Seconds From Disaster

This is the last thing that you want this to happen to your car.

Religions Woes

Today while reading the Straits Times, I saw this article "Religion: The Big Switch". It mainly addressed the issue faced by both parents and their children’s. As children grow up, many of them start to have their own belief and through Internet, books, newspaper and friends, many will be influenced by the various source of information. In the article, it quoted a national census that 80% born a Buddhist will stay as a Buddhist and Christianity had shown an increase of nearly 3% since 1990.



The above table shows the stats of the various Chinese religions in Singapore. It shows that Christian and Buddhist had one of the highest retained rate. Furthermore the article also addressed the issue of parents worrying that their child is unable to perform funeral rites for them. As one of the parent (named Z)(Buddhist) put in, her daughter wanted to convert to Christian but keep asking for her blessing. But Z refused as it would mean that her daughter will be unable to offer her last respect (joss stick) during her funeral rites. When her daughter insists a few more time, Z tell her to do whatever she is happy, so the daughter converted and was baptised.

During Z's mother funeral, Z's daughter refused to hold joss stick or take part in other rituals for her late grandmother instead she "help out" by distributing food and water to her relatives. Z's daughter mentioned that it goes against her belief and religion. During her daughter wedding, the couple refused offering joss stick to the ancestral altar or the Goddess of Mercy and they also refused feng shui master advice on their new home. Now Z (with 3 children) can only hope her youngest daughter would stay as a Buddhist to perform funeral rites for her.

This saddens me very much as each religion needs to be respected. It doesn't mean that by converting to another religion, the respect for other religion can be ill-forgotten. Furthermore, parents are our caregivers since birth; I believe we should respect what they really want when they leave the world which is to help them perform their last rites to help them to another world. It will sad for any parents whose child refused to perform the last rites due to their respective religion and beliefs.

I don't believe that there is such a law that forbids fellow believers to meddle with other religion as I believed that there is a democracy among religions. I respect other religions but please don't force me to accept a religion that I don't believe in. As long as a religion I feel comfortable with, I will not changed coz I believe in it. I encountered a few times when there are some religion worker came to my house trying to spread her beliefs to me. I knew the religion from the book she was holding and I kindly said that I'm sorry that I am not really interested in it. But she kept insisting that I spared her some time to listen to her and encouraged me to come for gathering.

Well to me, she should have some sense that I am not the guy she should try to influence and should go on to try other units. One reason, I believed in what I believed and don't required any changes to my religion (Buddhist). It had served me well and I have utmost respect for my own religion. If u haven't been respecting other religions, maybe is time to start respecting them.

Out

Should I go or should I stay

Well the Global Immersion Program offered by NTU was tempting. My main aim is to either get the GIP or get a big company for my internship that can put a gloss over my resume. Well till the deadline of the GIP application I will be considering my options.

School starts haven't been really good for me, my ulcer is bothering me whenever I talk or eat. It had been a struggled for me and fighting against lethargicness. I shouldn't have work last week loh. But anyway, it is over to say that.

Four days of a long weekend starts from today and time for some recuperation and rest before nx week is the actual start to the semester.

Out

Nightmare over, New Sem, New Start

Previously in one of blog, I have mentioned that "I hope this thing will really go away asap". Well it ended and I am so called freed from it. Don't need to worry this and that, no more seeing them again and don't need to escape as well. Only close friends will know what I am referring about. That about it.

Yesterday was a new start for the new semester. Just one holiday, a lot of things have happened, from changing hairstyle to having a new attitude to striving for the coming semester. Well the first day was a terrible one, can't concentrate on lectures at all and getting distracted. Maybe the "Love Guru" preview at Shaw Lido was already in my mind by then. Well, Love Guru was rated NC16 but for those looking for a storyline movie will be dissapointed as this movie don't really have a storyline at all. It make up with funny jokes and "playing with words" like Intimacy is Into-Me-I-See. This movie provided a all-round laugher throughout the screening of the movie. I also saw Radio DJ Danny Yeo who is sitting behind me watching the preview screening of the movie. It opens on 7 Aug.

This sem shall be a new start, no more runmors, no more crapping of WAGs in class and etc, is time for no distractions with more lecture time and last but no least I have 托离醋海 from the one year of misery.

Cheers