Opinion

ON THE Sunday following the tsunami that killed more than 150,000 people and affected millions, I was struck by the confusion reflected in the hymns, words and prayers we spoke and prayed in church that morning. The anthem was “All Things Bright and Beautiful”; the worship leader com-pared the tsunami with King Herod who slaughtered the […]

  Sparks of Grace rounds off MCS’ tercentenary celebrations of John Wesley’s birth   THE Methodist Church in Singapore (MCS) is releasing a just-published book on Methodism in Asia entitled Sparks of Grace. Written by Associate Professor Robbie B. H. Goh, Deputy Head of the Department of English Language and Literature at the National University […]

  Sparks of Grace: The Story of Methodism in Asia Author: Robbie B. H. Goh The Methodist Church in Singapore, December 2003  209 pages. Paperback, $13   SPARKS OF GRACE reveals interesting trends in the spread of Methodism in Asia with its “socio-historical emphases” being the paramount theme of the book. The first cross-cultural, cross-linguistic […]

PART 16 OF THE SERIES OF MEDITATIONS ON ‘WISDOM TO LIVE BY: REFLECTIONS ON AN ANCIENT TEXT’ Ecclesiastes 10:1-15 THE theme of wisdom (and folly) seems to recur rather frequently in the meditations of the Preacher, and here, in chapter 10, it appears yet again. Indeed in 10:1 to 11:6, the Preacher assumes the role […]

In the Scriptures, we are told about Mary, the mother of Jesus; but Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus remains a shadowy figure in the background. Some years ago I saw an unusual nativity painting: Mary tired after the birth, Joseph looking perplexed, as if he did not know what hit him. They are both focused […]

PART 15 OF THE SERIES OF MEDITATIONS ON ‘WISDOM TO LIVE BY: REFLECTIONS ON AN ANCIENT TEXT’ Ecclesiastes 9:1-18 IN A broadcast talk on Oct 1, 1939, Lord Randolph Churchill described Russia memorably as “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”. The writer of Ecclesiastes could have very well used these words to describe […]

Christmas reminds us of our Christian duty to be sensitive to the needs of the poor, the lonely and those seeking liberation in all its manifestations. IT WAS Christmas Eve, and the streets of the city were crowded with happy fathers, mothers and children. Their faces were bright and smiling and their arms were loaded […]

YEVEGENY YEVTUSHENKO told a moving story concerning prisoners of war that were forced to march through the streets of Moscow in 1941. Russian soldiers and policemen struggled to control the noisy crowd watching that parade. Curiosity was not on the mind of the onlookers, most of whom had lost either a father or a husband, […]

PART 14 OF THE SERIES OF MEDITATIONS ON ‘WISDOM TO LIVE BY: REFLECTIONS ON AN ANCIENT TEXT’ Ecclesiastes 8:2-17 IN THIS chapter, the Preacher continues with what he does best – pointing out starkly the various seemingly insoluble enigmas in this existence under the sun. He begins his discourse by looking at earthly authority, stressing […]

Implications of modern technology on life, thought and culture ONE of the more interesting commentators on modern society was Marshall McLuhan who coined the phrase “The Medium is the Message”. This phrase sought to capture the profound yet often unnoticed implications of modern technology upon modern life, thought and culture. Neither an irrational alarmist nor anti-technology, […]

AT THE end of July, an irate parent wrote a letter to The Straits Times Forum Page to complain about a morning radio broadcast during which one radio jockey host gave his advice on how a shy caller should approach a girl. His comments were found to be coarse and unacceptable. Even before the Media […]

The Da Vinci Code Author: Dan Brown   SOME months ago, my niece spoke to me about an exciting book that she was reading: Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code. Little did I know then that this fictional thriller has not only captured the coveted number one sales ranking at Amazon.com but also sparked some […]