Story of The Office Worker

This is the story of the office worker.

He gets to his desk on time each day. He starts off with his morning coffee from the pantry; with milk, 2 cubes of sugar. The small talk and morning chatter takes place. He finds out his colleague has just became a grandmother the day earlier. Some exchange of well wishes take place within the office.

He finally gets down to work. Constant clicking of the mouse can be heard within the now silent office. He adjusts and straightens stacks of paper on his desk. The occasional movement to the printer or the washroom to stretch his legs.

It is now after lunch break. He had his usual packed lunch which he would heat up in the microwave. No one else really uses it. He did his usual routine of listening to music whilst reading a book for the remaining time after eating.

He was already 5 months into the job. By now, he had finished counting the number of windows he could see from the opposite building. 286 altogether. He had stared across often enough. Often enough to see other office workers busy doing pretty much the same thing he was doing. Busy staring down the computer, typing away.

He is thankful that he is positioned beside a window. That way his eyes could take a “breather” every now and then from the screen. From his window, he could see a small sliver of the ocean in between the other surrounding buildings. Occasionally, a ship would sail pass or an aeroplane fly by. This broke the monotony of his boring office job.

This is the story of the office worker. The story of one who knocks off on the dot at 6pm each day, to grab a hold of a piece of the life and time that he could call his own. He says his goodbyes as he walks pass the cubicles. As he stands waiting for the lift, he knows everything will repeat the next day again.

Does Switching The Light Switch On and Off Actually Waste More Electricity

What got me thinking of writing this is because my mum used to say this thing about how switching your lights on and off too often would waste more electricity. You do know how Asian mums can form their own theory about how things work which may or may not be entirely true?

The screenshot below of a tweet is a perfect example.

And by the number of likes and retweets. I’m sure many people relate. Thanks Penny for giving us all this beautiful example.

So this sparked some curiosity in me as to whether or not my mum’s theory is true. So I did a little digging. This post is mainly to ascertain whether this ‘myth’ is true or not, but I believe along the way we might learn a tip or two about lights and energy saving.

If You Had No Clue Whatsoever, What Is Your Drawn Conclusion Based On Your Own Understanding??

I would think that continuously on-ing and off-ing the lights would not waste additional electricity because once the circuit is broken, current would stop flowing altogether. But then again there’s always this thought that perhaps switching the light switch on and off would cause a ‘deficit’ in current and turning it on again will cause an inrush of current, wasting more electricity in the process. I picture it something like waves at a beach, where it pulls back but comes crashing back harder and faster.

Lights Will Guide You Home

Yes they would if you understand lighting a little better.

The oldest of them, the Incandescent Light, most famously known to be invented by Thomas Edison (though it is good to note that he invented the best one, with at least 22 others who had already invented some form of incandescent lamp prior to Edison). It works by having electricity pass through a wired filament and it would heat up so hot that it would emit light. This filament is protected from oxidation using a glass bulb that is filled with either inert gas or vacuum.

Most of the power it uses however is converted to heat rather than visible light; less than 5% light. They are used in many things from table lamps to flashlights, decorative lighting like fairy or Christmas lights, lava lamps or incubator lights (for the purpose of using the heat at the same time). A slightly improved version is the Halogen Incandescent Light, which uses a tungsten filament sealed in an envelope with inert gas and a little halogen. Filament evaporation is slowed down because the halogen gas and tungsten filament produces a chemical reaction that redeposits evaporated metal vapour back onto the filament, extending its shelf life.

Incandescent lights are in the process of being phased out in many jurisdictions like the European Union, China Canada and the US.

Next up with have the Fluorescent Light, which actually came up shortly after the invention of incandescent lighting. It is however much more energy efficient than its predecessor, albeit costlier.

It basically works by having current pass through a mercury and inert gas filled lamp. This ‘excites’ the mercury which vaporizes and reacts with the gas producing invisible short-wave ultra violet light. We can see light because the layer of phosphor coating inside of the lamp glows to produce the fluorescent light we see. Fluorescent simply means, glowing white light.

They are commonly used in office buildings, schools, hospitals and malls. Fluorescent lighting typically comes in a long tube design or what is called linear fluorescent, however it has evolved to what we now know as Compact Fluorescent Light or CFL in short and it looks a just like a typical light bulb.

Though they are energy efficient, there are also some cons about these lighting. Firstly long usage will cause an imbalance in the chemical properties resulting in light that is less bright and less white. Secondly, they would be difficult to recycled and have to be disposed of properly due to the its mercury content. Lastly, fluorescent light isn’t friendly on the eyes after long exposure and may cause you to squint or have bloodshot eyes. This could be a reason why your eyes feel tired after a long day in the office (besides staring at the computer all day).

Lastly we have Light Emitting Diodes or LED in short, as we more commonly term it. It is the most modern and energy efficient of the 3 types of lighting. The first of its kind came on the scene in the early 1960s, but only started off light in the low, red frequencies of the spectrum. The first high brightness blue LED was developed in 1994. The first white LED was developed when it too employed the use of phosphor coating to created light that appears white.

An LED is a semiconductor and as electrons passes through them they give off light. LEDs are also the most costly out of the 3 but most cost efficient in the long run. LEDs require only about 10 percent of the energy an incandescent light needs.

A significant difference too from other lighting sources is that an LED is directional; emitted as a narrow beam. One of the positive feature of the LED is that it comes to full brightness without any delay or warm up period. And one downside is that LED lights may flicker depending on the power supply feeding it. Long exposure to flickering lights may contribute to strained eyes or headaches.

Comparison Between The Lights

To do an overall comparison between the bulbs we would have to take into consideration 5 factors; Lumens (or brightness), Power (Watts), Lifespan in hours, cost of a each type of bulb and colour rendering.

Taking info from a website Viribright, a leading US LED manufacturer, at a standardize brightness of 650-850 lumens, Incandescent consumes 60W, CFL at 13-18W and LED (particularly their product) at 7-10W.

The lifespan of the lights are approximately (Incandescent, CFL, LED) 1,200 hrs, 8,000 hrs and 25,000 hrs respectively. (Wikipedia estimates them at 1,000, 10,000 and 30,000.)

And though an LED bulb is the most expensive out of the 3, the lifespan of one is equivalent to changing 21 incandescent bulbs and 3 CFL. CFLs are also the least accurate at colour rendering – meaning its ability to faithfully depict an object’s colour in comparison to a natural light source.

So Is The Myth True or False?

So after reading through some forums, with even one going as far to creating a simulation of this (read here), I believe it is safe to conclude that leaving the light on would use more electricity than switching it on and off each time you leave and enter the room.

For incandescent light there will be an inrush of current when you first switch it on as you have to take into account its low initial resistance, however this amount is negligible. LEDs do not make a difference when switch on and off, current is only consumed when switched on. The only exceptions are fluorescent lighting which have a warm up period till it reaches its optimal brightness consuming quite a bit of energy in the process, as the MythBusters who did a similar test noted.

Through numerous tests, the MythBusters calculated that the power surge from turning on a light would only consume as much power as leaving it on for a fraction of a second (except for fluorescent tube lights; the startup consumed about 23 seconds’ worth of power). Furthermore, the wear and tear of turning the light on and off repeatedly did not reduce the bulb’s total life expectancy enough to offset the increased electricity usage. Therefore, it is far more economical to turn a light off rather than leaving it on.
MythBusters

The bottom line is this, if you are leaving the room for more than 60 seconds, go ahead to switch off the lights no matter what type of lighting you use.

Conclusion

In short, bet you didn’t know there’s so much to learn about lights. So I guess my mum wasn’t right after all? This is perhaps a great loss for all the Asian mums out there. After this whole discussion and armed with a little more knowledge about lights, can you guess what type of lighting is the one on the cover photo of this article?

Sources:

wikipedia (Incandescent Light Bulb, Halogen Lamp, LED Lamp, MythBusters 2006)
insights.regencylighting – what is fluorescent lighting pros and cons of linear fluorescents
viribright – lumen output comparing LED vs CFL vs Incandescent wattage
electronics.stackexchange – does turning a lightbulb on and off repeatedly use more energy than just leaving it on for hours?

Melbourne 2019

Brighton Beach
Hosier Lane
Mount Donna Buang
Observation Tower on Mt. Donna Buang
Warburton
12 Apostles
Loch Ard Gorge
South Melbourne Market

I was really blessed to be able to travel to Melbourne early June this year. The inception of this trip came about while I was still in Ukraine and it had been a great desire of mine to go on a holiday, and Australia had been a destination upon my heart. So I sowed a thought into my aunt by suggesting we go on a family trip (she had the reins on some family finance) and that I would plan it. Thankfully she agreed and a couple of months later that came into fruition with a total of 12 of us going down under.

I’m writing this because I know travel and life hacks are a big part of the whole blogging/online scene, so I’m sure people will be interested in this. I’ll share a little on what we did and some learning points I made as the main planner for this trip.

Intro: Thoughts on Melbourne/Observations

Melbourne is an absolutely lovely city, which I now wish to live in some day. It was winter when we went; southern hemisphere countries, albeit nice, what we Singaporeans like to call, air-con weather. Of course it was nothing like Europe’s winter, having experienced a rather snowy Ukrainian one. We stayed in an apartment overlooking a lake as well as the sea in Southbank area which was really the best kind of view to forever wake up to. I really like the city area, with it’s bustling cafe scene, street art, buskers aplenty, which sets Melbourne up to be seen as city full of talent yet still having a laid back atmosphere. Of course I believe this is the general picture people get when they think about Australia. Also it seemed to be a city filled with foreigners. Most of our Uber or DiDi drivers weren’t locals and Chinese people were literally everywhere (in fact I think I saw more Asians than white people). Another thing I noticed is that there were quite a number of homeless people around, which surprised me considering Melbourne is considered a wealthy city. Thankfully Melbourne’s winter isn’t that harsh, or it would pose a problem for these people.

Itinerary in brief

Throughout the trip we did a lot of basic touristy things like going to Brighton Beach, visiting the DFOs, going to the markets. These information can be easily sought out on Google or from a friend who has been here so I will spare the details. We also rental two cars (3 in total, it was a little complicated as we needed to swap 1) for a couple of days and made two days trips out to Mount Donna Buang (pronounced ‘Boo-ang’) and the 12 Apostles along Great Ocean Road.

Mount Donna Buang is the nearest point to Melbourne which receives snowfall, so we wanted to try our luck seeing that recently on Instagram there were pictures posted by people with snow in them (thank you social media, best way for finding information). However when we got up the mount to the lookout point there was only remnants of ice left. Turns out, we found out later that snowfall was a couple days earlier and everything had melted. There is a nice quaint town below called Warburton which is also a beautiful place. A few nice cafes and cheap compared to the city area.

12 Apostles was in my opinion the highlight of the trip. Standing there beholding the majestic rock formation was absolutely breath-taking. There’s no shortage of photos of the 12 Apostles online, in fact, ever so often a friend or someone I’m following online would post a picture of it if they went for a trip there. But being there in person was a different story altogether, it was so beautiful and standing there just trying to take everything in, I was so in awe of God’s creation. It kind of felt like I was somewhere out in Jurassic park and pterodactyls would come swooping in any moment. A quick google search would tell you that currently only 8 of the Apostles are left standing at this moment due to erosion over the years.

On the last full day we went to Woodlands Historic Park to seek out the kangaroos. I mean which Australia trip would be complete without some wildlife in it right? I would recommend putting this either at the front or the back of your trip if you are planning to come here, because this place is only about 10 minutes away from the airport and a troop of kangaroos are not hard to spot (may take a bit of time finding them but you’ll definitely see them). There are many wildlife sanctuaries or parks, but many would require you to drive out quite a bit.

On Driving

A few advice for people who are planning to rent cars and drive around here. Firstly I would recommend Hertz, good rates, good service, and pretty convenient pick ups and drop offs. Secondly there’s this thing in Melbourne called left hook turns which are – these absolute weirdest, who designed this thing in the first place?! – essentially pockets you filter into on the left if you are making a right turn. These are found only in the city-city part of Melbourne. You can look out for them on signs hanging above in the shape of a hook going right (which are rather inconspicuous) which signifies a left hook turn is up ahead. You may want to look up some Youtube tutorials to familiarize yourselves.

The first day of driving in the city was quite a nightmare because we were unfamiliar with the roads and although parking lots are aplenty, it was still a challenge to find lots. Parking prices are also rather steep. I felt I had quite the fair share of parallel parking practise while there too. I notice also some things about Melbourne drivers. They give way a lot, the slightest amount of pressure you give them from the back and they’ll switch lanes to give way to you. Also most people park head first. Both of which are not commonplace in Singapore. I think we have some of the most ungracious drivers and also we mostly park tail in first. Oh and finally look out for tram lanes! I nearly drove into one.

Learning points from this trip:

I’m currently compiling life lessons I picked up, into a notebook. And one of the best ways to learn something new is by travelling to foreign countries. For one we were a pretty big group (as mentioned earlier 12 in total) and to move around from point A to point B would be a logistical challenge. This is because everyone has a different pace, even getting ready in the morning to meet up presented itself as a great obstacle. Thus, when travelling in a big group always try to reduce logistical movements to a minimum. For example, instead of being ambitious to hit 5 spots in a day, hit 2 or 3 but spend more time there. Or plan your day’s activities around places within the same vicinity. Definitely there are things you’ll only realize, like distance between places, only when you actually arrive and planning cannot account for everything.

Another thing I find was that I wasn’t forward planning enough. I plucked in the activities onto the itinerary, but I didn’t think too much about moving from point A to B. So the learning point here is to always take into account travelling time, travelling route, where’s the next activity or destination and how best to link it. May seem like common sense as I say it now but it wasn’t the case then.

Also, originally I planned for many cafes to try out, you know the type friends/Google recommend, but we didn’t manage to hit most of them. That’s because I realize many of us didn’t really have a taste for these ‘brunchie’ type food but more of a palate for Asian food, though we were in Australia. So compromise had to be made. I learn that planning for big groups, the general consensus is more important than simply ticking off bucket lists of food places to eat at. At the end of the day, the suitability to the type of food or activity of the majority bears more weight. For instance, ‘walking around to explore a street’ would not be a suitable activity for a big group, rather something more specific like ‘head here for shopping’. The former would perhaps be great for a group of 2.

My last learning point is to always double check before reverting. We rented an airbnb and because I was the one who pretty much booked everything, including the apartments, I was the one in correspondence with the host. It was embarrassing as I think about how I asked him so many questions, which I later realized were information already stated in a folder they provided. Not that it was anything wrong, I mean its part of the service but it just seemed a little silly on my part.

Alley with basketball hoop
Huxtaburger
Loch Ard Gorge

Outro

All in all it was a pretty eventful but yet spaced out trip. Felt we did quite a bit and thankful it wasn’t a complete disaster since I planned it. It was a good experience of learning to be flexible and adaptable to change, traveling and exploring a new country, living together, making room for arguments and disagreements but yet being fine with it because it was budgeted in. Thankful too for the opportunity to travel and the little respite from work. Traveling is never cheap, so pretty thankful to God as well for the provision to do so and His protection throughout the holiday. Hope you enjoyed reading this and have a good one!

John Mayer Live In Singapore April 1st

No it’s not an April’s Fools joke.

He really came.

It was an event I was anticipating for even while I was still in Ukraine because I heard he was coming.

John has always been the guy that inspires me as a musician, and I have been his fan for quite some time now, though I won’t profess to be a hardcore die hard one. And thus, for the past two weeks before the concert I’ve been trying to acquaint myself with more of his songs on my commute back home from work so I could sing along a little to his tunes (bad idea though, could hardly hear myself in there). Namely, I was listening to songs from the albums Born and Raised and The Search For Everything.

I haven’t been to a concert in the longest time – the last one I went to was when Girl’s Generation came to Singapore years back, also at the same venue and also surprisingly together with R – and being there to soak in the atmosphere was quite something. It’s not everyday you’re like 300 meters away from a superstar. And not just any superstar, a truly talented one, John Clayton Mayer. Being there in the stadium, one thought that struck me was how awesome is it to have your songs renown-ly known. It’s even in the moments when he steps back from the mic, the audience help carry on singing.

There are certain qualities John possesses that I think make him distinct as a musician. I shall list them down.

He makes guitar playing seem effortless. Those who actually play music know too well it isn’t as easy as it looks. But he makes it seem like child’s play. John also hardly plays the conventional opens chords you and I are familiar with, and to top it off, he knows how to phrase music really well making his solos really colourful.

He has a unique raspy voice. John doesn’t have a really high or wide vocal range (his guitar skills covers that), but his voice still plays nice on the ears. It’s also pretty distinguishable and you could probably recognize it if you walk past a shop playing his song, even if you haven’t heard it before.

He’s an excellent communicator. He’s not only a world class musician and singer songwriter. He is actually pretty good at communicating thoughts and ideas too. He has even done a bit of stand up comedy! Throughout the show I was actually ‘looking out’ to catch some words of wisdom from him.

Mid set, he stopped to talk a bit about anxiety and worry and how it’s a prevalent issue but that we shouldn’t worry about it too much because everyone in the room, chances are, the person beside you has it too. We all have our fair share of worries and problems. He then linked it to a song he wrote in 2010 titled Age Of Worry, which is on his Born and Raised album. I didn’t really like the mp3 version but I really enjoyed the live one.

Guitar faces! If you have watched John play live, (on Youtube) you would have seen some of his guitar faces (basically his facial expressions as he plays the guitar). I think it adds layers to his playing because it shows him engaged in his music. He’s immersed in it. I hope to one day emulate his guitar faces while playing, perhaps it could compensate my lack of playing skills.

Another thing that recently caught my attention and also raised the roofs of my respect for him was that he played How Great Is Thou Art as an opening to his show in Auckland, NZ while on tour as a tribute for those fallen in the recent Christchurch shootings. But that song is a pretty worship-py kind of song and so I was really impressed he went with it. I read that he grew up in a Jewish and Christian background. But it’ll be uber cool to know if he really jumped unto the Jesus bandwagon.

Overall it was a really good show, and I revel a little in the fact I was there. With the millionth guitar swap he did with the guitar technician, he truly delivered with each song, I felt nothing was half-hearted. Really glad also that John played the “Big 2” (in my opinion) which is Gravity and Slow Dancing. The whole show actually took close to three hours but me and R were saying if we took away the guitar solos, it probably only be about an hour hah!

A new revelation I learnt also is that Free Fallin is not a John Mayer song but actually originally written by Tom Petty.

I Got Dreams To Remember

This is an ad-lib line from his song Gravity, one of my personal favourites of his. And as I heard it again, it’s a reminder as well as inspiration to one day become the musician I hope and dream to be. I’m inspired once again to love my craft a little deeper. Or at least to do the best in whatever field I’m in. I can’t be John Mayer but at least I can try to be the best version of myself.

I caught a one to two second glimpse of his percussionist playing during one of the songs and that immediately sparked something in me. What I saw was passion from the guy while playing and this is something I find I lack in my playing. In fact the rest of the band were quite something too. Pino Palladino (we all know him) on bass laying down really solid grooves and holding it tight for the band. He is actually the reason behind why you feel like dancing or swaying along to the songs. David Ryan who is also a solid rhythm, and man that guy can sing better than John. Isaiah Sharkey who is actually a really impressively lead guitarist. Drummer plus keys guy whom I don’t know. (Actually I only know Pino by name).

In short with renewed passion, I will continue to hold on to whatever you (I’ll) find baby…

Microwave Christianity

Photo by Brendon Thompson on Unsplash

If you are anything like me, you’d be a little concerned about the amount of radiation that goes into your food after putting it into a microwave. In fact two of my past recent posts were about radiation. See Is It Dangerous In The Long Run To Use A Bluetooth Earpiece? and Does Using A Handphone With A Cracked Screen Emit More Radiation?

So what is my solution to this concern? I usually keep the timing for my food being in the microwave short or, more often than not I would prematurely open the microwave door should I “feel” the food is heated enough.

But the problem in doing so is that my food often remain cold after taking it out of the microwave, and I’ll likely pop it back in for another 20 seconds or so. I feel this normal activity in life; using a microwave reflects a simple truth about our faith towards God.

We think that short amount of time under the “microwaves” will produce results in our intimacy with God. We think that 15 minutes complain session to God suffice as prayer, or that verse of the day on your bible app counts as bible reading. We’re not willing to expose, or perhaps a better word, wait a little longer under the waves to “cook properly”. And we wonder why there’s no breakthrough, no growth. It’s because many simply choose to touch and go, and the funny thing is that we expect God to bless us for it. We expect to hear His voice, feel His presence, develop strong faith just by doing bare minimum. We’ve come to the point of having microwave Christianity.

But we see in the bible that many great lives lived were the ones that slowly “cooked”. They were the ones that underwent many great trials and testing. They were the ones who had their faith tested by fire. Two in particular, Joseph and David who waited a long time for their destinies to unfold stood out for me. Things didn’t happen overnight for them, but in fact took years until their dreams and promises received were fulfilled.

Joseph the dreamer, was sold into slavery at the age of 17. It took him 13 years, for his dreams to materialize. Years where he went through betrayal, misunderstanding and even imprisonment. But finally at the age of 30 (Gen 41:46), he was elevated to Prime Minister of Egypt, something his dreams have foretold.

David the anointed king, was only around 15 years old when Samuel the prophet poured oil over him declaring him the next king of Israel. He spent a good many years on the run for his life against the then king, Saul. David was also 30 (2 Sam 5:4) when he finally actually became king, making it a good 15 years or so of waiting.

These were not short periods of waiting, they were more than a decade! I would have surely lost faith by then, if I were in their shoes. But we see that great stories of growth and victory came about from these prolong periods of suffering and waiting. The thing is I see 3 things in common with Joseph and David that made them exceptional characters and men of God in the bible.

They had the right perspective in waiting
They had the fear of the Lord
They passed the tests while waiting

They didn’t grow bitter or angry with God while waiting, they continued to believe in the dreams and promises. They exhibited the fear of the Lord (meaning reverence towards God) in different situations presented and they passed the tests that came their way. Joseph passed the purity and integrity test with Potiphar’s wife while David who had 2 opportunities to take out the only person standing between him and the prophecy – King Saul – but chose not to and to leave his destiny in God’s hands.

So the next time you are thinking why isn’t my walk with God where it should be. Could it be because you are taking a microwave approach to your Christianity? Could it be you are not cooking under the waves of training God wants to put you through long enough?Let’s make it a point not to simply touch and go when it comes to our walk and faith, and let us begin to see the value in waiting in prayer and seeking God for the answers. Let us also learn from the lives of Joseph and David what it means to be victorious in waiting!

Managing Expectations

Photo by Cristian Ungureanu

I thought about writing on this topic because I think this is a pretty big thing in everyone’s’ lives; expectations. Often we see a comparison on the net about this thing called expectation and reality, and they paint a deflated, albeit humourous picture of how our expectations fall short of reality. And while those have more to do with advertisements or memes, I want to talk more about the expectations of life.

You see before I landed in Ukraine, I had an expectation of what it looked like, but the truth is I could only imagine until my feet truly hit the ground. You may have an expected time to go home from work, a meeting or from doing a project. But often than not, last minute work comes in, people don’t work as fast as they should, things happened, and many times that expected timing gets pushed back.

Expectations can come from entering a new job, stepping into a new school, a relationship or any new frontier in life for that matter. The reality you find is often very different from what you expected.

But the main point I really like to drive home here is to talk about our expectation of others. Why does expectation often not meet up with reality?

I think the reason for this is that sometimes our expectations tend to lean heavily to one side. Simply speaking we over expect. Our expectations is often based on a perfect world scenario. We naively believe A to Z will fall into place nicely in our favour, in our time frame, in the exact way we envisioned it to be. This is why many a times disappointments come out of expectations.

I’ll use myself as an example. I made a list of things I look forward to for my return to Singapore. I had been away for 11 months in Ukraine as a missionary and was looking forward to many things (local food, driving, etc) in particular to meet a girl I was interested in. I was hoping to see her at the airport.

But guess what?

Reality check. I later found out she had classes on that day. And from the very onset, the expectations were not met.

This is just an example but quickly I learnt a few things in life about managing expectations and I would like to share it here.

PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE

Another thing after I came back was that I truly thought people will be a little more excited about my return. After all, I had been away for nearly a year! After all, I had toiled hard, I had given my life to a cause. I’m sure people would have missed me or be eager to find out about the happenings in Ukraine especially those in the church! And perhaps this expectation was greater from different ones who had also gone out to the missions field.

I realized this expectation spilled over to even people I’m not close with. There were different emotions and feelings I felt upon coming back, even feelings of self pity. I came to see I was longing for appreciation and approval.

But people are people, they too have been busy with their lives and affairs. They too have moved on. Don’t be offended when they don’t notice. Don’t take it to heart when their response is not what you expected. People are people. They have their set of problems in life to deal with too. I quickly came to the realization, I was not on their minds as much as I thought I was. Sometimes we can have an inflated worldview of ourselves (something I will cover in my next point)

I’m not saying that no one bothered to ask how am I or how was Ukraine, in fact many did come up to shake my hand at the airport, in church. Many did ask how was I doing or if I was adjusting well. It was just perhaps not in the amplitude I’d hope for. Which brings us back to managing expectations.

HAVE AN ACCURATE WORLDVIEW OF YOURSELF

You are not as important as you think.

Yes you heard me right. No I’m not trying to degrade you or bring you social worth down. (This depends on the individual) But I think more often than not we think we’re somebody. We think we are the one who will bring salvation to mankind, and that the world cannot operate without us!

Well maybe not quite.

But I speak for myself that sometimes we think we’re much more important than we truly are. And again, this is not to disregard the intrinsic value of a human being, but more to highlight the reality of life. Often times we view ourselves as the centre where our lives revolve around the people, and we assume everyone else holds this same view too.

*News Flash* Just because you have 2564 followers on Instagram or 432 likes on your posts does not make you actually very important.

In the day and age of social media, I feel blind spots in our worldview of self is a result of our inflated persona online. We think people really care about what we post. But nothing truly spells I care, like skipping through all your stories on Instagram, which many would be guilty of.

Have an accurate view of yourself, and of how people view you. Consider how people actually respond to you or if they actually made an effort to speak or text you. This will probably be an accurate picture of what reality is, and again don’t be offended if it doesn’t add up. Remember, people are people.

I believe having an accurate view of yourself is a key to managing expectations of people around us, even from those we think we are close with.

APPRECIATE THE ONES WHO TRULY CARE

I looked back at this past month, and actually many different ones asked me out to buy me a meal, or drop me a text to see how I was doing, some even gave me some money. In fact I recently started a thankful journal too to record the different testimonies, blessings received by friends and people around. This is keep my heart in thankful mode.

I came to see that somehow my focus was on what people didn’t do than what they did. It was this sense of entitlement that was in me that I thought I should receive and this wasn’t something I liked about what I was seeing of myself.

And sticking to the point about expectations, even as we have certain expectations of people, make room for them that many times the delivery will not be as expected. Appreciate the effort that people put in, appreciate their time. Appreciate the fact the conversation didn’t go the way you wanted but still they were willing to talk to you. Learn to look out for those who truly care instead of focusing just on the spectators of your life.

CONCLUSION OF THE MATTER

Now the point of this is not to ask you to lower your expectations with people in life but to have them realistically. Continue to live life with expectation. Expect good things to come your way, expect breakthroughs, expect new seasons, expect new friendships. But also to bear in mind the three points being mentioned above.

People will always be people, make room for failure and try to give them the benefit of the doubt. Learn to see yourself accurately and don’t freak out if you realize you are really not that important. Lastly, appreciate people’s efforts, this will help you to go easy on expecting too much. And the next time if things go your way, great, and if they don’t, that’s fine too.

Are there other ways you know of to deal with managing expectation from people?

Missions Experience: Ukraine

It’s been slightly over 3 weeks since I came back to Singapore. I have not blogged much about my missions experience but I think I should do so to capture some of these memories while they are still fresh in my mind.

I haven’t wrote much about it during my time there because firstly there was so much to do, and frankly there wasn’t much motivation for writing. Secondly, I think most of activities day in-and-out were pretty repetitive and routine. I mean a lot happened in 11 months, and if you count in the training months too, that’s a total of 13 months involved in missions. But a lot more was learnt in the consistent repetition of things. I wrote in my church bulletin that this period had been a time of self discovery, stretching and growth and how I likened it to the moments of obscurity David must have felt tending his father’s sheep.

The invention of instastories, though great for keeping up to date with current happenings of friends or things back home, can also make it seem like the whole world is getting ahead of you. Friends getting married, people going on vacations, families enjoying the festivity and holidays. It can all make it seem like you’re missing out on life altogether. The challenge is there to remain faithful in doing what is needed even as the world passes you by. David may have felt a little like that, overlooked doing the menial task of watching over sheep. But we also realize that in this story, that his time tending sheep ultimately prepared him for the fight against the giant Goliath.

This is a reminder to self too, that the race of life is just set for yourself, this is not a competition with others, but rather to live it out purposefully, through the seasons that comes your way. I believe this season God put me through was a good training ground for future challenges and battles.

In fact, the word ‘seasons’ was the word of 2018. It was not only the name of one of my favourite songs by Hillsong, but also a reality for me because it was the first time in my life, I lived through the four seasons. Singapore is summer all year round in case you didn’t know. But seasons shows us there is a time for everything, from sowing to harvest time to barrenness. It teaches a little bit about patience and endurance. And to see the clear defining lines of what Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter was like, was truly one of the highlights of this journey.

Seasons the song, had a line in it which goes “from seed to Sequoia”, and this holds a powerful truth in it. You might be aware the Sequoia tree is the largest tree on earth, where the width of its trunk could be the size of the width of a road. Google it! But its an amazing thought to think that it all started with a tiny seed. In fact its a mind-blowing thought! God saw it fit that the process of growth takes time. How often in life do we just want to skip to the good parts? I want to quickly graduate school, I want to get married fast, I want to clear this season or I want to skip past this hard part. We’re thinking God let this cup pass, but God says I put you here for a purpose. Someone once said, as we grow older we realize our lives play out in seasons, and this is so true.

So being on the mission field taught me how God is much more interested in developing our character than just bringing us to a destination. We can see this in the life of a Sequoia tree – or any tree for that matter – growing strong and sturdy through the seasons instead of just springing up immediately. It took years upon years for it’s grandeur to materialize.

Over this period, I got to play a small part in advancing God’s Kingdom. In the grand scheme of things, our efforts were just scratching the surface, but just like a seed being planted, I don’t know the end result yet. Time will tell. It still amazes me how different individuals or families we simply met on the street responded and opened their home to us to hold meetings there. It was even more amazing we got to baptize 4 different individuals! Us as Asians who had a hard time speaking the language, but them entrusting us with their time and with the Word of God was truly a humbling experience. I wouldn’t be surprised if collectively the 4 of us spoke to a thousand people, but only a handful remained and these were the God prepared ones.

Some interesting experiences I had in my time in Ukraine, besides holding bible studies, was that I got to witness a deer being operated on at a vet clinic where someone I befriended was working at as an anesthesiologist. I got to walk a husky! One of our contact’s dog. I got invited into a few homes and had the pleasure to play some music for those who had a guitar or piano. Also got to have bible lessons pretty regularly with one of our disciples on his bus during his break time, which was rather a unique experience! Had the blessing of travelling to two other parts of Ukraine for a short getaway too; Kamyanets Podilsky a small town with a castle and Lviv, said to be the most beautiful city in Ukraine.

Overall, it was a pretty fulfilling time there. Sure there were tough days, days where I was just thinking “What in the world am I doing here?” Days where I just look at the calendar and count the days or weeks left till I return. But hindsight always look sweet. I’m glad I made it, and finished the journey I committed to start. Now for the next chapter of my life!

Does Using A Handphone With A Cracked Screen Emit More Radiation?

Photo by Christian Regg on Unsplash

I’m sure most of you will know of one, if not, multiple friends who have cracks on their mobile devices. In fact it seems like a norm or a trend to own a phone with a cracked screen nowadays. We also know for a fact mobile phones emit radiation. So does having a crack screen mean a higher chance of radiation exposure? Is there cause for worry?

One thing we have to note is that there is no conclusive evidence whether or not mobile phone radiation is truly harmful for the human body. In fact an article by the WHO in 2014 states that “To date, no adverse health effects have been established as being caused by mobile phone use.” The only superficial effect is the heating of tissue cells of region within phone’s proximity.

A very basic general understanding on mobile phones tell us that the phone is only “dangerous” when transmitting over radio waves (i.e transmitting radio frequency energy or emission) and this is done so over an antenna. Instances where this occurs could be during phone calls, using mobile phone as a hotspot device, downloading something over the internet, etc. Most modern day smart phones have not just one but a couple of antennas. One for GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth (See previous article: Is It Dangerous In The Long Run To Use A BlueTooth Earpiece?), LTE (2 or more antennas) and so on and so forth. Mobile phones in general operate at 0.1 to 2 watts power and frequencies between 450 – 2700 MHz. Mobile phones radiation is non-ionizing, in other words, it does not alter any of your bodily cells and is generally not harmful.

But back to the question, does using a mobile phone with a cracked screen emit more radiation? What if the cracked area exposes the transmitter, will I then be exposed to greater doses of radiation?

Well no. Because for one if the information we understood from above is true, then radiation levels for mobile phones are typically not high enough to cause harm to the human body. What would a few cracks on a screen do to increase radiation exposure. Secondly most modern day smartphones comes with LED or LCD screens. The older CRT screens which shoots electrons in sequence to form the display on phone screens would warrant more concern about exposure, but not so much the newer screens. What these screens do is simply emit light photons. They should do little to give you any worry about getting cancer or other related diseases.

So for anyone who is using a mobile phone with a cracked screen, hope this information puts you a little more at ease.

Sources:

androidcentral – Cracked screen , increased radiation?

howstuffworks – how cell phone radiation works

quora – how many antennas does a smart phone has and how they work

who.int – electromagnetic fields and public health mobile phone

Is It Dangerous In The Long Run To Use A Bluetooth Earpiece?

Photo by Sara Kurfeß on Unsplash

Many people have a common understanding or belief that electronic devices cause cancer because of the radio waves it emits and how overexposure to these can be deadly. But is this really true or is this fake news altogether? Sometimes we cannot believe everything we hear and see online.

So this question of whether Bluetooth devices in particular are harmful crossed my mind as it seems more and more popular to use devices like Bluetooth speakers or earpieces, and sometimes even wearing them for the whole day as seen by cabbies or businessmen.

How many Bluetooth enabled devices do you have within your vicinity right now? I count 3. The laptop on which I’m typing, my Bluetooth speaker and my smart phone beside me.

I’m sure you can easily identify with more.

Before we address the question, let us first look at how the Bluetooth technology works in layman’s term.

How Bluetooth Works

Bluetooth is essentially a networking standard across devices that allows for wireless communications. It is a standard in the sense that it provides agreement at a physical level i.e. radio wave frequency of 2.4 GHz and also provides agreement of a protocol level i.e. link management, when the data is sent, how much data is sent each time and so forth. Bluetooth allows for short range communications, though it’s latest version Bluetooth 5.0 allows for distances greater than 100m.

Bluetooth follows the Master-Slave model, where one master device can have 7 slave devices, and this network forms what is called a piconet. The master communicates with the slave (transmits and receives) over a frequency hopping channel; changes frequency 1600 times per second over 79 channels. The reason for this is so no two transmitting devices’ signal will interfere with each other and even if they do, it will only be for a fraction of a second. Every Bluetooth transmitting device comes with this frequency hopping capability.

The name Bluetooth originated from the second king of Denmark, Harald Bluetooth. He was notable for converting Denmark and part of Norway to Christianity from it’s pagan roots. The Bluetooth symbol is actually derived from the runic alphabets of his initials.

Bluetooth applications include file transfer, internet bridge, LAN access synchronization of data from devices and headset. Many devices now make use of this technology including speakers, watches, sunglasses, even toothbrushes and shoes!

Is Usage of Bluetooth Harmful in the Long Run?

So now that we have some common understanding of how Bluetooth works, it begs the question whether or not it’s harmful if we have a Bluetooth device stuck in our ears the whole day over a long period of time?

Bluetooth device transmits signals of about 2mW, which is actually about a 1000 times less than what cellphones do. The reason for this is going back to the fact that Bluetooth devices are only used for short distance transmitting and receiving. So that makes it actually a lot safer to use than your cellphones!

In fact although there are many articles or videos online which tells of the dangers of cellphone radiation – I am sure you have come across one yourself, probably circulated by a health conscious relative or friend over Whatsapp Messenger – there are also articles which claims there are no links between cancer and cellular devices. One such article is this: https://www.jabra.com/blog/are-bluetooth-headsets-safe/

That being said I do not think it’s a good idea to sleep with your phone directly by your pillow.

So I do believe that ultimately, Bluetooth headsets are safe for using. The thing of greater concern would be the volume at which you are at while using the headset, as putting it on too high a volume may not give you cancer cells, but it would definitely kill a ton of your ear cells.

Bluetooth is actually a technology that started back in the 90s, and although we may not think much about it, it is indeed a breakthrough technology and one that is so useful to all of us.

Sources:

ipwatchdog – evolution of technology bluetooth the once and future king

techspirited – how does bluetooth works

electronics.howstuffworks – bluetooth

quora – will using a bluetooth headphone cause a damage to my head

Homosexuality: The Christian Perspective

Photo by Victor Garcia on Unsplash

Hearing about the different developments in India regarding this matter, and even in Singapore over the last two week, where penal code 377A once again resurfaced among many other legislation the government is considering to change. With many on both sides of the spectrum – conservatives and secularists – giving their views. Here I am in Ukraine and it’s with a heavy heart and concern that I feel like I should write something about this.

Section 377A criminalises sex between men, though it is not actively enforced.

Even as I have been living in Ukraine for 6 months already, I have come to see a really different worldview many people here have than from the way I was raised to see the world.

The point I’m mentioning this is, I understand it frustrates both sides why people can’t seem to see it their way. Why are these religious nut-jobs so hard up about this. They’re brainwashed, they’re following blind faith. But to those pointing the finger, have you also considered how you have been influenced by pervasive Western and secular culture?

If this was in the 90s, you would most likely be against the idea of gay marriage in the first place. So the question then is do you really know what you are standing for or are you simply swayed by the majority?

I know so many people are wondering, “Homosexuality doesn’t harm anyone.” or “We shouldn’t judge this is between them and God.” or “People are free to live their own lifestyles.” And even among fellow Christians, these points are raised.

I truly understand the dilemma in this extremely touchy subject.

What then is the Christian response? How should we approach this sensitive issue? Should we take it on headstrong? Why should this matter to us?

For me I think the main underlying issue is really this: Is homosexuality a sin in God’s eyes?

I truly believe when it comes to sin, there is no grey area. Unless you’re talking about a mental issue. I know there are many who are not of the opinion that homosexuality is a sin. It could be because they have no concept of sin. But it could also be because they feel how can a God of love stop me from something I feel to be right, the basic need to love and be loved.

For those who identify as Christians, I truly hope you read your bible and have a good solid biblical understanding on this issue and not just apply your personal opinions, lens and perspective on this matter. The bible has to be the basis and the authority by which we live by.

People can feel a lot of things, even things that are rationale and reasonable in the eyes of this world. But friends, we are not of this world. You’re not called to follow the cultures of this world, you’re called to follow Jesus. There are going to be some issues you are not going to see eye to eye with this world.

Remember this, Jesus was counter cultural in a time of rigid religious traditions and forms.

I’d like to empathized their situation and I know that if it would mean for me that I cannot be allowed to pursue a romantic relationship with a girl, that would be devastating. But I also know that in this life, I’m called to deny myself, pick up my cross and follow Jesus.

This means I shouldn’t be led by every desire that comes out of my heart. I have to learn to lay certain things down. The heart is deceitful above all things. I know the struggle will be real, because although I do not have homosexual tendencies, I do have struggles as well in other areas (Let’s be real and not act holier than thou).

Ultimately for me, I believe the key is to hate the sin (the lifestyle), love the sinner (the person). And when I say this I do not mean to point the finger at a gay person and call them a sinner because “all have fallen short”.

The Thing About The Homosexual Agenda

From a biblical perspective, a gay relationship goes against the sacredness of a God instituted marriage. Again I want to quote one of my heros Ravi Zacharias on this.

“The race and ethnicity of a person is sacred. You do not violate a person’s ethnicity and race. It is a sacred gift. The reason we believe in an absoluteness to sexuality, is because sexuality is sacred as well. Marriage as God has given it to us, and if you take the whole corpus of the worldview, is the most sacred relationship into which you will enter. Because love is given one word in English but there four words in the Greek. Agape, Phileo, Storge and Eros. Agape is God’s love, Phileo is friendship love or brotherly love. Storge is protective love or parental love, Eros is romantic love. Do you realize marriage is the only one that pulls these four together. If you take Agape out of that, Eros is gone for whatever you want to do. Romantic love becomes redefined, and to us the bible gives the sacredness of marriage as Christ is to the church, the bridegroom to the bride.”

My other issue with this is that it may not be as glamorous as it looks. I know Hollywood paints a very glorified picture of what a gay marriage is like (Think about Modern Family or Glee). Everyone is happy and satisfied in life. And while I believe this may be true in some cases, I’ve heard testimonies of how many of such families end up dysfunctional and broken. Children grow up confused as to what a family is really like, or grow up believing themselves to be gays when they are not. We know children are impressionable and growing in an environment like this will cause serious identity issues. There is strong evidence to support the well being and how children turn out, when there is an involved father figure and mother in the picture.

I believe that there are many more people led into being gay then there are who are actually ‘born gay’. I truly believe God designed us to be heterosexual and that many have been deceived into this lifestyle or experienced a traumatic incident in their childhood that resulted in these tendencies. For those who struggle with this from the very onset without any prior incident linking or triggering this, please don’t hear what I am not saying. I believe it could also only be a passing phase you are going through.

Which is why in the case of 377A, we need to make a stand for the future generations. I know it sounds so harsh that the Christians or other religious groups are fighting hard to retain this law. But really if we deemed something as sin and we simply allow the law to be repealed would that be staying true to our faith?

Know that ultimately, there is an agenda behind all this on the premise of inclusiveness and equality for the LGBTQ(RSTUV) community. And that which is of a very anti-religious sentiment. No other movement has had such a rapid progression and momentum as this. The activists are the ones shouting louder than the gays themselves. While promoting liberal values, they have limited people’s religious liberties.

What Should Then Be The Christian Response?

I know the model answer (and even stated above) should be to love and to be inclusive. To show people Christ’s love. But if you asked me honestly enough and perhaps to many other Christians, we don’t know how to. Maybe we’re not given enough opportunity to interact with a gay person and maybe when we get close enough we don’t really know how to respond in that love.

So yes, take the opportunity to love and include your gay friends, don’t avoid them because they are different. I believe there’s a place for bible verses to be thrown out, but don’t use it as the sole means to state your views. Seek to understand. I am asking myself the question as well, do I truly care for the person, or am I just simply wanting them to see my point of view.

I recently posted something a little ‘forceful’ on Facebook regarding this which sparked numerous responses. And just reflecting on it, while I believe in making a stand and sending a clear message, I’m thinking I could have been a little tactical and gracious too. I am still learning what it means to love my neighbour as myself, no matter who that person is.

To The Gay People

I want to leave you with 2 thoughts.

Firstly I hope you see the love of Christ in Christians around you and forgive us if we use scripture to try to thump people down or to tell them, you are going to hell. At times we stumble you in our efforts to show you a better way or at least try to. I believe God has a plan and destiny for each one of you.

I also believe that a way of loving someone is telling them when we know they are going the wrong way. So if your Christian friends are telling you (whether directly or indirectly) it’s wrong or it’s sinful in a harsh way, perhaps it’s really that we care but we just don’t know to bring the point across in a loving manner.

Secondly, I hope you do understand too that as we make a stand for our beliefs, it is not exactly an easy fight. It’s not fun being labelled a bigot or hateful just because we are shouting something counter cultural in this day and age. We are a minority voice in a growing secular world and it’s not because we are foolish to pick a fight with the world, but because we need to stand by our convictions.