LIGHT of the WORLD

Sekiti Halid

2006-10-01T11:49:00.000+10:00

Here is a picture of the kid we're currently sponsoring. =)

I just want to thank the Lord that we are blessed with good finances, and glad that the Lord has given us such an opportunity to be a blessing to Sekiti and his family and sow into their lives. The Bible says that with the little what we have, God can work wonders. Hallelujah.

Papua New Guinea

2006-09-15T01:10:00.000+10:00

Later at 06 00 hrs, I will set off for Papua New Guinea for a week. I have been asked to be involved in the conceptualization of a few residential projects with the local architects there, and to spatially resolve some of them.

It's really amazing how God is opening up door after door for me in Melbourne, and I continue to pray and have faith that He who starts a good work in me, is faithful and just to bring it to a completion.

I hope to come back with baggages of wonderful stories to share with you all, and I ask that you keep me in prayers. I pray that the Lord is gonna use me mightily in the land of Papua New Guinea, to make a difference and be a light that shines the glory of God.

2006-09-10T17:13:00.000+10:00

Alright, enough of natural food...

This week, my church friends and I adopted an African kid. And over the next few years, we'll contribute AUD$40 a month for him to get his fair share of education and his daily needs (from clean water to adequate food to proper housing).

You see, in the poorest conutries in Africa, children like these suffer from malnutrition and displaced (basic) human rights. These children, as early as ten years of age, cooks, cleans and looks after three children. They suffer from bone deformities from drinking all the contaminated water, that ufortunately is the only available source of water for them. They have to care for their dying mothers and chronically-ill siblings, and as a result of their circumstantial disadvantages, they neither attend school nor get to experience a normal childhood. None of them do.

The tragedy of humanity is that nations and governments and corporations are doing so much, in comparison, lobbying for dolphin-friendly fishing techniques in the Pacific and the conversation of the pandas, and the humped-back whales, and every other animals that we probably have never heard of! But what about our genetic brothers and sisters out there who needs greater and imperative assistance?

Parallel to this, countries are spending so much in the development of arms, infrastructure with the selfish aim of differentiating one another in reputation as well as on the global market. The UN reported three years back that if The U.S. were to donate 1% of their defense and arms expenditure, that is actually enough to feed all the children in the poverty-struck nations.

But you know that it only takes AUD$2 (or S$2.40) each day to be able to help sponsor one kid in Africa, or Somalia; and to set them free from poverty that has kept them from getting what ordinary children deserve.

And $S2.40 a day translates into such insignificant sacrifices. In Singapore, if I were to walk to the MRT station each day instead of taking the bus, I would save S$1.60. And if I were to eat a heartier lunch and not snack in between lunch and dinner, I probably will save another dollar or two. And that is all that is needed. Really.

But I'll reap eternal joy from knowing that these minute sacrifices are going a long long way, reaching children at the other end of the world, whom we'll probably not see in our lifetime, but our commitments can save.

Consider this also: if every family in this world were to help support another family out there in the terribly-underdeveloped nations, world hunger and poverty would prbably decimate by half! But that of course is an ideal that will forever remain in the hypothetical plane. Sigh.

But won't you take a minute or two and visit www.worldvision.com.au and www.compassion.com or other related website and ask ourselves what is it that we can do for these people out there?

God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son for us (John 3:16), and I will do everything in my capacity, with all that the Lord has put in my hands to love people fervently.

And it is my prayer that we will carry with us the spirit of giving, and just like what pastor Kong always say, that we can give without loving but never love without giving.

So I pray that the Lord will bless the hands of every giver, and I pray that God will prosper us not for the sake of ourselves, but for the Kingdom. And also help me live a life that is not for my own, but for the hundreds and thousands of people whom I will meet in my lifetime. Give me, also,Your grace O' God to be an architect of my generation that I -through the skills that is bestowed upon me from on high- may help people build their lives one brick at a time. Amen.

If Yan can cook, and I can cook, so can you!

2006-09-07T23:01:00.000+10:00

Just in case you are wondering if I am a credible source, let me use this opportunity to show you some of my culinary success. I fully acknowledge that the word 'success' is debatable. (I am also forced to acknowledge that Felice is a better cook than me. Haha.)

Today I cooked mapo dofu. I tried using beef instead of pork. I think it tastes as good. Haha.

ON the menu yesterday was stir-fry black pepper beef with beans sprouts.

Last month when I was putting up with Andri, I took the time to attempt to cook beef steak. Despite not having a griller, I tried cooking it under small fire, and I think the result is far more than satisfactory. Hee hee.

Sporadically, I get urges to try new dishes. Afterall, if Yan can cook, so can I. Haha, so this is a picture of beef stew which took a lof of effort and time to prepare. But at the end of the day, it was finger-licking-good.

I remember in the first week that I was in Melbourne, I cooked nothing but pasta because it was so easy to cook. And you could experiment with using different ingredients, like this one where I used diced chicken and brocolli. Alright, I agree that the combination is a tad weird, but it was nonetheless tasty.

Bon Appetit! =)

2006-09-07T23:00:00.000+10:00

Spring is such a beautiful sight. Green will consummate the urban landscape once again, and provide much visual and psychological relief.

I was on my way to school this morning and I caught sight of a few trees that are waking up from their long winter slumber. I was really excited. Not that I am a great tree-fan, or ecologically-sensitive student; spring simply translates as the end of a cold spell. Haha!

Ever since I came to Melbourne, I detested winter. It's not like how we have been socialized to imagine it as a winter white wonderland, with frosty the snowman sitting in every front lawns, with kids throwing snow balls at each other. Let me paint to you a different picture:

I wake up to the chill of winter every morning. In my small room, the only thing Ican do is shiver. (Muscular spasm is such an amazing thing!) I don't want to start my day. I don't even want to go to the bathroom and wash up, because here the toilet design is so bad.; everytime you switch on the light, the suction fan comes on. And it does nothing but sucks into the bathroom cold cold air from the living room via the crack under the door. Dang!

And when I am outside, I shiver everytime the wind blows onto my face. And when that happens, you literally freeze. Your fingers will hang like dead fish from your hands, cold and frozen. Your feet will be so heavy and every step you take becomes a burden, a drudgery. Sigh.

I am glad Johnny understands me and share my hatred for the cold. I say hooray to global warming. Wahahah.

Anyway, it's kinda like raining now, and I'm getting hungry. It's funny how the winter makes you hungry. The second thing I do most of the time other than shivering is munching. Haiz. Don't you worry Felice, I'm watching my weight. Hee hee.

Oh, Juliana, let me share with you a simple recipe. I call it "throw-it-all-inside" soup. It's really easy. As the name plainly and simply suggest, throw it all in! If it's your first time cooking, then let me pen the steps for you (and all out there):

Get some meat. Pork (with bones) or one big chicken drumstick will do too
Bring enough water to boil in a pot, and throw the meat in.
After a minute or two, throw all the soup away and put in some water. By doing this, you can effectively rid the funny smell especially if you are using chicken meat. Chicken drumstick is actually good because it has the bone and the fats to develop the soup base, and the meat for consumption.
After about five minutes, throw in some vegetables. Chopped carrots, potatoes, and celery. Use your imagination here, bearing in mind the vegetable combination is important. Alternative combination is radish, carrots and lotus roots. You can throw in more carrots because it only makes the soup sweeter.
Add a dash of salt and pepper. There is no need to put MSG here.
Cover the pot, and simmer as long as you can wait. The longet you simmer, the sweeter the soup will develop.

that's it! As simple as that. Go try and tell me how it goes. Anyway, it's drizzling now in Melbourne and I think I'm gonna cook myself some soup now.

=)

2006-09-03T10:27:00.000+10:00

The Lord says, " I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advice you and watch over you." -Psalms 32:8 (NLT)

2006-09-02T20:17:00.000+10:00

Okay, so this is my apartment. It's called The Parkviews. This morning as I made my way to studio, I was greeted by a very pleasant sight -traces of spring. Plants are budding and trees are starting to put on their leaves. Oh finally, spring is in the air!

The highlight of the day must've been the trip to Brunswick with my church buddies. Thank goodness we all stay in the city. Yes Grace, the city. Haha. On the way to meeting them, I passed by the State Library. I've always been curious about the sculpture just in front of the lawn.

My guess is that this building was once something else and when it became the state library, it obviously underwent a status-lift. That probably explains why the sculpture shows a partially-sunken Doric order -which could represent the former social insignificance. In contrast to this, a higher order of Ionic columns constitutes the main facade of the State Library.

Below is a photo of the Queen Victoria market. This is the place to go to if you wish to buy fresh meat and vegetables. And if you come just before they close at 2pm, you definitely get very good deals as fishmongers, butchers, and vegetable sellers try to clear their daily stock of fresh produce.

Other than fresh fish, poultry and vegetables, Queen Vic market is also a shopping hub. From asian groceries to souveniers, clothings to wine, you can also find shops selling live animals. I was particularly surprised to see chickens, quaills and ducklings for sale. One placard even reads "Ready to lay eggs".

Alright. This is Brunswick, a surburb adjacent to the city center. Brunswick is a commercial strip dominated by the-most-chic cafes in town! I was walking down the street and was amazed by the ambience of the cafes lining up both sides of the road. I miss really having ice-cream with Felice, high tea with Pdus, and little tea breaks in between studio with Shunjuan.

These are my church buddies, Grace and Gloria. They are also my potential makan-kakis. Haha. When we reached Brunswick, we took the bee's line to a restaurant by the name of Blue Fin, and we had the most delicious tiramisu (served in a champagne glass) and some other chocolate dessert.

And then we walked down the street, window-shopping in an attempt to burn some calories and to empty our tummy for our next dessert -Spanish Donut. Gloria says that the best spanish donuts are served in a small cafe called San Churro in Brunswick. Oh, how very convenient. =)

On display was a chocolate -mixing machine that looks like as if it was churning a fountain out of yummy liquid chocolate.

There it is. The prize of the day. The silver lining in the dark cloud. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The golden-grilled Spanish donuts (or strips, more like it) served with dark chocolate dip. Ooooh, how sinful is that. Haha.

If the forbidden fruit was actually the cocoa fruit, how sad will life be?! God is good, Amen?! Haha.

That sort of concluded the fun-part of my day. The second half of the day was spent in studio labouring and sweating over a site model that is due on Monday. Oh bother. I can't believe I actually miss the laser-cutting machines in NUS.

Today sure has been a chocolatey day. Now it's back to work, work, work, and more work.

A few days ago I commented that God is bringing me into a greener pasture, a land overflowing with milk and honey. Haha, I didn't know chocolate is on the list too. =)

Miss you Felice.

2006-09-01T01:49:00.000+10:00

Thank you Felice, for helping me post these photos =)

Right, so this is the map of Parkville, the surburb that I live in. The horseshoe-shaped land parcel plus the one below it makes up Melbourne University Parkville campus. My apartment is around 800m away from the university.

The pictures below are taken chronologically and progressively on the way to school on foot:

This is a picture of my apartment (on the left). I will update this pic with one showing THE apartment. Straight on, across the road, is where I wait for the tram (if I have to). Most of the time I walk to school.

As I turn (not walking straight for the tram stop), this is the view of the road to the university. "botak" trees lin up the adge of the road, creating a nice silhouette-like images that reminds me of Tim Burton's Nightmare before Christmas. Haha.

There is a small tennis club near my apartment. I've been thinking of joining, but it seems to have a number of classes for the elderly, but not for youths.

On my way to the university, I will pass by two orthodox Catholic churches. Very beautiful Victorian buildings. At night, light eminates through the stained glass and the church shines like a beautiful gem. Parkville gems.

At the traffic junction, halfway through the journey. The houses in Parkville are really of a very nice humane scale -pretty much in antithesis to that in Singapore. The grey apartment on the left is an axample (not an epitome) of modern houses in Melbourne. You'll see a traditional Victorian house later.

Carpark is a serious urban problem in Melbourne. There are no organized parking like that in Singapore. Here, cars are usually parked along the two sides of the road, and sometimes car parking spaces are actually carved out in the middle of the road.

Moving on... There, a traditional Victorian house. If you look closely, the details are quite intricate. The details are parallel to the ornate timber carvings foud on the facades of traditional Malay houses. Fascinating. I wonder if the fact that both Malaysians and Australians descended from the Austranasians have anything to do with this.

Well, we are in Melbourne university now. I usually enter via entrance 12. And the first building you will see is the School of Botany. Haha. Very... er... interesting building.

This is the Union House, the Melbourne University equivalent of Yusof Ishak House -I'd say. There is a membrane structure at the front, giving a sense of arrival. Every Tuesday noon, there will be live bands performing here. Very exciting.

And this is the Faculty of Architecture Administrative building.

At the back of it is the main building. My studio is located on the top floor. The building though seemingly monolithic has an atrium in the middle, and learning spaces are aligned around it. That's the element of surprise of the building. Very amazing quality of daylight. I gotta take a picture of that for you guys to see.

This is the Old Quadrangle.

One of the passages that cuts through the Old Quadrangle. Very nice, right? Very Harry Potter-ish. I won't be surprised if the janitors are actually members of some Wizardry Order. Don't mess around with them lest you want to get thrown into some secret chambers. Haha.

2006-09-01T00:11:00.000+10:00

PATCHWORK

Haven't blogged for a while now. The past few days have been a concoction of many beautiful things and a few nasty ones. Too many and too fragmented, I'm afraid. And I am too tired now to reconstruct those thoughts; rather I'll spell them out here and let them speak as a patchwork of events that either has taken place in my life or residued as thoughts in my mind...

A ninety-year-old elderly woman was actually raped in one of the surburbs at night. Police is setting up caravans along the road and interviewing all vehicles to help bring the investigation up to another level. How sick is that?.

Last week, I got two of my assignments back and I got a H1 and a H2A. And yesterday I scored 95% in one of the group projects! Thank you God, that You bless the work of my hands and the thoughts of my mind.

Two days ago, I met up with a family friend and his wife for lunch. And I must say that was the best dim sum I have ever exposed my tastebuds to! It was a wonderful fellowship over lunch. Praise the Lord.

On a more negative end, ah pui just died. Not many of you know ah pui. He is this cute and overly-obesse hamster I got from one of the pet shops in town for Felice. I bought ah pui simply because the shop owner said that no one will want him because people usually buy the small (young) hamsters. Ah pui was already four months old when I took him home from the pet shop. And now, over a year old or should i say coming to two years of age, he is resting in peace. Poor Felice has actually been crying for two nights. =(

Oh yes, before I forgot... many of you have requested me for photographs. And tonight, I shall honor my promise and take you on a typical journey from my apartment to my faculty through selected snapshots. For all the architecture students, I mean map- and direction- and orientation- suckers out there, I have kindly sketched out a map. It's not to scale, but the journey takes around 2377 foot steps, or simply 800m.

Anyway, I think the silly picture thingy in blogger is not working. Sorry guys, the pictures will have to wait until blogger resolves its own problem.

This is probably the most disorganized writing I have ever pieced together. But having lost sleep for two nights over countless number of submisisons and never-ending readings, I guess I deserve impunity.

"I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. i will advise you and watch over you." - Psalm 32:8 (NLT)

2006-08-29T14:15:00.000+10:00

THE GREATEST BATTLE OF THE DAY

I think I am getting quite assimilated into Melbourne.

I remember my first week alone in Melbourne... I would always climb out of bed sometimes half-an-hour, or even an hour, before the alarm goes off effortlessly. Seriously. But now, having long passed the one-month-mark, I am waking up to a different story.

Just two nights ago, I was conversing with Ernah over MSN and I was telling her how the greatest battle of my everyday now begins first thing in the pre-waking moments of the morning. Right now, even the most irritating Moto ring tone that once was able to wake me up from the dream that I dreamt I was dreaming has faded into nothing more than a soft lullaby. Last week, I was watching this show on TV about a real life story of a girl who is believed to have fallen to her death from a high-rise apartment during one of her sleep-walking episodes. Somebody, anybody, please tell me deep-sleeps will not develop into sleep-walking! Argh.

The first week alone in Melbourne... I survived on a diet of pasta, pasta and more pasta. Well, that was because it was really cheap, and I loathed the idea of braving the morning chill or the afternoon wind to go to the supermarket just to buy some meat and vegetables. But now, I am eating a different diet.

Partly because Melbourne gets pretty depressing after 530pm, I think. Now, I so look forward to cooking. In fact, these days I would cook in the morning before I run off to school. After a hard day of studying in school, you just want to come back to a dinner-prepared table. And since neither my mom nor felice (kapan, yang? kapan? kapan?) is here to cook me up my favourite dishes, I just have to do it myself.

Many of you will know me to be a good cook (felice, please just keep quiet now). But I think my culinary skills are improving. Just last week, I whipped up the most delicious corn-cream soup, pan-fried salmon with mustard djon, beef stew, and my signature dish mapo dofu. wahahah.

By the way, can any blogging-freak out there teach me how to upload photos onto my blog? I've got so many pictures I want to post, and my illiteracy in IT is frustrating me.

Anyway, I am starting to love Melbourne and the friends I am making over here. I think my studio mates are really cool, and my church friends are awesome. Of course with that comes a bucket full of emotions and sentiments for all the friends, my bosom buddies and family that I have temporarily left behind. Even now as I make new friends, I cannot help but subconsciuosly map my friends back in Singapore with the new friends I am making here. I am still trying to find a local "Kim Ming" to go photo-shooting with me; another "Peter" to go coffee-ing with; another "William" or "Yuxun" to makan with, and of course the list just go on and on and on...

But at the end of the day, I simply want to thank God for bringing me to a new place, a greener pasture. A land of promises, overlfowing with milk and honey. A journey of purpose and a life of destiny. And I find great comfort in knowing that what is precious to me is also precious to the Lord. And as I leave my friends, my love and my family behind, I lift them up unto the Lord. And I know in my absence, He watches over them.

Thanks Huiru, for your very annointed words. I remember that you once told us to live every day in a manner worthy of His call. I have hidden that word in my spirit, and I let that play at the back of my mind every morning before I start the day. Today, is indeed the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice, and know that today will end in victory, for we are always more than conquerors in the Lord Jesus Christ.

2006-08-25T14:47:00.000+10:00

CHAPTER TWO

As a kid, I used to fear the dark. I remember when I first came to Singapore, I had to share a room with my grandmother and aunts in a small condominium along Oxley Rise. And I recall with much amusement now how I always try to sleep before everyone else does, because only then can I sleep with the lights still switched on.

I never liked the idea of being engulfed in complete darkness. I remember how scared I was. I would imagine the random visual patterns I saw (as I opened my eyes in the dark whilst vision purple slowly formed on the retina) to be some monsters from the comic strips of Calvin and Hobbes! But of course, that was just the completely sense-less imagination of a nine-year-old after having watched too many a ghost movie. For those of you who grew up in Singapore, I am sure you remember how Channel 8 always air Chinese ghost movies at night, like every other night. There you go, the source of all my irrational fears! But praise the Lord we all grow up, and out of kiddish behaviour .

Anyway, I started a blog some God-forgotten years ago that never go beyond its first posting. I totally know what it means when people say that there is an end in every beginning. Haha. But now that it is resurrected, I really want to put some good use to this blog. I don't think listing the daily activities of my life will make interesting blog topics. I suspect it will only lead to optical dryness, shortened attention span or even premature aging.

However, there is one thing I'd like to do with this blog, and that is to celebrate God in my life. I am a happy man with a good family, a lovely girlfriend, a circle of very reliable friends and a bright future, and that comes from no one but God alone. And as I embark on a new journey through the door that the Lord has so graciously opened for me here in Australia, I want to put some of my thoughts and landmark moments in my life into words. Words that will endure the ephemerality of (my) human memory; words that will speak of encouragement to dryness and life to hopelessness; and words that will testify of the faithfulness and glory of the Lord in my life.

"You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." -Matthew 5:14-16 (NKJV)