[stephenkhoo]

was early to day and arrived at cathedral and saw msgr lau and had a chat. i learn from msgr lau that changrai wood from malaysia is good for water resistant . must wood are cheap kapo wood so if get into contact with water may get termites. use kerosene to treat it.

another i learnt was how to overcome cold, there was an incident when he was caught in the rain as a seminarian when walking to paya lebar from ponggol to view the runway building. what happened was a hot cup of water and sugar and brandy and he got well, same for his sore throat. he did the same in Rome and had brandy to keep warm. So it works.

honestly he inspires me because he is so knowledgeable about Christ and his teaching as well as his daily affairs or current issues. He is someone you can speak with anything under the sky. I am always amazed by his wealth of knowledge and memory work something he is gifted and like a seasoned writer he can tell you every details of every single topic. how amazing! like a walking dictionary and a walking bible. very thankful he is someone so approachable and friendly in any situations. If you visit him at the rector's house please visit his office! its stocked up with wonderful stuffs and so impressive that he can repair clocks and old mechanical stuffs. If you ask me I would call him the modern day Galileo Galilei very very amazing so much I learn from him everytime I meet him.

[stephenkhoo]

one more thing i asked msgr lau what he thinks of the pay for ministers well he gave a pretty concrete example of the late hon sui sen who was our ex finance minister. He was holding on to board member of many companies and was drawing a high income but when he became finance minister he had to give up those perks and pay. that was one driving reason why lky had the idea to use money to attract top talent especially for ppl with calibre and capability like the late hon sui sen.
apparently lky agreed to let the family of the late hon sui sen to stay indefinitely at the govt house in chancery lane because of his sacrifice and devotion to the state as an appreciation but it seems they moved out after that. well of course we can now easily compare the current crop of ministers who many seem to disagree having been put to the test before but nevertheless i still feel that serving a nation as a public servant goes beyond monetary reward but passion to serve and always a service. one good example is our late president ong teng cheong.
i am not being biased in any situation but i still believe putting the candidate to the real test and if he/she cannot deliver honestly the person should make way for someone who can do the job better hence benefiting the state and people

[stephenkhoo]

I also asked him about the cathedral situation and it seems it has stablised well now they only need to do repair to the back columns. it seems the ground is stable somehow miraculously there is no need to do major piling. the column of triangle at the entrance is supported by a beam above 6 columns. the beam is wood inside encased in concrete and when the engineers analysed the wood has become dust so now they inserted rods to strenghten the front. msgr said St Michael was holding on the the beam until the engineers repaired. i would never think of that but i understood now how God works in this world. He always does the work and he will get it done. This is about trusting in God and having Faith in him. I am also amazed and indeed in awe when I hear from msgr the structure has stablised as i remember vividly they needed 40mil to rebuild or pile the ground.
Isn't it thought all ages that God is working with us and most importantly I believe it has to be done for him and his Glory so that we know and acknowledge God loves us.

[stephenkhoo]

Do you know how to pray?

Well for me I just pray the way most people will do natually but I was told by a redemptorist priest that praying is like entering into a romantic relationship with God. Wow! Honestly I don't know how to do it because I cannot see God or touch God however I think it means being totally honest and even if the gravest sin we have to confess and just say to God. Its very difficult for me until now. Why? Ego. Always wanting and worrying how I am perceived, I dont think I can do it 100%. We live in a totally secular world to the sense things around us make us less and less in touch with God. One example is mobile phones. With mobile phones, we don't even use it as a phone but a messaging tool as convenince, words and thoughts are now easily transmitted yes.. its convenient and simple and instantaneous but take the effort to write a card on birthdays or christmas or new year. we simply send or take someones else message and fwd. it has become convenience. similarly when we attend mass nowadays for me I dont even read the missal to prepare for the word of God. Why? because i know there is a projector, I dont bother to find out the readings. Sigh! when for 2000 years there wasn't a bible for the early christians right up to the printing age. even then only the rich or learned had the bible. hence you know why readings are kept as a tradition or lectors. because no one had the bible so they rely on hearing the word in mass.now we have airconditioned, mass booklet or projectors. i really thank God for these graces and gifts and this is the peace we are enjoying now thanks to the God's graces and guidance. Sometimes i feel ashamed for not paying attention to mass readings or sermont.