The New Wine in Laura Munson's testimony

I had seen this story earlier but chose to skip it. Then this morning my sis recommended it on her wall and I decided to check it out. What a gift and I am glad I didn't notice it when it was at the peak of its popularity a few years back. I wasn't ready yet to understand it as I am able now.

The story is republished by The Real Singapore which first appeared in the NYT.

Of course (Only I understand why I said that) I had to explore the edges of this story and I found many references that this was non-religious. Right! New Wine of the Gospel has that character too. Therefore Jesus continue to ask us, "Who do you think I am?"

It took me a few years to understand and be ready to send off my Day 40 thoughts from Rick Warren book, "The Purpose Driven Life"

We are pattern seeking creatures and that is always how we read meaning and purpose into our lives. Once a while and I suppose many people never get to see a life's pattern that is too imaginative or unexpected for them to conceive, the Gospel has that character. The risen Lord had to explain it all to them. He gave them the macro perspective explaining from the old scriptures what must come and why, they will need to explain to others later etc., At the personal level we have many examples but one of the foremost story must be Paul of Tarsus - The road to Damascus changed everything for him. It upended the planned and predictable story of his life (we call it the career path in our times) up till then and a new and incredible story took its place with a new and opposite direction from where he was heading.

This is not a confession blog as it is too public. I will only make it clearest to myself. This story from the NYT dovetails beautifully to the Day 40 I eventually sent off. Laura Munson story is in the style of the Gospel story of the Prodigal Son, which I had used for my Day 40 submission. Everything became clearer and simpler to me afterward. I could from that point onward see how evil and uncaring it was for Christians to be homophobic towards the gays. I think homosexuality is wrong but so is the rampant fornication and adultery among Christians. We don't have the right to judge because we are no better but all of us should ask to stand beside the Father for the prodigal son to return. Laura Munson (I am so glad it is a woman and not a man playing this role) was the image of the Father to the prodigal son. That son's role was played by her husband.

Rahab was a prostitute and Bethseba committed adultery with David. Both were ancestors of Jesus. So much for a pure line. This perplexing New Wine that is always turning our notions upside down.

There will be the time to judge, and that is not now. There will be a time to love actively and that's in many instances not now too depending on the environment and opportunities where you live but there is almost always the need to stand with the Father to learn from him and painfully wait.

If you have not learned how to wait, I doubt you know how to love. Love is patient and kind, it does not insist on its own way...

Being patient means you wait alright. For too many people now is always the best time. They just can't wait and they don't understand. Just like the MDA can't wait and also don't understand. They just happen to be the latest silly example. Their detractors also suffer from the same condition but have the benefit of justly reacting.  Who would have thought that Laura Munson's story held lessons for first class public policy making too, but I am asking way too much from our public servants. Pastors often fall as short on their calling too. That's life. Well, just to remind myself how unjustified such men and women placed in positions that have great impact of our lives should not think too much of their abilities and contributions.

MDA fiasco: MSM made to look its worst

The MDA is not going to touch the producers and bloggers of socio-political sites for a while. Putting aside your fears, it's time to call this the MDA fiasco. You can't get the MDA or government to admit that they have botched this that's how you must now call the whole episode.

It's really easy. These the the moments the government shot its own foot and pressed the MSM that it is their national duty to make them look good. These are the times when the MSM look their worst but unfortunately for them too many readers can't tell the guises MSM come to us in. Such readers forget that they need to develop the skill to discriminate even more precisely reading the foreign media. Every media has its agenda!

This is now proven to be solid science. Nobody is capable of reporting the news as it actually is. That's beyond human capabilities. All of us interpret every visual, auditory or sensory stimuli. We have been proven beyond the shadow of a doubt  to be made this way. If you want to record an event impartially, take with you your recording equipment to the event but don't view it afterward (what's the point then?), and that would be impartial.

The government in a light touch mode basically believe it can guide and influence the news in their favor. When they lose faith in that, they regulate. All governments are addicted to regulation like an alcoholic to liquor. That is how you must strategise and deal with them. They will use their power unless there are constraints. Making the media independent does not solve the problem. It will definitely fall under some other  hands that is out of our reach. What we should aim for is not independence but diversity and equality. People must be open and declare their agenda and so all news can be evaluated correctly. This is how I feel our media landscape should evolve. In the print based and capital intensive broadcast world we couldn't do this but the Internet delivers to us new possibilities. Why be so stupid not to take advantage of them? But when you extend the old regime regulations into the new, you deny yourselves the new opportunities.

Unlike many netizens who had created an uproar over this issue, I never worry because I know pouring new wine into old wineskins would only cause it to burst. Instead I worry about the admin service becoming insular, which history tell us only outsiders will notice and must warn them. I worry about the government not going faster with greater accountability and transparency. Well, it helps if they come across as stupid sometimes because the path to more accountability and transparency is paradoxically for them to be less cocky. Meanwhile there would be many more opportunities for them to discover how out of touch they are but I can't tell when, where and how the next bomb is blowing up.

Update: 4:10pm

This is just one of many examples out there what the stupidity of MDA has landed us with. All the uncalled for negative publicity we are getting. Your colleagues at EDB facing investors would be asked some incredible questions what on earth were we doing? You don't need us to scold you. Your colleagues in other departments can be counted to do that and many would just be laughing at you behind your backs.

The leaders at MDA and MICA clueless as they are couldn't recognize what a hornet's nest look like and duly went to hit it. What do we gain from all these? At least restrictions of selling chewing gum had local benefits. I can laugh about it with my foreign friends. This one? I told them some of our elite admin officers were just idiotic. Of course the minister has to take the blame for allowing their stupidity to be paraded outside their offices.

Talking Point: Yes 73%, No 27%

The program started with Yes and No divided down the middle but as program wears on Yes kept getting more support until we have this at closing. This is really what you want to know. You listen to TCJ, he was just saying the same thing in various permutations. How could he not lose ground and support?

The government can't turn back the clock. They could only minimize their losses, but Singaporeans should bear in mind that we are also losers with them too.

I had blamed LHL's government for being out of touch with the Pop. White Paper. How could I have let off the admins service who run the machinery to produce policy options for the PM and his ministers? I think we really need to kick asses in the admin service too. I started to notice how out of touch they were when their chief Peter Ong made some of the dumbest remarks for ST.

It's very sad when erstwhile smart people do not know that they have lost it. Don't forget that at the end of the Qing dynasty, many high ranked officials were very smart people too but they lost it.

Admin officers must make policies for real people and not for an imaginary wished for population. If they don't bother to spend time and heart to know us, I think we should replace them. Why keep them when we can't use them? They could start with the chairman and CEO of MDA for this stinking piece of regulation they have offered us.

Update: 11:25pm

Fools try to regulate the Internet. The sagacious regulator guide and influence it. Even enlightened parents know. Why do we pay them so much to get a big F from them. Such incompetence.

Update: June 5, 7:00am

See the programme on YouTube. See how TCJ valiantly tried to defend the government's position by repeating the same lyrics to different tunes. They know they can't guide or influence us, come on, they have no street cred here. It's all damage control.

Frail LKY

I assume they took many shots and strain to put out only the very best ones of the great man. But look at how frail he looks. You think he could still give you that unblinking stare famous for sending a chill down people's spine? The fire is as good as gone. If it is still there it is all just mental energy. Eventually our bodies become traps and our spirit can only seek its eventual release.

Update: June 16

He looked much better in this photo by CNA

Update: June 19

Poignant read. Beyond family and friends, those who only love him are blind; those who hate him are being foolish and most of us have a love-hate relationship with him.

Ewok TCJ vs Jedi Knight Bertha

I spotted this before before the Talking Point program tonight. It must be very long ago I last caught the program, but the buzz around the inane new licensing measures has brought me to sit in front of the telly. But I am not discussing the program here. I want to pen my impression of this picture.

My impression is Bertha was very clear about the issues and what she wants. The government sent TCJ because he is the best guy for them to lose with their dignity intact. How I wished he wouldn't accept the Star Wars chessboard. What a huge concession from a minister, and what more of conceding with playing Ewok. His finesse came from skirting around how he toyed with being Darth Vader but of course he couldn't take on that role. He also knew he can't bring the wisdom of Yoda to the program. He could have pushed for a different chessboard. Keep the scifi theme but say will appear as Captain Picard in Star Trek. Since the Pop. White Paper, the government have not got its ship in shape. Very disappointing.

Which Notebook for the daughter

The younger one had scoured through the Asus product guide and selected this one. I thought she has chosen well. Let's look at what the other makers offer first before deciding.

Must remember take a photo of her old 5 or perhaps 6 years old Desktop running XP. Next year Microsoft will stop supporting that OS.

TCJ to replace MDA CEO tonight on Talking Point

I had withheld writing about MDA CEO going in front of the TV cameras tonight. For a while I thought her minister was throwing her under the bus. Now I think her admin service bosses have somehow managed to save her.

Looks very bad on Yaacob that Tan Chuan-Jin is fronting this one. But we all learn and start from somewhere but at millions of dollars for you to learn when most of us would have gotten the sack or demoted? I am not so sure.

I think our top civil servants have become insular. No wonder they are so out of touch and making dumb mistakes. They have not learned from the fiasco of the Pop. White Paper.







Update: 5:55am

Out of touch civil service leaders living life in the stratosphere trying to run our lives. What is the use if you are so smart but clueless about us?