A Tale of Two Christians

I became a Christian in Secondary School when someone offered me the "free gift of Jesus Christ". I told my parents and all hell broke loose. My dad was dead set against it. We fought bitterly and I thought I was escaping to Christian nirvana when I left for Australia.

Prior to that, I had met A in a local church. He was a dynamic chap who seemed to be totally "empowered" by God and I wanted to learn from him. He was one of these Charismatics who believed that when the Holy Spirit filled you, you would be gifted with the ability to speak in foreign tongues, heal the sick, cast out demons, prophesy about the future, etc, as the New Testament apparently promised. I was very impressed and we ended up sharing a room in Sydney.

Which turned into two years of hell. We soon realised we didn't click and, as I was rather meek then, he became more and more domineering. The rest of the household consisted of the more traditional hymn-singing Protestants. A despised them and refused to join them in fellowship.

A attended a different church called Christian Life Centre and, in the following year, some of the church members formed "The Community of the Lamb", which consisted 4 households - 3 Aussie and 1 Asian. As I was still thirsting for spiritual knowledge and power, I decided to join them - on condition I did not share a room with A. When I returned from the hols, I found they had moved all my things into A's room and once again he had taken the window seat.

Within this household was a chap called B. He seemed to be in a perpetual state of depression, always moaning about something or other. He got out of bed around lunch time and missed lectures and tutorials. Yet he was was able to do well in exams just by looking at his friends' notes. Obviously a brilliant mind, despite his dejected appearance. B seemed to be the exact opposite of A.

While A was always grooming and preening himself and charming the girls with his guitar and dynamic Christian "leadership", B was agonising over the millions of lost souls marching daily into hell to burn for eternity. He would read the Bible in Malay, preparing for his inevitable return to the mission field in Malaysia. He would psych himself for detention under the Internal Security Act for sharing the Gospel with Muslims. A and B went to the same church, listened to the same sermons, read the same Bible, believed in the same doctrines, spoke and sang in tongues, etc etc - yet were poles apart!

We did the weekly shopping early in the morning and since B was always getting up late, the bananas would be gone by the time he stumbled into the kitchen. I suggested rationing the bananas but A immediately said no, it had to be first come, first served. I was such a wimp I didn't say anything more. But I knew things weren't right and, one day, confronted A with the Bible. His reply was a classic and something I will remember till the day I die.

He quoted 2 Corinthians 3: The letter kills but the Spirit gives life!

Meaning that the Bible no longer had authority over him as he was now filled and guided by the Holy Spirit! Meaning he could do no wrong!

I was stunned, struck absolutely dumb and had all the wind knocked out of me. How do you respond to a claim like that? It's Charismania taken to its logical conclusion - why bother with the Bible once you have the Holy Spirit which Jesus had promised as his replacement? You have become God!

That must have been the start of my disillusionment with Christianity. Today I am no longer a Christian and most churches have stopped promoting the baptism of the Holy Spirit as evidenced by speaking in tongues. A is in Singapore, probably practising a safe, easy, middle-class Christianity. B is in the bush somewhere, unmarried I heard, and ministering to the Orang Asli (aborigines), faithfully bringing them to Christ.

Guess which Christian I respect more?

6/4

I have a copy of the Far Eastern Economic Review dated 15 June 1989 from my student days in Sydney. Bold white lettering on a black cover declares Rape of Peking. A large splotch of red signifies blood spilt. I kept the copy to remind myself of a remarkable event in history 20 years ago.

I was hanging out with some friends from Hongkong and Guangzhou at the time the news reached us. Only a few days before, kids were flying kites in Tiananmen in Beijing and there was happy talk about a new political openness in China. All of a sudden students around me were bursting into tears and shoving Chinese newspapers in my face. I could not read a word and felt secretly ashamed. These students were sick with fear and didn't know if they could ever go home! There was so much uncertainty.

Famous picture of a naive kid standing in front of tanks.

The following days I was glued to the radio at the office where I was doing my apprenticeship. There was news about tank battles between various army units on the outskirts of Beijing. China seemed to be on the verge of breaking up!

I had sided with the "pro-democracy" students naturally. After all, who doesn't want to fight corruption, implement constitutional rights, etc etc etc? But what did we expect the Chinese government to do? Hand over power to the students? A collapse of law and order would have led to chaos, with regional warlords grabbing power, distribution networks breaking down and thousands dying from starvation or violence. And the neo-colonial vultures would be swooping in to tear China into little controllable chunks.

Injured soldiers or policemen. [chinatoday.com]

Look at China today. After years of trying to "improve" China's behaviour, the West has gone bankrupt while China is on top of the world. What a unexpected turn of fortune. Even the USSR has disintegrated. Goes to show that China's decision to move cautiously has been right all along.



Tiananmen today. [chinasmack.com]




Olympic fireworks over TAM. [en.beijing2008.cn]

Bravo, China!

Don't Kill That Caterpillar!

Know those lime plants that are so popular during Chinese New Year? Well, they are a favourite with caterpillars too. When I was a kid, I used to look out for these little critters and kill them off for chewing up my mom's limes. I look back with regret because they would have eventually become beautiful butterflies.

When I got a bit older and wiser, I collected the caterpillars in bottles and fed them with lime leaves until the larvae morphed into pupae and later emerged as beautiful flying insects. I don't think anything comes closer to perfection than a newly-born butterfly.





















[Image by LC Goh.]

Remember that song by Joni Mitchell called Big Yellow Taxi? Here's part of the lyrics:

They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique
And a swinging hot spot

They took all the trees
Put em in a tree museum
And they charged the people
A dollar and a half just to see em

Hey farmer farmer
Put away that DDT now
Give me spots on my apples
But leave me the birds and the bees
Please!

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved paradise
To put up a parking lot

They say that what man does not understand, man destroys. Ain't that the truth? We take paradise and turn it into a parking lot - for our convenience. And then worry about pollution and getting fat.

By paving every inch of ground, rain water runs straight into drains resulting in flash floods and massive traffic jams. Aren't we too clever for our own good?

When we see a field full of lalang grass, we worry about snakes and mosquitoes. Again we get it cleared and the rain washes the top soil away turning the land barren. I recently watched a documentary about rich black soil in northeast China. Apparently the soil is actually dead grass! So maybe we should just leave that lalang alone to rejuvenate the land!

Trees and vegetation hold a lot of carbon. They call the Amazon forest a giant "carbon sink". When jungles are cleared, the carbon is released into the air, causing global warming. The carbon is also absorbed by the seas, turning them acidic and killing off the coral. Our oceans are slowly becoming underwater deserts and garbage dumps!

These days, everybody is running around trying to reduce their "carbon footprint"! Well, one sure way to do that is to plant a tree! Why don't we go out and do just that? Instead of chopping everything down in the name of civilisation? The leaves will also filter out a lot of the dust from our polluted air and help our over-worked lungs.

It's really time we stopped treating nature as our enemy!

And I should go back to rearing those wonderful butterflies.

The Fairer Sex

Once upon a time, when I was a mere laddie and tv was black-and-white, there was this almost-typical story about some peasant Chinese girl having to borrow money to save an ailing dad. She had to sign a contract she barely understood and, as a result, got trapped into slavery. I was young and innocent and I told myself that when I grew up I would use my money to save these girls, or some silly nonsense like that.

I'm a little odd in that way. Maybe it's because I don't have a sister. I often preferred chatting with women rather than go hang out with the boys. I found boys boring. Girls are more stimulating. (Heehee!) Maybe opposites attract. Maybe I found guys threatening as we are always competing over something. Maybe girls are more forgiving of my shortcomings.

Girls always give you things to eat. Girls always have things like toothpicks, tissue paper and nail-clippers handy. Girls think "Isn't he pitiful? Better comfort him," and I end up getting freebies. (Hahaha!)

I'm not gay, in case you are wondering. Once I wept for a week over some girl after attending her wedding dinner!

When I visited Shenzhen, someone took me to these "barber" shops where there were rows and rows of girls sitting there waiting for clients. I felt so sorry for them I could not look them in the eyes. So I looked up at the ceiling! I must have been the oddest guy they have ever seen!

Another time, I found myself alone in the bedroom of a young lady, also in Shenzhen. She said I could look at her CD collection. To be honest, it was totally intoxicating. If she had stood at the doorway, I wouldn't have had the strength to get pass her. But she didn't. And I stepped out. Today she is married to a German and we are the best of friends.

I saw both my sons coming into this world. I cut the umbilical cord for my first son and got blood all over my clothes. I saw the blood pouring out like a waterfall. Call me mystical if you like, but to me the woman's private area is a sacred place. It's the doorway between two worlds. I believe there is a long line of babies queuing up in heaven to get into this world through that doorway. So I prefer not to mess about with it.

I wasn't thinking about moms when I wrote this, but it's relevant. So Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there!

[From a young lady in Zhangjiagang (9 May 2009):

to be honest, i sometimes feel it is difficult to find a man who respects women, so your post is a refreshing read :) thanks!]

[From a gentleman in Kuala Lumpur (9 May 2009):

Good article - your writings show earnestness, mostly joy. That's important - enjoying what you do.]

[From a young lady in Jakarta (10 May 2009):

I love your blog about Mother's Day! especially what you wrote about how you see the woman's private area as a doorway of two worlds....that's the coolest words I've ever read or hear from a MAN! ^___^
Tell you the truth...its difficult nowadays to find a man who can respect a woman the way you do! Most of them only see a woman as a wife who has to cook, deliver baby, take are the kids, do laundry, ironing, and other stuff that most housewives do!
Very very few (or perhaps only YOU?) who could respect women like that, I admire your thought ^___^
I wished my husband could be like you a bit...hahahaha!! *joking!*]

Reversal of Roles

Back in 1988, an American guy called David Henry Hwang (probably a long lost cousin of mine, hehe!) produced a play called M. Butterfly, based on the true story of a French diplomat (Bernard Boursicot) who fell in love with a Chinese opera singer (Shi Pei-Pu) only to discover 20 years later that the latter was a man!

And that seems to be a delusion the entire western world has been indulging in for a long time - the idea that the East is coy and submissive, and therefore feminine, while the West is brash and aggressive, and therefore masculine. Well, the mirage is fading and the roles reversing even as I write.

If you ask me, the process started during the Second World War when the Yanks had their Asian baptism of fire fighting the ferocious Japanese who contested every inch of ground with banzai and kamikaze attacks.

A few years later, lightly-armed Chinese troops pushed American forces half-way down the Korean peninsula, resulting in the longest retreat in US military history.

The final blow came when the US army was kicked out of Vietnam after losing the longest war they had ever fought. This is after a merciless genocidal campaign to bomb Vietnam "back to the stone age".

By the end of the Vietnam War, the U.S. military had dropped more than 7 million tons of bombs-- more than twice the total tonnage dropped on Europe and Asia during all of World War 2--on a country roughly the size of New Mexico. This is almost one 500 pound bomb for every man, woman, and child in the country. Twenty million bomb craters are all over Vietnam. (http://rwor.org/)

Have a look at this image from Google Earth. This is just one area in Laos. Each point represents one US air attack, meaning 20 to 40 bombs. The stacks represent multiple attacks.

The US often used B52s ...

and napalm.

This is a famous photo of a Vietnamese girl who had to tear off all her burning clothes after she was hit by napalm.

And this is the same person, many years later. Her name is Kim Phuc. She cannot perspire through the damaged skin on her back.

I really have to take my hat off to the Vietnamese people. How many countries can absorb such punishment from the USA and still stand up?

Yet after inflicting all that inhuman savagery on a poor developing nation, the US still managed to lose the war. If I were them, I would quickly conclude there is no way to win another land war in East Asia. The meek and gentle Oriental is not what he seems when you push him too far.

With China's peaceful rising and the West's financial self-destruction, the traditional roles played by East and West are reversing. We are watching history unfolding before our eyes.

[From a gentleman in Kuala Lumpur (5 May 2009):

The US probably knows that too. That is why they have coined the term 'smart power'. That points to a more comprehensive and coordinated usage of all resources, including asymmetric warfare strategies, in their arsenal in the future. No longer will they just use manned huey helicopters or strato-fortresses and phantoms. And carrier groups are just open targets for capitation torpedoes in the high seas. Only the unseen offer new grounds. Man-less drones and cruise missiles such as used in Afghanistan and Lebanon, as well as the future of nanobot military technologies coupled to virtual reality throw-off camouflage and high frequency laser satellite guns .... these are the future possibilities. They are predicated on what they think their adversaries will be thinking..namely the less technology, the more the need to concentrate manpower. So that when manpower is concentrated, the target is magnified, and the use of manless destroy technologies become more efficient on kill ratios besides being more politically acceptable back home while shoring up the military-industrial complex that has been the cause of worldwide destabilisation over the last century.]