It’s About Time

While putting Amanda to bed tonight, she suddenly got up and hugged me. Thinking it was her usual good night hugs, I said, “I love you.”  She held me tightly for a while (longer than usual) and then said in soft sobs that God didn’t answer her prayer for a pink motorbike (real bike, not toy).

Backtracking a little, about a week ago, she told her mother while walking past the row of motorbikes parked at the multistorey car park, that she wants a pink motorbike and she’ll pray to God about it. On the spot, she prayed in her simple heartfelt manner, for a bike!  When I heard it I thought since when did she have a wild streak in her to want to ride a motorbike? She was afraid to sit on Vincent’s hybrid Honda bike a year ago.  Anyway, we both thought it was just a frivolous chatter by a child.

This morning during Sunday school, YanHoon asked her what she’d like for her birthday and Amanda replied a pink motorbike without hesitation.  Jismyl and I didn’t think too much about it in our hearts and left it at that.

Back to present.  She asked “why did God not give her a pink motorbike?”  I told her that’s probably because God don’t think she needs it. “But I need one.”  Amused by her response but not belittling it, I told her God will give her what she needs, but not necessarily what she wants.  “If you ask mom and dad for some thing, and if it is good and needful for you to have it, we will give to you,” I said. “Likewise, if you pray for some thing and if it is good for you, God will give it to you.”  I am not sure how much of it she comprehended, but perhaps given time it will sink in.

I’m thankful for this teachable moment, and it reminds that when it comes to praying for tangible, material things, as parents we must emphasize to our children the rationale and the spiritual purpose for that prayer request.  That prayer is not seen as a spiritual ATM but a means to pray to God knowing that He gives us what we need and what is good.

The inaugural F1 night race, hailed as world’s that is currently taking place in Singapore, created a buzz in the racing world as well as those in tourism industry. Last week contractors were busily readying the tracks and all these around the clock. Last few days saw the arrival of F1 racers into town. Along with it the
launching of designer watches, etc, to tie in with the race. The newspapers have been detailing the events up till this minute (Massa won this evening but there is still a race tomorrow).

Personally I remained unfazed by the F1 craze. Reason? I have absolutely no interest in this sport so called.
Doubtless it will help pump in some revenues for our country which is always helpful. The recent financial
crisis in USA and its imminent impact will somehow be cushioned by the money earned at least for this year.

On a cynical note, I noticed that the tree-huggers and ‘save the earth’ activists are very quiet. Perhaps
silenced by the money and smothered by hypocrisy, these folks are pretty silent about the amount of heat generated by the spotlights that are in placed to simulate bright day lights. What the amount of electricity
consumed in preparation until the end of the race? Not to mention the noise generated by every race car? Noise does come from the individual pit stop doesn’t it? Say, what about the body heat generated by everyone in attendance? Of course I could go on ranting. This is the same cynicism that I have when I read of celebrities coming together to stage awareness of saving the environment when the rock concert held simultaneously across the globe generated so much heat and noise not forgetting the electricity consumed to stage the shows. The amount could have been saved. It’s kind of like doing everything you can to have peace – even if it means you have to go to war.

More seriously, I am just plain uninterested. This is one of those sports that I find meaningless as well as boring. Much like cricket, I don’t understand the fuss. It is limited to the rich few as compared to soccer, the game of the millions. The race goes on…

I find it ludicrous that the saga involving Newcastle and Keegan came to this point and causing enormous griefs to the loyal fans.  It’s actually a simple matter – give Keegan the final say as he should!  Under his charge I am sure Newcastle will fare much better than last season.  They might not win the EPL championship but I’m pretty confident they can make it to European competition the following season. That’s how good Keegan can be.

Perhaps pride got in the way that hinders the chairman from backing off the driver’s seat and letting the coach/manager drives the team selection.  Alas he has now realized the fans’ fury.  I fear that Newcastle might just lose Owen and worst yet, be relegated at the end of the season. Sigh. . . .

Over the last several days, news reports about babies in mainland suffering from illness caused by tainted milk. One of the culprits was the addition of melamine into the milk powder to boost protein.  This is not the first time that tainted milk powder had occurred.  Not only that, other unscrupulous practices had arisen resulting in the loss of innocent lives, let alone fraudulent deeds that cause embarrassment to the people of China.

Today I watched several video clips of John Denver singing his songs via youtube.  I’ve always liked his songs and especially the sounds of the guitar.  Frankly it was he who inspired me to learn the guitar.

I got that opportunity at age 12 and managed to enrol in Yamaha Music School for a few short months.  When money ran out, I stop automatically because it was self-funded.  I remembered it costs $25 each for 4 sessions monthly – each session lasting 45 minutes.  This was group learning and that was in 1977.  I think I was the youngest lad in that class (15 yrs of age).  I only learn enough to strum a couple of songs and some finger picking.

It was a couple of years later that I came to play guitar much better when I joined the YF of the church.  Several teens played the guitar well especially strumming.  It was there that I learn to play for the group, the speed and dynamics etc.  It was great and fun.  What made it more gratifying was that I had consecrated my limited skill to the Lord and what blessings it was to be able to play far better than I had imagined (not that I have arrived now!).  No, we didn’t use acoustic-electric or amp or whatever contemporary worship style employs.  We just love to play, period.  I realized recently how widespread the use of electric, acoustic-electric guitar is in contemporary churches.

Speaking to guitar sales personnel in town, they said that Christians form a growing customer base requiring electric guitars or acoustic-electric guitars for their worship.  My, what a market to tap into!

I have always enjoyed strumming and frankly missing the casual playing and singing sessions at camp in particular.  People are too busy and mired in their daily lives to sing.  Years back I had Yamaha and Ibanez classical guitars and played them to death.  Actually the former had a crack that my friend made cos he dropped it in camp; whereas the ibanez was sold in Texas in 2001.  Now I have several guitars but missing the experiences of yesteryears.  Hopefully some folks will come along and we can play again.

Concert Classic 1116

Found this Ovation Concert Classical guitar 1116 via craiglist. It’s first owner is a vet in CO. He was kind and parted with this beauty for good price of $310 and he threw in a guitar stand for free. He didn’t have time for it and doesn’t really know how to play it either. I’m glad to take it over from him.

After changing a new set of strings, just absolutely love it for its clarity of sound. Will enjoy playing it at home as well as in Church during Sunday school or camp.

Met a friend recently and conversation drifted about the hawker centre at C’wealth Crescent. She used to live near my block where I spent a good deal of childhood and teen years. I was disappointed to hear that the whole hawker centre was torn down and the old wet market likewise. However a new building housing both were built where the market used to be.

When one talks about hawker centre it naturally leads to discuss about which stalls sells great stuff. I think of the kambing soup stall that sells top notch kambing soup. Then the wanton mee facing the children’s playground, not to mention the teochew duck rice stall behind it. I missed the authentic cheng thng stall where the hawker gave real ingredients unlike the shameless and countless dessert stalls that tout the name but missed the boat altogether. Ice kachang likewise was a pleasurable pasttime.

If you are a football fan of the English league, you save to buy “Shoot!” magazine that features colorful English team. My time it cost $1.10 per issue (which was a lot of money then). The pictures are often pre-season pictures where the jerseys are new and nice; players well seated on the bleachers. Where to get the magazine? From the Indian ‘mama’ stall facing the direction of market. It was next to the Chinese satay stall.

There was only one “pao-stall” where the old man sells it and the stall had real simple setup. the fried-carrot cake stall sells white ones during the evening. in the morning the man sells black ones in the market.

My favorite would be the char-kway teow stall where you could bring your own egg for the hawker to add in towards the end of the frying.

Sigh. . . those were the days where you get real authentic food. Food centre or food courts pale miserably to these stalls. Now with mainland Chinese marauding the local food scene, better eat more sambal chili before you can’t find it anymore! They sell the stuff but not the quality for they aren’t here long enough to know what the real local like. It’s like buying Manchester City and expensive players but you can’t have the world class status like Manchester Utd who built it with time and history. That’s how I liken it

What’s happening to EPL? Only time will tell if it will change into something more European than English. The saga regarding Keegan and Curbishley reveals the different approach to the game of football management where the owners are trying to have a hand in who plays and who’s to join the club.

Personally I think it’s best not to micromanage but to leave the task to the managers who watches over his charges. Of course if he fails to produce the result, he might be fired but when it comes to decisions involving selection and objectives setting, leave it to the manager. It is not easy to have a group of players whom the manager don’t think will fit into his philosophy of football.

Both Keegan and Curbishley have a good track record insofar as producing results during their tenure with their respective clubs. Of course if greater funds were available they would have achieve greater things, no doubt. These men work well and produce results where it mattered given the limited resources available. It’s regrettable that these things have happened and only time will tell what’s going to be like for EPL. I hope some smart foreigners intent on buying another English club will use these men and give them freedom to do as they should with greater budget. I am sure they will give the results within 3 years, no doubt. Sigh…. if only I am a billionaire. . . .

Rich football owners should leave it to the managers to manage
by telling them early as to their expectation and keep their promises
to them. Either they get certification to be coaches or leave their
mouth shut both on and off the pitch!

The latest manager to quit is West Ham’s Alan Curbishly. Newcastle’s
Kevin Keegan’s fate is still uncertain albeit much speculations of his
sacking that prompted club’s official statement. Both managers are
good managers but sometimes results are as healthy as they should be.
Truth is, time must be accorded to managers to do something right but
owners just won’t have it. Well, these will be painful lessons to
learn.

Alvin

The latest news is that West Ham’s manager Alan Curbishly has quit the club amidst the hoohahs of transfers. Wasn’t it yesterday that Newcastle fans were demonstrating their support for Kevin Keegan at St James’ Park but he is still around (at least a couple of days?).

I think some of these English clubs suffer from management crisis – not so much that the managers can’t manage the players but the owners or board can’t manage. They are there because they fulfill the “the Golden Rule” – he who has the gold-rules! I suppose the only manager who counts himself blessed is Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger because the board supports his viison and conviction. though critics might argue that major trophies eluded them recently, none can argue about the quality of players he has thus far.

Managers ought to be left with autonomy regarding players managed and wanted on transfer lists. Either tell them there is no money or let them decide rather than micromanaging them.

Just a thought.