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RELIGION.
Posted Tuesday, 21 April 2015 // 5:31 pm
 Religion [ri-lij-uh n] noun 1. a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.
In short, it is something superior one believes in and follows
devotedly. This is not something I talk about often but somehow I always have
to have this conversation. There's a ton of religion out there and none
perfect. No right or wrong, just faith.
I, personally, am an atheist. My family members or rather my parents are
Taoist. Despite being exposed to it since young, I am not convinced by the
existence of God. I used to thank God for the food we eat because I was told to
do so. I attended a Catholic kindergarten, Christian School Care and went to
church every Sunday for a period of time when I was 9 but none of them rubbed
off on me. When I was 9, I didn't know "Atheist" existed but as I
grow, I realize I am an atheist.
Being religious comes more from the heart than from the brain and I
can't just force myself to believe in something I do not think it exists. I'm rational;
all matter shall be proven scientifically. Though I do not believe, I do not
hate. I respect every religion and their traditions; and have no issues as long
as they don't force it on me.
How I look at religion?
It is something commonly determined by parents. What makes you a
Muslim, Christian, Buddhist or Hindu? The first touch of religion was
influenced by your parents, we were all made to believe and programmed to
believe in the existence of something we cannot see or touch. It has come to a
point where most people practice a religion not because they really believe in
the existence of something more superior than human but because their parents told
them to. You think God exists because someone told you so. This is also
why children typically have the same religion as their parents. Yes, somewhere
in life people may choose to convert but the percentage of it isn't high. If
everyone had a choice to choose their religion without any influences, there'll
be tons of free thinkers. People believe in God mainly because it helps ease the thought of death. Instead of there's nothing after death, people would like to believe there is something after death, there's someone more superior than human to take care of them.
“People, I thought, wanted security. They couldn't bear the idea of death being a big black nothing, couldn't bear the thought of their loved ones not existing, and couldn't even imagine themselves not existing. I finally decided that people believed in an afterlife because they couldn't bear not to.” ― John Green, Looking for Alaska
“What’s your religion?” I asked.
“Buddhist,” the reply came with
no hesitation
“Do you really believe in it?”
“I don’t know. My parents are
Buddhist, so I’m a Buddhist too.”
Do freethinkers have a basis for
morality?
You do not need a religion to be moral. Moral is being humane. You be
nice to everyone because no one deserves to be ill-treated, not because your religion
says so! Barbara Walker notes: "What is moral is simply what does not hurt
others. Kindness . . . sums up everything." You love everyone despite different colours and different sizes because there's no reason to hate, not
because your religion says so. You do not need a religion to tell you what's
right and what's wrong, I do not have a religion and that doesn't mean I'm mean
or evil? Practicing your religion faithfully and done nothing sincerely doesn't
make you a saint. I can say my prayers every night and still diss poor people.
Being religious doesn’t make you a saint.
Why there's suffering if God
exist?
I feel the need to challenge people when they say people suffer because
they did not seek God; I feel offended on behalf of those suffering. People
in Syria, Israel etc. pray to God every freaking single day, did they not seek
God? Do they deserve all these sufferings? Even infants that are too young to
know anything are suffering too. If God exists, why didn't he help them? I am not challenging the religious people out there, I just want to
understand. Help me understand. How can someone whom claimed to love his people
watch them suffer? Countless innocent lives are being taken every day; I just wish they have another day to look at how beautiful the world can actually be.
Why God reject the people he created?
If we are all made by someone superior, shouldn't we all be loved equally? Why religions are against gay people and see them as a disgrace? Any form of love is still love, how are they immoral and disgusting when the one judging is the disgusting one. Being gay is not by choice, just like how you cannot choose who to love. Love just comes naturally and it should be a beautiful thing, not something to be judged about and to be hidden. Yes, gay people defy science in human reproduction but in the 21st century, if we can have designer baby; there's sperm bank and surrogate mother I don't see how human reproduction will be drastically affected. Furthermore, the Earth is already overpopulated. Instead of channeling so much negative energy towards gay people, religion should focus more on child abuse, sexual abuse, race discrimination etc. These people have a choice; they can be counselled and changed for the better. Help them see their sins. Being gay is not a sin, rape is.
Did religion ever stop me from being nice?
No. I started sponsoring a child late last year through World Vision. It is a monthly payment that does wonders to my child and her community. World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, or gender. Despite them being a Christian organisation, I am inclined to sponsor a child. Their mission is to promote:
1. Transformational Development – That is community-based and sustainable, focused especially on the needs of children; 2. Emergency Relief – That assists people afflicted by conflict or disaster; 3. Promotion of Justice – That seeks to change unjust structures affecting the poor among whom we work; 4. Partnership with Churches – To contribute to spiritual and social transformation; 5. Public Awareness – That leads to informed understanding, giving, involvement and prayer; 6. Living out our Christian Values – By life and deed
And they have never once encouraged or mentioned about religion to me. It has always been about the suffering, how I can contribute and how they are helped. Religions will never be a barrier to my kindness for the less fortunate.
With or without the existence of
a god, people can and do still make up their own rules. I believe we are all equal and there is no one greater than you.
World Vision(Singapore) // Debate org(Gay marriage) // Tumblr // Google
THE GAME.
Posted Monday, 13 April 2015 // 3:27 pm
 My body shook, lips trembled Brows twitched and mascara smudged. I thought I could win and I thought I would win. But once again, I lost the game. Why am I always on the losing end? You taught me to play the game; Why not to win the game? Veteran of the game, teach me how to play. Veteran of the game, make me one of you. tumblr A BATTLE WITH FATE.
Posted Thursday, 2 April 2015 // 1:18 pm
A brief history of Lee Kuan Yew, he was born on 16 September
1923 and deceased on 23 March 2015. He was brought up in Singapore and later
attended University in London after World War II. Through his years of studies,
he topped a few times and won a number of prizes. Lee Kuan Yew then became the
first Prime Minster of Singapore in 1959, stepped down and became a Senior
Minister in 1990. He was the Minister Mentor from 2004 to 2011 and served
Tanjong Pagar constituency for 60 years as a Member of Parliament.
When Mr. Lee Kuan Yew took over Singapore, he made English
the common language so trading with the west was made easier. As a man that
never forgets his roots, he mandated bilingualism in schools to keep individual
unique mother tongue roots and cultural identity. Throughout his years of life,
he has written many books since 1969, inspired and touched many people. For
many people, especially non-Singaporean, Lee Kuan Yew is just a great leader
but to Singaporeans, he is more than just a leader. He is the one that changed and loved Singapore; we call him the father of Singapore. Sir Stamford Raffles may be the
one that founded Singapore but Lee Kuan Yew was the one that built Singapore.
Honestly speaking, I'm not much affected by his death but
I'm very much affected by his actions. Every single one of his decisions
affected Singapore, my life and every Singaporean's life. As mentioned in the
book, 100 Inspiring Rafflesians,
1823-2003, by Guan Heng Tan, "Some of these turning points where had
things gone wrong, The Singapore story would have ended differently." Lee
Kuan Yew says, "There were seminal moments. I cannot afford to regret. I
made the best decision I could, with the knowledge I had at the time. “ He
did his best. Many ignorant fools have comments, negative ones, about his
decisions and such but little did they know times were different. Our point of
views and ability to do things are so different from back then. Who knows what
would happen at every turn? Nobody, we all learn from people's mistake. Who or
what could Lee Kuan Yew take as an example or reference? No one and nothing. He
did his best with his knowledge back then and learns from his actions. Points
of views nowadays are all filtered with the mistakes made by historical events,
knowing what would work and what wouldn't. So, don't judge what he knew and felt back then with what you now know and feel, it was so different that even
you might make the same decisions as he did.
When asked about LGBT, he replied it was for Singaporean
society to decide whether or not homosexuality was acceptable, not for the
government and they would not interfere or harass anybody, whether heterosexual
or otherwise. He even asked doctors about homosexuality and was told that it
was caused by a genetic random transmission of genes. Lee Kuan yew wasn't an
atheist; he just doesn't deny or accept the existence of God. For someone that
is so rational, I do not think he will do anything that is unfair or based on
emotions or faith. I may be naive that he did no wrong but we should always
train our mind to see the good and focus less on the bad. Whatever he has done,
I'm grateful.
"What have Lee Kuan Yew done for us?” you asked. Well,
he turned Singapore from a stinky swamp into a green city, pulling us out from
the third world and made our lives a lot more comfortable. The Singapore River
you are looking at now was not like this when Lee Kuan Yew was a kid. The
Singapore River back then was stinky, muddy and filled with trash and waste. It
was not somewhere you would want to take your Instagram photos. Imagine having
to remove every single piece of trash in the river when trash completely covered the riverbed, it was not easy. He had the river cleaned up
because he was determined.
McRitchie Reservoir, Bukit Timah Hill, Chinese Garden and
Bedok Reservoir etc. All these would not have existed if all Lee Kuan Yew
wanted was a rich country. How easy it was to cut down all the trees, clear up
the water and build more properties over it, but he didn't. He didn't want us
to end up like Hong Kong. Despite being a tiny island with high-rise building
everywhere, we have greeneries wrapped around it. All the nature preserved
enables people like me who love adventure to trek, kayak and jog in the parks easily.
Not only it benefits us humans, it benefited the animals and insects too. It is
not Lee Kuan Yew's fault that we do not have mountains and great waves for
surfing in Singapore. He kept what nature gave us.
High-rise building first appeared in Ancient Rome. So, no,
Lee Kuan Yew wasn't the one that invented high-rise building. He was the one
that came up with Housing Development Board (HDB) and introduced housing
ownership to allow every Singaporean to own a house because he saw
home ownership as a path to prosperity. He mentioned, "The pride people
have in their homes prevents our estates from turning into slums, which is the
fate for public housing in other countries." Singapore's ownership rate is
90%, which is the highest in the world. This means that most people will take
responsibility for their own homes and keep the neighbourhood clean and
vibrant. He said, "Home ownership motivates Singaporeans to work hard and
upgrade to better flats for a better quality of living. The HDB story reflects
the social mobility in Singapore." HBD does renovation works such as
painting, now and then to keep our buildings neat and clean. If it wasn't for
HBD, our housing estate will be like Hong Kong's, cramp and dirty. And if it
wasn't for Lee Kuan Yew, there wouldn't be HDB.
Would you wanna be walking alone at 3am in some other
countries like India or Malaysia? Having the constant fear that you would be
raped or mugged anytime is the worst fear one could ever have. In Singapore,
it's safe enough for you to walk alone in the dark at 3am without freaking out.
Not saying we are a crime free country, but as compared to many other
countries, we are one of the safest. I would definitely be locked in after 8pm
if I were in anywhere but Singapore. Such safe and secure country, if Lee Kuan
Yew is not the person we should thank then I do not know who else I should
thank. Yes, those police officers play a part too. But hey! Every country has
their police officers too, why aren't their country as safe as ours? Lee Kuan
Yew was the one who instilled integrity, equality and justice.
Saving the best for last, thanks to Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore
authorised certificates are easily accepted almost worldwide. "This would ensure our children would go on to become trustworthy trustees of our nation," he argued. From education to
passport to driving license, they are all recognised in a lot of places. Being
recognised is a big deal! Not having to retake exams and tests before starting
a new life outside Singapore saves a lot of trouble and made our lives easier.
No visa needed to visit most (170) countries is the best thing one could ever ask
for. All these are due to high standards and anti-corruption. I know
Singapore's education system can be hella stressful and certain licenses are
hard to get but you think about it. If our education system is easy like third
world country where bribery and corruption happens, how much do you think your
examinations certificate worth? Not a penny, they are as good as nothing and
where can you go with that? Nowhere - Imagine your certificates only have worth
in Singapore and instantly turn into trash when you get out of Singapore, in
other words, you're stuck in Singapore forever. Doesn't the idea sucks? And
having to redo your Diplomas/Degree in a more recognised place sucks even more,
it's a total waste of time.
What exactly caused his death wasn't clearly mentioned but
it seems to be pneumonia, which is a lung disease. And why black ribbon was
used as #TributetoLKY ? Choa Chu Kang GRC MP Alex Yam came up with the image wanted it to be a "simple Whatsapp message" with simple and dignified
in the mind. "We honour the founding Prime Minister of Singapore in a
simple, dignified way, that his memory and legacy will live, and to say
#ThankYouLKY," Alex Yam wrote on his Facebook. The image later then went
viral and was put up everywhere, spreading the message Alex Yam intended. About a week after the black ribbon was revealed, a red ribbon followed, served to remember, to pledge and take responsibility for our communities, our homes and our nation. Beginning with #IRemeber and end with #IPledge, Alex Yam wrote on his Facebook, "If you have time, give your time. Even if you don’t, just give a smile to a stranger. " Give what you have in hand; a quote I live by, constantly giving my time and strength to whoever that needs it.
His death brought out the kindness and unity in our country
which was what Lee Kuan Yew aimed to achieve in his early days, harmonious
inter-racial relationship. During the days of mourning, we have seen so many
people from different backgrounds coming together as one and working towards
the same goal. It sure was a touching scene but would this be what he wanted?
He was a very thrifty man and it's also the reason why our currency is now this
strong. He was careful with our money and I'm pretty sure he would have
preferred something small and simple. Did people do it for fame, attention or
pure gratitude? It's hard to tell but I personally feel that sincerity is more
important. A 10 hours' queue means nothing if you're doing it due to trend.
Sincerity comes from the heart, not the actions we acted or the words we spoke.
I just hope everyone did it out of pure gratitude.
They say the more famous you are, more people will love you
and more people will hate you too. Unfortunately, it's true. It's no surprise
that there are people who aren't in favour of Lee Kuan Yew's past decisions and
actions like CPF, ERP, COE, NS etc. Everything happens for a reason, he has his reason and it is ultimately for our own good. They can blame him for anything and
everything and it is unavoidable because no one can please everyone, it is
easier to piss everyone off. As Winston Churchill said, "You have enemies?
Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life."
I might have missed out a lot of his great works but these
are the few I'm really thankful for and I feel that it is important they are
mentioned. Lee Kuan Yew sure did not do this much alone; he led a team, groomed
new leaders and built a clean government. He was a remarkable leader that
speaks his mind and changed many lives. Not forgetting his love for his wife,
it is a relationship goal for every couple.
Everything happens for a reason and Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, you are the reason for Singapore's success. Thank you, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew. In our hearts, you will live forever. For more info about Lee Kuan Yew, click here. Eulogies delivered at Mr LKY's funeral service (Straitstimes) // 3 values from home ownership (Buiness.asiaone) // Lee's info (Leewatch) // 7 unusual facts about LKY (Ibtimes) // LKY wants a quick death (Yahoo) // Story behind the Remembering LKY ribbon (Channel News Asia) // Red version of remembering LKY ribbon (Straitstimes) // 100 Inspiring Rafflesians, 1823-2003 by Guan Heng (Books.google) // Remembering LKY (Todayonline) // Jurong Community LKY Tribute Site |
Joyce. I'm a walking sunshine and I blog about everything and anything under the Sun. And, I might have a slight obsession with Jigsaw puzzles, Snow globes and Stars. twitter // tumblr // instagram mejor que todos.  Achieve.
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