Life & Faith

  Some years ago, when stickers, patches and buttons carrying various slogans were all the rage, there was one that gave a Christian take to an advertisement for a popular drink. It said “Jesus is the real thing”. It left readers to conclude for themselves what Jesus was to be compared to – real thirst-quenching, […]

  I am reminded of a short chorus that goes: “There’s a river of life flowing out from me; makes the lame to walk and the blind to see; opens prison doors and sets the captives free!”   I cannot forget the scene. There we were, about a dozen social workers and counsellors mulling over […]

  Some weeks ago, two stories that were unrelated news items caught my attention. The first was about a nine-year-old girl who was forced to wear a suicide vest in Afghanistan, and the second involved a British footballer who wore a fake suicide vest at a fancy dress party. In the first account, the girl […]

  … how the brain affects many aspects of human behaviour ranging from mental illness to how differently men and women fall in love. Last December, I attended a conference named “The Evolution of Psychotherapy”. Held every four years, it gathers leading researchers and clinicians in the fields of psychiatry, psychology and counselling to present […]

  Being in a job where people engage you to talk of their woes and despair does not afford you the opportunity to see many clients smiling or talking of heir successes. But this particular week was different; I had positive messages from two separate clients. Both came from women whom I have been helping […]

  What if it is difficult to live together in harmony? Do we stick to it and remain frustrated and embittered? Or do we live apart and maintain connections that are manageable?   Have you ever had to make a decision where there are no good choices? The choice is not between correct or incorrect, […]

  We need to strike a balance, as in so many things, between the past and the present. We need to have in our lives a place for things and practices from the past that are noteworthy, that are still of value.   In the previous article, I talked about memory. Recently, the following memory […]

  ...some people only remember the mistakes, setbacks and disappointments of life. They gloss over any upside that life has to offer and choose instead to focus on and remember the bad days.   In her song “Big Yellow Taxi”, Joni Mitchell sings: “Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve […]

  I was physically and emotionally spent one late evening after a long day that included two difficult counselling cases, both of which had much in common. Both involved women who had been unfaithful, and had been found out by their husbands. In both instances, neither had any intention to leave their spouses and children. […]

  THESE DAYS, it is becoming harder to know exactly what people mean when they communicate. An illustration of this was when a property agent proudly pointed out the special “pocket view” of the apartment we were viewing. It was one of the assets and selling points for that apartment. Try as I might, it […]

  WE LIVE IN A WORLD obsessed with success. We all want to know who is the richest person (because the accumulation of wealth is an indicator of success), the youngest person who attained a PhD, the winners of Wimbledon or the Golf Masters and the top schools in the country. And success is attractive. […]

  I HAVE A CONFESSION to make. Although I carry a pink Identity Card and have completed all my National Service liabilities, I am not a citizen by birth. I was born in the town of Kuching, in the state of Sarawak, in East Malaysia. This fact has not escaped the keen eyes of many […]