All the best Students!

A Student's Prayer

Lord, grant me a quiet heart,

before exams start.

Lead me to use my leisure hours,

to invigorate my powers.

My mind from daydreams liberate,

give me the will to concentrate.

From all distractions set me free;

that in my studies I may be a student

with a sole fulfilment,

to make my work a sacrament.

From my faint heart in love expel,

all failures fears that therein dwell.

And from my pillow drive away,

all dark foreboding of the day.

Help me in faith to rest so deep,

that I may have untroubled sleep.

While notes and lectures I prepare,

may I not lose my zest for prayer.

And may I not forget to look,

for guidance in Thy Book.

And may I ever grateful be,

to all who daily pray for me.

While for myself I intercede,

for other students too I plead;

so may exams find each one

alert in heart and mind.

Thus inward joy and peace possessing,

May exams prove a source of blessing.

-courtesy KCC

Studies, exams and stress placed in light of God's purpose for us as Christians makes a whole world of difference.

Lessons Are Out! Exams are In!

Teacher's day out. Finally, the semester is coming to an end! We found out that one of the teacher's father is the Head Chef at Dragon City Novotel. That is pretty cool! Without much prompting, plans were made and we headed there for a 'Start-of-examination-celebration-Szechuan special!

A Retro Red Door. Ya and Shaz. SK and Karen in a 'teenagery' pose.

Drunken chicken, garlic pork and yummy xiao long bao!

Gong bao juicy succulent prawns

Who says teachers can't have fun? not too clear a shot

Mickey Mania in Hong Kong Disney Land

It was Mickey Mania the moment we stepped in. Windows were cut to Mickey's Famous silhouette, even the handrails in in the Disney train was shaped like Mickey. It is hilarious...but what was worse...it was contagious. Remembered the hats that I posed with...well, people were walking around Disneyland with them. Well groomed ladies, powdering their noses were spotted with Mickey's ears at their head. Quite phenomenal. Check out the waffles...that really said it!

Goofing Around in Hong Kong DisneyLand

My Favourite and Only Sis

Digging through my old wedding montage...found this nice photo. That's my sis and little me. When I was young, as inferred earlier....I was quite a mousy. Always hiding behind her back and lurking in her shadows. Actually, I still am pretty mousy. But no one believes me now. Especially not my students. Anyway, I miss jie. Interesting piece of good news came in on Monday...and normally, she would be the first person I would call. But she is on a 1 month holiday in Europe...felt a little lost.

Latest sms from Europe: "Heh bee! I got u a gold color strap birkenstork! Its reali reali nice n very cheap..."

I remembered asking my class about their relationship with their sibling(s). It was an oral practice. At this stafe, teenagers seem to value friends more than their siblings and most of the time, teenagers just don't get along with their sibling(s). For most of them, that is. Come to think about it, my sis and I were a little like that. We were like chopsticks till 13-14 yrs of age. Then, we started to make our own friends and lived our own lives. I am very thankful that in recent years, my relationship with my sister has been very precious and it grew richer and stronger as we grew in age, as we grew through the difficulties in work place, as we grew through the trials we faced in our Christian walk...I really thank God for my sis. Can't imagine another one or not having one.

To think that there is One who sticks closer than a brother (sister), we can't even fathom the love of Christ for us. To all of you out there, cherish your family, your siblings...if you don't...make real effort to do so. It is worth it.

Happy Birthday Sis!

Happy Birthday Sis!

This is a interesting and much overdue picture. Many years ago when we were really young, Mickey and Minnie came to Singapore. At that time, I was a girl who was frightened at almost thing. But sis was the bold one. Mickey and Minnie to me were scary - big and you never know who was in the costume. Well, my sis took her shot then and because I started bawling, my mom had no choice but to exclude me. Well, a decade down the road and I finally realize that Mickey and Minnie are harmless creatures. So finally, a complete picture - Mickey, Minnie, Sis and me.

Oral Exam Tips

My English class:

As you are getting jittery all over with the mock oral, here are some valuable pointers from me [a candidate and an examiner]:

• Hair must be neat [gel for boys, hairband/pins for girls
• Healthy good breath [mints]
• ICs in your pockets [During actual oral exam]
• Do not slouch at your seat

Reading [12 marks]

• Enunciate your words [open your mouth to read]
• Remember the consonants at the end of the word [particularly 't' 'ed' 's' 'k']
• Pace yourself well and put your eyes at least 2/3 words ahead of what you are reading
• Slow down at the end of sentences to ensure a smooth connection to the next line
• Vary your tone deliberately
• For boring passages, stress [slowing down or increase volume] significant words

Picture [12 marks]

• Questions you should automatically answer WITHOUT prompting

1. General setting of picture and what is happening there
2. Always use positional words [foreground, background]
3. Focus on 2 prominent people and explore what they are thinking and feeling by refering to evidence
4. Suggest what happened before/after the picture was taken
5. Still speechless, suggest the purpose of the photo

Conversation [16 marks]

• Listen to to question and do a quick organization of thoughts
• Look examiners in the eye and communicate

Have a good time - cos examiners are interested to see if you can communicate confidently!

Sports Day 2006

Today is FTP's Sports Day. Yeah! My lungs have been waiting to burst since a year ago. I remembered how I could not be down for Sports Day last year cos of the school's opening ceremony. The night before, the publishing agency was at my house till midnight...and we still had things to rush out the next day for Opening Ceremony. Stuck at home, I still remembered an sms that reported that our girls have won the 4x100m. So proud of them! But couldn't be there....So today, it was the unleash of the lungs. Quite therapeutic...Here are winning shots of 4e4! The girls won 1st in 4x100m. Hooray! Though our boys did not win any, they gave their best shot. Well done, boys!

The girls at the starting line!

Wanxuan, Daphne, Diane, Jaime

What Good Friday means to me...

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." 1 Corinthians 1:18

Good Friday is all about "Jesus Christ" and what He did for us on the cross that day. Perhaps, to some, it is a name in History, to others, a subject of controversy, and sadly, to some, a name used amidst anger and expletives.

Good Friday was a day in history when God fulfilled His love and promise to mankind. When Jesus Christ died on the cross that day, a penalty fitting for the hardest of criminals, He lifted us out of condemnation from our sins and gave us the hope of being able to come to God freely. We just have to believe and call on Him. Good Fridays have thus become a day of remembrance of that great act of love and sacrifice.

When I was Primary Four and attending children's camp, I didn't know much about the bible. But in my simple understand, I knew that even as a 10 year old girl, in all my mischief, in all my tantrums and in all my defiance, I was not a perfect little girl. On the first evening of night messages, I heard how Jesus Christ left all His glories in heaven and humbled Himself, even to the point of subjecting Himself to the whimps and fancies of His own creation. Jesus endured all the pain and suffering because only the blood of a holy God can cleanse the sins of an unholy people. That touched me as a little girl and I raised my hand every other night. In my simple understanding, I did not understand why the whole camp did not do so. How could one hear this message and refuse it? Well, they eventually did ask me to stop raising my hands.

"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. " Philippians 2:5-11

The world tells us that many roads lead to God. But Bible tells us that there is only one way - through Jesus and what He did for us on the cross that day.

"I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through Me" John 14:6

So dear friend, what does Good Friday mean to you? A public holiday, A time for partying and merrying making, A time to spectate at the customs and traditions associated with Good Friday or is it a time when you remember what your Creator has done for you many years ago and a time of thanksgiving?

Press On!

To present Press On! was easily a unanimous decision - to challenge and encourage our BFC family to endure, especially when we have come to almost the middle of the year, when things in life seems to run on and seem mundane. It was a real blessing to be able to sing such a rousing song and to press on till the end of this musically challenging item.

Press On!

There’s a course that must be finished
There’s a race that must be run,
There’s a mission to accomplish,
And a battle to be won!
We’ve been called to take the challenge
By God’s might and through His Son;
He will give us grace To complete the race,
Moving forward, pressing on

Toward the hope of our high calling,
Toward the promise we’ve received,
With the strength that we’ve been given, pressing on to victory!
And toward the One who’s run before us, as we lay our weight aside.
‘Til the race is run, ‘til the prize is won,
‘Til we reach the finish line, press on!

There’s a faithful cloud of witnesses who inspire us in our task.
They have fought the fight, They have run the race,
They have won the crown at last!
And the lives they’ve lived remind us –
That though the race at times seems long,
God will give the grace To complete the race,
And the courage to press on.

• Press On Jeremy in your 4.5 km competition on Wed,
• Press On dear friends of youth com as we seek to serve God in our work,
• Press On leaders of the church as you seek to lead the church in all truth, wisdom, integrity and unity
• Press On dear youths as you determine to be a bright light and a salty salt in the midst of your friends

Hebrews 12:1-4 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.

Did you know...

While choosing the song for our TanTeo item this Sunday, I came across 'When God is Silent'. It is a familiar beautiful song and many youths seem to have made it their favourite...some even have the song as their ringtones. Upon closer reading, I realized that there is quite a story behind this song - and it rang a distant bell...I seemed to have read it somewhere.

It is dedicated to Martin and Gracia, 2 American missionaries to the Philippines. During their short break from God's work, they went off to a resort for their anniversary. But God would have it that they were captured and kept on the run for close to an entire year. Ah ha! I remembered reading this vaguely in the news and more significantly, an article in the Reader's Digest narrated this experience. The Americans and particularly the Christians were united in prayer for their safety and escape. Well, 'When God is Silent' was written as the author contemplated about their predicament and God's apparent silence for close to a year. Their ordeal finally ended in a showdown in the jungle...Gracia lived but Martin was shot and he died during the shootout. Martin's legend lives on as his wife has since written 2 books about God's work in their lives. Inspite of captivity and hardships, Martin continued to show God's love to his captors and tried to witness to them. It is really moving. Read about them here http://www.cbnasia.org/700club/martin_burnham.htm
This brought much light to the song...

When God is Silent

When God is silent and we don't know
The way before us that we ought to go;
When we've tempted to do His will,
And yet His silence continues still

Then it's time to trust! Yes, it's time to remember
That the Lord is faithful to His own
If we hope, we shall yet be praising once again;
For His silence never means that we're alone!

When God is silent, and all seems lost
As o'er the waves our boat is tempest tossed
When answers fail us and doubts arise
But God seems far, hid from our eyes

Then it's time to trust! Yes, it's time to remember
That the Lord is faithful to His own
If we hope, we shall yet be praising once again;
For His silence never means that we're alone!

He is on the mountain praying that our faith will never fail
Though our souls be sifted through.
O'er the wind and waves we soon shall see Him coming to prevail.
We can trust Him for His promises are true!