A letter i can resonate with...

I am attaching a letter from a concerned Christian to the Archbishop of Anglican. I think the thoughts expressed are very important for us to contemplate. The question is not to act immediately but rather to know how then shall we live in the light of the situation. Hope you find your heart resonate just as it has for me.

Dear Most Revd. Dr John Chew,
I woke up this morning with a headache and bulging goldfish eyes. Not surprising because this alwayshappens when I cry a lot.Last night, after spending more than 10 hours witnessing the battle that went on in AWARE yesterday, I tooka cab home. I was finally alone, away from the maddening crowds in Suntec City. In solitude, I cried and tearscontinued to flow even after I got home at 1 am.

First, I cried for Josie Lau and her team. Whether I agree with the way they took over theleadership of AWARE, they were nevertheless my sisters-in-Christ. It was heart-wrenching to see how theywere attacked. They fought with their hands “tied” and with little support. The church was not behind themalthough it was the very set of beliefs the church taught them that they stood up for. In the meantime, the othercamp had a lot of support from various factions of the society including certain international lobby groups.

At the EGM, Josie Lau and her team tried to show Christian love to a crowd who hated them. They werejeered and booed. No one gave them a chance to speak, throwing allegations at their faith and attacking theircompetence. Josie and her team tried to be gracious but they were not appreciated. And when they raised theirvoices for some law and order, they were criticized for being rude and unchristian. It was a lose-lose situationfor Josie and her team. They had to live out a testimony of what it means to be a Christian and they were notallowed to use the same battle tactics as the opposing team who did not come to listen to reasons nor facts.

For the first time in my life, I witnessed a “massacre” of Christians. Also for the first time, I felt it was a crimeto be a Christian. I suddenly understood how Jesus felt when he was on His way to Calvary.


Second, I cried for all Christians and for the Church in Singapore. I disagree with many church leaders' stand that Christians should not get involved in a secular organisation like AWARE.

Aren't the organisations we work for, the schools we attend secular? We cannot hold leadership just becauseour faith and beliefs belong to that of Christ? And if my Christian beliefs form the very core of who I am, whyare you asking me not to exercise them in the world I live in? How relevant then is my faith if I am asked tokeep them within the four walls of the church? And we wonder why our young people abandon the faith oncethey leave school. We haven’t figured out?

If Christians are not allowed to be involved in AWARE, who can? And since most organisations are secular,should we stay out from all of them? If not, then which secular organisations can Christians be involved inand which ones should we stay out from?

Being a Christian and holding leadership position in a secular organisation like AWARE does not mean that itwill be turned into a Christian advocacy group. Josie and her team said many times that they intended for AWARE to be fully represented but nobody wanted to listen. Why? Because the other group wants thefreedom to do anything and everything they desire, in the name of inclusiveness. They know that many oftheir beliefs and lifestyles run contrary to the teachings of Christianity. They are afraid.

Do you know what it means now that AWARE's leadership has gone to the liberalists, the secularists? Theynow have to be pro-choice. They owe it to certain activist groups for supporting them. Being pro-choicemeans they are for pre-marital sex, abortion, divorce, same-sex marriage just to name a few. Yesterday, amandate was given to them to advocate their set of beliefs.

A recognised legal body that claims to represent all women, they can go into schools, homes, institutions andeverywhere in Singapore to propagate their beliefs. In a democratic society, it means that they have the legalstatus to "infiltrate" especially now that everyone is aware that they have been "democratically" voted.2Although I am certain that the government will keep an eye on this group, it means Christians can no longerhide under the umbrella of a conservative government who is under a lot of pressure to open up. We are nowleft to fend for ourselves. A male nominated member of parliament was at the EGM yesterday. Although itwas quoted that he was there as a legal adviser to the old guards, why did he bother to get involved?

Arising from this saga, what do you think is the message to all Christians? It is to "stay away from all secularorganisations and keep your faith to yourself. Christians have no business propagating their faith". From now on, just saying that you are a Christian will immediately bring to mind the AWARE saga and just like how wesaw the liberalists toppled Josie and her team, we will be told to shut up because we are Christians and wehave no part in controversial decisions in any secular organisations we work for.

It just makes living out your faith and evangelising for Christ, a key command from God, even harder fromnow on. And unless Christians speak up and make a stand, we will be drowned and stepped all over.

As much as I understand most Churches’ position for not wanting to get involved in the AWARE saga for fearthat it would taint the reputation of Christianity or that it would tread into the realm of political controversy, Iwish our spiritual leaders have stood up in unity and spoke against some of the activities, for example, the sexuality programme used by the old guards to teach our children in the schools. By steering clear completely,it is indirectly saying that we are fine even with what they were propagating.

In my humble opinion, we have lost more battle grounds in yesterday’s saga. Perhaps we would have lostanyway but could we have lost less? We could even show our young what it means to live for Christ in afallen world through some practical actions. But did we?

Third, I cried for Singapore. The government has just allowed a powerful group to set Singapore'sagenda and this group will make their voices heard in the next election and perhaps even overturn some of our conservative laws.

To our politicians, I seek clarification on the definition of religion and secularism and how do both of theseco-exist in multi-religious Singapore. Can you actually separate one’s religious values from its expression inthe public sphere in matters that concern an individual?

How does one define religion anyway? They have relentlessly said that religion is very sensitive and canpotentially divide our nation. But can a set of beliefs, regardless of where they are derived, fervently held andwhich governs one’s life be a religion? I think so. Yesterday, I saw many people who embrace liberalismturning up in force at Suntec City in support of their beliefs. They were so united and single-minded in whatthey were fighting for. To me, some of them even seemed to be fighting for their right to live. To me, that wasreligion.

In that case, the AWARE’s saga was a fight between two religions. And in all battles, one won and one lost.We lost.

Every country in the world has to be governed by some philosophy and beliefs. Politicians subscribe to certainthinking and values and laws are formulated or amended on those values. Some sorts of beliefs have to takeprecedent over others. Going forward, what is Singapore’s? Secular? Define it.

Singapore wants to be pluralistic and accommodate everyone from all walks of life and from all over theworld in our tiny island. And they want us to live happily together. But can it? Let us not forget thatgeographically, Singapore is very small. Unlike the United States or even Malaysia where I can choose to livein Texas if I don’t like the openness in California or Kelantan instead of Kuala Lumpur if I like to raise myfamily in a more conservative state respectively, I cannot do that in Singapore. And since I like my space,would I be given a choice to reject the society’s dominant values that others determine for me and for which Imay choose not to embrace?3

Finally, I cried for our children. We all try to raise our children to become God-fearing men andwomen who can be salt and light of this world. Some of us even quit our full-time jobs to stay home so thatwe can teach our children God’s ways. To protect our children in today’s internet age, we fight off the newmedia which try to influence our children. Yesterday, I tried to fight off sexuality teachings that ran contraryto God’s words. And tomorrow, I will be fighting off gamblers, drug couriers, prostitutes and gangs. Honestly,I don’t know what kind of environment or the degree of influence and temptations our children would befaced with when they grow up and when they start raising their own children. How can we make it easier forthem to live out their faith? Or are we just making it tougher?

As Christians participating in God’s agenda and battle, what are we lacking? Practical tools. Our churcheshave done a good job teaching us the biblical truth and the word of God. Most of our children have thisknowledge in their heads. However, equipping them with knowledge alone is insufficient. We need todemonstrate to our children how to apply God’s truths, how to stand up for them and if need be, fight for thesetruths.

In short, we need to show them what it means to stand up and be counted for God in a secular world, i.e. to bein this world but not of it. We had an opportunity yesterday but we missed it.

In conclusion, I would like to state some facts that won’t be carried in our mainstream media. I wouldalso like to put forth some questions for all Christians to ponder. First and foremost, who decided to usereligion and set it as an agenda in the AWARE saga?

Constitutionally, Josie and her team were above board. They were elected during the AGM a month ago totake over the leadership. Like any organisation with a constitution, it was based on votes and they won onvotes. Neither was the takeover sneaky. Those of us who have worked in secular organisations, and AWAREis a secular organisation, know that takeovers are never friendly. When was religion ever an issue in anysecular organisational takeover?

Our mainstream media, though they tried to be objective, was unfortunately not. From the start, they alreadyknew which side they wanted to support. Why was the coverage on the event so skewed towards the winningparty? Why carry so much of the winning party’s voice and why interview so many of their supporters? I didnot see them going around just as excitedly in seeking the opinions of Josie’s supporters yesterday.

When Dr Thio was asked by MOE to validate and substantiate her statements on Tuesday, my PR team foughtagainst time to issue a statement to the press only to be told that they don’t intend to carry her side of the story.

When Josie and her team wanted to send the media their vision and philosophy that they have crafted forAWARE, the media told them that they are not interested.

Why run the churches’ stories two days and eventhe eve of the EGM?

Are we aware that the AWARE story was the number one world story in twitters? The other camp was madeup of generally young people who are savvy with social media and they leveraged on those tools. Ninety-ninepercent of those on twitters were dead against Josie and her team.

Are we also aware that they have set up hate websites to hit out at Christians and all on Josie’s team? We allknow that Josie received death threats. Do we also know that everyone on that team had letters or calls writtento their employers asking their employers to justify their presence in the organisations? Why is it that no onespoke up about such tactics?

Further, how aware are we that the other group’s supporters comprised mainly of relatively young people?These are going to be our children’s leaders or counterparts. Josie’s camp was made up of middle aged menand women who did not dress, behave or even speak the same “language” as our young today.

What happenedto our young Christian people? Shouldn’t they be interested in what is happening?

And what about the facts regarding the sexuality programme? Are they true? For those who are unsure andwould like to know what’s been propagated, I have a copy and would be happy to lend it to you for yourpersonal reading. It contains the selected controversial pages and we can all judge for ourselves if we wantthis material taught to our children.

For me, this AWARE saga was a chance to practise and learn to stand up for Christ. Regardless of whichangle you choose to see this event, it was obvious that our faith was attacked. I am very thankful for thisopportunity and to be reminded that we are living in the last days. Come to think of it, I played a very smallrole in this whole episode. I liken myself to the soldier guarding the armoury while my comrades went out tofight. The sad thing was my armoury was filled with pistols while my foes were using machine guns. It wasvery painful to have to witness my comrades’ getting injured and knowing that there is nothing I can do aboutit. But one thing I know – God is still in charge and He is sovereign. He will bring to pass what He revealed inRevelations.

But it also means that Christians have to be ready to stand up and fight for our faith. Otherwise we would be useless in God’s army because He cannot use us. To be ready and useful, we must start to learn what it meansto be steadfast and to live out our faith. Speaking up in defence of our beliefs is a start.

In-His-Love, XXX

Summary of MI and teaching strategies by Thomas A.

Reading 8 – Thomas Armstrong, 1994, Multiple intelligences in the classroom (pp 65-85)
MI and Teaching Strategies


“If the only tool you have is hammer, everything around you looks like a nail.” – Anonymous


MI theory suggests that one set of teaching strategies will work best for all students at all times.


Teaching strategies for Linguistic Intelligence
- Storytelling
Weave essential concepts, ideas and instructional goals into a story that you tell directly to students.
- Brainstorming
Give special acknowledgement to all students for their original thoughts.
- Tape recording
Collector of information in interview and reporter of information in talking books
- Journal writing
Can be kept entirely private between teachers and students…
Draws heavily upon intrapersonal intelligence insofar as students work individually and use the journal to reflect upon their lives.
- Publishing
Educator must send the message that writing is a powerful tool for communicating ideas and influencing people.
When children see that others care enough about their writing to duplicate it, discuss it, and even argue about it, they become linguistically empowered and are motivated to continue developing their writing craft.


Teaching strategies for Logical-Mathematical Intelligence
- Calculations and quantifications
Even at non-Math subject
- Classifications and categorizations
Logical mind can be stimulated anytime information is put into some kind of rational framework
- Socratic Questioning
Instead of talking at students, the teacher participates in dialogues with them, aiming to uncover the rightness and wrongness of their belief
- Heuristics
The field of heuristics refers to a loose collection of strategies, rules of thumb, guidelines, and suggestions for logical problem solving
- Science Thinking
Students can study influence of science on history and present day situations.
Science provides another point of view that can enrich student’s perspective.
Teaching strategies for Spatial Intelligence
- Visualisation
- Colour Cues
- Picture Metaphors
A metaphor is using one idea to refer to another and a picture metaphor expresses an idea in a visual image.
- Idea Sketching
Involve asking students to draw key point, main idea, central theme, or core concept being taught. Neatness and realism should be DE-emphasised in favour of a succession of quick sketches that help articulate an idea eg Pictionary
Do not evaluate the drawing themselves; instead, seek to “draw out” students’ understanding from the sketches.
- Graphic Symbols


Teaching strategies for Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence
- Body Answers
- Classroom Theater
Can be one minute improvisation of a reading passage or a one-hour play that sums up students’ understanding of a broad learning theme.
Try warm up exercises for older students who maybe reluctant to engage in dramatic activities.
- Kinesthetic Concepts
Translate information from linguistic or logical symbol systems into purely bodily-kinesthetic expression
- Hands-on Thinking
Manipulating objects or by making things with their hands.
- Body Maps
Using human body as pedagogical tool.


Teaching strategies for Musical Intelligence
- Rhythms, songs, raps and chants

Inviting students to create songs, raps, or chants that summarise, synthesize, or apply meaning from subjects they are studying moves students to an even higher level of learning.
- Discographies
Supplement your bibliographies for the curriculum with lists of recorded musical selections – tapes, compact discs, and records, - that illustrate, embody, or amplify the content you want to convey.
- Supermemory Music
Students could more easily commit information, to memory if they listened to the teacher’s instruction against musical background. Baroque and classical musical selections in 4/4 time were found to be particularly effective.
- Music Concepts
Musical tones can be used as a creative tool for expressing concepts, patterns, or schemas in many subjects.
- Mood Music
Locate recorded music that creates an appropriate mood or emotional atmosphere for a particular lesson or unit.


Teaching strategies for Interpersonal Intelligence
- Peer sharing
- People Sculptures
The beauty of this approach is in having people represent things that were formerly represented only in books, overheads, or lectures. People sculptures raise learning out of its remote theoretical context and put it into an immediately accessible social setting.
- Cooperative Groups
- Simulations
Involves a group of people coming together to create an “as-if” environment.


Teaching strategies for Intrapersonal Intelligence
- One minute reflection period
Frequent “time out” for introspection or deep thinking. One min reflection periods offer students time to digest the information presented or to connect it to happenings in their own lives. They also provide a refreshing change of pace that helps students stay alert and ready for the next activity.
- Personal connection
Making connection between what is being taught and the lives of their students ie “what does all this have to do with my life?”
- Choice time
Give students choices is as much a fundamental principle of good teaching; building opportunities for students to make decisions about their learning experiences.
- Feeling-toned moments
To feed that emotional brain, educators need to teach with feeling. Educators are responsible for creating moments in teaching where students laugh, feel angry, express strong opinion, get excited about a topic, or feel a wide range of other emotions.
Educator can model, make it safe and provide experiences that evoke feeling-toned reactions.
- Goal setting session
Necessary skills for leading a successful life.

Reflection on AWARE saga as a Singaporean

I have mixed feeling about the whole AWARE saga. I risked being labeled and misunderstood to pen my reflection. But i will do so because i love Singapore.

As a Singaporean, i am saddened by the display of mob behavior at the SUNTEC EGM. Granted there were pent-up emotion and feeling for "justice" to be served. But the scene of booing and shouting is definitely not the society i am proud of.I am neither for any groups in particular. i think both groups can definitely learn from the whole experience.

Another thought i have is concerning RESPECT. i dont agree that RESPECT needs to be earned. RESPECT is a basic atitude we should have in dealing with ALL of humanity. We RESPECT not because someone has done something worthwhile for us to RESPECT. Because going by this arguement, many people would not need to be respected ie beggar, HIV patients, etc. Whoever started the saying, "Respect needs to be earned", could have misused the word. I would think "Recognition needs to be earned" because recognition is given to people who earned it but not RESPECT. We RESPECT others simply because we are HUMAN. RESPECTING others need not the reflection of the other person's worth or standing.

Thus, in conclusion, we all have lost. We have lost our RESPECT for our fellow country-women, we have lost our sense of civil-mindness, we have lost our ways.....Ironically for the purpose of finding the Singapore society.