Hello Everyone,
in the recent spate of events with regards to the City Harvest Church [CHC] saga, I have realised that there are so many people whom are simply blinded and whom are not using their brains to think critically about the reports that were published online and offline.
First and foremost, what the media publishes/releases can be a one-sided point of view and most of the time, these reports can be bias and very often, taken out of context so as to sensationalise the whole story. Well, I bet that most people never really did bother to find out information about the reporter/journalist who reported/wrote the articles. Most of the time, people would just read the headlines, the contents of it, and then go around discussing the content with other people. What some people never really bothered to do is to think about why the article was written in such a manner by the reporter/journalist and what the article aims to achieve.
The truth of the matter is this, every company in the world of business is out to make a profit [whether its food and beverage, technology, media, and etc.]. If a company isn’t making money, investors will perhaps be rather reluctant to invest their money into the company. Hence, a company in order to generate profits would go all the way [sometimes ignoring ethics and corporate social responsibility] to create value for its stakeholders. The same goes for the media industry. The more an article is able to generate buzz, gossips, and rumours, the more it has achieve its intent of creating attention.
Take for example the most recent case between Singapore Press Holdings [SPH] and SMRT regarding the fake photo that was published. The photograph that a content producer of citizen journalism website Stomp posted online, supposedly of an MRT train running with one set of its doors open, was found to be false and the worst thing was, the photo has already been published on the papers! This certainly implies that before even SMRT has a chance to respond to the matter, SPH has already passed its judgements to stir up even more emotions amongst citizens that SMRT was not effective in providing a safe environment for commuters.
Back in those days when I was still in school, I will always remember my English teacher telling us to pen down our articles objectively and I also recall my humanities teacher showing us a few photographs and asking us what we could infer from the photographs shown. Yet, many of us do not appreciate or even understand the skills that our teachers were trying to impart to us. You see, most of the time, what we see/hear/read are often information that have already been twisted and filtered. Information that are being presented to us are usually on the surface and they do not dwell any deeper than that. And most of the time, people only tell us things/information that we only want to hear/listen to.
Wouldn’t it be good if we develop a healthy dose of skepticism and discern for ourselves the facts and data of a subject/topic before engaging in sweeping statements?
Well, in any case. The media can be manipulated in many ways and I hope people will know the truth about the media. To understand more about media manipulation/media distraction, check out the Wikipedia article in the following link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_distraction and make sure you do your own research regarding media manipulation to understand the whole context of what media manipulation is all about.
Stay tuned to more updates from us.
God bless!
Hello Everyone,
I will like to officially announce that I would be taking a break from blogging as I am extremely occupied with tons of events and activities that will be taking place in the next 3 months or so. Hence, this is why most of you would have noticed that I haven’t been uploading much blog entries as frequently as I used to. Well, in case you’re wondering, I won’t be disappearing from the Blogosphere entirely as I will be covering the Emerge Youth Conference 2012- Evolve that will be taking place from 27th July 2012 to 29th July 2012.
In the month of July, I will be participating in the ‘Emerge Youth Conference 2012- Evolve‘ as an Official Blogger for the event and meanwhile, I will also be writing my 10,000 words dissertation that will be due in the month of August. Following which, I will have tons of written assignments to submit in the month of September and by then, I would have completed my Bachelors Degree Programme in Marketing Management, and I would also have completed my National Service.
Therefore, do pardon me if you do not see much blogs posts in the coming months. However, I will do my best to upload at least 4 blog posts a month but I can’t promise anything. Here’s an interesting piece of news though, Baby and I would be travelling to Taiwan again [I think we would make it a yearly trip] and we will be there for 9 days! So, I will definitely be bringing my laptop over so as to keep you readers posted on our experience. Some of the places we will be visiting this year might include Tai Zhong, Hsin Chu, and Sun Moon Lake [details are not confirmed yet but we will be releasing our official itinerary sometime in September when our departure date draws nearer]
Photo of Taipei 101
Photo of Sun Moon Lake
I have also received loads of queries regarding my plans after completing my National Service and to be honest, there have been many private companies and government organisations calling me up for interviews and shortlisting me for certain positions and while the opportunities are plentiful, I am unfortunately able to accept only one offer out of the many others. While I won’t reveal which offer I have already accepted/going to accept, I will definitely reveal more details after the completion of my National Service.
Finally, with the recent news outbreak regarding City Harvest Church [CHC] and the arrests of 5 individuals, I am very sure many people have been startled/shocked/stunned/surprised by the news report. Many people have asked me for my opinions and thoughts on this matter and my stand is this, whatever has been reported in the press is already available at the news stand. There is absolutely no need to [add oil add vinegar] to the whole saga by firing off rumours and gossips. In fact, some of the papers and even bloggers that reported this news had twisted the story quite a fair bit to make it quite “flavourful”. In any case, the verdict will be out tomorrow. To those whom have been affected by the news report and are facing persecution from family members and friends, I just want to encourage you all with just one simple verse for you all to meditate and reflect on, Romans 8:35- Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? [No matter what the outcome is, there is absolutely nothing and no one whom can separate us from the love of Christ!]
Stay tuned to more updates from us!
God bless!
Hello Everyone, this is one long overdue post but nevertheless, here it is!
Here are the details of the vendors/suppliers whom I engaged for Jacqueline’s 24th Birthday and Surprise Proposal Party
Many ladies and gentlemen whom are of the same age as me have absolutely zero knowledge about diamonds. In fact, most of the people whom I know are absolutely clueless about choosing diamonds; especially the gents whom are preparing or planning to propose. Well, I am not a professional in this area but I shall attempt to impart some basic knowledge I have about choosing diamonds. A friend of mine once asked me if diamond rings are still relevant in today’s context and my answer to him was a big, “Yes!”.
Ok, there are 4Cs you got to look out for when considering to purchase diamonds.
The 4Cs are Carat, Colour, Clarity, and Cut.
Carat is used to measure the weight of a diamond. The bigger the number of carat, the more expensive the diamond will be. However, the price of 2 diamonds that are of the same carat may differ greatly as there are factors such as Colour, Clarity, and Cut to consider.
Colour of a diamond is graded from the alphabet D to Z. Diamonds that are graded D in colour have the purest colour, that is, they are colourless and they are the best colour for diamonds. A totally colorless diamond allows light to pass through it easily, resulting in the light being dispersed as the color of the rainbow. For diamonds that are graded E-Z colour, you can actually see that the colour of the diamond is tinted yellow or brown.
Clarity of a diamond is graded from Flawless [FL] to Inclusions Visible to the Naked Eye [I3]. Most diamonds contain very tiny impurities know as “inclusions.” An inclusion can interfere with the light passing through the diamond. The fewer the inclusion, the more beautiful the diamond will be.
Cut of a diamond has a few varieties and they can be graded good, very good, and excellent. In fact, under the microscope, if the cutting of a diamond is perfect, you can literally see shapes of hearts and arrows. However, diamonds with rather fanciful cuttings tend to be quite expensive; especially those from Lee Hwa, Goldheart, and etc. Well, for Baby’s diamond ring, I specially got it from Meyson Jewellery [Serangoon NeX] because the price was extremely reasonable and their service were excellent. If you are planning to get diamond rings, you might want to consider getting them from Meyson Jewellery. And if you are going to the outlet at Serangoon NeX, do look up Angel [one of the retail staff] because she can really recommend one that your other half will like.
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
Party Blasters Setting up decorations can be a tedious task and especially time consuming. Hence, for Baby’s party, I specially engaged Party Blasters to do up the decorations and they have indeed done a really excellent job. If you are looking for a trustworthy, reliable, and creative decorations team, do check out Party Blasters as they have a wide range of exotic balloons that you can choose from. Better still, head down to their office [situated at MidView City] for a non-obligatory discussion. To check out the various decorations they have done for events, like their Facebook Pagenow!
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
Pine Garden’s Cakes I first tasted Pine Garden’s Cakes when I attended Winnie’s 21st birthday and I must say, Pine Garden’s Cake is absolutely delicious. The price of Pine Garden’s Cake is also rather reasonable and their service is prompt and efficient. There are also a whole range of flavours that you can choose from to customise the cake. If you are looking for cakes that not only taste delicious but one that appeals to the eye, you might want to consider Pine Garden’s Designer Cakes.
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
Eesha Eesha is a Taiwanese professional make-up artist and Baby gotten her contact from Cozy Cot’s website. Since Baby wanted to look really pretty for her party, Baby engaged Eesha’s service and Eesha was really service-oriented. When we reached Eesha’s place, she made us felt rather comfortable and even offered us drinks. Eesha also has a professional make up space at her place so you can be rest assured that everything is all professionally done. If any of you are interested to engage Eesha’s make up service, you can contact her at 81812528.
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
Foodlink Catering From what I heard, Foodlink Catering is a rather new food caterer and I had mixed feelings when I wanted to engage the services of Foodlink Catering. Even after the party, our guests had mixed feelings about the quality of the food. While the buffet line-up was pretty impressive, I personally felt that the food quality was perhaps average. The price per person is also not that cheap too. Hence, I perhaps would not recommend Foodlink Catering if you are going for quality food. In fact, Neo Gardenmight be a better choice instead.
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
Bloom Room There are many florists in Singapore that sells 99-roses bouquet and I happened to chance upon Bloom Room during an Internet search on Google’s website. In fact, out of the many florists that sells 99-roses bouquet, I engaged Bloom Room because of their extremely personalised service and their reasonable pricing as well. Jaclyn [the staff from Bloom Room] was very helpful and she even went the extra mile by offering me 3 ideas of 99-roses bouquet to choose from. So, if you are looking for a 99-roses bouquet for your other half, you might want to consider Bloom Room.
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
No. 1 Costume Costume There are quite a couple of costume shops in Singapore and the first time I heard of No.1 Costume Costume was when I performed for NDP many years ago. Although I did thought of checking out the rest of the costume shops apart from No. 1 Costume Costume, I decided that location was going to be the top consideration as I wanted to save the hassle of travelling to and fro. Moreover, No. 1 Costume Costume is perhaps Singapore’s largest costume shop and they probably have the most widest range of costumes to choose from. If you are looking for a costume for a themed party, No. 1 Costume Costumeis one place you must visit!
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
Sticky Sticky’s first candy shop was at The Central, Clarke Quay and since then, they have flourished and opened other outlets in Cathay Cineleisure Orchard and Jcube too. Sticky’s candies are honestly perfect for doorgifts and not only that, their candies are really tasty and addictive. The best thing is, it is not very expensive! If you are sourcing for suitable doorgifts for your party, you might want to consider Sticky!
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
Stay tuned to more updates from us!
God bless!
Hello Everyone,
I recently read an article on Yahoo! News that was published by AFP Relax News on Monday, 18 June 2012, and it talks about the top germ spots in the hotel room.
Credits to SwissOtel Singapore for the Image
Well, if you wish to read the article in details, here is the direct link http://sg.news.yahoo.com/top-germ-hotspots-hotel-room-105118838.html but if you just want to briefly understand what the article is all about, do read on:
A small study conducted by the researchers from the University of Houston concluded that two of the top surfaces most likely to be contaminated with potentially sickness-inducing bacteria, including streptococcus and staphylococcus, are the main light switch and the television remote. It also goes on to say that other hot spots were bathroom sinks and floors and that the highest level of contamination were found in the maid’s cleaning cart.
Credits to Eurosciconnews for the Image
My take on this small study:
First and foremost, I must admit that I am not a professional microbiologist. While this small study might have come up with facts and findings that indicated spots that have the highest bacteria contamination, this study was based on nine hotel rooms across 3 states in the US. Hence, the study might be slightly inconclusive as there are no indications if the study was done on upscale hotels or budget hotels, and on top of that, 9 hotel rooms is too small a study to really produce any conclusive evidence.
Please do not misunderstand that I am putting down this study because there are indeed some truths in it. In fact, I personally feel that if this study was done on a much larger scale, it would have made people more aware of the hygiene standards in the hotel industry.
As a former hotel staff working in an upscale hotel establishment in Singapore, I can testify that there are certain practises among housekeepers that are not right. Some of these practises include, using the hotel’s bathroom towels to clean and dry the bathroom sinks and floors, using the same cloth meant for wiping the toilet bowl to wipe other areas, and not sanitising common items such as remote controls, light switches, and the telephone.
Due to such practises, it is not a surprise that guests sometimes find themselves falling sick after checking-in into a hotel room. Again, I am not putting the blame on anyone for such practises but seriously, a housekeeper has to clean about 15 rooms a day and I believe you can imagine for yourselves, how tiring it must be for them to clean 15 rooms within a specified time frame! While housekeepers should not bear the full grunt of the matter, the hotel management also has to set the right standards and train their housekeepers well! Otherwise, what may seem clean on the surface might not necessarily be that clean after all as we can’t see germs and bacteria with our naked eye.
And quoting from the study where they mentioned that the maid’s cleaning cart contains the highest levels of contamination, I am really not surprised to find that out at all. As I have mentioned, housekeepers have to clean 15 rooms a day using the same equipment/cart/cloths, so you can picture for yourself how bacteria and germs could accumulate if there are no sanitisation and disinfection done on the equipment/cart/cloths.
Credits to Forbes Industries for the Image
My conclusion:
Well, while the study might have some truth in it, it is still quite inconclusive because the number of rooms that were studied were too small a number to justify areas of the hotel room that have the highest level of bacteria/germ contamination. It would be more helpful if there are more facts gathered from the study such as whether the study was conducted in upscale hotels or budget hotels, and whether the study was conducted before the cleaning of the room by the housekeepers or after the cleaning of the room by the housekeepers.
Either way, should you be concerned about the hygiene standards of hotels, do ensure that you bring along some disinfectant wipes when you travel abroad the next time, so that you can protect yourself from germs and bacteria that may cause you to fall sick.
Credits to Coupon Saving Sista for the Image
Stay tuned to more updates from us!
God bless!
Hello Everyone,
in this blog post, I will be sharing with you the insights to Jacqueline’s 24th Birthday and Surprise Proposal Party and how the event was conceived.
Well, the idea for the proposal was conceived in January earlier this year and the plan was to coincide it with Jacqueline’s 24th birthday. In fact, the main plan all along was to coincide the proposal with her birthday. I had about 6 months to plan this entire event and there were many ideas that came to my mind.
Some ideas for the proposal were:
1). Tell her that I have regimental duty in camp and won’t be able to book out in time for her birthday celebration; then tell her sister to bring her out to the movies and viola, screen a video proposal in the cinema where family members and friends have all been seated by then.
2). Bring her out for lunch with family members and friends at a restaurant and propose after the lunch; then have a staycation with her and a romantic dinner by the waterfront.
3). Take her to the Universal Studios Singapore for a day of excitement and fun; then have a dinner at one of the restaurants where family members and friends have all already been settled down to celebrate her birthday; and finally propose during the fireworks show.
4). Rent a private yacht that can accommodate 12 people for 3-4 hours and have a romantic dinner and propose to her out at sea.
As you can see, there were so many ideas for the proposal but there were also two main considerations that I had to bear in mind and they were:
a). Finance/Budget
b). Number of people Attending
Being a NSF [where allowance is just barely enough to make ends meet], I had to save really hard so that the proposal could come to pass. Hence, this was one important consideration that I took note of as I only had 6 months to save. The number of people that would be attending the event was also another important consideration for me as the greater the number of people, the more it would cost.
So, after much planning and re-planning, I finally decided on the final idea for the proposal and that is, to hold a birthday celebration for her at a function room where family members and friends would be present, do a “disappearing act”, and then dressed up in a mascot costume to surprise her during the cake-cutting, sing our favourite love song, and finally propose to her.
With that idea in mind, I went on to meetup with lots of vendors/suppliers to negotiate for a reasonable price for their services and it was really quite a draining process as I had to send out emails after emails for quotations and confirmations.
As I was counting down to the day of the proposal, I was naturally anxious because I wanted to make sure that everything would go smoothly. In fact, two weeks before the proposal, I had to change the date of the proposal from the 16th of June to the 17th of June as the function room wasn’t available on the intended date for the proposal! Hence, I really thank God that we managed to book the function room for the 17th of June even though I had to liaise/communicate with the suppliers/vendors via email regarding the changes.
Well, the day finally came when I had to propose and all the hardwork and effort that I put in was all worth it as Jacqueline was so surprised and touched with the proposal that she said, “Yes!”
Check out the photos below:
As the theme for Jacqueline’s birthday was, “Candylicious”, I decided to get handmade candies from Sticky so as to distribute it as door-gifts to all the guests. Each bottle would normally cost $2.50 but I was given a discount of $0.30 per bottle and hence paid $2.20 per bottle. On top of that, I was given a 5% off by Sticky. I’m so glad that all our guests loved the door-gifts!
|
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
|
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
To make the event a rather special and memorable one, I engaged Party Blasters to be the official decorations team for the event and I must say this, they did such a fantastic job that everyone talked about the decorations and commented that it was so fairy-tale like! So, if you are looking for someone to decorate your event, do check out Party Blasters and I’m sure you will be blown away with their stunning creativity!
The Hello Kitty Walker was quite a hit with everyone as everyone wants to have a picture with it.
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
The Tea-Light Candle set the perfect mood and ambience for the event and it was on every table and the buffet line as well.
|
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
|
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
|
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
Here’s Cheryl and Winnie whom were manning the reception desk where guests had to write their well-wishes on the heart-shaped sticker and then take a Polaroid photograph to attach to the guestbook!
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
The Food Caterer was Foodlink Catering and it was our first time engaging their services. There were mixed reviews about the quality of the food as some said it was excellent, some said it was so-so, while some said it was not good. I guess everyone have their own taste but well, there were tons of leftover food because 10 people backed out from the event at the eleventh hour [yes, they said they could not make it on the day itself! If it was more than 3 days before the event, I could still accept, but well, on the day itself is a bit too much uh!] Honestly, I was quite disappointed as the people whom flew my aeroplane were the ones whom I thought I could trust and depend on. Well, from this experience itself, I could kinda tell who’s my friend and who’s not.
Overall Buffet Line
|
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
Pineapple Fried Rice
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
Xin Zhou Bee Hoon
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
Curry Chicken
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
Butter Prawns
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
Spring Rolls
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
Ngoh Hiang
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
Sweet and Sour Fish
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
Braised Toufu with Mushrooms
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
Alright… so now on to the more interesting part of my blog post.
Ming Wei, Winnie, Xin Ying, Wanli, and Shaun were doing the “behind-the-scenes” work for the proposal and they went to my car to prepare the light sticks to form the words, “Will U Marry Me?”
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
And here’s Xin Ying and Winnie helping me out with the costume! Yes I looked retarded cause it was so hard to get dressed up!
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
In case you are wondering where I rented the mascot costume from, I got it from No. 1 Costume Costume and this was perhaps the cutest costume that was recommended to me by Jordan, the staff from No. 1 Costume Costume. They have a whole range of costumes for parties and you might want to check them out should you be attending any dress-up parties.
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
|
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
On my way to the function room from the carpark, with Winnie and Wanli guiding me!
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
Meanwhile at the function room, Ming Wei was coordinating the whole birthday celebration and they were all getting ready for the big moment! Baby thought I was still in the toilet answering to nature’s call.
|
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
The cake that I gotten for Baby was designed by myself and it was baked by Pine Garden’s Cakes. Honestly, their cakes are really awesome. I personally tried it myself and I really like the soft texture of their cakes. The top tier of the cake that I designed for Baby was Bailey’s Chocolate Crunch while the bottom tier of the cake was Black Forest, both of which were simply delicious! If you are looking for delicious-looking designer cakes, you have to try Pine Garden’s Cakes!
|
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
And so.. the celebration began! Baby thought I wasn’t able to make it on time to celebrate her birthday as I was still in the “toilet”.
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
After the singing of the birthday song, I appeared in the Mascot costume and she was so surprised that she teared!
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
Needless to say, she guessed correctly that I was the one in the Mascot costume.
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
Then, a proposal video produced by Calista was shown to her on the iPad while I was preparing my guitar to sing our favourite love song, that is, Telling the World by Taio Cruz.
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
And so… I proposed to her!
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
and she said, “Yes!”
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
This was my birthday gift to Baby and I got it from TeddyHub at a really good price! The bear is 1.4M tall by the way.
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
And these are all the presents that Baby got on her birthday! She’s truly blessed indeed!
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
Alright, for you guys out there who are going to propose soon, you must be wondering where you can get a 99-flowers bouquet! For mine, I got it from Bloom Room and they did a rather excellent job of designing the bouquet and wrapping it up. Well, I didn’t expect that a bouquet of 99 roses would be so huge and heavy but really, a 99-roses bouquet definitely adds a “WOW” factor to the proposal! I got the 99-roses bouquet at a rather decent price and many people whom asked me about it were so surprised that they asked me for their contact!
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
 |
| From Jacqueline’s Birthday and Proposal 2012 |
So, this is the story of my proposal and how it all went about. Well, I’m sure all of you would surely have your own story to tell too!
If you are interested in engaging the services of the vendors/suppliers that I engaged for my proposal, do feel free to contact me and drop me an email at melvinlee@awinsomelife.org
Stay tuned for my next blog entry as I share with you the details about the various vendors/suppliers whom I engaged for the proposal!
God bless!
