Blazing with Rach!

I have been thinking much about personal and national security as well as personal and national freedom.  I probably touch the tip of the iceberg with this blog.  There is so much more to consider.  The issues related to security and freedom have become relative and debatable.  Some are even discussing about security and freedom as if one has to take sides - you know, give up an iota of security for a tad more freedom and vice versa.  It's not about giving up either as both are two sides of the same coin.  Freedom and security are so close that one cannot be without the other. I suppose the other reason these two bedfellows - Security and Freedom - provoke me is because I am a witness to deception, hate, foolishness  and pure evil more than I am a witness to dignity, humility, faith and peace. The security of a society is related to the freedom of that society and of course, vice versa.   However one phrases it, there’s no denying th...

The publishing of my book Unashamed Servant-Leadership was in progress.  The marketing staff from Langham Literature invited me to suggest book cover concepts.  I suggested two concepts but prayed that they would accept the first concept which was very personal and meaningful to me. Around 1997, I was still a student at Singapore Bible College.  And I was worshipping at Christ Methodist Church which was my home church then.  I was traveling in the air-conditioned bus to church.  It was a long journey on an early Sunday morning.  I remember praying during this journey.  As I prayed, God gave me a vision. This was a vision of two hands moulding a brown claypot.  God the Father was hard at work with this claypot.  As I prayed on what this might mean for me, I sensed that God was shaping and moulding me to exactly the design He intended me to be.  The claypot was brown in color - absolutely boring! So, in my spirit, I said to God, "...

My book Unashamed Servant-Leadership was released by Langham Global Library on 14 December 2017.  It has been an interesting six months plus as a new author.  My doctoral dissertation on Asian Christian women leaders' growth, challenges and impact in the kingdom of God was a book-in-waiting. When I first proposed my research idea, both my research supervisors encouraged me to release the research findings as a book.  At different times, they told me, "this is cutting edge thought".  I put the idea of a book aside.  You see, I had no money to pay any publisher.  And I really desired a writing mentor. I began praying and asked God to give me the best publisher who would be generous enough to help me.  One fine June day in 2016,  I met with Dr. Riad Kassis, a scholar and a director at Langham Partnership at the Global Proclamation Congress for Pastoral Trainers in Bangkok, Thailand.  In the course of the conversation, he introduced me to...

Afew months ago, I had e-mail encounters with a government agency in my birth-place, Singapore.  It was a tiny issue that took about a month or more to solve.  Normally, the government agencies in Singapore are quite efficient and I have always been very impressed with their helpful attitude and efficiency. In Singapore, most of us like to 'get things done quickly' and move on to the next task. This time, I was surprised that the particular agency staff kept asking me for details when I had clearly explained the matter or kept asking me to provide proof when it was already done. When I asked the staff to respond to my questions - there was no response, no apology for the mistake made; instead, I was asked another question.  I have learnt the following from this encounter with the particular department and my learning is limited to this group: 1.  Civil servants need to learn to apologise when they have made a mistake. 2.  Civil servants need to read co...

Recently, I received an article written by Brother Walt, a good friend.  And I thought that the true significance of Christmas has not diminished and will not diminish even as we cross over to 2018.  In fact, this piece of Good News has an eternal effect on lives.  So, with permission, I present to you this everlasting story in the following article: The True Significance of Christmas In our time Christmas has taken on many trappings - from Santa Claus to Christmas trees to colored lights.     The true significance of Christmas, however, is found in an event that happened over two thousand years ago.      Of course, that event is the birth of a person who was called Jesus ("Yeshua" in Hebrew).     He came to be called in Hebrew "Yeshua ha Meshiah" (Jesus the Messiah), or "Jesus the Christ" (from the Greek language).       In the person of Jesus, the living God took on human nature and was born to a human ...

I guess there needed to be something I am passionate about to write a blog.  I am passionate about my country, Singapore.  And in the same breath, when once I was proud of the Singapore leaders, I hang my head in terrible shame.  And it all has to do with the Reserved Election which was no election at all! When I first heard about the Reserved Election, I thought hard and prayed about it as well.  And I was extremely upset that the leaders of Singapore will choose to force my choice.  On 15th November 2016, I wrote an email to the Prime Minister's Office registering clearly my concerns and non-support for the Reserved Election for various reasons.  See the major portion of my email addressed to the Prime Minister below: I have been following the intention to have a reserved election for the next President.  While the argument that Singapore should have a minority race President is noble, it also makes one (me) feel that as a Singaporean, I am not...