MiRaNtZ's Farewell Dinner (BBQ & Potluck)

-FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-

MiRaNtZ's Farewell Chalet cum BBQ/Potluck Dinner

Date: 31st January to 2nd February 2008, Dinner on 1st February 2008 (Friday)
Dinner Time: 1900 hrs onwards
Venue: Aloha Changi, Biggin Hill Bunglow A

Diners are welcomed to contribute any food of any amount. 30+ diners would be expected. Contributions in cash are also welcomed.

No pork/lard would be served for the BBQ as we would be having muslim friends. For potluck items, please label the dishes if it contains pork or lard.

If you wish to contribute any dishes, do inform us in advance so we would be able to avoid any repeatition of food items.

Please RSVP your attendance; stayover, dinner, or both by 27th January 2008.


About Edgar Mirantz Tan

Mr. Edgar Mirantz Tan is a Nurse registered with the Singapore Nursing Board, Certified Hypnotherapist with the National Guild of Hypnotists (USA) and a Gospel Magician being a member of the Fellowship of Christian Magicians. He owns the companies Film Five Management (based in Singapore and UK) and E.M.TAN HYPNOTHERAPY. He has also partnered and worked with Changi General Hospital, Ann Siang Media, BRAVE, Trevvy.com, JM2u, Inkque and East Shore - A ParkwayHealth Hospital.

He holds a NITEC in Nursing from the Institute of Technical Education, a Diploma in Mass Communications from Oklahoma City University (USA) and will be pursuing his Bachelor of Nursing from La Trobe University (Australia) in February 2008.

Contact Information

Mirantz

Email: mirantz(at)film5.org
Phone/Text: 9MiRaNtZ (96472689)

From 27th to 29th January, please contact the under-mentioned:-

Undisclosed

Email: undisclosed(at)film5.org
Text: 94375130

-END-

Farewell chalet confirmed

I've been planning to have a chalet for my farewell for a long time now, but it hasn't been a reality until now.

27th to 29th Jan - Genting trip.
31st Jan to 2nd Feb - Farewell chalet @ Aloha Loyang.

I really have to thank Edwin, the Royal Slut for the 88 kingdom to help me with this. All my friends are invited to come. Please let me know if you're interested in coming so that I can give you more details.

Accompanied Brian to shopping today and he bought trunks, tshirt and a polo tee from SportsmenAsia.com. Cost him $105 in total. Whoa!

Anyway, time for bed. It's the One Life Experience tomorrow again and I'll be there conducting the free anonymous HIV testing for people.

Goodnight!

Happy New Year 2008

It's the time of the year again to greet and wish everyone a Blessed New Year 2008!

2008 thus far has been good and it would be an exciting year for me, I hope.

I'm staring to clear my Annual Leaves. I have 4 days more of AL's left and I'm breaking it into 8 half-days. That means that I'll only be working about 3 to 4 half days in a week.

Yawns.... It's another boring Sunday afternoon~~~~

Edgar Mirantz Tan - Technical Director

This young fellow is so busy, we're fortunate to have been able to catch up with him!

Tell us a little about yourself.

I'm a full time anesthetic nurse in the operating theatre of East Shore – A Parkway Health hospital and also a part time director of two companies - Film Five Management and E.M.Tan Hypnotherapy.

Have you had past experiences in a musical or drama production?

I was involved in the arts scene since kindergarten and I've been doing theatre, musicals and plays ever since. I also took part in The Necessary Stage's :In the Lenses of Youth" (1999) as well as ITE's “A Mid-Summer Night's Dream” (2003). I used to be in the church choir as well.

How did you get involved in this production?

Auntie Jingle approached me and I decided to make this my last production before I leave for Australia in February next year. I'll be pursuing a Bachelor in Nursing and Diploma in Clinical Hypnotherapy in Melbourne, Australia.

What does your role require of you?

I coordinate with the director and script writers to brainstorm on the various audio, video and lighting effects and equipment needed.

If you had the choice of playing the role of a character, who would it be and why?

The audience. The audience is always a character and I would really love to take a backseat at times. But of course when you're taking a backseat, you'll feel like being involved.

How do you prepare yourself before you go on stage?

Talk, laugh, power nap, drink lots of apple juice (it's good for the throat) and not eat. Eating before a show makes my stomach go BIG and I'll look rounder (which I already am).

*The interview ends abruptly as Edgar flags a cab to rush off for his next appointment. Come catch this flitting fellow as he handles the lighting effects for the musical!

AWS is here~~~

I've finally got my AWS aka 13th month bonus.

Now I'm longing for a short overseas trip to Malaysia, either KL, Malacca or Genting Highlands. Brian told me that there's a buy 1 night, get 1 night free for just $89. Now I'm considering who I should go with and when. Thinking of going in the second week of January and then have chalet on the last week of January.

Brian's having his band concert on the 5th of January and I'm watching Beauty World on the 4th.

As for now, it's the Christmas musical on the 23rd and 25th of December. That's enough to keep me busy. I need more time and more money to meet up with all my friends whom I've not met for a long time and really have to catch up with them before I fly off.

Merry Christmas and have a Blessed New Year ahead!

Gadgets and more...

MiRaNtZ's single again as he was dumped. His ex was liking someone so he couldn't go after someone with an attached status.

Although I'm hurt, I'll pick myself up and I'll run and soar like eagles again. Brian has really been a big big help rendering me all the support that I needed. I'll really need to thank him lots - without him, I wouldn't know how I would have coped.

Last Friday, I went over to SITEX 2007 at Singapore Expo to scout around for a new laptop after my Dell gave up on me and a digital camera. And at Singapore Expo itself, there was the John Little sale, so I went in as well. There I bought 11 sets of branded underwear which my mum was nagging the whole evening as it was rather expensive compared to other brands which I could have gotten it for almost half the price and why I needed such nice undergarments - not as if I would be going to Australia to show them off. Bought 6 pairs of socks as well.

On Saturday, I bought a new laptop for S$2798..00. It's the Asus V2S. Intel Centrino 2.2ghz, 2gb of RAM, 160gb of HD space, DVD RW with Lightscribe. The sales person was rather handsome - oh wait, he was the one I approached after looking through a few salesperson (Hmmm... Am I shopping for a lappy or a guy???)

On Sunday, I went back to SITEX and got myself a Digital Camera for $649. It's a Fujifilm S8000fd, semi-professional 8mpx camera with 18x optical zoom. However, that's from Harvey Normal, so nothing much to choose from (in terms of the salesperson as it's just touch and go). Read the review of my camera here.

Went for the AIDS Walk and I was informed by my dad (who was queuing for the camera) that it's out of stock and that I would have to collect it from the Funan Center either on Wednesday or Thursday.

I'm going to Changi Airport Terminal 3 tomorrow with Derrick. Hope I wouldn't have to stay back like I did yesterday, till 10pm. Will upload pictures of it here if we happen to take any.

Cheers and once again, Thank you Brian (if you're reading this).

World AIDS Day

World AIDS Day is just round the corner - 1st December 2007.

This year, there are quite a few events lined up WAD, in fact not only for 1 day but 2 days this year.

On Saturday, 1st December 2007, there'll be the AfA Charity Line Dance in the evening and various events in the clubs at night.

On Sunday, 2nd December 2007, there's the AIDS Walk from Skate Park to Tangs in the evening and the Fabulous Flirt party at night.



Do take part in them to show your support for HIV/AIDS. I'll be there so see you there!

No updates

It's been a long time since I last updated the blog. No, I've still been blogging, but in another blog - More Than Just A Story.

Something eventful happened on Wednesday, 21st of November. My patient, a foreigner, collapsed on the table in the midst of the operation. We started performing chest compressions from about 4.15pm all the way to about 7.20pm. We didn't have to give ventilations as he was already intubated and with the ETT tube connected to the anaesthesia machine. He didn't make it though. I was rather affected by it initially as I couldn't really sleep that night and went over to my parents' room to sleep with them but the following day, it's back to normal. The following day, the surgeon treated us to lunch.

Nothing much exciting has been happening in my life. Me0w's having his exams starting tomorrow and he has 2 papers right on the first day. I really hopes he does well. Thinking of me going to university's just scary. I wonder if they are being spoon fed in Singapore. I know that in Australia, you've to do lotsa research and studying on your own.

Anyway, hope that things get much better day by day. I'm also hoping that life for BT will be very much better and not so complicated.

Oh well, life's just like that. Ciao!

More Than Just A Story

I've been rather busy these few weeks. Preparing for the Christmas musical, hypnosis and JCI.

JCI's next Monday till Wednesday and the stress's building up. I spent most of my time at work today cleaning the theatre. I've to go back to work this Sunday morning as well as we've to continue cleaning and such.

Just back from the briefing for tomorrow's event by AfA. They're having a getai at Chinatown to create the awareness of HIV/AIDS. Was asked to take photos, but I couldn't as I no longer have a digital camera. Learnt from Singapore Expo's website 2 days back that SITEX 2007 would be held from 29th November to 2nd December in Halls 5 & 6. It's time for me to get my laptop and my digital camera! Have decided to go on 2 days, one to get the pricelists and such and on the last day to purchase the items (and to get more freebies).

I'm cracking my head on creating a new blogskin by my own, without copying from others and it's not as simple as html. There's more to it and an IT idiot like me wouldn't know much. It's back to reading and more reading (which puts me to sleep, of course). Do check out the blog for more details of the event.

Meow's having exams in less than 2 weeks time. I'm hoping that meow would do well. I'm planning to spend more time with meow thereafter and treasuring every moment of it before I leave.

Am tired. Going to sleep le. Goodnight and God Bless!

93 Days more to Down Under

It's 93 days more to go before I get to get the SQ Experience. I hope I won't be disappointed by it though. I'm so looking forward to Australia. The international office will be closed on Sunday when I arrive, so I'll have to report there on Monday. However, Monday's already the start of the Welcome festival. I have a feeling that everything would be very rushed.

Changi Airport Terminal 3 will be open to the public for their open house from Monday. I shall be going to see how nice it is next Sunday, as it seems from the website that it's a very big thing. My flight on the 9th of February (Saturday, the 3rd day of Chinese New Year) will be departing from T3 as well.

Depending on the number of cases tomorrow morning, I may go over to police station tomorrow to apply for my Certificate of No Criminal Record which I'll need for my studies.

I still do not know what I should pack for my trip. I only have a rough idea. Well, I hope that as time draws nearer, I can complete my shopping and packing list. I'm in need of a school bag (it's back to school) and I do not know if I should get a sling bag or a backpack. I need a pencil box. What's nice and class (read "atas") and not too expensive? What else? Winter clothing? Laptop, External HDD? Pencils and Pens?

Time to meet my friend for dinner. He wanna bring me to the coffeeshop opp PLAY as he says there are nice butter prawns there... Yum yum...

Goodbye peeps!

MiRaNtZ - Attached!

In a surprising twist of fate, MiRaNtZ is now happily attached, not to kenneth though.

But Kenneth's still close in his heart.

Busy week

Selamat Hari Raya Puasa to all my Muslim friends out there. 1 month of fasting, to some might be easy but it might to be to some, especially when you've to be fasted when the sun is shining. (The sun shines all the time, but depending on which part of the continent you're at.) I went to Siti Nurita's house (my colleague) to celebrate the occasion with them. I thought that it would only last for perhaps 1 or 2 hours and didn't expect to have dinner with them. Luckily no plans for dinner with friends were made. And whoa, I was fed really well, all thanks to the home cooked food by Siti herself. I didn't know that she could cook that well though. Ayam masak merah (a spicy chicken dish), lontong (stuffed rice with curry & vegetables), tahu tempei, sambal prawn, tomato rice and chicken. Watched TV, helped to wash the dishes and more TV before leaving her place at about 11.40pm. And by that time, there were no more buses to Bedok as the last 168 leaves Woodlands at 11.30pm. She stays at Woodlands drive 60 (near Admiralty MRT). Was dead tired when I arrived home.

Was the porter at work on Monday and Tuesday. I wanted to cut my hair on Tuesday as it was long but couldn't make it as I worked 5 hours of overtime on Tuesday and 4.5 hours of overtime on Wednesday. Luckily I'm on half day today and went to get my hair cut, highlighted and dyed. Spent $80 on it but it seems to me that the highlight can't be seen as i did reverse process (that is highlighting and dyeing instead of otherwise).

It's the visit to the Wyeth factory tour tomorrow. If I'm not wrong, we're going to see how milk powder is being made, or something to that extent. Leaving East Short at 2.30pm and the bus will bring us to their factory at Tuas. It'll be my first time there at such a far off location, further than Boon Lay.

Dinner on Saturday night at Hua Yue Yu (at Upper East Coast Road) with my relatives as it's my aunt's birthday. Will be going to Malaysia for the Pineapple and Mushroom farm tour on the 27th, Saturday. Thereafter it'll be November already, 3 months more to Australia. Whoo~~~ I can't wait for it.

By the way, have you heard of the Blog Competition 2007?

Only 20 blogs will make it to the final round. Every week, 7 blogs will be listed and each week only 5 blogs will make it to the final round. There will be 4 weeks of intense voting till all 20 blogs are determined. When all 20 blogs are determined, that's when the fiery competition starts. Before the final round, the person with the most votes by the end of the week for each round will receive $50. As for now, the prize remains as a $300 worth of hamper or $300 worth of cash and a $540 worth of hypnotherapy voucher. It is a hypnotherapy voucher for 3 sessions worth. I am still looking around for sponsors. The stakes may increase, the prizes could multiply. No joke :)

So imagine this, if you're the overall winner in the final round and a winner for the individual round, you get $300 + $540 and $50.

But who will be the winner?

E.M.TAN HYPNOTHERAPY is proud to be a sponsor for Blog Competition 2007. Should you need sponsors for any of your events, do contact either Film Five Management (admin[at]film5.org) or E.M.TAN HYPNOTHERAPY (info[at]emtanhypnotherapy.com) and we'll be glad to work something out.

Still tired, yawning away le. Goodnight everyone.

Letter to ST Forums not published

Starhub contacted me this afternoon. The salesman identified himself. After chatting for a while, he put me on hold to check on something. While he was at that, I used my other phone to call my dad, asking him to call me back so that we could have a conference call. And of course, I kinda regretted doing that. When the both of them were talking (my dad was practically complaining about the Sunday experience), I almost went deaf on my right ear.

About 15 minutes later, I was told that I would be able to get my new phone, a Nokia E65 for the same price as advertised last week at $88, plus a delivery charge of $12.84, this coming Friday evening. That's good news for me that I can get my new phone just in time for the weekend. Oh ya, and I'll be going to the Singapore Zoo with the 88 thread guys this Saturday. It's Hari Raya Puasa.

Here's the email from ST:-

Thank you for writing to us. We do appreciate your making the effort.

We receive up to 70 letters each day. Limited space means we can publish only about a dozen every weekday.
This means having to make often-difficult editorial judgments on which letters to publish.

We regret we are unable to publish your letter.

You may want to contact Ms Jeannie Ong, Head, Corp Comms & Investor Relations, StarHub at corpcomms@starhub.com.


Yours sincerely


Ms Noor Aiza
for Forum Editor
The Straits Times

So yea... The zoo will be my first place to test my phone's WiFi capability. =)

Starhub service not a star afterall - letter to ST Forum

I have been a very loyal Starhub customer since it started operations 7 years ago. Last Thursday, I visited Starhub's Online shop to re-contract my current plan as well as to get a new phone. The price of the phone, the Nokia E65, was $88 with contract. The next day, the sales consultant contacted me with regards to the transaction. I asked if I could collect the phone personally at the Plaza Singapura outlet on Monday as it was near to my office and so that I would not need to pay the delivery charge. He confirmed that I would be able to obtain the Nokia E65 from the above-mentioned outlet.

On Sunday, I went to the Tampines Mall outlet as I was nearby. After queueing for almost 45 minutes and speaking to the staff, I was told that the Starhub shop online and the retail shop wasn't linked as it was 2 different departments. I was also told that the promotion was over and i had to pay $268 for the phone - a $180 difference! I went over to the Plaza Singapura Level 1 outlet, with my wife and son in tow, thinking that I would be able to collect my phone from there as the sales consultant would have contacted the branch with regards to my order. After queueing again for another hour, to my surprise, nothing was known. As I didn't know the name of the caller, I was told to go to the B2 Customer Service center to see if the caller could be traced. After waiting for another 45 minutes to be attended, I was told that nothing could be done and that it was most probably a miscommunication that I wasn't told that I had to do a purchase in the retail outlet and that the promotion would have ended by the time I visited the shop on Monday. My whole Sunday afternoon was spoilt, wasted and I didn't get my phone.

Starhub should seriously consider improving and consolidating their retail and online shops as well as inform customers over the phone if there would be changes in the pricing if the collection is from the retail outlet after the promotional period. Starhub should also specify that online purchases are only to be delieverd to the home only and cannot be collected at the retail outlet. It is also absurb to know that delieveries cannot be sent to the office expect to residential addresses. Waiting time should also be very much reduced, else I forsee myself or other customers jumping over to SingTel or M1. What's the use of having online orders when it cannot be fulfilled at the end of the day?

I hope that Starhub would seriously look into this matter.

Repeal s377A - An Open Letter to the Prime Minister

The Prime Minister
Mr. Lee Hsien Loong
Prime Minister's Office
Orchard Road
Istana
Singapore 238823

Subject: Abolition OF Section 377A, Penal Code

Dear Prime Minister,

As a citizen of Singapore, I write to appeal to your sense of fairness and equality, to take the lead to move Parliament and your party on issues related to s377A, Penal Code. I strongly believe that it should be repealed, not just for the benefit of the gay community, but also for the good of all Singaporeans. I also firmly believe that the time to repeal s377A, Penal Code is now, not later.

The reasons why this repeal is so important are manifold.

1. Singapore’s Founding Principles.
2. Constitutional and Legal Rights.
3. International Social Mores and Trends.
4. Domestic Social Mores and Trends.
5. Damage to the Gay Community.
6. Pragmatism, Leadership and the Future.

1. Singapore’s Founding Principles

Singapore was founded on the basis of justice and equality. This is reflected in our pledge. From the start, Singapore as a nation has staunchly upheld multiculturalism, with diverse groups living together in harmony by respecting each other's differences. This has been the cornerstone of our country’s success. Since then, these principles have been further strengthened. For example:

- In 1966, a Constitutional Commission was formed to study how the rights of minorities can be safeguarded.
- The implementation of the GRC in our electoral system ensures that racial minorities are adequately represented.
- The Women’s Charter was amended to safeguard women’s rights.

Legislating that certain sexual acts are legal for heterosexuals but illegal for gay men is tantamount to our country taking an active step (for the first time) to discriminate against a minority group. That goes against everything we, as Singaporeans, have been taught to believe in and hold dear.

2. Constitutional and Legal Rights

Section 377A contravenes Singapore’s Constitution which grants equal rights to treatment and protection for everyone. This law is unequivocally discriminatory. We believe a gay man should have exactly the same rights as a straight man or woman.

We understand that there are elements of our society that do not see being gay in a positive light. They are entitled to their opinion. But their opinion should not infringe upon the rights of this – or any – group of Singaporeans. This holds true even if those who disapprove of gay people outnumber those who support them. In fact, it is the responsibility of any democratically elected government to protect minorities from the “tyranny of the majority”.

Section 377A violates an individuals's right to privacy. Especially since what we are talking about is a choice between consenting adults and hurts no one.

Furthermore, the government's self-avowed compromise of having s377A on the books but not enforcing it will bring Singapore’s justice system into disrepute. The Council of the Law Society states in its report to the Ministry Of Home Affairs dated March 30, 2007, that the law as it stands “cannot be justified”. The Council goes further to argue that the proper function of criminal law “is to protect others from harm by punishing harmful conduct. Private consensual homosexual conduct between adults does not cause harm recognisable by the criminal law. Thus, regardless of one's personal view of the morality or otherwise of such conduct, it should not be made a criminal offence”.

Singapore has always taken pride in being a country where the rule of law is transparent, fair and clear cut. This reputation has served us well and contributed in no small way to our country’s success and should not be eroded by this aberration.

3. International Trends

The courts of many major countries have held the equivalent of s377A to be discriminatory, an invasion of privacy and unconstitutional. This is not only in Europe and America. It includes the UN Human Rights Committee, S, Africa and most recently Hong Kong. The legislatures in UK, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia and even China have also passed laws decriminalising such acts.

Singapore will be woefully out-of-step with the rest of the world should it move to retain this Victorian legislation only weeks after Newsweek magazine’s cover story proclaimed that “the battle for gay rights is gaining ground across the globe” and hailed the repeal of laws similar to s377A across the globe as “a global civil-rights revolution”.


4. Domestic Trends

The attitude of Singaporeans have become much more accepting of alternative sexuality. Between 2000 and 2005, the level of acceptance has changed from 10% to more than 30%. The latest figure is taken from Mark Cenite and B. Detenber's article in the International Journal of Public Opinion Research. Furthermore, the Straits Times online census in July 2007 indicated a tolerance level of 55%.

Admittedly, different public polls can often illustrate contrasting views and the sum of all these statistics makes it difficult to get a clear view of popular sentiment. However we believe that the law of our land does not exist to be popular, but to be fair and just for all people. This is a belief we know is shared by many.

5. Damage to the Gay Community

If the current amendment bill succeeds, the resulting law will become a bitter symbol to many gay Singaporean men, young and old. It will hinder greater understanding and integration of these people, who are often responsible, invaluable and highly respected contributing members of society. The only thing that makes these people different from the majority of Singaporeans is that they are biologically-pre-disposed to love differently. It will be a slap in the face to their significant contributions and encourage many more to leave our shores for more open-minded societies. Singapore’s most valuable resource is its citizens. We cannot afford to lose them.

S377A will also affect the status and moral citizenship of gay men in society. The government has openly welcomed gays and lesbians into the civil service. But this law will only discourage equal-treatment for gay employees everywhere and diminish the moral standing these men and have rightfully earned. We fear it will be a seed for further acts of discrimination.

Criminalising gay sex also impedes effective safer-sex messages being disseminated effectively to gay men and other men at risk of contracting HIV. There are numerous studies which have concluded that HIV prevention programs in environments where gay sex is criminalised are resoundingly ineffective. The fight against HIV/AIDS is an important issue which affects all Singaporeans. There should be no impediment to getting this life saving information out.

Branding gays as outlaws will be destructive to the self-worth of those individuals and could lead to an increased incidence of self-harm. Thought should also be given to gay youth who struggle deeply with this issue. This law would only add more trauma to what is already a very difficult period in their lives.

6. Pragmatism, Leadership and the Future

You and our government have always shown a willingness to make tough pragmatic decisions for the best interests of our country. Decisions made with conviction, despite opposition from various interest groups, religious organisations and minorities.

In a recent address at NUS, you talked about this issue and said that “we will not reach consensus however much we discuss it. The views are passionately held on both sides. The more you discuss it, the angrier they become. The subject will not go away.” Having admitted that we are at an impasse, it seems only logical that the way to move forward is for the government to take a lead with the same conviction and leadership it has always shown.

We keep hearing that Singapore society is ‘too conservative’ for this law to be repealed. This is not a strong enough reason to deny a group of Singaporeans equal rights. Far more conservative countries have done away with laws like these and are none the worse for it. We are a modern, democratic and secular state. While there will always be a place for conservative mores, we also need to protect and nurture space for tolerance and open-mindedness to flourish.

You have often said that your goal is to create a tolerant and progressive society for all Singaporeans. We urge you to now demonstrate your commitment to achieve this goal. Repealing this biased law will be a symbolic milestone to signal to fellow Singaporeans and the world that this is the vision of Singapore that we all share.


Yours faithfully,

Edgar Mirantz Tan

If you wish to sign the open letter, please do so at http://www.repeal377a.com/letter/sign/. If you believe in making Singapore a country of fairness and equality, please sign the open letter online before October 19, 2007. This letter will be sent, with all your online signatories to the Prime Minister in the following week. I've signed the open letter. Have you?

Debunk the Myth

Mooncake making was fun and at the same time, tiring. Started making at about 4.45pm until 5.30pm. I had a rest as I had to let the snow skin "settle". After an hour, I started filling the skin with the red bean filling and I completed making 40 mooncakes in total by about 9.45pm.

Here are some pictures of me making the snowskin mooncakes.

I've backslided. I got to know someone. He's a cell mentor. To think that I was once was so strong and grounded. I'm thinking of when was the last time i prayed. I can't remember. Oh well, yes, i did a fortnight ago as I was in church for the christmas musical production meeting. I do remember that I just prayed a very short prayer when i have my meals. But that was quite some time ago too.

This is what's from his blog:

MYTH 1: christians are supposedly "holy" people, those goodie-two-shoes that recite the bible and love the entire world.

DEBUNK: christians are no less human and any other human. true they're called to be holy, but they holiness does not aptly equate to "doing good".

MYTH 2: christians must pray, go church, and sing songs
DEBUNK: well would a baby grow if he had no food? like babies, we need to go to church to receive what we need to growth in christ-likeness. but i'm sore about the word "must". i would say that these things are great, but they dun make a christian. they only make psychics, concert-goer and music-lovers. a relationship with God is most important.

MYTH 3: church and school are two separate entities, and should not mix.
DEBUNK: nonsense! for the christians who think so, jesus instruction was to go into the world, not to be a church rat. which is why i dun spend too much time in church. lets not build daisy chains and ignore the great commission.

MYTH 4: church is a boring place.
DEBUNK: well it depends which church you go to. :) firstly boring could mean a lot of things. standing still, listening to sleepy sermons? there are a lot of churches that have fantastic concert-like worship sessions, and those that have amazingly hilarious pastors! i believe that teens ought to go to churches that speak to them. just as chinese services speak to chinese speaking people, hokkien to hokkien speaking people. as for christians, this could mean absence or the lack of the tangible presence of God. I believe that the presence of God will and does indeed vary across churches. miracles, healing, personal encounters are important to me. so i therefore am in a church they has all of that. its personal, really.

Perhaps I should wake up early to go to church, sometime soon. But then again, I wish I could have someone to accompany me to another church. When I go back to my home church, I'm not in a worship mood as I've responsibilities. People come looking for me asking me to help in this and that. The next thing i know that is that i would be sitting in front of the audio console mixing and giving technical directions.

My church's AV ministry is in need of more people. Steven (owner of Vaxicom) hasn't been feeling well, so that makes it only 2 main persons in charge. I still remember when i was there, we would each take 1 week each to be in charge. Now it's twice a week for them.

I feel so much at home in Free Community Church even though I'm just a visitor there. It's where I can be me. Whenever I go for their services, my heart just pours out and everything just flows.

Sigh...

Oh ya, I forgot to add. Happy Childrens' Day!

MiRaNtZ @ Work!

It's Friday! This signals the weekends for most, but not for me as I've to work from 9am to 5.30pm tomorrow. Yes, I've to work as the hospital doesn't close on weekends and is operational 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and 366 days once in a few years. Mid-Autumn festival's next Tuesday, 25 September 2007. According to the lunar calendar, it's the fifteenth day of the lunar eighth month. Some call it the mooncake or the lantern festival and No, it's different from dumpling festival. And as usual, I'll be making mooncakes, this time, Snowskin Mooncake with Red Bean Paste, or it's known as "dou sa yue ping" (豆沙月餅) in pinyin (Chinese), this coming Sunday afternoon. Wish me luck!

Wonder how I look like at work, when I'm in the OT wearing the scrub suit, or even the uniform? Here's a few pictures of me, taken either by my or with the help of my colleagues. The uniform that I'm wearing is the new Parkway Health uniform which all 3 hospitals would be having, instead of 1 design for each hospital. I took it during the size fitting session in July.

And of course, to end of this blog entry, is the one and only photo which i took using my mobile phone during the SP thread chalet. Someone obviously had nothing better to do and made it using the mahjong tiles.

Cheerios!

Bored & Confirmed & September 11

I'm @ home, with nothing to do. Ended work at 3.30pm but accompanied Willy. Reached home close to 5pm and ate my dinner. I've wasted my time all the way till now and there's nothing much which i can do.

Met my "di" this morning when i left for work under his block. He was on his way to camp. While at work today, my sister aka manager called me to her office, after a chat of about 30 mins, i was told that i'm now confirmed. Yay! That means that I can now take MC and that i can seek treatment from Parkway Shenton without paying as well as getting free accommodation should i need to stay in any of the Parkway hospitals. But touch wood, i hope that will never happen.

I realised that I've not told much people about my departure date. It's confirmed on the 9th of February 2008 from Changi International Airport Terminal 3 (if i'm not wrong) at 11.15pm by SQ237 and I'll arrive in Melbourne @ 9.40am (7.40am Singapore time). Traveling time of 7 hours and 25 minutes non stop. It's the first time i'll be travelling on SQ, so yea... I've requested for the first 2-seater window seat. hehe...

Anyway, I might go sleep early. I'm on half day tomorrow, from 8am to 12.30pm and it'll be weekend for me thereafter as I'm on leave from Thursday till Saturday. Will be in chalet then...

Finally, a time for me to rest!

Oh, by the way, I managed to get a pair of tickets to V Conference. It's a stand-up comedy by Irene Ang on the 30th of September. Anyone wanna come with me???

Cheerio!

Added on @ 2030hrs: I just realised that it's Sepetmber 11th today. It's been 6 years since the 911 incident happened. I remembered that I was still in choir (we were preparing for the christmas musical, if i'm not wrong) when it happened and when i got home, my friend/choirmate asked me to look at the TV and there it was - pictures of the planes crashing into the twin towers. 6 years ago, i was still in Secondary school and very actively involved in Church. And what happened now? My friend, Lennel's getting baptised end of this month and I am not surprised that he's closer to God and knows more than me now. Bed time soon!

Good Morning Baltimore MV

It's the beginning of the week and it started slowly. Claimed 30 mins of time yesterday and 1 hour of time today. I'm not sure of the schedule for tomorrow, but i hope that it'll be fine, not too much or too little cases.


Here's the Video and the Soundtrack of the song, Good Morning Baltimore from the movie, Hairspray.

Enjoy~~~~

Ratatouille & Hairspray

Went to watch Ratatouille (prounounced Rat-A-2-E) with the gang on Saturday night. It started only on Sunday morning though. Reached home at about 3am. Slept for 2 hours and went to Batam.

Shopping, shopping and more shopping. I ate A&W twice and in both times, i had to gobble the food as there wasn't enough time. Had a waffle, curley fries and 2 root beer floats in total. Bought lotsa crackers and instant noodles.

I wanna watch the movie Hairspray. The song Good Morning Baltimore's so nice~~~ Will post the YouTube video here soon. I'm tired, need to sleep. Goodnight!