Great to hear from Lee Kuen, our ever so quiet brilliant classmate

Dear Buddies,

 

I am glad that we are getting some real heavy duty stuff from Juan Ngoh and Lee Kuen to complement the barrage of jokes and laughter from Way Seng, Bala etc.

 

When I started the BPES blog with Ai Lay, I had hoped that all of us can contribute and share our life experiences, ups and downs, success and failures, and even health problems and how we overcome them. Then it would engage more people to contribute to this little community through our blog as a social networking site. Then some people said we should not talk about politics or religion etc and our weekly emails, and blog became nothing more than a depository of jokes (many of which are very humorous , original and enlightening, thanks to Way Seng) We also like our retired mentors and teachers, like Mr Kanda and Mr Chow to tell us what we were like when we were kampong kids struggling to grow up and learn as much as we can. Hopefully this is will refresh their memories (and ours) and we record our appreciation and thanks to all that they have done for us.

 

Janet is passionate about her faith and wants to share with everyone and obviously Lee Kuen has her spiritual moments and experiences and now shares her perspective.

 

Like many Christians, I love God but I also detests the pollution and contamination of God's nature and teaching by humans. It is usually the over zealous humans that alter Christianity, Buddhism and many other religions to the state it is in today. But we can share our own perspectives respecting someone else's beliefs, even if the person is an atheist.

 

I believe faith is a very personal and experiential thing, much like taste and politics, and we need to learn to understand more about ourselves and others through their religions and beliefs. I first encountered near death experience at a tender age (Pri 6) when I went thru general anesthesia for my appendicitis operation. The feeling of your life rewinding and being played back to you and the uncertainty of your brains, soul and senses shut off for that hour or 2, and not knowing if you will ever come back conscious again can be a very religious experience indeed. Then the passing of our loved ones and parents also have impact on our view of life and death and the purpose of living. I lost my both my parents much earlier in life that most of you all because they were in their 40s and 50s when I was born.

 

I would like to encourage all of you to pen and write your thoughts, feelings, feedback, and even the feeling of ecstasy through running and marathons (like Guan Huat). We now have among us, doctors, surgeons, housewives, mothers, grandmothers, retirees, businessmen, engineers, people whom we just call friends who can keep each other company and share history and help each other grow old together. This platform is the glue for it.

 

Last but not least, we need to continue to explore and grow in our knowledge of IT, and in this respect I would like to invite all of you to sign up on facebook http://www.facebook.com and add each one another to share pictures of your family etc, that we should all get to know better before we start to attend 4 weddings and a funeral.  It just takes your email and a password to get started.  The same and shorter form of communication and staying in touch is via the sms-like twitter; http://www.twitter.com

 

And I just learnt that a faster way to post lots of pictures quickly to our blog is to send the pictures (<10Mb total) to sienchi1.bpes@blogger.com and put the title in the subject line and remove any unwanted text and add any comments or text to the body of the email. Try it and send in all the old pictures you found in your cupboards.

 

God bless everyone and have a good weekend.

 

 

 

Loh Sien Chi

 

 

 

PS, The next scheduled gathering, get together shall be at my place at 14 Greenridge Crescent, and I will need the help of Janet and Ai Lay once again to decide on a suitable date for everyone, and for Mr & Mrs Kanda and Mr Chow, & other teachers to come.

 

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Dear BPES teachers and friends,
 
After having read the messages which Janet wrote, it has spurred me spiritually and I would like to share with you all something about the Spiritual Truth.  There is only one Universal Law of Truth regardless of whatever religions we belong to.  Most of us are quite skeptical of or unwilling to believe about the existence of Soul or Spirit. 
 
Names of Spiritual Truth given by Sages:-
Lao-Tze                -- Valley Spirit
Confucius/Mencius  -- Conscience
Buddha                 -- Buddha Nature/Bodhi Mind
Jesus Christ           -- Holy Spirit
Muhammad            -- Soul
 
The names of Spiritual Truth used by Sages may differ, yet the "Way" to God is essentially one and the same for all.
Soul-Searching is a term used to describe a deep examination of one's mind and conscience.
 
The Trinity of Man: Spirit, Mind and Physical Body
  
According to a book named 'THE GREAT TAO AND YOU' , in it had mentioned that religions, from ancient to modern times, which stem from the teachings of Philosophers and Sages such as Lao-Tze, Confucius, Mencius, Buddha, Jesus Christ and Muhammad, act as Guilding Light to inspire men towards moral awareness and the search for a Truth within themselves. 
 
POEM - SPIRITUAL TRUTH
 
Supreme and divine
Purify the mind
Ignite the discovery
Raise the reality
Illuminate the wisdom
Tingle the freedom
Uniform the love
Absolute the mirth
Laurel the worth
 
Transform the scorn
Repair the torn
Upright the wrong
Tender the poor
Harmonise the world!
 
Have a nice weekend!
 
Regards,
Lee Kuen
 

RECALL NOTICE: The Maker of all human beings (GOD) is recalling all units manufactured, regardless of make or year, due to a serious defect in the primary and central component of the heart.. This is due to a malfunction in the original prototype unit's code named Adam and Eve, resulting in the reproduction of the same defect in all subsequent units. This defect has been technically termed "Sub-sequential Internal Non-morality," or more commonly known as S.I.N., as it is primarily expressed. Some of the symptoms include: 1. Loss of direction 2. Foul vocal emissions 3. Amnesia of origin 4. Lack of peace and joy 5. Selfish or violent behavior 6. Depression or confusion in the mental component 7. Fearfulness 8. Idolatry 9. Rebellion The Manufacturer, who is neither liable nor at fault for this defect, is providing factory-authorized repair and service free of charge to correct this defect. The Repair Technician, JESUS , has most generously offered to bear the entire burden of the staggering cost of these repairs. There is no additional fee required. The number to call for repair in all areas is: P-R-A-Y-E-R . Once connected, please upload your burden of SIN through the REPENTANCE procedure... Next, download ATONEMENT from the Repair Technician, Jesus , into the heart component. No matter how big or small the SIN defect is, Jesus will replace it with: 1. Love 2. Joy 3.. Peace 4. Patience 5. Kindness 6. Goodness 7. Faithfulness 8. Gentleness 9. Self control Please see the operating manual, the B.I.B.L.E. (Believers' Instructions Before Leaving Earth) for further details on the use of these fixes.   WARNING: Continuing to operate the human being unit without correction voids any manufacturer warranties, exposing the unit to dangers and problems too numerous to list and will result in the human unit being permanently impounded. For free emergency service, call on Jesus .   DANGER: The human being units not responding to this recall action will have to be scrapped in the furnace. The SIN defect will not be permitted to enter Heaven so as to prevent contamination of that facility. Thank you for your attention! - GOD P.S. Please assist where possible by notifying others of this important recall notice, and you may contact the Father any time by 'Knee mail'. Because He Lives!

Growing Old

A wish to spend golden years here

 

Most people in survey say they want to grow old in S'pore, are satisfied with life and health

 

By CHEN HUIFEN  

 

GERARD Ee almost emigrated to Vancouver when he was in his late 20s. He was tempted by 'distractions' such as owning a beautiful property at a fraction of the price here and having two cars that cost less than one COE in Singapore.

 

'My wife and I carried on this little antic of ours, dreaming about it,' says Mr Ee, chairman of the Council for Third Age (C3A), an independent body that promotes ageing. 'But when we sat down and planned for ourselves what is it that we want, 10 years, 20 years down the road, what is important to us, we decided to stay put.'

 

For Mr Ee, his networks, friends and family, and being recognised in a country where he does not have to start from scratch to prove himself again, pulled him back. But his story reflects one of the major findings of a recent survey commissioned by C3A.

 

Despite the rising cost of living here, 74 per cent of respondents said they want to grow old in Singapore - a wish that grew with age, up to 65. Beyond that, people seemed more willing to move - perhaps due to affordability issues. The wish to retire in another country was also found to be greater among those with higher incomes and education levels.

 

On another front - and much to the surprise of C3A - people are becoming aware of the prospect of ageing, and are doing things to prepare for it. This is a positive sign, as the better prepared a person is, the more likely they will feel fulfilled in their golden years.

 

Preparation can take the form of financial planning, regular exercise, a balanced diet, maintaining a good relationship with their family and keeping a strong social network.

 

Among those who did all of these things, 81 per cent expressed satisfaction with life and 95 per cent said they are pleased with their personal health status.

 

The fewer of the activities they are involved in, the less satisfied they were. Of those who did none of the activities listed, only 64 per cent said they were contented with their life and 75 per cent were satisfied with their personal health.

 

The results were culled from respondents below the age of 50. More than 70 per cent of them said yes to maintaining a balanced diet, good relationships and social engagement. But only 60 per cent said they exercise regularly, and just 51 per cent engage in some form of financial planning.

 

'People are at least getting certain elements of it (ageing well) right,' says Mr Ee. 'Of course, from C3A's perspective, we would like to see the percentage for financial planning increase quite somewhat. But the fact that they included a balanced diet and exercise regularly shows there is a growing trend - or at least we hope so - that people are beginning to take responsibility for their lives.'

 

Those who are engaged in social networks and family bonding tended to have a better sense of well being. While Mr Ee is encouraged, C3A plans to do more on the financial planning side, 'because really, at the end of the day, if you don't have savings, a lot of other things are not going to turn out well'.

 

C3A is working with financial institutions to come up with financial literacy initiatives for a wide range of people. The focus will be on how to stretch the dollar, rather than how to invest, says C3A chief executive Henry Quake.

 

The survey findings were recorded in the 2008 Study on Public Perception and Attitudes towards Ageing and Seniors. The sample size was selected from the National Database of Dwellings maintained by the Department of Statistics. About 2,000 people were interviewed at their homes. Focus group discussions were also conducted as part of the study.

 

More than 50 per cent of respondents said they will work past retirement age. The perceived value of seniors was also high, with 91 per cent of those aged 50 and under saying seniors have valuable life experience to share.

 

Seniors, however, are less inclined to think positively about themselves. Only 60 per cent of them agreed that seniors are active, while 56 per cent said seniors are not weak and ill.

 

Generally, the survey also found that people want to build strong inter-generational relationships and are willing to care for seniors in the family.