Not One Less

Just watched a film called "Not One Less" that I bought recently directed by Zhang Yimou. I enjoyed this movie a lot especially one part which was quite touching. Teared a bit...

Let me know if you would like to borrow this vcd from me.

Nanking

Over the weekend, Jay, my sister, her friend and I went to Vivo City to watch "Nanking", a documentary of the Japanese invasion into China mainly from the perspective of the westerners. It highlights how the evils of war were inflicted upon the Chinese and those who stayed behind to help the Chinese by setting a safety zone.

Though generally I find this film rather "flat", it does set my mind thinking on how I would response if I was in such dire situation.

How can one be like Job who went through the worst in life and yet never bow down to the situations in life and emerge victoriously?

In this film, there was an American missionary who was like a godsend to the Chinese, had been a source of strength for the Chinese refugees especially the females whom she tried her best to keep them from the Japanese soldiers. After a prolong period of time, she had a nervous breakdown and unfortunately committed suicide.

I do not know how I would response if put in such situation but I do know that by God's grace if I learn to set my heart and mind on the goodness of God and that He cares and loves me despite all things I know I will be able to keep my sanity.

We may not go through such dire situations but are we defeated by the stress of life?

Our faith will be tested.

My prayer is that by God's grace and mercy we can be victorious in all situations that cross our path.

Be the fruit that can last till the end.

BuSy but GrEaT weekend

I had a busy but great weekend. I attended a great concert and a good movie on the same day.

On Sunday after service, Jay and I went to Esplanade concert hall to watch a performance by the Toa Payoh Guitar Club together with Hung and his wife and another ex-colleague. Impressive 60-minute performance and it is FREE admission. There were group, family and solo pieces of performance. The chairman of this club did a solo and he can make drum, horse running...sound from the guitar. Amazing!!

After the performance, Peishan and I joined Taeko for "HULA GIRLS" at Picture House. A heart-warming Japanese movie based on true story. Worth watching but please prepare some tissues..hehe!!

The Greatest Gift of all

I watched "The Nativity" last Sunday with my caregroup. It is a story about the obedience of Mary and Joseph to go through hardship to bring the birth of Jesus Christ to come to pass. I enjoyed the conversation between Mary and Joseph and even as the story unfolded I learn that God's timing is the best. As they passed through the check point where the soldiers were screening for potential boys who might be the prophesied King of the Jews, Jesus was carried in Mary's womb. They passed the checkpoint and entered Bethlehem. Who would have thought that the boy that King Herod was looking for was still in Mary's womb?

Why did God choose Mary and Joseph to do His will? Why not others? From what I understand, I believe God chose them because of their obedience and their will to see God's purpose come to pass through their lives.

How did astrologists in the past watched the stars that hang on the sky? In this movie, the three wise men were very amusing. It was out of the world to see the stars in the sky from a well of water in their 'study' room. They did not have the high technology like us to see the stars through telescope and also to travel in vast outer space.

Overall, it was an entertaining and touching movie.

Even as we celebrate Christmas, stop and ponder. Is it all about shopping, giving gifts, feasting, partying? There is nothing wrong with all these but have we missed the meaning of Christmas?

Even 25 Dec is not the actual birthday of Jesus, Christmas is a time to remember Christ's birth and the purpose that He came to earth to die for our unrighteousness. A baby born to die for all.

May your Christmas celebration be filled with new meaning this season. Remember that the Greatest gift of all is Jesus Christ.

An Inconvenient Truth

2 weeks ago, I watched this documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, at GV Plaza Singapura. Al Gore, the former US Vice President, gave a presentation on how global warming, if we do not response to curb this problem, is going to affect us and our next generations. There is also a political connotation in this film.

It was interesting when he pointed out the Amercian General Motors and Ford are not as fuel efficient as the Japanese Toyota. When the ice melts at the Antartica, it will change the map of the world. A sad cartoon illustrates a Polar bear swimming the big blue sea with no place to land its feet. It will then die from drowning. What we do now affects our environment and our future. Use environment friendly products to save our earth.

After this film, we heard an applause from the audience. A film worth watching.

Helen the baby fox

Trailer

I just watched "Helen the baby fox", a touching Japanese movie based on true story. Do check out the theatres in Singapore ;-)

Simplicity

Recently, I watched a animation movie called “Cars”. This movie is about a race car called Lighting McQueen’s life in the fast lane and how his unexpected detour to a sleepy town and the few characters that he met who helped him realize that there are more important things in life than trophies, fame and sponsorship. Life is more than just thriving to win in the rat race.

Father’s day was 2 days ago. My family had dinner together at Soup restaurant. We had our favourite Samsui chicken. While eating, I saw a little girl beside our table playing with her chopsticks. She held one chopstick in her hand and imagined herself playing violin. Children are so creative. They can use whatever in their hands and transform them into their play things.

Fearless

I watched "Fearless" yesterday. It was my first time watching a movie alone ;p

It is a good movie. Good principle and good stunts too.

Spent my day watching DVDs...

My friend kindly borrowed 3 DVDs from the library for me to watch. Of these 3 DVDs, I like the biography of the Pope the most, though it is a third person's account. The show was quite long and a bit boring but I still wanted to finish it. It is interesting to understand different world-views. Personally I think it helps me to be more open to things and people around me who have different values and practices from diverse culture and background, though I may not be agreeable to certain values and practices.

I remembered last year when I was in Rome, Pope John Paul II just passed away. I heard stories of people (Catholic or non-Catholic) queuing for long hours to view his body at the Vatican. His body was later buried at Vatican. A week later, I remembered seeing a lot of people visiting his tomb and some were crying and praying for him.

Some facts and opinions that I gleaned from the 3 hours of screening:
- Pope John Paul II was from Poland where conservative catholic practices are practised.
- Poland was under Nazi Occupation which was later overthrown and controlled by the USSR.
- Pope John Paul II was a key catalyst for the fall of communism in Poland and the Easten European countries which eventually led to the fall of USSR. The iron wall was broken down.
- He is a global spiritual leader and none has travelled so extensively like him. He has caused spiritual awakening.
- His leadership in the Catholic world was not that successful. Many Catholics all over the world are not agreeable to several policies that were rolled out by the Catholic church. For example, contraceptive or unnatural birth controls are not allowed even in areas where Aids are rampant, women are not allowed to be ordained as priests..etc.
- Some people are interviewed and commented that the Catholic church is authoritarian and that John Paul II opposed the authoritarian communist government in Poland but embraced it in the Catholic church.

No man is infallable and perfect.

After I finished watching this DVD, I was so tired...;p

11 Dec 05 - Pride and Prejudice

Today Yi Hong, Pei Shan, Andrea, David, Jon, Bernard and I went to Orchard Cineleisure to watch "Pride and Prejudice" based on the book by Jane Austen. A simple romantic story where the dream of a woman is to find her prince charming.

This movie was set in class-conscious England at the end of the 18th century. Initally when I watched this movie with a lot of dancing with partners in a party, I got kind of bored with the slow-moving dance. It seems to me that during that time, girls were only interested to find the right man and get married. They seemed so desperate. Oh no! But as the story developed, I was moved at several scenes when there were battle of words between Lizzie and Mr Darcy. There are a few funny conversation as well when they played with words. Sweet ending!

12 Nov 05 - Io non ho paura

(Italiano)

Stasera ho visto una italian film si chiama Io non ho paura a Italian Cultural Institute con Midco, Yi Fang e Jay. Questa film e' circa una ragazzo di 10 anni si chiama Michele auitarsi una bambino di Milano si chiama Filippo da morte. Il papa del ragazzo e altri hanno rapirito Filippo. Quando Michele lo sa che suo papa con i suoi amici vogliono uccidere Filippo, lui e' andato via subito lo auitarsi di scappare. Michele non puo' lasciare il posto dopo auitarsi di scappare. Sua papa pensa il bambino sia Filippo e faccia fuoco. Fortunato Michele non e' morte ma suo gamba ha feririto. Filippo non e' morte e penso che lui ritorni a casa suo a Milano.

Mi piace questo film. E' buono. Generalmente preferisco Europeo film di Americano.

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(English)

Second time in the week that I was there at Italian Cultural Institute watching an Italian film. I enjoyed Io Non Ho Paura too. I was there with Midco, Yi Fang and Jay. Generally I prefer European and other international films than the mainstream American films. I find that they have more depth than American's and I think watching international movies is a good way to understand the thoughts of the foreigners and culture of their countries. Thank God I can have many opportunity to watch foreign films in Singapore ;-)

After the film, we had some light refreshment and then we talked to the people. Learn more about Italian culture while talking to the Italian and others.

If you are interested to watch International films and you have some good VCDs we can do some exchanges. I have a few good ones too from Italy, Germany, France, Japan and America.

10 Nov 05 - Caterina va in citta'

Stasera ho visto una bella film si chiama Caterina va in citta'. E' buona commedia. Mi piace tanto. Nella storia e' una familgia ha mosso dalla una piccola campagna a Roma. Caterina e' una protagonista nella questa film. Lei ha 12 anni e ha cominciato a scuola di prestigio. Maggioranza dei studenti e' dalla prestigioso familgie. Caterina ha un duro tempo nella scuola. Sua padre e madre anche.

This evening I watched a good Italian movie, Caterina va in citta' at the Italian Cultural Institute. It's a comedy that reflects the life of an Italian family who moved from a small town to a big city in Rome. Caterina, a 12 years girl enrolled herself into a prestigious school where the top-ranking professionals in Rome, like ministers, lawyers and doctors, admitted their children to study. She found it hard to fit into the culture of the school. The class was rowdy and students talked politics. She got involved with students with the ideologies of the left-wing and right-wing parties. Her life changed with the groups that she joined and her father was very concerned. At the same time, her father was experiencing a bad patch at work and even in his personal relationship with his wife. His wife has been supportive to the family but her needs was not met and the relationship between her and another man started to blossom. His father discovered this special relationship and left the family without a word.

After the movie, we had pizzas. Elaine and I got to know 2 new friends. It's good to make new friends. A lady said that such event really happens in Italy especially in the prestigious schools. That's life!!