Monday, June 04, 2007
My Elder Brother's Testimony - Jehovah Jireh
Hey All,
Attached below is a testimony that i would like to share with you all. This testimony is written by my elder brother Ling Shen speaking of the grace that the Lord has shown to him and my family over the years. He wrote this testimonyto thank the Lord of His grace and also to show his appreciation to our parents for the things they have done for the 3 of us. I will also like to take this chance to say a big Thank you to my parents too.
The testimony- Jehovah Jireh
A young kampong boy in Kuala Lumpur. He lives with his parents and brothers in a delightful little terrace house. Even though the family is far from affluent - they live in what could be considered a mid-to-low income neighborhood - yet they are thankful for what they have. The boy’s father is a preacher who earns enough to feed everyone, but there’s usually precious little surplus left by the end of the month for savings. His father is home only 4 days a month because as a preacher, he travels extensively visiting the various churches in the country. Being away from his young family is a constant source of anxiety for boy’s father. There are times when he ponders about what his family has had to go through ever since he made the decision all those years ago to give up his comfortable life, a good paying job and a promising career as an accountant for a life in His Majesty’s service. But more than ever, he remains firm in his conviction that he has chosen the good portion; and he trusts in his Lord’s promise of “my grace is sufficient for you”. He believes that in everything, his God, the One whom he serves will take care of him and his family. The boy’s father communicates frequently with his young family and spends even more time on his knees praying to the only One whom he knows is able to take care of his family in his absence. He is a good father. And his Lord does not disappoint him. In his absence, his family has never had to see a doctor and they have never been lacking in their daily needs. As for the boy, life is good even though he often wonders what it would be like to have his father around more often. Everything else is well taken care of by his mother. The boy’s mother manages the household expertly with limited budget. Even though there is barely enough to sustain livelihood with, his mother tries her best to give him and his brothers the best in life. 3 meals a day, 3 or 4 dishes per meal with the occasional tit bits as bonus. It is more than what many of his peers are having, and the boy is not complaining. Not when he has his shining new bicycle and his Sony walkman, both given by his favourite uncle, to show off to his classmates with. It must be difficult for his mother to be holding up the family by herself, dragging her three sons up the crowded public bus every Saturday on an hour long ride to the church.
The boy attends a local secondary school. School work has always been a breeze; the boy has been topping his class regularly since his primary school days. Two years back he was even among the top10 in his school in the Primary School Leaving Examination. The boy has a group of good friends that he hangs around with. The friends have been together since Primary 1, and over the years they have developed a strong friendship. They were good guys, serious in their studies yet knowing how to have fun all the same. The good friends spend much of their days together. They are young and energetic; they are members of the Volleyball, Basketball and Tae Kwon Do school teams. Any free time is spent in each other’s company. Being the only Christian among his good friends is difficult. The boy realizes that he has a higher calling, yet he is desperate to be just one of the guys. There are times when his status as a Christian puts himself at odds with his friends, and he is beginning to resent that.
The boy is fairly well behaved in church. Everyone around him has always reminded him that he is the son of a preacher, and he knows better than to put a foot wrong. However, now into Secondary One, the boy begins to skip the odd services, using his various Volleyball, Basketball, TKD trainings as excuses. The boy knows it is wrong to skip church but the thought of spending the hours in religious education classes listening to familiar stories which he has heard countless times before, while his friends are out there enjoying a round of ping pong or volleyball match or whatever else they are doing gives him little doubt as to what he should do with his Sabbath afternoons.
December is the boy’s favourite month on the calendar because every December the boy’s father would be in Singapore to teach in the theological course, and the family would usually get to spend the entire month there with him. For a young kampong boy, this IS a great deal. The boy has many fond memories of the time he and his brothers spent with their Uncle and Aunt, the big shopping centres with bright lights that they bring him to, and the many new toys and clothes that they lavish him and his brothers with over the years. It’s deep into November now. As school draws to a close for the year, the boy begins to relish yet another exciting holiday ahead, and the prospect of meeting his childhood friends across the causeway. These are people whom he grew up with, whom he’s had many exciting adventures with, with whom he had fought many a successful Vietnam wars with, whom he roamed the pugilistic world as swordsman with, and had together destroyed all the bad guys in the world – all within the safe confines of the church backyard. (Author: Tjen, Gid, Zshen, Samuel, Cindy & Esther – take a bow pls) This December will no doubt be fun, and he can’t wait to be there soon enough. However he is to find out soon that not only will the coming December be fun, it will also be the turning point of his life.
Unbeknownst to the kampong boy, his parents have been weighing up the costs of uprooting the family and moving them to Singapore. The boy’s father reckons that Singapore would be the better place for the family to be in. Singapore has a superior education system, one that could improve the prospects of the children. Much more than that, the boy’s father also sees that the church in Singapore, having a more structured religious education system, along with the many activities and courses throught the year, and having the presence of many good youths who could become mentors to the boy and his brothers, would certainly be more beneficial for their spirituality and their faith. He must have noticed how the boy has been dropping off in his faith.
To move or not to move is a big decision. It is also one compounded by the tight financial conditions of the family. Shifting everyone to Singapore requires almost all the savings that the boy’s father has in the bank. With the significantly higher cost of living in Singapore, the household expenses will rise drastically, and will be beyond the salary of the boy’s father. However, when the father considers the benefits that moving to Singapore would bring to his sons, he realizes there is only one way ahead. With much prayer and entrusting, the boy’s father moves his family towards a future that’s equally full of hope as it is of uncertainty. His salary now amounts to a mere $500 SGD – by anyone’s calculation, it’s too little to sustain a family of five. If the Lord is not leading the way, this is a move that will spell the doom of the family.
Now in Singapore, the boy quickly gets up to speed with things around him. He misses his buddies back home terribly, but is learning to embrace his new life. The family now lives with his father’s sister and her husband, and this arrangement helps allay the cost of living in Singapore. In the church, the boy is well taken care of by some of the older brothers. These older brothers take the boy under their wings and give him much needed concern and guidances. As the boy gets comfortable with the new environment in the church, he found some good brothers in Christ and these brethren will eventually become some of the best mates he’s ever had (Author: Yoke & EJ, take a bow pls). School for the boy is a good 45 mins away, and the boy finds to his dismay that studying is no longer a breeze because everybody speaks English in these parts of the world; all the lessons are delivered in English and it takes much more just to follow the lesson. Yet, with everyone praying hard for the boy, he manages somehow to catch up and to progress smoothly onto Secondary 3. The subsequent years pass by quickly, and the boy is now finding life easier in school once again. His earlier struggles with Singapore education system seems to have paid off and he is regularly topping his class again. Beaming with confidence, the boy is now able to take it easy for the first time since he came to Singapore.
Church is the one thing that the young kampong-turned-city-boy enjoys most in Singapore. He enjoys the camaraderie of his good brothers in church, and often spends hours on end lingering in the church after services doing everything there is to do. His favourite activities in church are carom and freesbee. With the hours he spends in church playing the games, he soon develops into a formidable player. Other than playing games, the boy also starts to seriously study the bible; under the tutelage of an older brother, he begins to have a better appreciation of what his religion is all about. As church becomes more and more important in the boy’s life, everything else becomes a distant 2nd. This continues into the secondary 4 and through the preparation for O levels examination. The boy is convicted in the notion that “so long as you put church and God first, nothing will go wrong with your life”. With 1 month to go to the exam, the boy starts to panic. But inspired by a conversation with his father in which his father tells him “Son, you are an intelligent boy, you have what it takes to do really well in your studies BUT ONLY IF YOU WORK HARD”, the boy puts in the long hours late into the night. With the release of the O levels, the boy finds himself coming in top 10 among his cohort again, it is to him the clearest sign that the Lord is with him, and that his motto in life is true.
At home, the family is also adapting to life in Singapore. The boy’s father is still working in Malaysia, taking home meagre pay not at all enough to sustain livelihood. By the third year of going to Singapore, the boy’s family rents a flat nearby and moves out from his uncle’s place. This adds more financial burden on the boy’s parents. The rental of the flat is SGD 600, which is also that total sum of his father’s salary in SGD. There is to be nothing extra for food, bus fares, school fees, the bills and all other household expenses. However the boy’s parents firmly believes in “Jehovah Jireh”. The Lord WILL provide! With full trust in the Lord, the boy’s family ventures out by themselves, on a wing and a prayer. Thank the Lord for he provides. Life is difficult, but the boy’s family continues to be joyful and contented, so strong is their faith in their Lord and their Lord does not leave them desolate. Not long after shifting out, the boy’s mother discovers by chance that a lady in a neighbouring flat is paying some of the neighboring housewives to help her with some high labour intensive assembly work that she outsources regularly from a factory. This presents an opportunity and a way for her to help family finances. With what little side income she earns, and with the continual financial support of the boy’s uncle and aunty, the family gets by and begins to stand by themselves.
A semi-decent O Levels result slip opens some doors for the kampong boy. But poly is out of question because in his childish mindset, it’s the place people go to when they cannot make the cut for JC. So the question now is really which JC and which course. The boy is becoming confident in his own abilities. He has let all the praises and good words people speak about him get to his head, and is starting to believe in his own hype. Despite the many well-meaning advises he receives from experienced people, course advisors and teachers, the boy decides obstinately to switch over into Science stream. He is intelligent, and so long as he sets his mind to it, he could do anything! And at this point, all he wants is to prove all the nay-sayers wrong. “I would prove to them I could switch course and do well!”
The kampong boy from Malaysia considers himself a good Christian. He is attending every church service and is an active participant in church work. He sets his mind to study the bible, and takes pride in being so well versed with it. He is not afraid to flaunt his bible knowledge, and does not shy away from a full blooded argument about religious beliefs. Being a good Christian, he takes upon himself to take care of “weaker” believers. His defines “weaker” believers as those who are not as regular as him in the church, those who are not well versed with the bible and those who do not demonstrate the same enthusiasm as he does with his religion. The boy occupies his time thinking of how he could help these fellow Christians whom he considers weaker and he goes around trying to impose his own standards of righteousness on them. He regularly takes note of church attendances of his peers, and thereafter makes regular visits and phone calls to those who fall short of his requirements. Years later, one of the persons who were regularly on his list would comment that he was “the most self-righteous, bible thumping b*****d” (SIC) he’s ever known. But to the kampong boy, he is just being zealous for the Lord. And he is totally blind to the fact that his warped sense of righteousness is turning him into a narcissistic fool.
A new school; a new beginning. Being an arts student who switched to Science is no walk in the park. The boy soon realizes this in the first lecture he attends. Yet with a heavy dose of misplaced self-confidence, and the wrong understanding of “seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be yours as well”, he goes on to approach JC with the same attitude as he did the secondary school. The boy continues to gallivant between church, school and in life with little thought into what he is doing. He approaches the various school exams in the same way as he has always done, and each time receives better than deserved results. But deep down he knows he has been fluking his way through JC. As A level approaches, the boy is still no where near the right shape to take on the exam.
The A Level is now a matter of weeks away, but the boy is strangely unaffected. A strange thought comes to him late one evening as he is studying. “God has not brought me all the way here just for me to hit a dead end. I will do well in this exam. He will see to it.” He relaxes, fully at peace with what had just crossed his mind.
The boy goes on to bomb in the A levels. The Lord did not help him. After 4 years in Singpore, the boy hits the dead end at full speed.
With no chance of going to the local university and no money to study abroad, his future has never been as bleak. Taking a prolonged look in the mirror, the boy wonders how he could have landed in such terrible state of affairs. Has the Lord reneged on His promise to take care of those who “seek first His kingdom and righteousness”? And for the first time in his life, the boy feels despair and a deep sense of uncertainty.
“I must go abroad to study.” The boy thinks to himself, spurning all the logical options before him i.e. either to join a polytechnic or to take up one of the many private degree programs on offer in the market. Wallowing in his self-pity he has forgotten about the implication of his decision. The family is in no financial shape to send anyone abroad. He for one should be old enough to understand this. Even though in the past year, the boy’s father had been transferred to Singapore and is now receiving his salary in Singapore dollars, yet his total savings is barely enough to pay for one year of the fees in an Australian university (one year’s fees = $15000 SGD). That’s not even taking into account the costs for daily expenditure. However with all other options effectively closed, the boy’s father tells the boy solemnly “Son, I will send you to Australia no matter what it takes, even if I have to sell off our house in Malaysia. It’s the only right thing to do as a father.” The boy finally wakes up.
With lots of prayers and entrusting, the father sends his good-for-nothing son to Australia. He prays that his son will learn His ways, and that his Lord will have mercy on him and his family even though the predicament that they are in is very much self-inflicted. And the Lord continues to stand by him.
In Australia, the kampong-turned-city-turned-international boy gets a culture shock. He is no longer in the green house that his parents have built all around him. He is now exposed to the harsh desert heat and blazing sun. It’s a world of everyone for himself out there. The boy remembers his parent’s sacrifice, plunges himself whole-heartedly into studying and at the end of the first semester, receives a study award for excellent academic performance. The boy is well on the way of redeeming himself. Or so he supposes.
In his second semester in college, he shifts in with a church brother who is studying at a high school nearby. The brother has a house with vacant rooms and is offering him a place to stay rent free. This works out just fine for the boy. He would now be able to stretch his dollars. One night, as the kampong boy from Malaysia is sound asleep, his housemate creeps quietly into his room and takes away a whole sum of money that he had meant to pay his fees with. In the morning, when the boy wakes up, he finds his housemate sitting in his room in an intoxicated state. The housemate had gambled away every single cent he took from the boy. Suddenly, the boy finds himself deep in a crisis. Without the money to pay the school fees, he would most certainly be kicked out of school. Yet with all the money stolen, there is no way he could pay the fees. At the same time, there is no use shouting and ranting at the housemate who is a church brother, because no amount of shouting and ranting would enable the housemate to reproduce the stolen money. He prays and asks for wisdom to deal with the problem. After praying, the boy rearranges his finances, and somehow finds the means to pay off the school fees. He also gets around planning out a 1 year repayment plan with his housemate, for the latter to return in multiple installments all the money that had been stolen. For that entire year, the boy and his housemate subsisted on instant noodles, eggs and water. But he no longer has the need to pay anything extra while staying at the person’s house. Through it all, he is determined to move on with his studies.
At the end of the pre-determined year, the boy shifts out of the church member’s house. Even though the money owed to him hasn’t been fully paid up yet, the boy decides to draw a line under all that has happened over the past year. He moves in with a kind church brother and his family. Finally, at the mid point of his 3 years course, the boy is able to rest easy at night. Church is once again a delight, and with the mercy of God the kampong boy from Malaysia is given the opportunity to participate and contribute in most divine work in church. He realizes that being able to serve is entirely a God given grace, and not a merit. And so he served heartily. But this time around he also does not dare to lose sense of his responsibility as a student. He now realizes that God only helps one who helps himself.
As his university life draws nearer to the close, the boy receives an offer to further his studies. He declines. He is eager to start contributing to household income. With half a year to go in his studies, the kampong boy from Malaysia goes back to Singapore for a short holiday, intending also to try his chances in the local job market. But the economy at home is in the middle of a big recession, jobs are scarce at best. He goes for a few interviews. “We prefer to hire a person with job experience, thank you for turning up.” Seeing no chance at being hired, he has no choice. He goes back to college and takes up the offer, hoping that in a year’s time the economy would recover sufficiently for him to put his plans in motion. During his holiday back home, he meets up with a friend from JB, a church sister, who had graduated earlier on. They had become acquainted with each other after the exams towards the end of the previous semester, during an outing with all the overseas students. The meeting with the sister turns out to be better than anticipated.
3 Years ago, when the boy took his first deflated steps of his Australia odessey, his father had only enough money to last him one year at most. Through lots of prayers on his parents’ part, somehow by the time he completes his undergraduate course; his father’s has more in his bank than ever before. And his parents did not need to mortgage their house to put him through uni. His uncles helped in no small measures. But that not withstanding, the 3 years were nothing short of a miracle, and it only goes to show “Jehovah Jireh”.
Postgrad commences in earnest. The boy who had bombed his A’s amuses himself with the thought that he’s now a master’s degree student. Who would have thought? Everything is looking up. The boy begins to plan for life after university. He would find a decent job, start to help with household expenses, when he gets back to Singapore he would participate in as much church work as he can find, and he would also tie the knot and live happily ever after. Yet there are still more twists to his life story that awaits him for it would be a good 2 years later than he would finish his course and another year of resolving some administrative problems before he gets his hands on the degrees he earned. In the process of it all, the boy would find himself having to go through many setbacks and heartaches. He would be doubted and accused and knocked over and over and over, and then over again for good measure. And some of such treatments would come from people who are close to him. That would positively hurt like hell. He would lose his self confidence. He would find himself seemingly frozen out of church work upon his return to Singapore. The undercurrents of his problems would tear into him mercilessly and would gnaw away at his self worth without relent.
In May 2004, the kampong boy from Malaysia is a boy no more. On a glorious day, he stands straight and proud in front of the chapel as the church sister from JB whom he met up with that fateful day in 1999 walks down the aisle looking radiant in the arms of her father. Finally, all the thrills and spills of his life could be laid aside. For it is a new day, and the start of a new life together with his beloved one. In 2005 the kampong boy becomes a dad for the first time to an adorable doll of a girl. He names her “pleasant” because he knows that his life from that point onwards will be a pleasant one. Indeed, with the providence of his Lord, he knows that his life will be as pleasant as can be no matter what may happen in the future. In 2007, the kampong boy becomes twice a dad. He names his son “strong and firm” because he wants to be reminded that he should always stand strong and firm in his trust for his Lord. Perhaps for him, it’s time to stop living on his father’s credits and start accumulating his own credits with the Lord!
Today the family of 5 that came to Singapore all those years ago has become a family of 8. We are as joyful and contented as ever. We realize the miracle that our Lord has performed in our lives. And we are full of thanks for the grace we have received. Jesus fed the thousands with 5 loaves and 2 fishes. He performed the same miracle with my family, multiple times over. We came to Singapore with less than enough to pay our rentals, but after 15 years we now have a big apartment to call our own. I went to Australia with little chance in life, with only 1 year of fees guaranteed. Now I hold a decent job in an MNC, and I return everyday from work to be greeted by my two kids.
“Jehovah Jireh” best sums up the story of the young kampong boy from KL.
Epilogue:
Heartfelt thanks to everyone who has helped bring me along in my life. In particularly, my family:- Dad, Mum, Siew Chin, Uncle Henry + Aunty Carol; and in no particular order:- “Dn. 無名”, former “Bro. 大樹搖”, Bro. 約翰蔡, Sis, Soo Bin, Sis Sharon, Sis Blanche, “Sis Pinky”, Dn Cheah, Bro Arthur & Sis May .
-------------End of Testimony-----------------------
-Peace-
Attached below is a testimony that i would like to share with you all. This testimony is written by my elder brother Ling Shen speaking of the grace that the Lord has shown to him and my family over the years. He wrote this testimonyto thank the Lord of His grace and also to show his appreciation to our parents for the things they have done for the 3 of us. I will also like to take this chance to say a big Thank you to my parents too.
The testimony- Jehovah Jireh
A young kampong boy in Kuala Lumpur. He lives with his parents and brothers in a delightful little terrace house. Even though the family is far from affluent - they live in what could be considered a mid-to-low income neighborhood - yet they are thankful for what they have. The boy’s father is a preacher who earns enough to feed everyone, but there’s usually precious little surplus left by the end of the month for savings. His father is home only 4 days a month because as a preacher, he travels extensively visiting the various churches in the country. Being away from his young family is a constant source of anxiety for boy’s father. There are times when he ponders about what his family has had to go through ever since he made the decision all those years ago to give up his comfortable life, a good paying job and a promising career as an accountant for a life in His Majesty’s service. But more than ever, he remains firm in his conviction that he has chosen the good portion; and he trusts in his Lord’s promise of “my grace is sufficient for you”. He believes that in everything, his God, the One whom he serves will take care of him and his family. The boy’s father communicates frequently with his young family and spends even more time on his knees praying to the only One whom he knows is able to take care of his family in his absence. He is a good father. And his Lord does not disappoint him. In his absence, his family has never had to see a doctor and they have never been lacking in their daily needs. As for the boy, life is good even though he often wonders what it would be like to have his father around more often. Everything else is well taken care of by his mother. The boy’s mother manages the household expertly with limited budget. Even though there is barely enough to sustain livelihood with, his mother tries her best to give him and his brothers the best in life. 3 meals a day, 3 or 4 dishes per meal with the occasional tit bits as bonus. It is more than what many of his peers are having, and the boy is not complaining. Not when he has his shining new bicycle and his Sony walkman, both given by his favourite uncle, to show off to his classmates with. It must be difficult for his mother to be holding up the family by herself, dragging her three sons up the crowded public bus every Saturday on an hour long ride to the church.
The boy attends a local secondary school. School work has always been a breeze; the boy has been topping his class regularly since his primary school days. Two years back he was even among the top10 in his school in the Primary School Leaving Examination. The boy has a group of good friends that he hangs around with. The friends have been together since Primary 1, and over the years they have developed a strong friendship. They were good guys, serious in their studies yet knowing how to have fun all the same. The good friends spend much of their days together. They are young and energetic; they are members of the Volleyball, Basketball and Tae Kwon Do school teams. Any free time is spent in each other’s company. Being the only Christian among his good friends is difficult. The boy realizes that he has a higher calling, yet he is desperate to be just one of the guys. There are times when his status as a Christian puts himself at odds with his friends, and he is beginning to resent that.
The boy is fairly well behaved in church. Everyone around him has always reminded him that he is the son of a preacher, and he knows better than to put a foot wrong. However, now into Secondary One, the boy begins to skip the odd services, using his various Volleyball, Basketball, TKD trainings as excuses. The boy knows it is wrong to skip church but the thought of spending the hours in religious education classes listening to familiar stories which he has heard countless times before, while his friends are out there enjoying a round of ping pong or volleyball match or whatever else they are doing gives him little doubt as to what he should do with his Sabbath afternoons.
December is the boy’s favourite month on the calendar because every December the boy’s father would be in Singapore to teach in the theological course, and the family would usually get to spend the entire month there with him. For a young kampong boy, this IS a great deal. The boy has many fond memories of the time he and his brothers spent with their Uncle and Aunt, the big shopping centres with bright lights that they bring him to, and the many new toys and clothes that they lavish him and his brothers with over the years. It’s deep into November now. As school draws to a close for the year, the boy begins to relish yet another exciting holiday ahead, and the prospect of meeting his childhood friends across the causeway. These are people whom he grew up with, whom he’s had many exciting adventures with, with whom he had fought many a successful Vietnam wars with, whom he roamed the pugilistic world as swordsman with, and had together destroyed all the bad guys in the world – all within the safe confines of the church backyard. (Author: Tjen, Gid, Zshen, Samuel, Cindy & Esther – take a bow pls) This December will no doubt be fun, and he can’t wait to be there soon enough. However he is to find out soon that not only will the coming December be fun, it will also be the turning point of his life.
Unbeknownst to the kampong boy, his parents have been weighing up the costs of uprooting the family and moving them to Singapore. The boy’s father reckons that Singapore would be the better place for the family to be in. Singapore has a superior education system, one that could improve the prospects of the children. Much more than that, the boy’s father also sees that the church in Singapore, having a more structured religious education system, along with the many activities and courses throught the year, and having the presence of many good youths who could become mentors to the boy and his brothers, would certainly be more beneficial for their spirituality and their faith. He must have noticed how the boy has been dropping off in his faith.
To move or not to move is a big decision. It is also one compounded by the tight financial conditions of the family. Shifting everyone to Singapore requires almost all the savings that the boy’s father has in the bank. With the significantly higher cost of living in Singapore, the household expenses will rise drastically, and will be beyond the salary of the boy’s father. However, when the father considers the benefits that moving to Singapore would bring to his sons, he realizes there is only one way ahead. With much prayer and entrusting, the boy’s father moves his family towards a future that’s equally full of hope as it is of uncertainty. His salary now amounts to a mere $500 SGD – by anyone’s calculation, it’s too little to sustain a family of five. If the Lord is not leading the way, this is a move that will spell the doom of the family.
Now in Singapore, the boy quickly gets up to speed with things around him. He misses his buddies back home terribly, but is learning to embrace his new life. The family now lives with his father’s sister and her husband, and this arrangement helps allay the cost of living in Singapore. In the church, the boy is well taken care of by some of the older brothers. These older brothers take the boy under their wings and give him much needed concern and guidances. As the boy gets comfortable with the new environment in the church, he found some good brothers in Christ and these brethren will eventually become some of the best mates he’s ever had (Author: Yoke & EJ, take a bow pls). School for the boy is a good 45 mins away, and the boy finds to his dismay that studying is no longer a breeze because everybody speaks English in these parts of the world; all the lessons are delivered in English and it takes much more just to follow the lesson. Yet, with everyone praying hard for the boy, he manages somehow to catch up and to progress smoothly onto Secondary 3. The subsequent years pass by quickly, and the boy is now finding life easier in school once again. His earlier struggles with Singapore education system seems to have paid off and he is regularly topping his class again. Beaming with confidence, the boy is now able to take it easy for the first time since he came to Singapore.
Church is the one thing that the young kampong-turned-city-boy enjoys most in Singapore. He enjoys the camaraderie of his good brothers in church, and often spends hours on end lingering in the church after services doing everything there is to do. His favourite activities in church are carom and freesbee. With the hours he spends in church playing the games, he soon develops into a formidable player. Other than playing games, the boy also starts to seriously study the bible; under the tutelage of an older brother, he begins to have a better appreciation of what his religion is all about. As church becomes more and more important in the boy’s life, everything else becomes a distant 2nd. This continues into the secondary 4 and through the preparation for O levels examination. The boy is convicted in the notion that “so long as you put church and God first, nothing will go wrong with your life”. With 1 month to go to the exam, the boy starts to panic. But inspired by a conversation with his father in which his father tells him “Son, you are an intelligent boy, you have what it takes to do really well in your studies BUT ONLY IF YOU WORK HARD”, the boy puts in the long hours late into the night. With the release of the O levels, the boy finds himself coming in top 10 among his cohort again, it is to him the clearest sign that the Lord is with him, and that his motto in life is true.
At home, the family is also adapting to life in Singapore. The boy’s father is still working in Malaysia, taking home meagre pay not at all enough to sustain livelihood. By the third year of going to Singapore, the boy’s family rents a flat nearby and moves out from his uncle’s place. This adds more financial burden on the boy’s parents. The rental of the flat is SGD 600, which is also that total sum of his father’s salary in SGD. There is to be nothing extra for food, bus fares, school fees, the bills and all other household expenses. However the boy’s parents firmly believes in “Jehovah Jireh”. The Lord WILL provide! With full trust in the Lord, the boy’s family ventures out by themselves, on a wing and a prayer. Thank the Lord for he provides. Life is difficult, but the boy’s family continues to be joyful and contented, so strong is their faith in their Lord and their Lord does not leave them desolate. Not long after shifting out, the boy’s mother discovers by chance that a lady in a neighbouring flat is paying some of the neighboring housewives to help her with some high labour intensive assembly work that she outsources regularly from a factory. This presents an opportunity and a way for her to help family finances. With what little side income she earns, and with the continual financial support of the boy’s uncle and aunty, the family gets by and begins to stand by themselves.
A semi-decent O Levels result slip opens some doors for the kampong boy. But poly is out of question because in his childish mindset, it’s the place people go to when they cannot make the cut for JC. So the question now is really which JC and which course. The boy is becoming confident in his own abilities. He has let all the praises and good words people speak about him get to his head, and is starting to believe in his own hype. Despite the many well-meaning advises he receives from experienced people, course advisors and teachers, the boy decides obstinately to switch over into Science stream. He is intelligent, and so long as he sets his mind to it, he could do anything! And at this point, all he wants is to prove all the nay-sayers wrong. “I would prove to them I could switch course and do well!”
The kampong boy from Malaysia considers himself a good Christian. He is attending every church service and is an active participant in church work. He sets his mind to study the bible, and takes pride in being so well versed with it. He is not afraid to flaunt his bible knowledge, and does not shy away from a full blooded argument about religious beliefs. Being a good Christian, he takes upon himself to take care of “weaker” believers. His defines “weaker” believers as those who are not as regular as him in the church, those who are not well versed with the bible and those who do not demonstrate the same enthusiasm as he does with his religion. The boy occupies his time thinking of how he could help these fellow Christians whom he considers weaker and he goes around trying to impose his own standards of righteousness on them. He regularly takes note of church attendances of his peers, and thereafter makes regular visits and phone calls to those who fall short of his requirements. Years later, one of the persons who were regularly on his list would comment that he was “the most self-righteous, bible thumping b*****d” (SIC) he’s ever known. But to the kampong boy, he is just being zealous for the Lord. And he is totally blind to the fact that his warped sense of righteousness is turning him into a narcissistic fool.
A new school; a new beginning. Being an arts student who switched to Science is no walk in the park. The boy soon realizes this in the first lecture he attends. Yet with a heavy dose of misplaced self-confidence, and the wrong understanding of “seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be yours as well”, he goes on to approach JC with the same attitude as he did the secondary school. The boy continues to gallivant between church, school and in life with little thought into what he is doing. He approaches the various school exams in the same way as he has always done, and each time receives better than deserved results. But deep down he knows he has been fluking his way through JC. As A level approaches, the boy is still no where near the right shape to take on the exam.
The A Level is now a matter of weeks away, but the boy is strangely unaffected. A strange thought comes to him late one evening as he is studying. “God has not brought me all the way here just for me to hit a dead end. I will do well in this exam. He will see to it.” He relaxes, fully at peace with what had just crossed his mind.
The boy goes on to bomb in the A levels. The Lord did not help him. After 4 years in Singpore, the boy hits the dead end at full speed.
With no chance of going to the local university and no money to study abroad, his future has never been as bleak. Taking a prolonged look in the mirror, the boy wonders how he could have landed in such terrible state of affairs. Has the Lord reneged on His promise to take care of those who “seek first His kingdom and righteousness”? And for the first time in his life, the boy feels despair and a deep sense of uncertainty.
“I must go abroad to study.” The boy thinks to himself, spurning all the logical options before him i.e. either to join a polytechnic or to take up one of the many private degree programs on offer in the market. Wallowing in his self-pity he has forgotten about the implication of his decision. The family is in no financial shape to send anyone abroad. He for one should be old enough to understand this. Even though in the past year, the boy’s father had been transferred to Singapore and is now receiving his salary in Singapore dollars, yet his total savings is barely enough to pay for one year of the fees in an Australian university (one year’s fees = $15000 SGD). That’s not even taking into account the costs for daily expenditure. However with all other options effectively closed, the boy’s father tells the boy solemnly “Son, I will send you to Australia no matter what it takes, even if I have to sell off our house in Malaysia. It’s the only right thing to do as a father.” The boy finally wakes up.
With lots of prayers and entrusting, the father sends his good-for-nothing son to Australia. He prays that his son will learn His ways, and that his Lord will have mercy on him and his family even though the predicament that they are in is very much self-inflicted. And the Lord continues to stand by him.
In Australia, the kampong-turned-city-turned-international boy gets a culture shock. He is no longer in the green house that his parents have built all around him. He is now exposed to the harsh desert heat and blazing sun. It’s a world of everyone for himself out there. The boy remembers his parent’s sacrifice, plunges himself whole-heartedly into studying and at the end of the first semester, receives a study award for excellent academic performance. The boy is well on the way of redeeming himself. Or so he supposes.
In his second semester in college, he shifts in with a church brother who is studying at a high school nearby. The brother has a house with vacant rooms and is offering him a place to stay rent free. This works out just fine for the boy. He would now be able to stretch his dollars. One night, as the kampong boy from Malaysia is sound asleep, his housemate creeps quietly into his room and takes away a whole sum of money that he had meant to pay his fees with. In the morning, when the boy wakes up, he finds his housemate sitting in his room in an intoxicated state. The housemate had gambled away every single cent he took from the boy. Suddenly, the boy finds himself deep in a crisis. Without the money to pay the school fees, he would most certainly be kicked out of school. Yet with all the money stolen, there is no way he could pay the fees. At the same time, there is no use shouting and ranting at the housemate who is a church brother, because no amount of shouting and ranting would enable the housemate to reproduce the stolen money. He prays and asks for wisdom to deal with the problem. After praying, the boy rearranges his finances, and somehow finds the means to pay off the school fees. He also gets around planning out a 1 year repayment plan with his housemate, for the latter to return in multiple installments all the money that had been stolen. For that entire year, the boy and his housemate subsisted on instant noodles, eggs and water. But he no longer has the need to pay anything extra while staying at the person’s house. Through it all, he is determined to move on with his studies.
At the end of the pre-determined year, the boy shifts out of the church member’s house. Even though the money owed to him hasn’t been fully paid up yet, the boy decides to draw a line under all that has happened over the past year. He moves in with a kind church brother and his family. Finally, at the mid point of his 3 years course, the boy is able to rest easy at night. Church is once again a delight, and with the mercy of God the kampong boy from Malaysia is given the opportunity to participate and contribute in most divine work in church. He realizes that being able to serve is entirely a God given grace, and not a merit. And so he served heartily. But this time around he also does not dare to lose sense of his responsibility as a student. He now realizes that God only helps one who helps himself.
As his university life draws nearer to the close, the boy receives an offer to further his studies. He declines. He is eager to start contributing to household income. With half a year to go in his studies, the kampong boy from Malaysia goes back to Singapore for a short holiday, intending also to try his chances in the local job market. But the economy at home is in the middle of a big recession, jobs are scarce at best. He goes for a few interviews. “We prefer to hire a person with job experience, thank you for turning up.” Seeing no chance at being hired, he has no choice. He goes back to college and takes up the offer, hoping that in a year’s time the economy would recover sufficiently for him to put his plans in motion. During his holiday back home, he meets up with a friend from JB, a church sister, who had graduated earlier on. They had become acquainted with each other after the exams towards the end of the previous semester, during an outing with all the overseas students. The meeting with the sister turns out to be better than anticipated.
3 Years ago, when the boy took his first deflated steps of his Australia odessey, his father had only enough money to last him one year at most. Through lots of prayers on his parents’ part, somehow by the time he completes his undergraduate course; his father’s has more in his bank than ever before. And his parents did not need to mortgage their house to put him through uni. His uncles helped in no small measures. But that not withstanding, the 3 years were nothing short of a miracle, and it only goes to show “Jehovah Jireh”.
Postgrad commences in earnest. The boy who had bombed his A’s amuses himself with the thought that he’s now a master’s degree student. Who would have thought? Everything is looking up. The boy begins to plan for life after university. He would find a decent job, start to help with household expenses, when he gets back to Singapore he would participate in as much church work as he can find, and he would also tie the knot and live happily ever after. Yet there are still more twists to his life story that awaits him for it would be a good 2 years later than he would finish his course and another year of resolving some administrative problems before he gets his hands on the degrees he earned. In the process of it all, the boy would find himself having to go through many setbacks and heartaches. He would be doubted and accused and knocked over and over and over, and then over again for good measure. And some of such treatments would come from people who are close to him. That would positively hurt like hell. He would lose his self confidence. He would find himself seemingly frozen out of church work upon his return to Singapore. The undercurrents of his problems would tear into him mercilessly and would gnaw away at his self worth without relent.
In May 2004, the kampong boy from Malaysia is a boy no more. On a glorious day, he stands straight and proud in front of the chapel as the church sister from JB whom he met up with that fateful day in 1999 walks down the aisle looking radiant in the arms of her father. Finally, all the thrills and spills of his life could be laid aside. For it is a new day, and the start of a new life together with his beloved one. In 2005 the kampong boy becomes a dad for the first time to an adorable doll of a girl. He names her “pleasant” because he knows that his life from that point onwards will be a pleasant one. Indeed, with the providence of his Lord, he knows that his life will be as pleasant as can be no matter what may happen in the future. In 2007, the kampong boy becomes twice a dad. He names his son “strong and firm” because he wants to be reminded that he should always stand strong and firm in his trust for his Lord. Perhaps for him, it’s time to stop living on his father’s credits and start accumulating his own credits with the Lord!
Today the family of 5 that came to Singapore all those years ago has become a family of 8. We are as joyful and contented as ever. We realize the miracle that our Lord has performed in our lives. And we are full of thanks for the grace we have received. Jesus fed the thousands with 5 loaves and 2 fishes. He performed the same miracle with my family, multiple times over. We came to Singapore with less than enough to pay our rentals, but after 15 years we now have a big apartment to call our own. I went to Australia with little chance in life, with only 1 year of fees guaranteed. Now I hold a decent job in an MNC, and I return everyday from work to be greeted by my two kids.
“Jehovah Jireh” best sums up the story of the young kampong boy from KL.
Epilogue:
Heartfelt thanks to everyone who has helped bring me along in my life. In particularly, my family:- Dad, Mum, Siew Chin, Uncle Henry + Aunty Carol; and in no particular order:- “Dn. 無名”, former “Bro. 大樹搖”, Bro. 約翰蔡, Sis, Soo Bin, Sis Sharon, Sis Blanche, “Sis Pinky”, Dn Cheah, Bro Arthur & Sis May .
-------------End of Testimony-----------------------
-Peace-
// posted by madcowkey @ 6/04/2007 03:44:00 AM 
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touched by the testimony. continue to have faith in God. great encouragement!
# posted by 
: 1:41 AM, June 18, 2007
: 1:41 AM, June 18, 2007
:) How was sabah?
Me too i think am going through what my brother has gone through now.
Please help pray for me yah :)
cheers
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Me too i think am going through what my brother has gone through now.
Please help pray for me yah :)
cheers
# posted by : 4:16 PM, June 18, 2007
: 4:16 PM, June 18, 2007 << Home
