My Change in Priorities, Having Faith.

[About the previous post:] I may sound like I am depressed but I am not lah. Hahaha. Just one of my outlook in life on how people have unrealistic expectations towards others, especially their leaders. The post was an inspiration after reading one of the chapters in the Armor Bearer Series, where the author mentioned that many followers/helpers failed to see that their leaders are also imperfect human beings and instead of supporting them in times of difficulties, they criticized the leader of their short-comings.

Anyway, I came to realized that I am stepping out of my shell ever since I let go of a burden that I am not yet ready to shoulder; cell group leadership.

Back then, I was so conscious about how I "perform" in front of others; like how I would lead praise and worship etc, I tend to fumble and kept lamenting about how I could have done better.

One of the thing I had learnt (and I had learnt it the hard way), that is when you are serving God, if all you care about is how you performed in front of people, you will keep focusing on your faults and failed to focus on God.

That is how I come to lose my joy in serving God, made mistakes after mistakes. Finally, when I let go of all this, I tried to move on to something new, I tried to step out of my shell. Thou it is a little late to do so, but like Pastor Audrey said to me, "Better late than never." Hahaha.

I joined a new ministry called COPE, which you probably had realised by now if you have being reading my Blog. This amazing ministry brought back the joy of serving once again for it truly bring out my talent and passion to help people; which was also the reason why I wanted to be a nurse. I am no longer bothered with how others think I will do, for this ministry is not one that brings someone into the limelight. It is a ministry where your efforts are appreciated by only the people you serve and no one else can understand or even see the work you have done.

Just last week, my CGL asked me to play the guitar during CG meeting. I was never good at playing guitar, even now, I considered myself average. I always decline in the past to play the guitar during CG for fear that I will make mistakes during praise and worship (also the fact that I never had the thought to become a guitarist).

However, this time round, I decided to forgo fear and step into the realm of faith. I immediately agreed to it without hesitation.

Just in case you think I don't consult God or do things without thinking, let me clarify that I do! So how do I make my deciscion? Simply put, the Word of God is inside every believer. Most of the time, the answer you need to know is already in your heart. Why many believers hesitated to do things, always waiting for signs and wonders to confirm everything is because they failed to see that God don't "appear" in front of us all the time and start saying things like, "Go left", "Go right" is because He had already made many of His promises in the Bible. So instead of "listening" to God by studying the Bible, many believers act like a baby, waiting to be spoon-fed by saying that they will refuse to take action until God (or their pastors/leaders) "speaks" to them.

Of course I am not saying that prayers are not important. Pastor Kong said we live 90% by common sense and 10% by revelation. We are created in the likeness of God and thus also have the capacity to know right from wrong. Furthermore, as an intellectual being, we should be able to understand the Words written in the Bible. Most of the time, the request we made can easily be answered by God in three simple words, "Read the Bible!" No wonder so many people said God "don' t" answer their prayer. They just failed to realised that God already did!

Anyway, I made my decisions quickly base on these facts, truth and revelations.
-I do know how to play the guitar.
-God wants us to live by faith and not by fear.
-God says when there is a need, we should try to meet it.
-God mentioned that music is a very important part of worship.
-God gave me a personal revelation to do something different, to change my attitude.

I find that I am more confident in the things I do now. I think I did quite well for my 1st time playing guitar for CG. Anyway, I wasn't bothered about how my CG members will think, I was enjoying myself, singing loudly and soak in the presence of God, I couldn't care less. Hahaha.

To all the minister of God out there, enjoy your ministry! The Word of God lives in you.

Wanna Talk a Little About Myself...

Lets see... 1st or all, let me introduce myself.

I am a creature of Earth call HUMAN. In case you think I come from some other star systems, I don't.

As with other feral humans, I also feel happy, sad, angry and pressured. Just as imperfect as other humans.

But of cuz, I don't try to show forth the unpleasant side of humanity most of the time. It doesn't mean that I am much less human. I just try to show forth the better side of humanity most of the time.

Now... what is it that I really dislike most. Ya, when humans have this attitude that I came from the planet Krypton.

Nope, I am in no way related to Clarke Kent (Thou I wouldn't mind to have his looks). I may always try to do my best, I am in the limelight most of the time, BUT, I don't like the idea that other humans think I am infallible, think that I can do and know everything, think I am not suppose to be angry or sad.

Once in a while, I also wanna have time alone. Spend time with my closest of friends, rant at some unfair issues, or simply just wanna whine. Well, not many humans think I do that, but I do, and i NEED to do it.

Sometimes when you see that I am not acting like myself, it is cuz I may be burdened or simply feeling anything but happy. Don't worry, I am not morphing into some more powerful form or what. Neither had some mind-control bug took over me. I am still me, just that you happen to see the rare side of me. That's all. If anyone bothered to ask, I would simply shared it with them. If not, I will share it with my close friends, who are also fellow humans and the divine being whom I know personally as Yahweh. Oh, by the way, Yahweh was the one who created me. Hahaha.

So in summary, here's my planatery profile.






Name: Benjamin Tan
Home System: Milky Way
Home Planet: Earth, 3rd rock from the Sun
Planetary Citizenship: Earthling, creature oringinating from the planet Earth
Species: Human
Sub-Species: Chinese
Maternal Species: Human
Paternal Species: Human
Contact with other planetary system: Nil

Home Cooking Made (TOO!) Simple.

(Last updated on 13 Oct 2005 1.) Added a new recipe "Booster Coffee" under "Simple Cooking for One".
(Do comeback to check for new updates on this post.)

CONTENTS

1. Introduction.
2. Seasonings you really need.
3. Equipments you really need.
4. Before you start. (Read this!!!)
5. Simple Cooking for Main Dish.
6. Simple Cooking for One.
7. Simple Cooking for Microwave.
8. Special noteworthy recipes from others.


1. Introduction.

First of all, if you think this is going to be some fancy food recipe thingy, you will be disappointed.

What you will find here is a guide on how you can dish up something simple with the limited ingredients and seasonings you can find in your local market.
(P.S. You can find most of the ingredients I mentioned at Shop'N"Save supermarket.)

This post should be helpful if:
1. You never cook before and want to try cooking.
2. You never pass your F&N or think it is a miracle if you pass it.
3. You don't really stock up a lot of ingredients at home and find shopping for groceries a chore.
4. You find all those cook books out there seems to be written in some alien language.
5. You are sick and tired of "instant" food and MSG.
6. You just want to cook up some simple dishes real fast with minimal hassle.


2. Seasonings you really need.

At least have these seasonings at home.
1. Light soya sauce. (A miracle seasoning!)
2. Sesame oil.
3. Cooking oil. (I recommend extra virgin olive oil, more frangrant and healthier but more expensive...)
4. Salt. (Great for washing meat and vegetables.)
5. Cooking wine. (I recommend Hua Tiao Chiew.)
6. Pepper.
7. Chopped garlic.
8. Preserved sliced ginger. (Great for removing fishy odour in meat.)
Note: I will recommend some other optional/nessary seasoning along the way.
Click here to have a look at the seasonings mentioned in this post.


3. Equipments you really need.

I don't know how you could cook without these...
1. Saucepan!!! (A medium size saucepan cook wonders! You can stir-fry, pan-fry, deep-fry, boil, sautee, just about everything you can do with a wok! Great for cooking for 1 to 2 people. Invest on a good, non-stick teflon saucepan today!)
2. Wok. (For heavy-duty cooking and when cooking for 3 or more people.)
3. Chef knife. (I recomend getting those that have a smooth cutting edge and not those that have jagged cutting edge. You can get flints to sharpen a smooth cutting edge chef knife and make slicing and dicing so much easier!)
4. Chopping board. (Obviously.)

Some optional equpiment that can further simplify cooking.
1. Steam cooker.
2. Convection, multipurpose microwave.
Click here to have a look at the equipments mentioned in this post.


4. Before you start. (Read this!!!)

Note:
I will only give an estimated amount required for the ingredient metioned. It is really up to personal preference whether you prefer more meat, more vegetable, saltier, lighter etc. Also, the amount you want to use depend on your appetite and how many people you are serving. This is HOME COOKING after all.

Washing:
When you wash any ingredient, soak it in salt water for about 5 to 10mins first. Later rinse it in tap water to remove dirt or any strong odour. Remember to drain it dry. Water and hot oil can bring about unpleasant effect.

Marinating:
The easiest way to marinate meat would be to add light soya sauce, sesame oil and pepper to it. The longer you allow the marinated meat to stand, the stronger the flavour. To keep food fresh, let marinated meat stand in the refrigerator. Simple?
Note: Meat refer to chicken, pork or fish in my context. Aviod using strong smelling meat such as duck, beef and mutton if you do not know how to process them.
(E.g. 200g of meat would require 1/2 table-spoon of light soya sauce, dashes of sesame oil, dashes of grounded pepper. Allow the meat to stand for at least 30mins. The amount is really up to individual preference.)

Measuring:
Click here to have a look at the measuring tools mentioned in this post.

Ingredients:
Vegetables are much simpler to prepare than meat. If you are not very confident in cooking, I suggest you use more vegetables and less meat in your dishes. It saves you the problem of:
1. Poorly flavour/marinated meat.
2. Meat being under-cooked.
3. Meat that become too tough due to over-cooking.
4. Meat turning bad due to poor selection or poor processing.
5. Overpowering fishy smell due to poor processing.
Click here to have a look at the ingredients mentioned in this post.


5. Simple Cooking for Main Dish.

Stir-fry Leek Flowers with Meat.
Ingredients:
-Leek flowers, 1 bundle.
-Meat (pork recommended), about 200g.
-Cooking oil.
-Light soya sauce.
-Sesame oil.
-Pepper.
-Water.
Cooking it:
1. Cut the leek flowers into short length, dispose the flower bulb, wash the leek flowers.
2. Wash the meat. Slice the meat.
3. Marinate the meat.
4. Heat up the saucepan/wok, add cooking oil.
5. Add the leek flowers, stir-fry a little and add 1/2 to 3/4 mug of water. Keep stirring for about 5mins until the leek flowers softens. Note: make sure the water don't dry up, add more water if neccesary.
6. Add meat, stir a little.
7. Add 3/4 tablespoon of light soya sauce, dashes of sesame oil, stir a little until the meat is cooked. Dish is done.

Stir-fry Chinese Leek with Prawns.
Ingredients:
-Chinese leeks/Scallion China, 1 bundle.
-Small grey prawns, not more than 20 pieces. Alternatively: can use marinated meat.
-Cooking oil.
-Light soya sauce.
-Sesame oil.
-Cooking wine.
-Water.
Cooking it:
1. Slice the leeks sideways, wash the leeks.
2. Rinse the prawns, peel the prawns, wash the prawns. Note: don't marinate, prawns have natural sweetness.
3. Heat up the saucepan/wok, add cooking oil.
4. Add the leeks, stir-fry a little and add 1/4 to 1/2 a mug of water. Keep stirring for about 5mins until the leeks soften. Note: Make sure the water don't dry up, add more water if neccesary.
5. Add prawns, stir a little.
6. Add 3/4 tablespoon of light soya sauce, 1/2 tablespoon of cooking wine, dashes of sesame oil. Stir a little until the prawns are cooked. Dish is done.

Steamed Sutchi/Dory Fillet. (You can actually steam that?!!)
Ingredients:
-Preserved ginger slice.
-Frozen sutchi/dory fillet, 2 fillets. Alternatively: can use chicken.
-Cooking oil.
-Cooking wine.
-Light soya sauce.
-Sesame oil.
Cooking It:
1. Thaw and wash the fillets.
2. Cut each fillet into 4 parts.
3. Marinate fillets in preserve sliced ginger. (This is to remove the fishy odour.)
4. Use cooking oil to oil the base of the utensil you will be using to steam the fillet. (This is to prevent the fillet from sticking to the base.)
5. Drain dry the fillet but leave the sliced ginger on it, steam the fillet for about 10 to 15mins.
6. [Making the sauce.] Boil 1/2 a mug of water with 1/2 tablespoon of cooking wine, 1 table spoon of light soya sauce and dashes of sesame oil to a saucepan. Heat until it boils.
7. Drain any excessive water from the fillet when it is done.
8. Pour the sauce over the fillet. Dish is done.

Simple Fried Rice.
Ingredients:
Note: you can add almost anything in fried rice. Try to experiment.
-Cooked rice, 1 soup bowl. Note: Not too moist.
-Mixed vegetable, 1/2 a bowl.
-Chicken frank, 1 piece.
-Crabsticks, 2 piece.
-One egg.
-Cooking oil.
-Chopped garlic.
-Light soya sauce.
-Sesame oil.
-Pepper. (Very important!)
Cooking it:
1. In case you do not how to cook rice, please ask someone who knows to demostrate to you.
2. Cut franks and crabsticks into small round pieces.
3. Beat the egg in a bowl.
4. Heat up wok, add 3 tablespoon of cooking oil.
5. Fry 1/2 a teaspoon of garlic until it is fragrant.
6. Add in mixed vegetable, franks and crabstick and stir-fry for about 5mins.
7. Add egg and follow by the rice.
8. Add 1 1/2 tablespoon of soya sauce, dashes of sesame oil and dashes of pepper.
9. Keep stirring the rice to ensure the seasoning is well-mixed and to prevent the rice from getting burnt. Takes about 5mins of stirring. Dish is done.


6. Simple Cooking for One.

"Instant" Noodle.
Ingredients:
-Egg noodle, one serving.
-Water.
-Mixed vegetable, 1/2 a bowl
-Chicken franks, 2 pieces.
-Crab sticks, 2 pieces.
-Light soya sauce.
-Sesame oil.
-Butter, 1 table-spoon.
Cooking it:
1. Cut franks and crabsticks into small round pieces.
2. Fill water up to 1/2 a medium size saucepan and boil it.
3. Cook noodle in boiling water for 3 to 4mins.
4. Drain the noodle, soak in cold water, drain dry.
5. [Making the sauce.] Using a saucepan, heat up 1/2 mug of water with mixed vegetable, franks and crabsticks. Add 1/2 tablespoon of soya sauce, dashes of sesame oil and 1/2 tablespoon of butter. Heat till boiling and allow it to boil for 2 to 3mins.
6. Pour the sauce over the noodle, add dashes of pepper to taste. Stir well. Dish is done.

Booster Coffee (for a quick breakfast)
Note: The only thing you need to cook for this recipe is to boil water.
Ingredients:
-Instant black coffee that come in the form like a tea bag.
-Sugar
-Hot water
-Fresh milk
Cooking it:
1. Put the coffee bag in a mug and add hot water to half a mug.
2. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar, stir and allow coffee to stand for a while.
Note: Now is the best time to do whatever morning "business" you need to attend to.
3. remove the coffee bag, add fresh milk until the mug is fill.
4. Stir and mix well. A rich, energy boosting mug of coffee for whoever had no time to have a proper breakfast. It is lukewarm, which allows you to drink it fast. Dish is done.
Special: Still prefer your coffee to be hot? Try heating up the milk before adding it in.


7. Simple Cooking for Microwave.

Baked Sutchi/Dory Fillet.
Ingredients:
-Frozen sutchi/dory fillet, 1 fillet. Alternatively: can use chicken.
-Mixed vegetables, 1/2 a bowl.
-Sliced preserved ginger
-Sesame oil.
-Light soya sauce.
-Cooking wine.
-Pepper.
-Cooking oil.
Cooking it:
1. Thaw and wash fillet.
2. Cut fillet into 4 parts.
3. Put fillet and mixed vegetable in microwave dish.
4. Marinate everything with 1/2 tablespoon of sliced preserved ginger, 1/2 tablespoon of light soya sauce, 1/2 tablespoon of cooking wine, 1/2 table spoon of cooking oil, dashes of sesame oil and dashes of pepper.
5. Bake in microwave at HIGH for 8 to 10mins. Dish is done.


8. Special noteworthy recipes from others.

Re: Simple Fried Rice (from Jaywalker)
Allow me to recommend a slight change.
Replace cooked rice with chicken rice. Ask the chicken rice seller for the rice right at the bottom of the thermo-rice-bucket where it is DAMN BLADDY oily(!). Usually they will grant your request (though with a raised eyebrow) since they can't sell that portion of the rice anyway.
The oil in the rice would mean that you need very little (if not none at all) cooking oil and sesame seed oil.

Pro-Rights (Pro-Abortion) Vs. Pro-Rights (Anti-Abortion) Debates.

I was part of a graded debate in class on the 3rd Oct '05, Monday. The topic as you can see is "Pro-Rights Vs. Pro-Life". I am one of the speaker of the affirmation team, which means that I am to make statements supporting abortion.

1st of all, I am a Christian, I don't support abortion. Sadly... I was the one in my team who came up with the most points to rebut "Pro-Rights" claim. I categorized 8 different viewpoints into 8 cards which I can easily pass to my team members if they need it to rebut any of the opposition speaker. Our team was praised for our great rebuttal effort at the end of the debate... I wished I could have being the opposition team thou...

I had a good friend, Briony, who is also a Christian. She study fashion design and had to be exposed to controversial themes and styles. She mentioned that as a designer and a Christian, it is important to keep your Christian values and yet keep an open mind to worldly issues in the fashion industry.

Here I am, as a health care trainee, I have to keep my sanity to debated with passion like a non-Christian. However it taught me one thing, although Christians are anti-abortion (and I am anti-abortion) but there are many people out there who don't share the same view. We can only influence them and not force them to make such decisions. God after all gave humans freewill.


For study purpose, let's have a look at the SCENARIO of the debate.

Mrs. Tan, a 37 year-old bank manager, is 10 weeks pregnant. Ultrasound scan showed that the baby was of the female sex. Mrs. Tan already has 3 daughters. Both she and her husband want a son. Mrs. Tan decided to have an abortion. Another reason she cited is that she needs to travel abroad often for work. She felt that she will not be able to cope with this 4th pregnancy and parenthood.
STATEMENT:
Abortion should be a decision made by the pregnant woman. The mother's rights should prevail.

I will not go through with te details of the points being brought up in the debate (I can't remember anyway). But here are the 8 possible viewpoints the opponent team can try to come up with and how I had planned to rebut them. The points which was brought up during the debate will be coloured red where else those that were not mentioned will be in cyan.


Religion is Against Abortion?
Ø Christianity believes that God gave man freewill. Islam advocate peace and is against forceful actions. Religion does not compile people to believe if they do not want to.
Ø Section 15 of the Constitution of The Republic of Singapore states that every individual has the right to religion freedom.
Ø Therefore, no one have the rights to force their religious belief, be it abortion or smoking or drinking so long as it does not violate the Laws.

Foetus Rights?
Ø Dr. Parker states that the foetus is incapable to live when separated from the mother and therefore it is part of the mother. Like a finger or toe. Being part of the mother, the mother thus has the right to decide what she wants to do with the foetus.
Ø Lewis said that the foetus is only a potential human and not an actual human and thus have no actual human rights.
Ø E.g. A 10yr old child is a potential voter before he reaches 21yrs old. However, until he reaches 21yrs old, he cannot exercise the right to vote.

The Foetus is Alive? Abortion is Murder?
Ø The foetus is alive, it can feel pain, it is flesh and blood, it has human DNA… and so is our arms, our legs and our organs!
Ø Dr. Parker states that the foetus is incapable to live when separated from the mother and therefore it is part of the mother. Like a finger or toe.
Ø E.g. If a limb is gangrenous, the patient is advised to remove it to prevent it from causing more harm. If the foetus is going to be the cause of physical or psychological hurt to both the mother and the baby, shouldn’t the mother have the rights to abortion in this case?
Ø [MURDER?] Also, cutting off a finger or any of your own body part is not murder! According to the Law, abortion is not considered murder. Murder is the killing of an actual human being, not a potential human being like the foetus.

Danger of Abortion?
Ø Abortion is dangerous, giving birth is also dangerous! Labour complications can also be fatal!
Ø WHO states that more than half a million women died in pregnancy or childbirth.
Ø If abortion is discouraged because it is risky, then giving birth should also be discouraged.
Ø And if that’s the case, sex lead to pregnancy and pregnancy leads to labour, might as well ban sex.

Government Encourage More Babies?
Ø In a democratic country, The Government can only encourage and not force couples to have more babies.
Ø According to the case scenario, the client already have 3 children, aren’t they already heeding the call to have more babies?
Ø The Law states that abortion is legal; no one can be above the Law.
Ø Anyway, the Government did not out rightly discourage abortion, they only encourage more babies.

The Law States That It Is Illegal to Abort a Foetus that is above 24 weeks?
Ø Please stay within the context of the case scenario, our client is only 10 weeks pregnant and therefore have the right to abort. We felt that the opposition has cited this point out of context.

Father’s Right?
Ø Abortion is a procedure performed on the women’s body. No one, not even the husband can make the decision for the client.
Ø Even in nursing ethnic, we have to advocate the client’s right to privacy and not interfere with the client’s decision making.

Emotions?
Ø No one have the rights to force their emotion on someone else.
Ø You sympathy for the unborn foetus need not necessary means the mother must feel the same way as you do.
Ø What is someone’s joy may be someone else's misery.
Ø E.g. the end of a war means the coming of peace and the end of bloodshed. However, the country that had victory will rejoice but the defeated country will be mourning.


As I am in the pro-rights team, the arguements are mostly for pro-abortion. Let me say this again, I am anti-abortion and pro-life. I set up this post to create awareness to the kind of opposing viewpoints people could have and I believe it is important to know how pro-abortionist could argue if you are also an anti-abortionist like me.

How to Answer Nuisance Calls?

Have you ever recieved calls asking to speak to someone whom you didn't even know?
Does it happen to you not just once but quite frequently?
Worst, it seems like these calls are always looking for the same person?

That is the problem with many "new numbers". Most of the time, whenever you apply for a new number, you are always given "recycled" number instead. "Recycled" numbers are numbers that have being previously used by other people. As to how many people already used that number, no one knows for sure. Thus, you may experience people always looking for a certain "Mr. Tan" or "Muthy" or "whosoever" and all you can tell them is "Sorry, wrong number." or "No such person."

Here's some creative suggestions as to how you could answer such "persistant" phone calls. Some may even stop such calls totally if you say it with much... "realism". Hahaha. Here are a few ways to answer such phone calls my friends and I have suggested and even tried!

1. "Hello, Muthu's Curry!"
2. "Bukit Batok Police Station. How may I help you?"
3. "Institute of Mental Health. How may I help you?"
4. "Hi sweetie... Thank you for calling Hot Dates... You will be charged $1 for every minute starting from now..."
5. "Thank you for your kind and generous donation. Your donation of $100 will be reflected on your phone bill."
6. "This is the Singapore Telecom announcement service. The number you just called is not in use."
7. "Ah Hock Casket and Undertaker! Christian or Buddhist?"

And here is one interesting incident that happen to my friend's husband. They kept getting this kind of call and finally, he could no longer stand it.

Caller: Hello! Wo ai cher Ah Tan! (I want to find Ah Tan!)

Reciever: Wo si Ah SEOW. (I am Mad One.)

According to my friend, the caller was very shock and quickly put down the phone.

Your Ideal Relationship is Marriage

You've dated enough to know what you want. And that's marriage - with the right person. You're serious about settling down some time soon. Even if you haven't met the person you want to get hitched to!

What's Your Ideal Relationship?

Oh my goodness. Hahaha.

Your Seduction Style: Prized Object

The seduction game you play is tried, true, and still effective: hard to get. You know that the best seducers turn the tables - and get their crush to seduce them. The one running has the power, and you're a challenge that is worth the chase. You are a master of enticing and pulling back. Giving a little and taking some away. You are controlled enough to know rewards come after a long seduction dance. Even though you want to call, email, or say "I love you" first - you don't! You're style is the perfect mix of hot and cold - so much so that you have many suitors. Think Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany's ... or any of those creepy guys from the Bachelor. You're skilled at inspiring a chase. The real test is picking the person to slow down for.

What Kind of Seducer Are You?

P.S. To Thia, yes yes, indeed something dumb to do when you are bored. Hahaha.