Above all else

Have you ever wondered what you sound like when you sing?  A friend once told me this great story.  My friend is a really good singer.  So when he's next to someone who can't sing, say for example in church, it can be grating on his ears.  Has that happened to you before?  But one day, as he was worshipping in church next to a tone deaf parishioner, and starting to get irritated, God gently pointed out, "You think that guy sounds bad to your ears?  You should hear how you sound to me !" The exact same thing happened to me yesterday.  This lady was standing behind me in church and singing completely off key.  But I immediately remembered my friend's lesson, and you know what?  I really started to enjoy worship.  Here was a lady, who may or may not know that she's a terrible singer.  But all that mattered was that she desired to worship, and it didn't matter what anyone thought of her.  And then I really understood...

It's election season, and the contest of ideas is in full flow! Well, kind of.  If you actually stop to think about it, all the (passably credible) political parties seem to have arrived at a consensus for the big ideas by now.  Foreigner inflow - yes, probably too much too fast.  Transport system - yes, probably should have built more capacity. Support for the elderly - yes, probably should provide some social safety net.  Cost of housing - yes, probably too high.  Any contention about these big issues is now mostly about finger pointing - why didn't we fix these earlier?  Which, if you think about it, is a great luxury for us as Singaporeans.  Most other countries don't get to ask "why didn't you fix this earlier?".  They're still stuck at "why didn't you fix this earlier ?"! What about other issues? a."Return my CPF!" Eh, what do you think you have been using to pay for your flat?  And your hospital bill?  And you...