An Anonymous "Thank You" Letter

Over the years, I have received many thank you notes from my students. As I was clearing my room today, I stumbled across some of them. I was greatly encouraged as I read through the old letters and emails from appreciative students. They reminded me that my work matters. Teachers have the wonderful privilege of planting seeds in young hearts and minds. 

Below is an interesting letter I received from an anonymous student. It was a timely note as I stepped up to be Vice-Dean (Academic) of the school.

Dear Professor,

I do not know you and you do not know me. But I had heard many stories of how you tried so hard to fight for us Real Estate students. More often than not, your efforts tend to go unappreciated. So here I am expressing my gratitude for all your relentless efforts in building a strong real estate brand name in the industry and garnering more prestigious internship roles and job opportunities for all of us. I will be sure to support DRE when I make it big in future. I can literally feel your passion for DRE. Please keep your spirits and I'm sure more people will be able to feel your passion and join you in building up the brand name of RE. =)

Anonymous

June 2016

A Long, Winding & Steep Journey

I am delighted to share that I have been recently promoted to full professorship in NUS. The promotion will be backdated to July 2016. I am humbled by the many congratulatory notes and kind words from friends, colleagues, and ex-students.

How do I feel? Happy and relieved at the same time. Happy for reaching a summit in the academic profession. Relieved because the road I have traveled, from my PhD (1995-1998) to promotion and tenure (2006) and full professorship (2016), has been a long and steep one.

Florida (2015)

Looking back, I have never felt that I was ever walking alone. I am truly grateful for the love and support of my family, friends, colleagues and students, and especially my endearing (and enduring) wife who walked with me and cheered me on each step of the way. Above all, I knew God was with me all the way and His grace is sufficient for me.

I have been reflecting on the experience. It has been a long and winding journey, but an enjoyable and educational one nonetheless. A few valuable lessons learnt along the way:

• “do not allow adversity to rob me of my joy”;
• “work hard and give thanks in all circumstances”;
• “stay calm and enjoy the scenery while on a detour”;
• “it doesn’t matter how slow you go so long as you don’t stop”;
• “no journey is too long with the right company”; 
• “stay humble: do not let success go to your head”; 
• “in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of other“
• Do not judge people by their peak of excellence, but by the distance they have travelled from the point where they started” (H.W. Beecher). 

In my quiet contemplation, I am reminded of the inspiring sculpture, “Way of Life” by Jonathan Clarke in the Cathedral of Ely, England. The sculpture depicts life’s many unexpected twists and turns as we journey on the winding road from darkness to light.  Highlighting its symbolic impact, the Cathedral of Ely noted: “Like the journey of faith, its path is irregular and unpredictable; and just as the journey is sometimes hard, sometimes joyful, the surface texture and colour also vary.”

Yet, I am aware that this is not the end. No one can stay on the summit forever; the journey must continue... There are new places to travel and more peaks to conquer. I will remain faithful to my calling; be an inspiration and a light to those around me - first, burning brightly as a candle on a stand and second, reflecting Gods' radiance as a mirror. "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16).

 

Once again, thank you so much for your blessing of friendship.

 

Jonah's Confession

“And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” Jonah 1:9 ESV

 

An interesting thought from the verse above is how will the world respond today to an honest confession of a Christian? Imagine the scenario of you boarding a cruise boat and introducing yourself to the captain and his sailing crew as a God fearing Christian! What impact would this have on them? How would they respond to your proclamation? In all likelihood, they will be politely disinterested.   

 

In Jonah 1:10, the sailors' response to Jonah was as follows, Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!" For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he told them (ESV). Their respond suggests that they had a spiritual awakening, i.e. they saw there is God, he is alive, he is a God of purpose, and a God of wrath. R.T. Kendal, in his exposition on Jonah, wrote that this story shows the inseparable connection between the transcendent power of God and the message of the church.
 

Can Jonah claims credit for their spiritual awakening? No, on the contrary, Jonah was not preaching the truth voluntarily or consciously. He was forced to make his confession. He was found out! RT Kendal further wrote that we are not going to see such an awakening simply because we preach who God is - there must be more! Put it another way, had Jonah made this confession without the storm at sea such confession would have been utterly meaningless; just like you introducing yourself when you boarded the cruise boat.

We must see God's timing. In other words, it is utterly folly to think that we can resurrect certain sermons or methods of the past and suppose they are going to produce results again.  We need to see that the message Jonah preached was timed in such a way that, had he made the confession earlier, it would have been meaningless. It was given at a particular moment. There was the wind; there was the casting of the lots. All these things coalesced and there is no earthly way we can make these things coalesce and bring them about. The timing has to be exactly right.

Note that Jonah did not get glory because of this awakening. What happened on the boat was despite of Jonah. There is a sense in which Jonah had nothing to do with it. Indeed, just because the sailors encountered God, this does not justify Jonah's disobedience and running away from God. The greatest lesson we have to learn from Romans 8:28 is this: merely because something is made right does not mean it was right... we tend to justify ourselves by saying that our disobedience was justified simply because we profited.

 

Source: Jonah - An Exposition by R.T Kendall
 
 

The Ebenezer Stone... Three Important Lessons (1 Samuel 7:12)

 "Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer; for he said, “till now, the Lord has helped us…" 

 

Today, I received my new laptop, a Lenovo T250, which was ordered a few weeks ago... Since today is Christmas eve, I will consider this as my Christmas present, unwrapped early. For the  opening ceremony, I would like to start using this new computer by making a blog entry on honouring God. Based on a bible passage that I have been meditating on recently, it concerns the Ebenezer Stone which Samuel erected after a successful battle with the Philistines.   

The background to this verse:

 

I. A long time has passed (some 20 years), and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord (7:2).

Note that since 4:1, we have not read about Samuel; he was not mentioned till now… as if he was unconcerned (which is probably not the case). More likely, Samuel’s labours among the people are not mentioned until the time is ripe. Often, a lot of our good and hard works remain unseen and unmentioned; they remain in the background until the appointed time.
 

II. When he perceived that the house of Israel was ready, Samuel exhorted them to:

1. Return to the LORD with all their heart – this involves putting away the foreign gods and directing their heart to the LORD and serve him only. 
2. Gather at Mizpah for a leaders’ retreat – for dedication, fasting, prayer & repentance…

III. The Philistines mistook the general meeting (for repentance and prayer) to be a rendezvous for war. So, they decided to invade Israel first. Henry Matthew added:

…they had no just cause for this suspicion; but those that seek to do mischief to others will be forward to imagine that others design mischief to them.” 

... how evil sometimes seems to come out of good; The religious meeting of the Israelites at Mizpah brought trouble upon them..., which may perhaps tempted them to wish they had stayed at home and to blame Samuel for calling them together; often we may decide to walk in God’s way and yet meet with distress; often when sinners begin to repent and reform, they can expect Satan to muster all his force against them, and set his instruments on work to oppose and discourage them.”

... they were here unarmed, unprepared for war - they came together to fast and pray, not to fight, and the only weapons they brought along were prayers and tears… Thus, Israel could never be threatened more seasonably than at this time, when they were repenting and praying, nor could they have been better prepared to receive the enemy; nor could the Philistines have acted more impolitely than to make war upon Israel at this time, when they were making their peace with God.” 

 

IV. Israel cleaves closely to Samuel in distress; though he was no military man, nor ever celebrated as a mighty man of valour, yet, being afraid of the Philistines, for whom they thought themselves an unequal match, the Israelites engaged Samuel’s prayers for them: Cease not to cry unto the Lord our God for us (7:8) 

 

V. Samuel intercedes with God for them, and does it by sacrifice. (7:9)

 

VI. God gave a gracious answer to Samuel’s prayer (7:9): The Lord heard him. Israel had the pleasure of triumphing over their oppressors. They pursued the Philistines... How soon did they find the benefit of their repentance, and reformation, and return to God! Now that they are engaged with God, none of their enemies can stand before him.

Samuel erected a thankful memorial of this victory, (1) to the glory of God, and (2) for the encouragement of Israel. Interestingly, the place where this memorial was set up was the same where, 20 years before, the Israelites were beaten before the Philistines (4:1).



Now, the intention of Samuel in erecting the Ebenezer stone is clear: If ever the people’s hard hearts should lose the impressions of this providence, this stone would either revive the remembrance of it, and make them thankful, or remain a standing witness against them for their unthankfulness. 

Three lessons to remember:

 

1. That we should often review our past mercies

All have received mercies in abundance, which we ought from time to time to review, in order to impress a sense of them the more deeply on our minds. For the lack of this, how many mercies are forgotten! And what a loss do we sustain by means of our forgetfulness!

• Blessings that are unnoticed are no more to us than they are to the brute creation: but if we bring them frequently to our remembrance, we have frequently in the retrospect a sweeter taste of them than we had in the actual possession.

Let us learn to pass over no mercy without labouring to imprint it on our minds, and to retain the remembrance of it to our dying hour. - Charles Simeon

 

2. That we should especially view the hand of God in them

And to whom can we trace all our mercies, but to God? Look at our temporal mercies; 

• the time, and place of our birth, when the light of the Gospel was shining all around us - our preservation during the helpless state of infancy;
• the many deliverances, seen, and unseen, which we have experienced since;
• the blessings of health and abundance.  

View but the last year (2015), and see how many have been plunged into deep distress, from which you are exempt; or been called away into the eternal world, whilst you are left with protracted opportunities of working out your salvation… For who is it that has made you to differ?

Will I, or can I, trace these blessings to my own superior wisdom, or goodness, or strength? Surely,  not. Humbly, I acknowledge the hand of God in them, and say, “Hitherto hath the Lord helped me.”  

3. That we should make our experience of past mercies the ground of expecting all that we can need from God in future

From what we have received “hitherto,” we know what to expect henceforth. And so should the memorials that are raised in our hearts:

 

“Thou hast been my help; therefore under the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice [Psalms 63:7.]:”

"Because the Lord hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live [Psalms 116:2.].”

 

This is the key purpose of preserving memorials of past mercies in our minds! What holy confidence will it introduce into the soul, and what a happy anticipation even of eternal blessedness! Only let the “Ebenezer” which Samuel erected teach us this, and we shall ourselves raise in due time a similar memorial in the realms of bliss.

source: LAB, Henry Matthew, Charles Simeon

Chronophage - The Time Eater

"Basically I view time as not on your side. He'll eat up every minute of your life, and as soon as one has gone he's salivating for the next."

Year-end Reflection 

 

Dec 2015: Another year is passing away.... Although not everything we had resolved to do at the start of the year have been accomplished; although we encountered trials along the way; and although the economic outlook remains uncertain over the horizon, we can still find reasons to give thanks.

 

We do have a good life: I am truly blessed with a wonderful wife. We live in a private apartment, we enjoyed doing simple things together. We are healthy… physically, emotionally, socially and financially. Job-wise, I find meaning in what I do... I love to do research, teach and inspire my students, who are really the hope and future of the nations. All in all, we are happy and humbly grateful for God's protection and grace.

 

We were away on sabbatical: 4 months in Cambridge (Aug -Dec 2014) and 5 months in Florida (Jan - May 2015). What does one do during sabbatical? R&R! Intellectually, R&R stands for Reading and Research. At a deeper level, R&R also stands for Rest and Reflect. During our sabbatical, we met many acquaintances and made new friends. We tried new things, new experiences. We also travelled to many cities, such as Maastricht in Netherlands, Brussels & Bruges in Belgium, London, Manchester & Reading in England, Edinburgh in Scotland, Boston and several interesting places in Florida, USA.

 

What inspired us? In reflection, there are indeed many things we could share on what inspired us. Cambridge is a stunningly beautiful college town. You can easily be awed by its rich history; imagine dining at The Eagle pub where Crick and Watson interrupted patrons’ lunchtime (in Feb 1953) to announce that they had discovered “the secret of life” (i.e. how DNA carries genetic information); or visiting the Wren Library to look at the handwritten notes of Sir Isaac Newton; or peeping into the field notes of Charles Darwin at the Sedwick Museum.

 

In Florida, we were inspired by the natural serenity of God’s creation and by the friendliness of those we met. I was thrilled to visit many farms, which taught us many life lessons, such as not to underestimate the potential of a small seed; the importance of patience and hard work; and appreciating the seasons of life… particularly, there is a season to sow, there is a season to wait, and there is a season to reap. 

Where am I in the seasons of life? 2015 is also a very special year. It marks Singapore's 50th year of independence. Most Singaporeans will also remember 2015 for the passing of Mr Lee Kuan Yew, the founding father and chief architect of modern Singapore. Born in 1965, I also celebrated my 50^th birthday this year. If you take age 20-35 as spring, 35-50 as summer, 50-65 as autumn, 65-80 as winter, then I am at the stage where summer has just passed. So, here I am, staring into the autumn season of my life… reflecting the season of transition, the changing colors of autumn leaves (and white hairs) can make one more contemplative on life... While this is the season for gathering the harvests and for giving thanks, it is also a time for preparing for the coming hibernation of winter.

 

The Corpus Clock: The continual passing of time and cycle of life and death reminded me of an interesting landmark in Cambridge UK. The Corpus Clock is a large sculptural clock at street level, looking out over the busy King’s Parade. The dominating visual feature of the clock is a grim-looking metal sculpture of an insect similar to a locust. This beast is called the Chronophage (literally "time eater" in Greek). It moves its mouth, appearing to "eat up" the seconds as they pass, and occasionally it "blinks" in seeming satisfaction. The creature's constant motion produces an eerie grinding sound and the hour is tolled by the sound of a chain clanking into a small wooden coffin hidden in the back of the clock. Below the clock is an inscription from 1 John 2:17: mundus transit et. concupiscentia eius ("the world passeth away, and the lust thereof").

 

According to Taylor (the benefactor), the clock is entirely accurate only once every five minutes. The rest of the time, the pendulum may seem to catch or stop, and the lights may lag or, then, race to get ahead. This erratic motion reflects life's "irregularity". Conceived as a work of public art, the Chronophage reminds viewers in a dramatic way of the inevitable passing of time. It is deliberately designed to be "terrifying". Taylor shared, "Basically I view time as not on your side. He'll eat up every minute of your life, and as soon as one has gone he's salivating for the next."

 

Time can pass us by swiftly without our knowing: Below are two photos we took, then and now. Then was in 1997, now is in 2014. Two photos of the same couple taken in front of the same building, but 18 years apart. Note that I am wearing the same navy blue jacket, although its color has faded and the padding worn out. Thankfully, we are still smiling after all these years! Life has been good to us!

 

                   

Some say, life after 50 is a downhill: I do not believe this. Instead, I believe there is more to life! While the visual image of the Chronophage eating away time can be hypnotically disturbing and the claim that the world (and its lust) is passing away is true, it is incomplete. The second part of the verse was left out: “but the one who does the will of God lives forever.” One inspiring biblical character is Caleb who continues to thrive at the age of 85. During our sabbatical, we got to know many who are still going strong in their autumn/winter seasons. Their stories serve as a lesson for us to never release God’s promises; never retire from serving God; never resigned to the fate of time, and never retreat from the enemy!

 So for this Christmas: We choose to look back with gratitude, to enjoy the present, and to look forward with hope. Instead of letting the Chronophage chew away our precious moments, we intentionally take time out to celebrate life. Instead of running mindlessly, we find time in this festivity period to remind ourselves of God’s provision, and to say “thank you” to those who have been a blessing to us in many different ways.

 

Indeed, your friendship has been a blessing to us. Thank you. May the holidays become a special time of spiritual enrichment, personal renewal, and genuine gratitude.[1]

Photo: on a less-travelled road in Florida (2015)

Our prayer as we look forward to 2016: Lord, you have been good to us, you have been gracious; you have been faithful meeting our needs; Lord, it’s so plain to see. You have been good to us. We have been given much that we can’t even begin to thank you… And still, we believe there is more. So, we open our hands to receive all that your love has installed for us,
miracles wonders blessings unnumbered, love never-ending!

---

[1] References: Don Moen, Charles Swindoll, Wikipedia.

 

I Am The Way (John 14:1-6)

Three photos from yesterday as I took a leisurely walk from my home to the Bukit Timah hill. This was the same path where the KTM railwayline formerly run; it looks so different now without the tracks and stones, and the crowd of people. In the tranquility of this morning, I meditated on a scripture verse:

Jesus said to him,

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6 . By these words, Jesus sets the life of faith in the language of journey. When Jesus was about to leave his disciples, he used the language of leaving and travelling to describe what was to happen to him, and subsequently to them too.

 

Our lives are mortal: However much we may trust in modern medicine to patch us up for a few more years. We travel from birth, through childhood and adolescene, on to adulthood, perhaps to marriage and family, and eventually to old age and death. BUT - and this is the heart of his message to them - the journeying doesn't stop then.

Across the dark waters of death, lies a promised land, and when we arrive there we shall discover that the world's saviour has "prepared a place for us". But before we arrive, there is the journey, and it is unlikely that anyone's path through life will be pain-free, much less 'roses, roses, all the way'.

As it was for the Hebrews, slogging their way across the inhospitable desert, so for us. There will be times of spiritual desert, setbacks and failures, doubts and fears. Yet through it all, if we have the eyes of faith to see it, the 'pillar of cloud' by day and the 'pillar of fire' by night will go with us, as it did with them. Jesus would not leave his disciples 'orphaned', he said.

The Israelites could only look forward, sometimes with fading faith, to the promise of a new land, rich in promise. Likewise, we can only look forward to the promise of a new life, where we shall "know God and enjoy him for ever".  

 

source: David Winter (2003) Hope in the Wilderness



Why Jesus Must Die! (John 11:45-53)

THE COUNCIL MEETING

The chief priests and the Pharisees called a special meeting. They asked,

 

"What are we accomplishing? Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation." (John 11:47-48)

According to the commentary by Matthew Henry, this council was called, not only for joint advice, but for mutual irritation; that as iron sharpens iron, and as coals are to burning coals and wood to fire, so they might exasperate and inflame one another with enmity and rage against Christ and his doctrine.

The key agenda, the matter that was debated, was what course they should take with this Jesus, to stop the growth of his interest. Note: (1) they have witnessed and acknowledged the truth of Christ's miracles; (2) they considered what is to be done, and chided themselves that they have not done something sooner to crush him; (3) they pretended to be afraid of the future of the country - if we do not silence him, "all men will believe in him!",  and both our place (self) and our nation (country) will be taken away.

Note that it was "self" before "country". They pretended that their continued tolerance of Christ's gospel would bring desolation upon them by the Romans. In truth, they were more concerned for their own wealth and safety more than for truth and duty. Again drawing on Matthew Henry's commentary, 

"the enemies of Christ and his gospel have often coloured their enmity with a seeming care for the public good and common safety, and in order to this, have branded his prophets and ministers as troublers of Israel, and men that turn the world upside down." 

So why did the religious people wanted to silence Jesus? Educated and wealthy, they were politically influential in the nation... they hated Jesus because he endangered their secure lifestyles and taught a message they could not accept: a kingdom in which leaders served (instead of ruled) had no appeal to them. 

THE RESOLUTION 

Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke: "You know nothing at all! You do not realise that it is better for you that one man die for the people than the whole nation perish." (John 11:49-50)

Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it would be good if one man died for the people... (John 18:14). Note: (1) the messenger: Caiaphas was the high priest; (2) the message: some way or other must be found to put Jesus to death; and (3) reason and justice are often run down with a high hand - "you know nothing", it is common for those in authority to impose their corrupt dictates by virtue of insinuation; because they should be the wisest and the best, to expect that every body should believe they are so.

 

Caiaphas does not say, let him be silenced, imprisoned, banished; but die he must. He insists upon a maxim in politics, that the welfare of communities is to be preferred before that of particular persons. It is expedient that one man die for the people.

 

 

THE OUTCOME

So, from that day on they plotted to take Jesus' life (John 11:53). The result of the debate is a resolve of the council to put Jesus to death. Two considerable advances were now made in their accursed design agaist Christ:

(1) what they have thought of severally now they jointly concurred in, and so strengthened the hands of one of another in this wickeness, and proceeded with great assurance.

(2) what before they wished done, but wanted a color for, now they are furnished with a plausible pretence to justify themselves in,  and so satisfy, if not the personal, yet the political conscience, as some subtly disguish. 

 

Many will on very securely in doing an evil thing as long as they have but something to say in excuse for it. Now this resolution of theirs to put him to death, right or wrong, proves that all the formality of a trial, which Jesus afterwards underwent, was but show and pretence.  

So why did the religious people wanted to silence Jesus? In John 19:7, the Jew insisted, "we have a law, and according to that law, he (Jesus) must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.

 

Advice to a Fresh Graduate

To RE2013: Here's wishing you the very best for your future as you embark on a new chapter of your life.

 

photo: Big Island, Hawaii (April 2013)

 

Allow me to share a passage extracted from a book I am currently reading: A father tells his son, a recent college graduate, how he should approach the first day of his job with a proper attitude: "Don't try to show them what you know. Instead, show them how much you want to learn."

None of us can accomplish our dreams without the help of others. An arrogant person does not ask for help and thus is helpless. An arrogant person claims to know everything and thus is clueless. A humble person attracts helpers and teachers.

Humility also fosters gratitude and appreciation, which are forces for healing and happiness.

source: Nick Vujicic (2012) Unstoppable

Who is a Teacher?

Received this email from the school's management. At a graduation ceremony, a school Principal shared this story:

He said, "Doctor wants his child to become a doctor... Engineer wants his child to become an engineer... Businessman wants his child to become a CEO... BUT a teacher also wants his child to become one of them? Nobody wants to become a teacher by choice.... Very sad but that's the truth!

The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued, "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?" To stress his point he said to another guest; "You're a teacher, Bonnie. Be honest. What do you make?"

Teacher Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, "You want to know what I make? (She paused for a second, then began...)

"Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could. I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor winner. I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can't make them sit for 5 min. without an I Pod, Game Cube or movie rental. You want to know what I make? (She paused again and looked at each and every person at the table)

I make kids wonder. I make them question. I make them apologize and mean it. I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions. I teach them how to write and then I make them write. Keyboarding isn't everything.

I make them read, read, read. I make them show all their work in math. They use their God given brain, not the man-made calculator. I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know about English while preserving their unique cultural identity. I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.

Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life

( Bonnie paused one last time and then continued.)

Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money isn't everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant. You want to know what I make?

I MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN ALL YOUR LIVES,EDUCATING KIDS AND PREPARING THEM TO BECOME CEO's, AND DOCTORS AND ENGINEERS..........

What do you make Mr. CEO?

His jaw dropped; he went silent.