Long time no see ! :D

Hi there (anyone who is reading this post),

It has been a long time since I posted something here, so I'm gonna write anything in my mind now..

For the past month, I've been back to Indonesia twice. 

I was in Batam for the long weekend (Good Friday Holiday) in April for my church's retreat (and mission trip)

FUN FUN FUN :D

Managed to refresh my tired body and soul with the church and learn how to draw closer to God.

The part of the trip that I most enjoyed was the day when we spent time with the children from a local orphanage that our church has adopted. A lot of orphans were much younger than me. I enjoyed playing with them, making them smile for at least a day and getting to know them. It's sad to know that they, as children, have to face problems that I haven't encounter before. They have to constantly think about food supply while I constantly have food on my table three times a day. They have to live without the love of their parents and though my parents are far away, at least I still have one. It is more touching to know that they depend on God like how most of us, including me, depend on our hand phones. God is their provider and they are 100% dependent on God.

They had inspired me to be more grateful of what I have and to know that God is there for us, His love exceeds our love for Him and He'll always love us despite our sins.

Thank God for this experience! I had a blast <3

My next trip was to Surabaya, my hometown..

I went back for my church friend's wedding.

Though I spent only 3 days there, I was happy to be able to go back and spend time with my family and my church friends who went there :)

It was definitely a good way to recuperate after my exams..

I got to be the bridesmaid and though it was tiring, I enjoyed it.

See you in November Surabaya !

 Jennifer
010611

Things I learn from Staying in Singapore (part 2)

2 Sundays ago, 27th of March 2011, my friend's dad came to Singapore to preach in my church.
His topic was about getting out of your comfort zone. 
I think that this topic is highly relevant to what I am facing now in Singapore..

After a discussion with a few friends last Saturday, I was left with this question : What is considered to be my comfort zone? Why is it so important to grow out of it? 

I believe that I have already moved out of my comfort zone when I went abroad to study in Singapore. Life in Surabaya is like heaven compared to my life now. I have people at home who would be there to clean up my room, my toilet, wash my clothes and iron them, prepare my food, wash my dishes etc etc - you get what I mean. 

However, I got the scholarship and life changed. I have to stay in a hostel (boarding school is a more commonly-used term) where I have to do my own chores! 

I need to clean (this includes sweeping the floor and mopping it) my own room, scrub and wash my own toilet (the shower, toilet bowl, the sink AND the floor), wash and iron my own clothes, take my own initiative to get my dinner and at the same time juggling between academics and CCA. 

Yep it was hard during my first few months in Singapore. I had to totally change my lifestyle. Even the way I get around town is different. No private cars nor driver available (very, very common to have a private car in Indonesia). Instead, I need to take public transport which sometimes can be very annoying and slow.


My point is, my life was super duper comfortable (please the bad use of English) in Indonesia. . But then God decided to move me to Singapore where everything is the opposite of comfortable. Even my social circle in Indonesia was perfect to me. I had my friends in Petra and church who were always there for me. Here? I barely knew anyone when I first came. He took me out of my comfort zone. 


For now, I have adapted to the hardship of life here, trying my best to make the best out of what I can have here and made good friends in church. My comfort zone has shifted. But I don't think this is will remain true. Life here is ever-evolving. 


Just when I was able to completely adapt with the routines of a student life in Singapore (waking up at 6AM, going to school until 6PM, dinner then study time), things changed. I became a Secondary 4 student. Being the graduating batch, the school started placing even more pressure on us, wanting us to excel our O level exams this October. I also had to change roommates and room in the hostel, demanding time from me to adapt again. Not to forget the SYF (mentioned in previous posts, Yes I got in the team), demanding more time for CCAs.
Next year, I would yet move again to another school and hostel and I would need to adapt all over again. the same thing would happen again on my fourth year here. Adapting and adapting and adapting all over again.

This showed me, as I reflected over the past 1 year and 5 months in Singapore, that God placed me here to continuously shift me out of my comfort zone.


but why?

Simple, He wants me to be a better being. 

As God shifts you away from your comfort zone, you are expected to do something more than what you normally do. From not having to iron my own clothes, I had to start to do so here. This actually stretches your capability and improves your character. You will learn how to persevere and depend on God to give you strength. You will not just lay back and think that God is not involved in your daily life. 

An example given to me was: imagine if your comfort zone was you having 3 meals a day. Imagine one day He decides to move you out from that comfort zone and you have to really work hard for even 1 meal a day. When you can eat even 1 meal, you would definitely thank Him for it. When you are used to having 3 meals a day, having 3 meals a day is not something special. You would not see it as a gift from God.

This is what I experience here. When I had nothing to hold on in Singapore, God gave me friends who supports me in my ups and downs here. He cares for me in all simple ways and I thank Him for that.


The only thing that is constant is change - Mr Joseph Pratana, MDC Singapore

A Song I'm listening to

Glee Cast - Hello Lyrics

I’ve been alone with you inside my mind
And in my dreams I’ve kissed your lips a thousand times
I sometimes see you pass outside my door
Hello, is it me you’re looking for?

I can see it in your eyes
I can see it in your smile
You’re all I’ve ever wanted, (and) my arms are open wide
‘Cause you know just what to say
And you know just what to do
And I want to tell you so much, I love you …

I long to see the sunlight in your hair
And tell you time and time again how much I care
Sometimes I feel my heart will overflow
Hello, I’ve just got to let you know

‘Cause I wonder where you are
And I wonder what you do
Are you somewhere feeling lonely, or is someone loving you?
Tell me how to win your heart
For I haven’t got a clue
But let me start by saying, I love you …

Hello, is it me you’re looking for?
‘Cause I wonder where you are
And I wonder what you do
Are you somewhere feeling lonely or is someone loving you?
Tell me how to win your heart
For I haven’t got a clue
But let me start by saying … I love you <3

-Jennifer-110311

Things I learn from Staying in Singapore (part 1)

Last Sunday I got a chance to be one of the speakers for a talkshow held by my previous school in Indonesia. My ex-schoolmates came to singapore on an International Exposure programme and last sunday, I felt honored to be able to share my thoughts to them. The talk was an informal one just for a few friends and I to tell them about the studying environment in Singapore.

This made me think about the positive side of studying in Singapore. 

Normally I would only criticize about how the Singapore education system made me suffer under stress and all those kind of negative impacts I felt after moving here. However that night I thought that it was about time to tell the world about the other side of the system, it was important to present an unbiased opinion that night. So I thought over it before the talk and I got this:

Studying in Singapore taught me to tolerate other people's imperfections

Moving to Singapore is like going out of my comfort zone, moving to a new environment where everyone is new to me. I meet a lot of friends of different nationalities here, ranging from PRCs, Thais, Malaysians, Myanmarese, to Koreans and of course Indonesians. I realised after a while that all people have their own uniqueness. Each people from different nationalities have their own habits just like how Indonesians have the habit of being late (we seriously have to change this habit)

Staying with different people of a different background and traditions wakes me up from my deep sleep in Indonesia that not all people have the same way of living. In Indonesia, I only meet non-family members outside my house, making me not able to know them deeper. But here, I stay in the hostel where everything you do is seen by the public. Everything that you do will bring an impact to a lot of people.

Staying with strangers is not an easy and fun thing to do. It may cause lots of problems between two good friends. There will be some things that your roommate or hostel mates do that you don't think it's appropriate. There'll be some things that you do that they won't approve of either. Staying with someone besides your family exposes you to a more private and personal level of life of the one you're staying with. Since different nationals have different upbringings, simple things like wearing your shoes into the room may cause conflict between roommates. 

Because of this I learned that to prevent conflicts from happening, I need to learn to accept and tolerate or even better, work things out, these small imperfections in other people. I learned not to deduce that everyone has the same standards of living and not everyone have the same way of solving things. 

Here's a short clip on imperfections, totally love this ad! It's really touching..

Be blessed :)

GBu

-Jennifer-

100311

Happy Valentine's Day

Today is the day where people around the world celebrates Valentine's day
A day when people show love and care, also gratefulness, for their family and friends.
A question raised yesterday in church :
"Is love that rare now that people have to celebrate Valentine's day in a special way?"
The fact is, love and care for others should be shown everyday, 
valentine's day is not only on the 14th of February but everyday..
It is true that people don't normally give chocolates and flowers to each other everyday
but at least show a tinch of love to them every day and imagine what a wonderful world we'd live in :) 


Last but not least, I would like to wish all of this blog's readers a very happy valentine's day..
Special thanks to God for showing me so much love and care throughout my 17 years of life..
to my parents and sister in Indonesia, thank you for being there always, for me :) Love you :)
to my beloved friends and big bros and sis, Maai, c fesia, k hansen, k terrence, k coby, k ferry, k reggie,k deny, dinar and others who are here in Singapore.. Thanks for giving me the moral support that keeps me from quitting the fight here and made me keep holding on..
For my roommate, Jia Yan, thanks for listening to my complains and thoughts in the room.. also thanks for telling me that I sometimes talk in my sleep LOL
For my dear friends in Indo, Austin, Dicky, Teguh, Sisca, Fano, Bernard thanks for being an awesome friend although we rarely meet now :(
Thank you all for being my friend, for making me feel very loved :D


140211
Jennifer

the Power of Beliefs

"Whatever your mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve" - Napoleon Hill

The quote says it all..


you choose what you want to believe and you live with it..
what you think of yourself will determine your way of thinking, your actions and eventually your future..


but how? 
When you believe in yourself, your belief will serve as a drive to push you to take actions to achieve what you believe in..
Focus on what you believe in, write it down if you must and let it inspire you to strive for excellence..


If you say to yourself everyday that you only want a pass in your exams because you can't possibly achieve better grades than your friends, you will only put in that much effort just to pass..
On the other hand, when you believe that you can surpass your friends in school and you'll be on the top, you will also, unconsciously put in that much effort to do so..
I proved it myself..


When I was younger, I went to a private primary school where there are 3 classes of 24-26 in a cohort. I consider my cohort as a quite brilliant one as there was really a lot of my school mates who won loads of competitions, achieved very high grades in their academics and at the same time, develop their talents like singing and playing the piano. Being a young girl and not knowing myself well, I always assumed I was only an average student and I just stopped competing with the rest for excellence. I didn't study much, did only what I think I can, barely made effort and until the end of my 6 years there, I graduated as only an average student.


Knowing that I'm an average student, I decided to not go to a middle school with a lot of students and that's why I ended up in another school with only 24 people in the cohort (it was the first cohort in the school). I knew I believed that I couldn't do well so going to a school with no competition (small amount of students), wouldn't make any difference and it would at least make me less depressed by not knowing the fact that others are better than me in all ways.
Sounds lame yeah.. but never mind, I'm grateful that I moved to that school as it shaped me into who I am now..
Anyway, as I enter middle school I did what I did in primary school, maybe with a little more effort since it's a start of the new chapter in my life. After a while,tests and results are just the part and parcel of life there. BUT, as the days past in that school, I started to realise what I can do. It became known to me that i can get good grades, I can be the best if I want to believe and to do something about it. 


What happened was, my econs test paper was handed back to me and I got full marks, then in other subjects, too, I started to move up.. Maybe you could say that the test papers were easy so I could easily get full marks but to me, what matters is the realisation after I got back my marks that I can do it if I put in more effort, I can make it if I believe and if I started focusing. That was the turning point. I started to focus more and I made it. At the end of my 3 years in that school, I surpassed my expectations by getting a 38.2 out if 40 mark for my national exam and getting above 85 for most of my subjects. I gained more confidence and got into another huge school with 9 classes in a cohort and did perfectly fine and because of that belief I have in myself now, I can sit down here today in Singapore fully paid by the government. 


I don't mean to show off what I have achieved or to look down at those in my previous school (In contrary, I really am grateful to them and to the school. Can't be here without them) 
but my point is, know that you can, give in a little bit more of your effort, and you will reap what you deserve to get :) 


Having a high self esteem is good, having a low self esteem is not good neither is having one that is too high 


God Bless


-Jennifer-
030211

IMAGE - Impacting All Generation

Me in the school blazer and court shoes

A few days ago (Saturday, 15th Jan 11), I was given a chance to be involved in River Valley's 55th anniversary celebration

A few principals from other schools, including my beloved school principal,

and the Minister of Education and Second Minister of Defence-Dr Ng Eng Hen- were invited to celebrate River Valley's joy.

A few other hostel committee members and I were asked to great those VIPs who's gonna visit our hostel as a part of their tour around the RV's new campus. 

We got to wear or school's blazer (making me feel smart) and court shoes for the short meet-greet-talk-with-the-VIPs session.

Although my duty only took 30 minutes, it was a good exposure and experience for me 

to meet and talk to one of the Ministers of Singapore within such a close distance.

Not to forget, I also talked to my school principal and apparently she doesn't know me haha

Anyways, during the short discussion, the Minister touched on "being an impact to others"

A point that he highlighted was something like this :

"You may be very rich, handsome or pretty and smart 

but if you use it for your own benefit, there's no meaning to it. 

Be an impact on others"

We may be blessed in many ways in our life 

but how are we gonna use our blessings to bless others?

It said in the Bible that we are the salt and the light of the world

what a light does is to shine and share their brightness with others who are in need

with others who could not see in the darkness of this world

with man who needs warmth from someone who cares.

Similar to light, salt has its own impact in its environment.

It gives taste to your food even though you could not see it.

Without it your food will be tasteless and you would want to eat anymore.

When the salt is not salty what's the use of it? 

When the light is there but it's off, why even bother to put there in the first place?

Our presence in this world without an impact on others, what's the purpose then?

God sent us here to be an impact on others,

to fulfill His purpose..

So show some love and share you blessings!

Matthew 5:13-16 (New International Version)

Salt and Light

    ¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

   ¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

-Jennifer-

170111

My Post after 2 months

Hei all :) It's been super duper long since my last post, 
so even though I know it's super late, Happy New Year 2011 Guys :D


I had an awesome holiday last december so I kinda abandoned my blog
on the 5th of December after my choir concert I flew back to Surabaya 
and stayed there for 3 weeks before coming back here (Singapore)


Spent my new year here with my Mom and sister and MDC singapore
I had a blast during our BBQ party on the 31st and enjoyed watching
fireworks from the balcony of Anchorage during the first seconds of 2011


Anyways, here is my 2011 revolution list


1. Improve my EL and get a distinction for O level (A1 if possible) :D
2. Do my best during O level, get 10A1s (With God, everything is achievable) 
3. Become less lazy and stop being complacent
4. Lose weight (2-3kg) :D


Of course there are other thing that I would love to achieve
but I'll focus more on these 4 points :D 


This year is an important year for me
2 major events are happening :
1. O Level - An exam that will determine my next two years in Singapore. It's happening in 9 months and I need to build a stronger foundation for my languages.
2. SYF (Singapore Youth Festival) - most important event for choir members, this will eat up A LOT of my time IF i decided to join. It's a tough decision considering that O level is coming.


I'm also considering to join Hostel Com this year to improve pn my leadership skills. It's also gonna take some of my time but most probably I'll go for it.


So those are the things i'm gonna face this year, 
A giant is approaching, the only thing I can do is try my best and pray :)


GBu :)
-Jennifer-