Dust collector

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Post-wedding reflection

This blog has sure collected some dust, but since I have some time to spare, why not write my post-wedding thoughts for archival purposes (and while it’s still relatively fresh in my head)?

10 October 2015 was THE (long-awaited) day. After 1 year of wedding preparation, it all came to this. Many things to be thankful for, of course, and there have been no regrets for any of the decisions made. Though of course, I might change some stuff if I could turn back time, like arriving at the church earlier so my wedding coordinator and AV i/c didn’t have to panic.>.<

Many girls like to ask, “what’s your dream wedding?” Since young, it has always been simple for me – to have my Dad walk me down the aisle in a church. And it happened! Glitz, glamour, puffy flowery gowns and dinner banquets have never been my thing. So the keyword in the whole preparation was simply, ‘simple’. I do not think that we should be splurging on things that only, well, LOOK good. That’s why I decided to not splurge on a dress that I would only wear once. Fortunately for me, H&M came up with a USD$99 weddding dress last year. It’s not only affordable, it’s simply gorgeous (or gorgeously simple). Plus, I could wear it again after the wedding just by trimming the length. Mom felt it was too plain, though, so she suggested I alter the dress and add a detachable train at the back. So what the tailor did was to remove the upper cloth and replace it with a lace while retaining the same design.

Having attended so many weddings, I realised that people usually remember or talk about how good/bad the food is or whether there was enough. So food was a huge priority and something we didn’t mind splurging on. We were also careful when it came to the number of heads to cater for. We knew for sure we were going to order just slightly more than the number of people who were coming, because for my sister’s wedding, there was not enough food and many people went home remembering that. I didn’t wanna make the same mistake. Talkng about food, I can’t help but gush about how amazing the food is. Didn’t get to eat during the wedding, but no worries, because… #foodtasting! Our food caterer was Kigi Catering. We first tried Kigi when we attended our friends’ wedding. Having tried so many caterers after that, I couldn’t find caterers that could match Kigi. They are a little bit unknown, though, but their food and décor is amazing. Very relieved that we had very favourable responses from our guests regarding the food (except for the Laksa).

We were very blessed and fortunate to have many supportive friends and family members who made the whole wedding day possible. Tasks were completed without complains, and everyone went all the way out to help us. We had friends who arrive at 7:30am to pump the balloons for décor, friends who stood under the scotching sun to guide traffic, friends who had to miss the wedding ceremony cos they were settling tasks outside, friends who followed us through the whole day, friends who sacrificed their time and effort to make our wedding so beautiful.

So there. Wedding day reflections – archived.

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Remembering LKY

I haven't blogged in a very long while.

But I guess I have too much thoughts this week that I feel like I need to put it down somewhere.

Singapore's first Prime Minister, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, passed away on Monday. I've learned so much about him in the last 5 days than I have in the 10+ years in school. I took history in both Secondary School and Junior College but I've always seen Mr. Lee as just another political figure in the text book. What the textbooks depict were mostly on nation building and independence. Lee Kuan Yew and Singapore were synonymous. But this week, I realised that the textbooks only scratched the surface of who he really was and the contributions he have made to this country.

I never knew that Mr. Lee had a huge impact on many countries. I never knew that big figures around the world sought Mr. Lee's wise counsel. I never knew that Mr. Lee could be such a loving husband to his wife. I am simply too ignorant to understand what it really means when people say that Mr. Lee is Singapore's "founding father".

For me, there is just so many things to be thankful for.

Because of Mr. Lee's vision, I do not have to worry about being persecuted for my faith.
I do not have to worry about corruption, nor high crime rates, nor polluted water.
I can drink straight from my tap!
I have a shelter over my head.
I can speak at least two languages. (more, if you count dialect)
I have easy access to education.
I am protected as a woman.
I can choose my government.

I don't think I've ever seen Singapore so united before. It's heartening to see the government supporting Singaporeans as they queue overnight to pay their respects to Mr. Lee, be it through extending the hours of operation for public transport or just being there to speak to the people in the wee hours of the morning. It's also very heartwarming to see the giving spirit in many Singaporeans. I read about random people from all walks of life coming together to volunteer - be it in the giving out of food/drinks/umbrella to people who were queuing at the Padang. Let's also not forget the people at tribute sites.

It's been a sad week for Singapore, mourning her loss of Mr. Lee. But from how I see it, this might be a blessing in disguise. I'm sure many Singaporeans now have a greater knowledge of Mr. Lee and his contributions, but what would this knowledge do? I hope that this knowledge translates into a greater appreciation for this country. I hope that there are more who feel proud to be Singaporeans. I hope that Singaporeans will continue to have this giving spirit, not just in moments of crisis.

To end off, I quote a poem from Robert Burns (he wrote Auld Lang Syne too)

An honest man here lies at rest
As e'er God with his image blest.
The friend of man, the friend of truth;
The friend of Age, and guide of Youth:
Few hearts like his with virtue warm'd,
Few heads with knowledge so inform'd:
If there's another world, he lives in bliss;
If there is none, he made the best of this.