Group Sex: When coming to our schools?

Don't know, but when I came across this two days ago, my immediate reaction was when is something like this coming to Singapore.

Perhaps it is already happening but nobody has yet been caught and so remain private.

Can we reverse this? I think it needs to get worse before we can expect improvement. Public policy can't do much. Individual families have to own this and it is not easy. Vulnerable families are sitting ducks. Religious leaders by and large are morally powerless because they never earned but had inherited their moral mandates.

I think in public we have more people standing with Focus on the Family but in private the picture is probably quite different. Folks who thought like this Hwa Chong student are probably gaining in numbers.

People are going to experiment, we are getting more diversity in relationships and sex. Along the way some of these practices will be discarded because they turned out to be empty and unsatisfying. Just as the hippie movement died off so it is the same here.

True colors of badness is always superior to hypcritical virtue. That is how I sense one camp versus the other. You can redeem the former through grace but the latter will end in condemnation. True virtue is rarer than large diamonds and is crowned with humility. That is how you tell one from the other. Virtue without humility is just hypocrisy and that is why Focus on the Family is so unattractive compared to the Catholic Pope Francis. I thought I read the Catholic church is gathering to discuss such issues soon. The Pope and his confidantes prayed a ton before meeting. I think that is how they get themselves prepared and ready.

Understand the irresistible currents of history.

Update: 9:50am

As a young man I was immensely helped and guided by this book by James Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family.

I think they are wonderful when they are not trying to fight anybody. When they are fighting they become dogmatic and that is a greater danger to them than the people and ideas they are fighting against. They never knew how to fight because they turned into crusaders.

When they are dogmatic, they make the prideful mistake of putting God in a box. Then they become hypocritical from their doctrinal correctness. Good Christian diversity is expunged and growth stopped. Everyone is under pressure to appear to be living by the right doctrine. Form trumps substance and to experienced observers you can see the fake in them.




Update: 4:25pm

I don't know how many sittings I need to finish reading the papers today. Most likely this will be an unfinished task. Anyway I was lucky to come across this contributed by Prof Tommy Koh today.

In his piece, Tommy Koh praised his wife's efforts and success in helping him with his work. The roles they each played in the family and work would be text book perfect for the ideas promoted by Focus on the Family. I don't believe Tommy Koh is a Christian but those ideas are good for anybody's happiness and success. (errata: got a message this morning Oct 9 informing me that Tommy Koh and wife attend his church)

Who is Agatha Tan? All we know is that she is a JC1 student from HCI. Does she happen to have very good friends who are LGBT? Is she LGBT? Therefore that session in school provided an excellent opportunity for her push back? Procedurally it was only proper that she added the necessary self disclosure. But she is only 17 years old more or less.

The problem with this issue is that it is too complex for a public shouting debate as inappropriate as always per indulging in megaphone diplomacy. FoTF was caught like a deer in the headlights and I think they deserve to be whipped for this. They have no business crossing the lines into others territory. Ditto for AWARE in an much earlier episode. FoTF failed to learn from that especially when they crusaded against AWARE teaching sex education in our public schools. How could they have? They were blindsided, they thought it was a war which they (moral) versus AWARE (immoral).

If you are sure that you are right, as Christians the way to do it is to live it and only occasionally with deep humility point out the wrong. Don't seize the pulpit and pontificate. That is the mistake of FoTF, and worse to do that by stealth. That makes you no better from Kong Hee's CrossOver project trying to stealthily convert more nominal tithe paying Christians.

Agatha Tan is one rude young girl. You are not equal to your teachers much less your principal. You presume he has the time to read your lengthy letter. That is a blatant act of disrespect. A pity you are in a top school but not taught the right manners, and I haven't gone into the language and tone of your writing. Someone needs to put her in her place. She is not entitled to be treated as an equal to her principal. Want to be treated as an equal? Regardless of age, earn it first. Similarly FoTF earn your right to speak about such matters first. I had earlier suggested that our religious leaders often inherited but didn't earn their moral mandates. Ditto ministers who thought they had earned the right to scold us publicly. You didn't risk your lives to gain the right to scold us like LKY and his early colleagues had.

Our democracy is at risk if people fail to know and earn their places. It will lose its integrity like we see in many other countries.

Shanmugam: Western media biased toward China

There was a time when you could just read the ST or Zaobao and by and large take their reading of events. That time has past because we have become global and cosmopolitan.

Of course every media report is biased. Shanmugam was stating the obvious.

More than ever with the amazing plethora of choices of news before us people must learn to be VERY clear what their interests are. Most important everyone must understand the gap between what they want and what the government is delivering. The gap will always be there and sometimes it is to be welcomed especially when we trade our narrow self interests for the greater good.

It is in the West interest to make everywhere be like them. Until that happen the West think the world is a dangerous place. At China's end they just want to trade and be left alone. As China gets stronger her ability to say NO also gets bigger. Hong Kong is the litmus test for those who are still not clued in.

Most important we locals must balance the influences around us to our advantage but we regularly see how too many of our "best and brightest" unthinkingly buy what the West offer. We see this among the best and brightest of the young in Hong Kong. We had witnessed it in Gorbachev and even Hu Yaobang. LKY and GKS were once infected with the Fabian philosophy but they recovered quickly.

Ideas are the most useful and also most dangerous thing in the world. A Satanic idea is powering the ISIL.

Now reading ST on my Tab S 10.5

There was absolutely no time to post anything to this blog during the last few days. Planning and committing to certain items for our trip to San Francisco (this will be our fourth) just consumed all my spare time and more.

In between I had called SPH and changed my subscription so that I can now read my papers on my Galaxy Tab S.

Comments on the Google Play Store for the ST Android app was far from flattering. For me it hasn't crashed and runs much better than on my iPad any time.

On the PM's call, sure we ought to always look outwards. What's there to look at here, we are so small. But when there are nagging internal issues, people simply cannot look outwards with ease.

It might have been more effective to remind those who refused to look outward that they put themselves at a disadvantage to those who do. People hate losing to others. With my kids from young, I have taught them to lose strategically. It had worked spectacularly for the older child and should help the younger one be more confident.

HK Protests: The government and Beijing rational response

I have no time to think through this more deeply but I thought waiting out the protesters is the most rational and reasonable move the HK government and Beijing have done.

I hope this doesn't end with blood in the streets. My earlier post on this subject was a knee jerk reaction and perhaps my first post not written for myself or family. I haven't checked for a very long time but I recall this blog do get visitors from HK.

Like I said before, these young people have made their point and they better start thinking when to back down and go back to their studies and jobs. You can only send the strongest message to Beijing but you cannot win.

I hope and pray that the silent majority of Hong Kong will organize and tell the protesters to give up. Really, if you are so unhappy about Hong Kong's future, go make a future elsewhere. Understand that the Hong Kong that you want isn't Hong Kong but China. To remake China you have to think in terms of centuries but these kids think their lives is as long as eternity. The time frame and frame of mind is wrong.

Hong Kong is the result of China and not the other way round. A different Hong Kong can come only from a different China and for now that's is impossible.

But all is not lost. I believe these protests is privately shaping the conversation between leaders in Beijing. If Beijing would only take the small step of letting them know they have heard the message. This is the cue for the silent majority of Hongkongers to tell the protesters to stand down and go home.

A lout's disservice to the British community

We had Anton Casey and now another lout from his country is about to join Anton soon. I wouldn't bother to check but I wonder what the British community is buzzing about this oaf on and off line.

I hope the appeal judge up his sentence. Have fun in jail! Meanwhile sorry about losing your job. It was all your own doing. You should just go back to the UK and never come back. Sorry again if you can't get a job back home.



And what is the purpose of giving this idiot publicity? To discourage other like minded ones from the UK.

Oops! I forgot to mention his name: JAMES GEORGE PALIN.

Wifey's new sword

Wifey just came home with a sword! I would prefer a light sabre but such things don't exist yet if ever.

The blade I was told is 30 inches long. Wielding it I think it weights about a tennis racquet. It is also shiny but beyond that I know nothing more since we aren't supposed to touch it. I wonder if it would rust.

Now when can we see this thing in action?

Hong Kong: When to run and save your lives

I saw this off my phone yesterday but it wasn't the first of many reminders that Beijing will be absolutely uncompromising. Beijing will pay any price for Hong Kong to behave because if HK doesn't China's leaders fear the whole nation would become unstable. Never mind that this will set back to square one all effort invested in wooing Taiwan to return. To Beijing that is only a question of when, the how isn't important. Beijing assumes in good time China will be irresistible. They seems intoxicated by this fallacy.

So what's the point for pointing out the obvious. The reason is the safety of the students.

Beijing will not hesitate to repeat the 1989 incident if it proves necessary. The question is how and when it might happen. I think the moment they sack CY Leung, those who cherish their lives should quickly run home. You have made your point, there is no point getting shot by the para military police. HK police will not fire on Hong Kong students but the Chinese troops will not hesitate.

Beijing doesn't even bother to try very hard to resolve the stand off. It's laziness is appalling. Therefore you can conclude that Xi Jinping may even be able to make political capital out of his opponents in a crack down on Hong Kong.

At the very least, CY Leung should have enough tactical sense to start writing letters to the parents of these students to persuade them to bring their kids home.

The trouble with Hong Kong leaders is they are not leaders but mere managers. To Hongkongers they could never step up to the plate and lead, neither could they impress Beijing.

As for the tycoons they will not try to do their part to save the place. They are only interested in safeguarding their wealth. Some of this wealth would be lost to the mainlanders. KS Li was a canary in the coal mine for those who were watching and understanding the oracles.