A Legacy to Fulfill

hey everyone :)

not sure who attended the Kent Ridge Ministerial Forum with Vivian Balakrishnan last Friday?
but for me, it was really really insightful and thought -provoking. being able to listen to a minister who wasn't beating around the bush and leading us on a wild goose chase ( for once! :P) was very beneficial indeed?

among the popular topics of the forum were issues like immigration, the amount of foreigners in Singapore, threats of globalization, and what key advantages we already have as Singaporeans to face the upcoming challenges. and just sitting through the forum, i think God was speaking to many people, not just me. i tell you, it was like a marketplace transformation kind of forum?

something that caught my attention during the forum was about this "High-trust" society that we have built as a country. What this means essentially is the presence of honesty, transparency, integrity that helps us to formulate strong relationships with one another.

so let's say i want to trade something with you, i can take you at your word and believe that you would trade honestly with me. However if we had a society that was low on trust, then even if i bribed you, there would still be a lack of certainty that you would keep your word and trade with me.

what the minister was really trying to say was that the presence of a "high-trust" society in Singapore is not only deeply entrenched, but that this is an asset that will help us overcome any future obstacles, especially with the recession that is only going to get worse in the next few quarters.

and i felt God asking me, "WHO, will be the BEST people to continue this legacy of a high-trust society? WHO is most capable of living it out?" the answer can only be found in us Christians, that hopefully during our daily lives, in the way we conduct ourselves etc, we can portray a very ethical and principled lifestyle that will encourage the people around us.

what surprised me after that was when the minister talked about how young Singaporeans nowadays lose sight of their purpose in life, that when we enter university, many of us join law/banking cause that's where the MONEY is. and we forget that it is really through the hard sciences and arts that we can find progress. He gave this whole speech about how money does not equate happiness and how look at life thinking about how much money we are going to earn, we will bound to be very unsatisfied with life in the end.He went on to say that if you're an ENGINEER and you may think that you're a NERD, but YOU ARE NOT. You're cool and that there are 24 ubercool engineers at Google headquarters doing Singapore proud at this very moment. * totally could have been an altar call moment for people to repent of their love for money. HAHA! Throughout his forum, he raised many many issues, but i think that if we look deeper, and if we try to understand where he is coming from, i think he really is talking about a TRANSFORMATION that should take place.

so whatever it is that we are studying right now, whether it is the sciences, the arts, law, business, engineering etc etc? i pray that God will give each of us the spirit of excellence?
exams may be coming, but with God's help i'm quite sure that we will be able to find JOY in learning? and i say LEARNING because that's more fun than STUDYING/MUGGING :)

so i end off my long email (i'm so sorry!) with this verse?

"Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward. And that the master you are serving is Christ. "
Colossians 3:23-24

God has a special/ unique calling for ALL of us. have a blessed week ahead.

love in christ: charmaine
(edited and posted by Jelvin)