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1982-83: Singapore
In 1982, when I was16 years old, I was enrolled in Christ Church Secondary School in Singapore. It was a scary and yet exciting experience for me as that was the first time in my life that I had to leave my family. I was sharing a flat with some friends, squatting in the living room. It was God's blessing to enroll me in a Christian school. There is a church built within the school compound. In the daily morning assembly, we have to sing praises to God, which really touched my heart deeply. Being away from home made me feel closer to God. That was the time when I prayed so often. Naturally my love for him grew stronger and my faith in him was strengthened. "Through loneliness and sorrows, I had learnt to rely on God. Our love for him is built through our continuous interactions with him through prayers. We tend to pray to him more often at times of difficulties. God shows his love for us by answering our prayers." I faced a great challenge in Singapore. I really had to study hard as I knew my father had spent so much money to support me in my studies. I remember my dad bought me a 5-inch color television set, and I was so touched by dad's love and caring for me. My life in Singapore was really tough, as I experienced an environmental change, and the worst thing was, all the school subjects were taught in English. During my schooling in Malaysia, I only studied one English subject and all the other subjects were taught in Malay. To catch up with my studies, I had to study six to eight hours a day after school. That was a tough time. I really studied very hard and suffered a lot. I prayed very hard too, asking God to help me to overcome my problems, as I didn't want to disappoint my dad. A few months later, miracle happened and my prayer was answered. I was doing very well in my studies, and was one of the top students in class. "We must work hard to achieve our goals in life. Pray to God and he will not let us down. He does perform miracles; to touch our hearts and to strengthen our faith in him. In whatever problems we face in our lives, we should pray and ask him for guidance. God will not let us suffer. Even if suffering does occur, it is for our good, which is to be realized later. Learn to share our sufferings with him, and we will be rewarded with joys and miracles." Later I moved into an old two-storey shop house, closed to Jalan Besar, which was owned by my brother's friend. It was free of charge, no rental required. I stayed alone on the upper floor, and the owner was running his retail business in the shop downstairs. It was really scary at night when the shop was closed. I cried and prayed to God for his protection. The toilet was located downstairs. To go to the toilet, I had to walk down the dark wooden stairs, before touching for the light switches on the ground floor. I prayed and sang praises every time I made through that walk. It was really a nightmare to me. The toilet was old and dirty. Cockroaches were crawling everywhere. Once, I sprayed the toilet with Sheltox, and in the next morning, at least fifty dead cockroaches scattered on the toilet floor. Since then, fewer cockroaches were seen in the toilet. During my stay in the old shop house, my faith was further strengthened, as I really needed God to accompany me. I was scared and lonely. I used to study until 5.00 a.m. in the morning, and then took an hour sleep before going to school. After school, I would take a few hours sleep before waking up for dinner. "My relationship with God was developed through my loneliness and fear. He will never abandon me as his love for me is so strong. He keeps trying to bring me closer to him, because I had accepted him and he will never leave me, forever." My brother's friend gave me an old bicycle and I started to cycle to school, approximately two kilometers away from the shop house. I attended church almost every Sunday. The church was somewhere between my school and my house. I was lonely and scared, I started to smoke cigarettes, which is my greatest regret now as I am still a smoker at the age of 33, and still not strong enough to quit the addict. I pray that God will give me the strength and determination to quit smoking. "At times of sorrow, Satan makes use of the opportunity to temp us. We had been controlled by Satan since the age of Adam and Eve. It is harder to live in God's wills than to live by our own desires. The choice is ours; do we want to please ourselves, or do we want to carry the Cross, live in God's wills and be rewarded with heaven and paradise? It's extremely hard to fight the evil inside us, but with the help of the Holy Spirit, it's possible, as God does not want us to sin against him, and he will gladly help, if we ask." In school I was well liked by friends and teachers, I guess that was due to my cheerfulness and my outstanding academy and sport performances. I represented my school in a swimming event and won the only gold medal for my school in the fifty-meter backstroke. That was quite a big achievement for a small school like ours. The principal was so proud of my achievement, and announced it during our daily morning assembly. One day, I started to realize that my chin was deformed and over grown. My chin was long, big and protruded beyond the normal jaw line. I was really sad. I didn't want to look awful and different from others. Because of that, I lost my self-confidence. I started to lock myself up, trying to avoid friends and didn't want to participate in school or inter-school activities. I was crying to God, asking for help and miracle. Can God help me, but how? My faith told me that if I continued to pray to God, one day I would wake up and found that my chin had been transformed to normal, just miraculously. I knew that would be the greatest miracle I would ever ask from God. My faith kept me praying, as I knew God would answer my prayer, as he had answered all my prayers since I came to know him. "Jesus once said we can command the mountain to move, if our faith is strong enough. Read on and you will understand what he meant." In 1983, I did very well in my Cambridge 'O' level in Singapore; five A1's, except language subjects. That made me the top student in Christ Church Secondary School, thanks God. In the early 1984, I was accepted by Hwa Chung Junior College, one of the top junior colleges in Singapore. In Hwa Chung, I felt that my English language was not good enough compared with the other students. Some how, I didn't have the confidence to pass the English subject in 'A' level. To overcome my concerns, I decided to sit for the matriculation exam in Taylor's College in Kuala Lumpur, which allowed me to apply for universities in Australia. My years in Singapore were lonely, sad and lack of self-confidence, due to my 'deformed' facial appearance. I prayed everyday with faith, hoping for miracle to transform my face to normal like others, so that my confidence in life could be restored. At the age of around sixteen to eighteen, external appearance usually affects the confidence of oneself. I used to lock myself in my room, prayed a lot, and lived a very close relationship with God. I didn't blame God for the facial deformity and the sorrows and sadness I encountered, but instead, my faith was so strong that I believed miracle could happen, with God's mercy and love. "God himself was crucified to cleanse our sins. He himself suffered the pain no human being can bear. Why? He loves us. He wanted to cleanse our sins so that all of us can be saved. God is righteous, no one can go to heaven if sins are not cleansed and forgiven. He suffered for us for the righteousness and love. If he loves us so much, why can't he give us what we want, if we do not ask for something which will destroy our souls and our relationships with him? God perceives things in indefinite time. He knows what is good for us. We must be patient at times of suffering and learn to trust in his love. Just cry out to him, and he listens." Forewords . 1965-73: Childhood . 1974-75: God's Call . 1976-81: The Relationship Continued . 1982-83: Singapore . 1984: Kuala Lumpur . 1985-87: Sydney . 1988-89: Penang . 1990-1991: Sydney . 1992: Year of Graduation . 1992-95: Working in Architecture Firm, Penang . 1995: Meeting My Wife . 1996: Year of Marriage . 1996-98: Discovering the Purpose of Life . Conclusion . Appendix I: Question & Answer . Appendix II: The Words of Christ |