If, like me, you have been anxiously following the results of the 13th Malaysia General Election, last night was probably a much less restful night than usual. I found myself tossing and turning in bed and my mind was racing ad infinitum. But I woke up this morning with a few lessons learnt from the reflections that involuntary took place throughout the night.

Lesson One: No One Man Can Save a Nation. I think many of us who want a change for a better Malaysia have fallen into the trap of relying on several good men to rescue the nation from its current predicament. More than that, many of us have aligned ourselves to the promises of particular political parties.

As many of you would have known, from 1 to 15 April, I journeyed with 39 other pilgrims (all together making up 40 people in the group) to the biblical lands of Greece and Turkey. Some might say that a two-week journey like this would be nothing more than a whirlwind tour, but because our trip was rather focused, it was actually very targeted and therefore quite relaxing. I did not return as exhausted as I did last year when going for the pilgrimage to Italy.

Many years ago, when I was just a 16 year-old teenager, a Christian minister gave me a verse from Scripture which I had carried with me until today and which I continue embracing as the essence of the humble ministry entrusted to me as a deacon of the Church, a minister of the Gospel.

The words he wrote for me were the words of the very apostle I had come to admire, whose letters I would read over and over again as a teenager, St Paul: "I do not place any value on my own life, provided that I complete the mission the Lord Jesus  gave me - to bear witness to the good news of God's grace." (Acts 20.24)

I typically promise myself to write down a reflection at the end of every year; a reflection of how the year has passed and what I expect to come my way in the course of the coming year. But when life is defined by a kingdom that has come but that is yet to culminate in absolute visibility, a kingdom that is defined beyond time and space, this exercise of treading from year to year with fear and trepidation, coupled with resolutions we might most likely not fulfil, becomes rather meaningless.

The past few days have been one of the most sensational seasons in the life of the Catholic Church in West Malaysia. This began since the public sighting of an alleged image of our Blessed Virgin Mary on the window pane of Sime Darby Medical Centre in Subang Jaya.
You can read more about this inconclusive phenomenon here.


The purpose of this post is to provide a little catechesis for all the Catholics who are in touch with this phenomenon either by visiting the site of this alleged apparition or by following news of it through the media. This catechesis also contains the exact answers I gave to the journalist of the Star newspaper who interviewed me on this phenomenon.

One of my main struggles in life is that of fighting for my own rights. Ever since I was a little boy, speaking up for myself and protecting myself against my enemies has always been a problem. I am probably too nice to retaliate and too mild to enter into a heated argument with anyone louder than myself.

This failure to protect myself would often lead to private quarrels between me and God. The thing with God is, He seldom vindicated me from most of the onslaughts I had ever suffered in life. To be sure, he does help me. Help comes in the form of comforting words from loyal friends and comrades, material assistance from kind people or sometimes just the silent presence of understanding company. But still, God hardly metes out justice in the way I expect of him.

Well, I didn't exactly sit on the Chair of the Pope when I preached, for "preaching from the Chair" is a liturgical privilege accorded only to the successors of the Apostles. But I was in fact really close to the Chair during the celebration of a Mass with over 60 other pilgrims at the Basilica of St John Lateran on 25 April 2012. I think it was insane that we were given such a significant spot to have our Eucharistic celebration. Nothing can buy such priceless opportunities that come by once in a lifetime.

What was going through my mind? My homily on the day quite summarised what occupied my mental faculties at that celebration. I told the pilgrims that this was IT as far as our journey into the heart of the Church was concerned; one cannot get physically any closer to Mother Church than to be seated right before the Chair of the Bishop of Rome in a Eucharistic celebration. But yet, what does this mean for us all? Because millions of other pilgrims have also stood where we were standing, and perhaps most of them did so with utter ignorance about the significance of the moment

Some of you have been asking me which one of the acronyms behind my name is the correct one, SFO or OFS, since you've observed that I'd been using SFO for years and have now abruptly switched to OFS.

Several days ago, the 16th of June, marked my 35th birthday and also the first anniversary of my ordination as a Deacon of the Church. I should have mentioned something on that day itself, but it has taken me several days to articulate these thoughts with sufficient clarity in order to ensure that I say what I mean.

Whilst this has been the first anniversary of my ordination as a minister of the Church, it was by no means the first year of my involvement in fulltime Christian ministry. To be exact, I have served in ecclesial-related ministry in a fulltime capacity for over 12 years by now. In Chinese terms, 12 years is often considered a full chronological cycle.

It's been a really busy Sunday today. But there's still some energy left in me to recollect all that had happened throughout the day, and perhaps, offer it all up to the Lord.

Paradoxically, the highlight of my day was found this morning during a very silent moment. I was sitting at a chair just near the altar at the Sanctuary. It was a brief 45 minutes, and I was in between two Masses. I was seated there while awaiting the arrival of the godparents of a baby I was about to baptise. So I sat there silently whilst waiting.