I think to be able to play the game again is beyond my imagination, but to win something so soon is another thing. Thank God for the chance to indulge, and not live vicariously through other people (from the school shuttle bus window especially…) in my favourite game again.

Gifts from friends overseas! Ai² got me some cream for my ecezma in Australia. : ) : ) Glad to received her email the other day knowing that she is doing well in med school at Uni of Melbourne. It was also very nice to return home at the end of an enervating day last week to see a nice card from Sister@Uni Manchester. I missed our suppers and the nice long talks that we used to have before she went on exchange. Can’t wait to see you back soon, and to hear your stories of adventures and independence. : )

My ex cell group, and current cell group 导师 are getting married soon! I was praying with GK in church two Sundays ago when they came to church to take their wedding pictures. Lovely! : ) And I’m the first to take with them. Their wedding will be held one day after the end of my exams. Can’t wait. : ) : )

Aw. This is my Monday CG people, where 7 of us are year 1s. : ) Fellowship with my peers are always something that I always look forward to. : ) Was just talking to a friend that it would be fun if we get married and get to help out at each other weddings, or be helped out in return. *grinz. Oh! It is also at Monday CG where I discovered a ‘female version’ of me. She calls us SKII! We are like twins la. Haha! Looking forward to weekly lunches with her. : )

Clockwise from left: Sylvia, Lynn, Gracia, Meizhu Ahyi, Me, Zijing, Bryan and Chae Jie. (missing Meini, Yijie, Sherlyn, Zi Wang)

This is my Sunday School class (P5 & P6), which also represents my virgin foray into Sunday school teaching. I have preferred to do one-on-ones 栽培 or bible study with the youths but God called me to teach, and to teach children too. Through the process of teaching and developing relationships with these children, God not only taught me to be ‘impatient to be patient’ with children, but also to delight myself and learn to see the face of Jesus in their purest of faith. I’m enjoying my class also because a ‘chance’ talk with Yiwen sow the seeds of a vision: to develop bible literacy and reading skills with this bunch of children, just so that this skills can serve them well when they proceed on to lower secondary as they discover more about God’s Word.

And they are so cute! : ) If I get married when I’m 29 years old, most of them would only be 18! : ) Imagining having them at my wedding. Heh. I’m amazed at the long-term vision that I come up with to keep my delighted about the future.

PGP vcfers! Sarah, Becky and Yiwen. 

Heh. Budding researchers and mathematician. This picture was taken when we went to catch Juno during the mid-sem break. Thank God for this bunch of cfers, who made it easier to breathe in school. : )

I caught up with two dear friends in Pompi and Zhixuan over lunch and dinner respectively last week. They came down to Kent Ridge from the Law School campus. We had a brief, but quality catch-up. Hopefully more of these will come as the semester passes by.

There are people over the past two days who made my day when I was mugging in the library. For Weiting to purposely come down to the library to say ‘hi’ and to converse with me, for Christelle spotting me in the library (even though she refused to reveal her whereabouts so that I would not be disturbed or distracted) and sending me msgs of encouragement and to remind me that I am kept in prayer, for Teck Tee in keeping me in prayer too, and all these are on top of the blessing that God has given me to find a like-minded pal in GK to serve in campus and be a lighthouse for God. : )

Last but not least, to Wei Chao and Disong over in London, and also to my Mom who took time out from a work trip to have dinner with them, and to pass them stuff. Thanks Mom for meeting up with them, and for treating them like my best friends. : ) And of course, what can I do without WC and DS? : ) Thanks for going through another week of struggle, growth and joy with me, even though we’re miles apart. Carpe Diem and God Bless! : ) Keeping you guys in prayer. : )

Therefore with all these blessings and thanksgiving upon reflection, there is no obstacles beyond God and Me. : ) It is only Tuesday, and there are lots of things ahead, not only including an important history test on Weds. And I pray that at the end of the week, I will turn back and reflect and be glad that I’ve done my best to contribute another little bit of what I can towards the glory of His Kingdom.

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