Fire hazard, reflections, & a discovery

It's the lunar 7th month again. the month tt's filled w loads of burnt joss paper, joss sticks and candles. Somehow, it got worse over this weekend. ppl were really burnin like nobody's business. my neighbourhood was suddenly extremely foggy, and there were so many candles burning at the side of the drains. then as bee and i were walking back from dinner, we saw this pile of stuff burning on the grass that's jus directly below my living room window. It was huge, and the fire was quite strong, not to mention the amount of smoke rising to my hse window. we really had to take a pic of it la. but by the time we walked upstairs, dropped our stuff, grabbed the camera, put in the battery, walk out to the living room, tat was wat's left of the fire. but well, looking at the pile of stuff, i guess you can imagine how huge the fire was la. i think it's a real fire hazard. bee said i should take pic and send to stomp, cos these ppl were burning the papers on the grass (notice another pile of ash on the right? someone else had burnt those on the drain cover earlier instead of on the grass), but since the fire has subsided so much already, it's not really much of an impact even if it got published on the papers. Well, the "good" thing was tat the ppl burnin were standing by and watchin the fire, but they weren't holdin any buckets of water, so if fire ever did break out, i'm not sure wat they'll do. Still, it was definitely a very very very very inconsiderate act to burn joss paper on the grass. they should have walked a little further down to burn stuff in the bin provided instead. Very inconsiderate. and in case you're wondering, my mum was smart enof to leave the windows closed the whole nite.


I had training at a VWO (voluntary welfare organization) dealing with the physically disabled today. well, i din actually learn very much from the actual training cos it was not directly related to my field of work, but i learnt more from reflecting on the two clients we saw. (in case you're not sure, we usu use the word "client" for people whom we see/counsel/do therapy on, instead of "patients" or other words) One was a 4 year old boy who had been diagnosed with a tumour at the tender age of 2, and another was this teenage boy who became disabled after an accident. It's not my first encounter with people with physical disabilities, we do have one or two children in our centre who have some form of disability and i have had opportunities to help an accident patient during her physiotherapy at a hospital, as well as feeding a terminally ill patient at a home before. I think i gain alot at every encounter. This time was slightly different because i was asked to look out specifically for strengths the clients had. yes, there were many things tat they could not do on their own. they couldn't walk, couldn't feed themselves, couldn't wear their own shoes, couldn't wipe themselves clean, couldn't do this, couldn't do that. But each of them had their individual personalities. Each had their own strengths. The little child was able to talk; though he could not see, he was able to orient to sounds and reach out for toys he wanted accordingly; though he could not put on his own shoes, he was able to take off his socks independently; he was able to interact with strangers, and was even able to identify facial parts by touch. The teenager on the other hand, really enjoyed having people around him, and he loved taking pictures (he stood up immediately when he saw the camera!). he could communicate with assistive technology, spelling out every word with accuracy even though it took much effort from him. As they say, there is always ABILITY in the disability. I think i was veyr inspired by the trainer, she's a physiotherapist by training, but she was not only focusing on the physio part of the therapy, but also took effort to add in some communication and behavioural management stuff. And she was so patient and loving towards them, being both assertive & firm, but also gentle in the way she worked with them. really inspired. I guess watching her and so many other ppl at the trainin, as well as the two clients, made me realise tat i really wanna do wat i do. to help and to empower those in need. As Jesus had compassion on those in need, i pray tat He will give me that same compassion too.


By the way, guess wat i found at my friendly neighbourhood bakery? This small booklet on how to make marriage work. and it's by RBC ministries, the same source for "our daily bread". So cool rite! never expected to find these booklets at a cake shop!! I hope ppl will pick them up and read about the biblical principles in making a marriage work, and from there get to know the gospel. May the Lord's light shine bright even in a seemingly small cake shop! May they experience a revival starting from the employees themselves!

oh oh, i was thinkin, they should put"our daily bread" instead, fits the cake shop more leh.. heee.