How would you interpret the answer if an MCQ question goes like this :

Qn : Which of the statement below is NOT true:

Choices:

A) P

B) Q

C) R

D) A,B,C are correct

E) A,B,C are incorrect

Many people tend to think that if A,B and C are correct, they should pick D to be the answer. But if A,B and C are correct, then statement D is correct too, hence option D is not 'not true'. So the answer is E (A,B and C are not incorrect), if A, B and C are correct. -_-"

If you agree that E is the answer if A,B and C are correct, then what makes it more ambiguous is that there's another question like this :

Qn: Which of the statement is NOT true :

a) P

b) Q

c) R

d) S

e) All the above are correct

If A,B,C,D are correct, then the examiner said I should choose E. Accepting this convention (the answer can overrule the question), then on the above the answer is D!

Exams are finally over.. the torturous and yet enjoyable semester soon came to an end. Torturous since it requires perseverance and incorporates huge amount of stress, while enjoyable since i learnt a lot. Overall, I could say that I've been quite satisfied with my performance this semester, not that because I performed well, but I think I've fought well to the end (though as a result, grades would also rise). Hm perhaps the reason i'm satisfied is a mixture of both, who can tell anyway? haha.. =p. Anyway, this is a good start. Hope next semester would be better, and hope that I could strike a good balance between studies and service in ISCF / church. (i think this semester, service is not quite that maximised). 

Finally, I would like to thank God that the wonderful semester has ended. There are too many things that happened ever since August (though it's just 4 months!). Thanks for the sustenance throughout. Thanks for the semester. Thanks for the exams. Thanks for friends. Thanks for everything!

Last words.. Happy Holidays!!! And may the holidays be fruitful.. ^_^

Perhaps this idea had been stated many times, and you might find it boring to read the same things again and again, just paraphrased. But the reason is because it is quite an 'eternal' complaint that would not turn irrelevant. I guess that in my old age I would probably be reflecting on the same things.

It's the idea that life is linear and beautiful because of it. The same things won't be happening again. Remembering the past, digging up memories and reflecting about the past is really fantastic. And maybe one reason why I liked songs or films that I had watched in my past, is not because they are superb movies / songs, but because songs and movies could act as a 'landmark'. It could bring up past experiences and makes you reflect upon things that happened, and brings up the past atmospheres.

Another fact about life, being linear, is that it has an alpha and omega point. Thus, nothing is really up for grabs. Everything will end finally. Life, as I lately perceive it, is like a person walking through an array of shops, doing some window shopping. Perhaps once after a while he/she might enter a particular shop, a CD store, listened to some sample 'music' in some corner, enjoyed it, but after a while leaves the shop. And that's it. The 'fun' was very short-lasting, and he/she has to proceed to the next shop as it was getting dark.

Life has stages. My childhood days are over. My days as undergrad will soon be over. It will proceed to another stage. And between each stages, things will gonna get very different. Just 2 days ago my friend's sister was getting married. Yeah.. and I guess just a couple of years later what we would call 'friends', they would vanish. There wouldn't be much of very fun moments you have gathering with friends just like when you're in undergrad. Another stage have arrived. Many would be busy with their jobs, and perhaps, many would have different life-orientations. I just realised that my childhood friends are gone. It's just a matter of time before everyone is gone.

I've sometimes imagined about what it means to become old. I think that being old is miserable. I imagined myself when i'm 60, perhaps 70. That time, many things would have gone. Families, friends, I dunno. The days would be for the younger generations. Perhaps you'll be a miserable old fella whose presence is unwanted, or might just be a burden to the young. The world has changed, and you've become obsolete. Presence is just meaningless.

Oh well.. must the picture be this dull? You see, this complaint would be relevant till eternity. Sometimes I've been trying to resist. Time drags me forward, and I have to comply unwillingly. But it has to go linear! Indeed, one saying goes that beauty is not 'in time', but 'through it'. If somebody has the power to stop time, or to reverse it, I don't think there would be much beauty anymore. Life would be totally irrelevant! But if it has to go as it is, you'll painfully move forward.

Fine! Cut all these complaints! One thing is.. this is utterly useless. Whether you're conscious of it or not, you'll pass away with your conscious / unconsciousness, and the world will still go on without you. But the thing you could do is, even if you should pass, make sure that you left out a nice footprints, and let's crave some 'marks', and let it be a shining light for everyone.

Finally, praise be to God, the eternal.

If a 'generalization' leads to correct result, it is called induction. Otherwise, it is called generalization. The real question would be, when is it a valid generalization?

If a 'brainwashing' is about something that is perceived as truth, it is called education. Otherwise, it is called brainwashing. The real question would be, what is truth?

Somewhere out there

Somewhere out there
Beneath the pale moonlight
Someones thinking of me
And loving me tonight

Somewhere out there
Someones saying a prayer
That we'll find one another
In that big somewhere out there

And even though I know
How very far apart we are
It helps to think we might be wishing
On the same bright star

And when the night wind
Starts to sing a lonesome lullaby
It helps to think we're sleeping
Underneath the same big sky

Somewhere out there
If love can see us through
Then we'll be together
Somewhere out there
Out where dreams come true

And even though I know
How very far apart we are
It helps to think we might be wishing
on the same bright star

And when the night wind
Starts to sing a lonesome lullaby
It helps to think we're sleeping
Underneath the same big sky

Somewhere out there
If love can see us through
Then we'll be together
Somewhere out there
Out where dreams come true...

Heard this song today. When we celebrated grandma's birthday some couple in the next room are having their wedding, and this song was played. It's the song that I listened to many times before I came back from Singapore.

How blessed are we who got the opportunity to go to Singapore. Especially my friends whom I know in ISCF and church. I realised that almost everytime I came back to Jakarta I had this feeling, that over here and 'over there' are so different! Over there we are blessed with much knowledge, quite solid (it's relative) understanding of the Word of God. Most of us are philosophically and intellectually inclined, and we are able to communicate similar ideas and concepts easily. Here, how sad it is to see that many don't understand the most basic things that are repeated over and over again in the church. It's really hard to communicate. And sometimes the examples in the preaching don't really establish a right logical connection, or blatantly wrong scientific facts are quoted.

I just realised how blessed we are indeed. Truly, we won't realise the blessing until we departed from it. 

We, especially who are engaged in the campus ministry, could be considered 'powerful' people, though we may not noticed it. We are consistent, knowledgeable. Therefore, we are really entrusted with a lot of work to do! We have the power to change the generation. In many circumstances, many people wanted to do as much, but they are just limited. While we are blessed with much power, we are entrusted with as much responsibility. 

Have you ever witnessed something that is not right, you know you're on the right side but you are forced to keep quiet just because you have no power to fight it? It's really an uneasy feeling, I dunno how to describe, but I just hate that feeling.

Therefore I really want to be powerful someday! I don't want to be a weak person. Weak in terms of the physical sense, or it may be weak financial terms, etc, as long as the weakness in it would allow the powerful parties to abuse their powers and do things irresponsibly as they desired.

Now is physical training really un-Biblical? Does it mean we're trying to achieve things by our own strength and not relying on God's providence? Not really! God has given us the time, it's a resource. We can use that up to train ourselves. Now what differs that from someone studying hard? Here, I think motivation is the real issue.

Actually being powerful is, as what my pastor said, a 'critical' position. On the good side, it can be best, but if abused, it can give the worst effect. But what if suddenly I turn my way after I achieved all those power? This is a crucial question to be thought out by everyone who wants to be powerful. Therefore, the might for power must be balanced by the might to be faithful to the truth! Ideally, the truest person must be entrusted the greatest power, for he will not abuse it! And if anyone abuses his/her power, including myself, I hope that someone else more powerful can help to take over and do the 'right' thing. But let's first count on ourselves to be faithful to the truth and to acquire that power.

Just a little thought exercise..

How do you know what you know is true? Assume there's an answer. Assume condition A must be satisfied in order for you to know that what you know is true. But then someone can ask "How do you know A is the true criterion?". This question simply reduces to the initial question "How do you know what you know is true?". Therefore the question is un-answerable. In order to proceed, you need to have faith.

Just attended the youth Christmas at the church yesterday. The drama was quite nice. It's about a classroom of students with their 'divisions', typical of a high-school setting. There are the 'elites' who only cares about money and high-class living and the other was like the 'junkies' who honored friendship. Oh yes, 1 more is a girl who always sit at the corner of the classroom. Then there is this new student who joined this classroom. In short, it's about happiness. The new student joined each group one at a time but he was disappointed as he was left out. The elites wants him to join as they learnt that he was rich, and he was left out once his father's company gets bankrupt. The junkies who promotes 'friendship' leaves him when bad guys came and the 2 'gangs' goes into a fight. In the end only him was caught, the other flew. In his bad state, he attempts a suicide, disappointed for finding the 'happiness' he wanted. The lonely girl whom he bullied whenever he joined the 2 groups turned out to the one who saved him by donating her blood. Then the final conversation was about Christ, who had done much for her, that she was able to withstand all things. Why would someone be good to others who had been bad to him/her  throughout? It's because there is a God who had done everything for us, redeem us from our sins, even since we were his enemies. What a great love it is!

The sermon was good also. It's about paradigm and I think it addresses well the problem in our society. It's about paradigm, how many Christians attended the church, without being true Christians. The passage was taken from Matthew 7:21-23 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'.  This is not talking about Christians who only goes to church. It's about prophets. Its about people who claims themselves as servants of God, and yet they are banished.

Truly, the message is strong. But how ironic it is to see some people are sleeping out when the sermon is being preached while some others seem indifferent, or taking it lightly. It's sad to see, in every Christmas, people seeing it as just normal celebrations, or simply go to the church, watch drama in the church, but they wholly missed the point. After leaving, it's back to the secular chit-chatting.. 

Yeah, perhaps many people are misled about the true value of Christmas. But there are many reasons for us to be happy when it's Christmas season. It's happy to see the seats of the churches to be filled, even when I joined this morning's session which starts at 8.00 am.

True, we should have Christmas everyday, but what's so special about the Christmas season is perhaps it's the time to 'reap'.  It's a time where commitments to renew their lives are being made. It's also a time where many people gave their hearts to God. Where at one time they were perhaps being evangelized or touched by some films / dramas, or get curious by the true value of Christmas that they ponders upon the question 'Why is many people so merrily celebrating it?'

Today's sermon was pretty good. And what caught my attention is that the speaker (actually she had spoken for 3 consecutive days, it's just today that I realise its her) is the author of the song 'Semua karna anugrahNya', Pdt. Rachmiati.

The story behind that song really caught my attention. It's about her life as a Christian, a theologian. That day she entered SAAT and was proud, as she had already worked, and she found out that her classmates were all very young, some of them just finished high-school. Btw she joined SAAT just to establish a foundation for her so that she could be salt and light in her workplace. She never wanted to become God's servant in the church. But then God made her to be humble. At one point of time she realised that there's nothing to be proud of. It's not because of her ability, of her intelligence, of everything. That time she prayed that God will keep her humble, and remind her of it, that everything was just grace. She was a talented songwriter. She wrote over 100 songs, but only 1 song got selected to be recorded. The song 'semua karna anugrahNya', out of her expectation, not just be a success, but it is sung by many churches and fellowhships. Even when she went abroad, she sometimes heard some fellowships sing it. God had answered her prayer. Everytime she listened to that song, it reminds her of what she had asked God in the past, to remind her that everything was grace.

Well.. should be happy with this =)

Last 2 sems were disasters, with respective SAPs around 3.2. At least this proves that I can 'get up', and at least I should maintain between B and B+ aggregate. My CAP went up a bit, hehehh.. should b better next sem, just need to 'press on' more.

I'm wondering why everyone can get A/A+ so easily =s

These few days it seemed that I was being forced to rethink about relationship, families, etc. From the Indonesian drama I watched, 'Cahaya', and some audio sermons by Pdt Gilbert which my parents listened to, which talked mostly about practical stuffs, it inspired some thoughts, and questions too.

In my very old post, I posted a sermon by Yohan Candawasa. He said that we must not seek a relationship if we aims for happiness. And relationship must not be parasitic too. The true relationship must be, not just mutual, but must involve God. It is a 3-party relationship, and it must have the spirit of sharing the joy that derived from God, to our partner, and thus we can't be 'unsatisfied'. He also said that a person must be able to be 'happily single', only then the person is ready for a relationship. If he can't be happy as a single, or in other words, 'can't live without his/her partner', then he/she is not ready. It's because relationship is not meant to seek the ultimate happiness from our partner.

I was thinking then.. if really someone is already happy being a single, why he/she would need a partner at all? =s To share the joy? Of course, but why find a partner to share the joy? Not just helping some other people who are in need? Why must be a partner? This I still don't understand. And if we're happy why don't we just remain single? I think we must know that it is God's will first.

Now, is feeling important in a relationship? This I also don't know yet. Someone said that it is important. But I dunno. First, feelings are very subjective and unreliable. Perhaps it can be so-called 'manipulated' (though it may not work in some cases). A person can use the 'trick' to chase someone till he/she gets used to being chased, or being close to that person, and suddenly when the person was gone, he/she would miss the person. Don't many people do that? Or maybe being involved with a person for a long time, gone through events together would certainly bring about a lot of memories. Rethinking them will certainly contribute to some 'feelings' that was being added, don't they? But of course the 'first' initiator is usually the person who thinks the other party is interesting to chase, or have the feeling first, and must be male ideally. Well.. even if feeling is not important, perhaps it is not meant to be totally unimportant. It can be thought of not as an on-off switch but a rather analog picture.

So now goes the question of the other category, about quality. There's an input that I think is beneficial. In a Christian relationship, a relationship must aim towards marriage. Meaning, it must have a vision of marriage in mind. That means, problems that might arise in marriage must be accounted for not just before marriage, but before starting a relationship. Now it was said that a common thing that destroys the happiness of a marriage is not only caused by unharmonized couple, but often it involves the families of the respective parties, with the sister and brother in-laws. This means, perhaps if we want to find a partner, we should go and find out not just about the quality of our partner, but about the quality of the in-laws, be it sister, brother, mother and father. =s

Oh yes, and there's actually another hurdle of starting a relationship. Many people would rather meet a person, who would give a good impression, and be his/her partner. Many people would tend to think someone as a friend if he/she had known that person for a long time. This paradigm is actually not that right. It makes us jump into the temporary 'ideal', it might be manipulated. But to know a person full well we must spend much time. So I really think this is absurd.

Often I think the way they depict relationships in dramas (and some relationships in reality) are just having the wrong paradigms. They're too carried away with temporary feelings, and hence lose almost all objectivity.

Oh well, I think I need to start reading Joshua Harris after I get back to Singapore.. maybe it have the answers to my questions, or could enlighten me more. =)