Been thinking...

It's been a couple of days since I last updated my blog and no, it's not because nothing has happened, on the contrary, lots has been going on. New Year's is very much a family time here and I have been really privileged to have the opportunity to participate in the celebrations as a part of a Singaporean Chinese family. I’m not sure how I will be able to express how much this experience has meant to me.



On New Years Eve we sat down and had a traditional steam boat dinner. This consists of a pot in the middle of the table filled with stock and lots of little bowls around full of raw fish, seafood, meat, vegetables, prawn balls etc. etc. The pot is turned on and everyone puts in any food that they would like to cook. This continues throughout the meal until all the food is finished (impossible) or everyone has eaten until they are stuffed (most likely). And bwoy, do you stuff yourself.

The family is really important in the Asian culture, and lots of visiting goes on. Over the last three days, Charlotte has visited uncles and aunts, old friends and even the parents of old friends. At times I went along with her and received Hong Bao with everyone else (and felt very strange about it) and at other times she went off on her own.

The New Year is also the time to go to the temple (if you are Buddhist) and pay your respects to your ancestors. Charlotte’s mum isn’t particularly religious and her brother is a Christian, however we all went along to the temple on New Year’s Day.



As a tourist you generally visit small historic temples filled with old people, so you don’t really get the impression that there are modern, educated people who go to a temple and worship a statue. I was in for an education. Bright Hill temple in Singapore has brought the Buddhist religion into the 21st Century. This place is the largest religious compound that I’ve ever seen with many temples, all brightly lit and spacious for the many thousands of worshipers who must go along every day. The car parks were full of BMWs and Mercedes Benz’ and well dressed worshipers where there, burning their joysticks before the statues of Buddha and many others.

I went walking today in a park by myself and spent some time praying, thinking and trying to decide what I thought about it. Then I recalled the stadiums in England full of fans worshiping their god of football and the city workers working 60 hour weeks worshiping the god of money… I think that the conclusion I have come to is that people are the same everywhere in the world. Human beings are sheep and we need to follow something, whether it is God, an idol, money, football… we like to think that we are so independent and that we are in control of ourselves, but when you dig below the surface, you find out that there is always something that controls us. Why is that?

The bible says that we are born as slaves to sin, and when we accept Jesus, then we become slaves to righteousness (Romans 6:15-17). As modern people we don't like to think of ourselves as slaves to anything. But are we?

Answers on a postcard please…