LooK Up....stAY HUmble

Did you know that it was sculptor who painted the famed Sistine Chapel? Yes it was Michelangelo, but we don't really notice his painting skills do we? I know of his ability to take a lump of clay and transform it into a detailed sculpture that would be marvelled for eons. A painter? Isn't that for amateurs or novice artisans in the making? Yet the Sistine Chapel almost never became one of the greatest works of art if Michelangelo had stuck to just being a sculptor. He was challenged to paint, and mind you paint a ceiling! Who looks up there?! Yet he took the challenge and we have a masterpiece created. Sometimes we have to get out of our vocation and try something new....sometimes we need to humble ourselves and remember where we came from....and that speaks fluently as well.....
SELAH

A TRiP To oZ

i had the privilege to watch a production of the Wizard of Oz put up by my school. i was blown away at the collection of talent on the stage! the energy, the determination to see the whole musical become successful was awesome. yet the journey of Oz, is very much the journey of our lives as well; Dorothy meeting a lion without courage, a scarecrow without a brain, a timman without heart. we all need courage, wisdom and heart don't we? in today's world, we may want courage to stand away from the crowd, or heart to stand proud and aloof from the maddening crowd or wisdom to be noticed and adored-it's a very self-absorbed world. Yet Dorothy, found community, found that she was sharpened as much as she sharpened others on the yellow brick road. it's a journey we all need to also take....we need each other, standing together to find courage, wisdom and heart. wouldn't that be a wonderful world?
SELAH

HOPe

When we think of Easter, we may think of bunnies, eggs and chocolates. Well that may be the trappings of Easter, but the real deal with Easter is that it's actually spelt H-O-P-E. H is for the hunger in us all of us to see the truth being told, O stands for our position as ordinary people; we don't have to be of a certain calibre or type to be granted a chance. P is for the people that we are, not what we have or do, but who we are....that is what counts, and E is for eternity, where our future is in the making, starting today!
Happy Easter y'all!
SELAH

VITaMIN L

Do we need it? The debate ensues as drug companies urge people to buy their vitamins and those who are strong supporters of natural remedies say don't, because your daily intake of foods is sufficient. One wonders who is right or wrong. Yet in this debate on what vitamins we need, don't forget the soul.....it needs vitamins too! The best vitamin we can give our soul today is the Vitamin L. It's readily available, it's easily digested and cheap to produce. You mean you haven't heard of it yet? Where have you been? Maybe you have been absorbed in a world of controversy, a world of greed, a world of competitiveness that we forget about this all important vitamin. It's called Laughter, and don't we need it now more than ever! C'mon, let's belt out a laugh together.......
SELAH

REturn TO normaLITY

Normal. Don't you hate that word? Maybe it's a word that is so hard for you to believe these days. Maybe the entire journey from home to office or school and back again isn't anything but normal! You switch on the TV and you see graphic images of abuse; you peek into the sports pages of your local newspaper and you see how sports has become a corrupted with misses and deals of dope addictions and money laundering, of business propositions and nothing about team work, team spirit or the game of fair play. You get into the car or take public transport and see selfishness raise it's ugly head, as we fight for seats, or deny seats to those who deserve it more....Normal? Yet when we lose our humanity and our capacity to care for those around us, we become to what is to the world as being considered normal. Yet we have the power to change this expected normality to become extraordinary citizens of earth. Not to conform...but to transform!

SELAH

Smile and the world smiles with you! 

BUiLDiNG BRiDGES

"How do we deal with today's generation?"; "They want things only their way!";"Their so demanding!" I hear these words ringing in my ear as a counselor. Parents, educators are the first to be at my door and demand answers to these pressing questions. Firstly, we need to stop segregating them as "today's generation" but be more understanding & inclusive of their differences and nuances. We need to understand their pressures, their demands, their limitations. "Wanting things their way" is probably the loudest perception that has been fed into their veins with the media surrounding them. The world of the adolescent is a wired for sound world, where rationality and understanding have been buzzed out by pressing needs and wants. We need to build bridges, not burn them.........

SELAH

I'M IN love

I was watching the grammy's.......i was sticking my neck out to see those cool dudes, those divas of song, those rappers with the bling bling (no wonder they need shades) and then i saw her......she was sitting in her assigned seat, a new initiate into this business called music....there were many more professional singers sitting around her, but she stood out. She is Kelly Clarkson. You might be saying, "Oh no! another idol freak!" Not a freak, but an admirer of the someone who said in 2001 that she would love to sing at the grammy's and she did...but she just didn't sing...she won 2 grammy's! I am in love......with persistence, with dreams fulfilled. We need role models like her....if we could stick out our heads like that, we could see rainbows. We could sing at the grammy's.....ok maybe not, but we could win the applause of many for staying the course and seeing dreams materialize....o yah...she's a babe too!
SELAH

The BEAUTY of COMMUNITY

Chinese communities around the world just celebrated their Lunar New Year. One of the highlights of the celebrations is the night before, when members of the families return to the ancestral home to celebrate as a family. I think it's a powerful metaphor of community; it's a wonderful reminder that inspite of our busy lives, our hurried lives, anxious to make businesses a success, as we become more competitive to stop and return to how it all started. When a husband and his bride chose to spend their lives together, to write a new chapter and start a legacy for future generations to follow. It was a decision that was filled with risks; no one told them how. It was a time to learn about each other, to accept faults and weaknesses and the challenges of turning them into strengths. It was a time of trial and also a time of joy, to see children develop into adults who accept their identities and find their calling in the game of Life....and to see the next generation being raised up. The beauty of community....let's not forget it, even as we strive to be individualistic.....
SELAH

WaG YouR TaiL

It's the year of the dog....according to the zodiac cycle of the Lunar New Year. I'm not an ardent follower of the zodiac, but it's interesting to see what the characteristics of the animal represents and how people sum each other up accordingly. So if you're born in the dog year, you must be faithful;if you come under the horse sign, then you must be a hard worker. But what about those born under the zodiac sign of the snake and the pig?!! Doesn't say much about these people, doesn't it? Yet these people are probably the sweetest and loveliest people you would have met. It's more important to know the person and not to try and fit the sign to the person.
SELAH

BISCUITS

Do you like eating biscuits? Many people like Oreos, especially the ones with thick luscious chocolate or vanilla spread thickly in-between.Everything would be complete with a nice ice-cold glass of milk, wouldn't it? I like Marie or Digestives, where you can dunk them in your tea or coffee. Eating biscuits remind me of young days, when mum would be around, the biscuit tin would be out of reach, the milk would be ice-cold....it reminds me of intimacy, of a warm intimate setting of security......imagine that......just the mention of biscuits triggers all sort of things! We need triggers like this in our lives.....positive, wholesome triggers......triggers that warm the heart, triggers that remind us that hope still abounds, that love isn't a lost word or a misused word.

SELAH

FeeLS to Be LoVEd

what does it feel to be loved?
I observed an interesting interaction with a father and his son. The father was concerned that the son wouldn't make it academically because he had wasted away his time with mindless distractions. The son sat in a corner and the father poured his heart to me. I was observing the son's reaction and it wasn't at all positive. He had that pout, that defensive stance of arms folded across his chest as his dad spoke. Then something happened. The dad turned to his son and said, "Do you know how it feels to be loved? When you react the way you do, I feel hurt!" I could see the dad was moved and I could see a shift in the son's disposition. I believe he had never heard those words from his dad before.
When was the last time you told someone that they feel loved? Sometimes we get so absorbed in our own affairs we have little time to take into account the person next to us.
SELAH

CHaNGE

Change......it's a puzzling word isn't it? On the one hand, we want to see it take it's rightful place but yet we are so cautious about accepting it wholeheartedly.

Change is POWERFUL. It has the ability to redefine paradigms, to redirect pathways, to realign lives. Yet it can also be used in a negative way. That is when change takes a self-centered approach, where no concern is given for the those affected, except the one instituting the change. That kind of change isn't helpful.

We need not only change that is POWERFUL but change that is POSITIVE. We need a change that betters the life around us, that enables the weak to rise, the humble to see their dreams come true. Let's make this season one of powerful positive change!

SELAH

PoP goes CuLTuRE

Pop Culture......it denotes what ticks for youths of today......what is hot for music, what cinema shows youth run to watch or what arcade games sell out best with youth. Pop culture gives us a peek into the mind of the young today. Some people think pop culture isn't worth considering...it's just fads and raves; that may be true, but so were bobby socks, Elvis and Sinatra or Banarama or Packman! Pop culture represents what attracts, what enthuses youth and we should use it as bridge to build, not a bridge to burn. It is a bridge into their culture, their world. As much as we want youth to respect the older generation, we need to build bridges into their world and understand them first. When they see the attempt made, the the frustrated frowns will turn into smiles and the clenched fists will extend to a warm grasp of solidarity and friendship.

SELAH

HoW BrOaD ArE YoUr ShOuLdErS?

I was at a shopping centre and it was packed with kids and their parents-school holidays have descended upon us! It is the Christmas season and shopping centres are trying their level best to pack in the crowds to ring in the profits...it times like these that I enjoy watching the crowd; and indeed you can derive valuable lessons from what you see. Like there was this time when this really cute boy who was desperately trying to get a view of a performance on stage but he couldn't. His father was standing away from him and this little boy ran to his dad and tugged at his dad's shirt...he wanted to see too! His dad smiled and hoisted the little fella up and his face just lit up with excitement.

So did my heart.

How many of us would 'pick up' our colleagues and allow them to enjoy the view we do? We would rather pick on them, dissuade them, ridicule them and leave them alone as we selfishly enjoy the view. We need more people to be hoisters; to offer assistance, a lending hand, an encouraging word. Are you volunteering? YES! I CAN SEE THE VIEW TOO! Thanks!!
SELAH

AttiTUDE of GratiTUDE

Thanks.......Thank you.......

How often do we really stop and ask ourselves if we have realised the power of these words? In a world of urgency, we seem to be in too much of a hurry to even stop and say thank you.
Here's my thank you list:

• Thank you to the foreign workers who tirelessly keep Singapore running smoothly
• Thank you to the teachers of our schools for turning dreams into realities
• Thank you care workers in our hospitals, our family care centers for providing support
• I want to thank our defence and police for ensuring we are secure
• I want to thank parents, grandparents for just being there when nobody seemed to care
• I want to thank YOU for being just .......YOU!

Maybe you should wake up in the morning and make it a point to thank at least one person. Go on.....make that person's day....make your life count

SELAH

SEX ED 101

SEX....Yes, that word has power...
Power to drive men to the brink of unfulfilled desire and drink from the barrel of supressedlust
Power to lure virgin women away from rationality to explore these unfulfilled desires
Power to break up families that had developed bonds of trust
Power to cause confusion among the young, rushing them to grow up after a night of delirious passion
Power to corrupt.......
YET
Power to speak in action, not just words
Power to reconcile lives that have been torn apart from mistakes of the past
Power to rebuild and reaffirm the word 'family'
Power to believe in oneself again
It's how we use it....whether we want to be good stewards or if we want to be irresponsible and be self-centerd....it's our choice.....but it also determines the destiny of all

SELAH

What PEOPLE want REALLY

I was watching with keen interest the two shows on CNA, "What Women Want.... Really" and "What Men Want..... Really" and I switched off the TV and scratched my head and asked this nagging question: "What do People Want......Really?"

Are they looking for the 7 deadly sins? Are they really looking for the cutest bachelors? Or are they just wanting to escape from reality and delve into fantasy?

What do people really want? I believe people are looking for 2 cardinal things in life: SECURITY and ACCEPTANCE. Both points interface to give a person a sense of belonging and hope for the journey ahead. We should have TV shows that promote these two cardinal points. TV is a powerful medium that can either hurt or enhance our lives.
SELAH

iCOns

If you had the chance to choose an icon, what would you choose for yourself? An icon is a symbol that would best represent who we are. Some famous icons are political icons and religious icons. In marriage, the wedding ring is a powerful icon that symbolises continuity, completeness. What would I choose? Maybe a large ear, because it would reflect what I do on a regular basis....listen as a counselor. Maybe you would differentiate different icons for different segments of your life. Icons are simple yet powerful symbols we can use to remind us, to challenge us, to slow us down. What would you use for yourself?
SELAH

ThRu' ThE LeNs....

Cameras......im a klutz when it comes to cameras.........I guess the simpler they are the better for me. Yet, cameras are supposed to be 'idiot proof' these days...nice label don't you think? THere are 2 schools of thought....should the camera be made for the consumer or should the camera challenge the ability of the consumer? It's a tough question, but it has to be a balanced perspective. If I can utilize my camera and all its functions, I become a genius and a master of my apparatus. If I choose to not want to learn, and keep saying to myself, "You can't take good pictures", then I would never fully know the value of my apparatus. It's not a camera......its a tool. We are the users of this tool....we need to be responsible and knowledgable in using it.....So next time you see a camera, ask yourself....taking pictures or making masterpieces?
SELAH