Youths encouraged to pursue their dreams and reconcile with family at this year’s Festival of Praise 2010.

Contributed By Gideon Foo Ce Chao

On July 30, Friday, more than 11,000 Christians from 92 churches and Christian organizations in Singapore gathered together at the Singapore Indoor Stadium for the first in two nights of the Festival of Praise 2010. Founded in 1986 by Canon James Wong from Chapel of the Resurrection, FOP unites the body of Christ in Singapore with three fundamental objectives: to unite the Body of Christ in Singapore, to give thanks to God and pray for His blessing upon the nation, and to hear the Word of God and seek God’s direction for the new season. The theme for this year’s FOP is A New Day, A New Season. An apt start to the event was the opening video done by amateurs—a group of youths from Heart of God Church.

Popular Christian worship band from Australia—Planetshakers—rocked the house on the opening night with its contemporary praise and worship, tempered with mainstream rock and pop. With an atmosphere thick with excitement, the capacity crowd jumped and grooved with the vibe of songs such as “You Are Good All The Time.” The band stepped down to make way for Don Moen, a prolific singer-songwriter from America, who brought down the presence of God as he took centre stage with a song that the crowd knew well and loved, “God Will Make A Way.”

After the praise and worship segment, a music video put together by the youths of Heart Of God Church was screened. It depicted a teenage boy whose life is transformed after he discovers Christ. He takes to task to bring God’s love and reconciliation to his family.

 CN PHOTOS: Gary Sim, Michael Chan and Timothy Sim

Sim Yi Hui, a representative from the Singapore Women’s Everest Team, comprising 6 women who scaled the world’s highest mountain in 2009, shared her experiences on overcoming challenges as a youth through hard work and discipline. She shared of how it took her five years of perseverance and determination in order to achieve her dreams. The crowd then prayed together for all the Christian youths in Singapore to make a difference in society by excelling in their studies and bearing a good testimony of Christ at home.

Invited guest speaker at this year’s FOP was Chè Ahn, the founder and president of Harvest International Ministry. Chè preached that the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy as Jesus came to reconcile all man back to the Father. He recounted his childhood as one faced with racial discrimination growing up in America. As a boy, he suffered physical abuse from his father who was a pastor. As a result, he rebelled and turned to drugs to escape reality. Chè’s life took a turn after he came to know Jesus and subsequently forgave his father. His touching testimony on how God brought reconciliation to his family moved many in the crowd to tears. The altar area was filled with many who responded to the call of salvation.

In closing, Planetshakers took to the stage once again and led the crowd in praising God, culminating the evening on a high note. The crowd headed home, looking forward to coming back the following day, for the second night of FOP 2010.

A thriving church in Kuching shines the light of Christ.

God truly works in mysterious ways. A situation which seemed like a dead-end turned out to be the best thing that happened to City Harvest Church Kuching. CHC Kuching was birthed through a personal crisis faced years ago by its founder and senior pastor, George Tiong Ming Hing. Back then, Tiong was asked to leave his previous church due to some disagreements. This experience caused him much hurt and disappointment, but unbeknownst to Tiong, God was preparing him for the birth of CHC Kuching.

Determined to keep serving God and people, Tiong began a small fellowship group with four others, with a great desire to minister to the unchurched like himself. This small prayer group grew steadily, and eventually became a church. They held their first service in December 2001. Said Tiong, “I found the call of God on my life after I received a revelation from a passage in Ezekiel. God called me to be a shepherd to people who are lost and unchurched.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF CHC KUCHING

If fruits are the evidence of success, CHC Kuching certainly is a successful church. To date, the church has grown 150-fold, from five in 2001, to 750 today. Beyond the numbers, CHC Kuching is a church of commitment and quality. Tiong attributes much of the church’s success to the contribution of City Harvest Church Singapore’s founder and senior pastor, Kong Hee, as well as various CHC teams who have ministered in their church.

“We have been greatly inspired by the example set by CHC, and have set up many of our ministries modeled after the CHC’s own ministries,” shared Tiong.

Affiliation

Tiong first met Kong in an evangelistic meeting in Kuching where Kong subsequently invited him to CHC, and the relationship between them started.

During a session at the School of Ministries in 2002, Kong shared a message on building a strong local church. Greatly impacted by the message, Tiong put what he learned into action. As a result, CHC Kuching grew to 140 members in just two years.

In 2004, Tiong answered the call of God and entered full-time ministry, giving up his business career. He enrolled himself into CHC’s School of Theology, deepening his knowledge of God and the practical aspects of pastoring. By holding on to the same “DNA” as Kong and CHC, Tiong opened the way for CHC Kuching to begin  an affiliation with CHC.

Challenges

According to Tiong, the greatest challenge he has faced so far in his ministry is in uniting the different generations in his church.

“The church was started with a majority of older members, and as we grew, younger members started joining the church. However, it was a challenge to get the older and younger members to be united. This posed quite a big problem, as unity is vital in a church,” shared Tiong.

Tiong eventually found a way around this: that is for both generations to have a  common vision. The vision of the church is simple yet powerful: to build a church with a strong spiritual atmosphere of faith, to raise up a discipled church and to equip more workers to fulfill the Great Commandment, Great Commission and the Cultural Mandate, so as to reach the whole of Malaysia and the rest of Asia.

Ministry

The youth ministry was started  and proved to be so successful that 50 percent of the church members are now below the age of 25. In 2006, a youth conference modeled after CHC’s Emerge conference was held in CHC Kuching. Two months before the event, the Kuching church members had already begun preparations, fasting and praying, and completing the various games and competitions involved in the conference.

For this conference, a team led by one of CHC’s pastors, Wu Yuzhuang, ministered to the youth. Every session was anointed, and members were challenged to live their lives for God. In an evangelistic meeting during the conference, some 45 youths gave their hearts to Jesus. One of the members on the mission team, Serene Tay, shared, “Their hunger for God and their eagerness for church growth have impacted me greatly.”

Apart from the youth ministry, the church also started a children’s church, elderly, and campus ministry. CHC Kuching has indeed grown to be a congregation that ministers to the needs of members from all age groups, uniting all in the common vision of the church.

Some members of the church have come together in recent years and set up a non-profit organization—City Care Community Services. This body is a separate entity from the church, but run by members of the church. Its motto is “bringing hope, changing lives, one at a time.” To date, the organization has reached out to the elderly, youth, sick and disabled people of the community, bringing the practical love of God into the lives of the people.

Future plans

CHC Kuching shows no signs of slowing down. In the recent Asia Conference 2010, Tiong shared in an interview that he plans to bring the church to greater levels of influence and effectiveness for God.

“We are a church fervently supporting the progression of the gospel in Asia. We have been inspired by the example set by CHC, in fulfilling the Cultural Mandate, humanitarian efforts, and ministry outreach. My vision for CHC Kuching for the next two years is to continue expanding and growing in influence, and to strengthen our current ministries,” shared Tiong.

CHC Kuching members have big dreams for their church, and their courage and faith can be applauded. However, in this great pursuit, more Christian leaders are needed to direct and grow the ministry. Tiong shared his burden of raising up more leaders in his church, and not just ministry leaders, but marketplace leaders as well.

The church is also currently in their Arise & Build season, raising funds for their new church building.

Armed with their experience gained from the past nine fruitful years, the church moves into its first decade as a new chapter unfolds.

3-INCH-SIN is a special occasion place without special occasion prices.

PHOTO COURTESY OF 3-INCH-SIN

With only 12 seats in this tiny hole-in-the-wall, 3-INCH-SIN is only slightly larger than its name suggests. The white and orange clad dessert cafe is well worth the search, promising “a fondant seduction” to all who enter.

While the molten cakes may look the same, diners have 10 different fillings to choose from: classic pairings like bitter orange, coffee, peanut butter, mint and hazelnut are there for the traditional; while the more adventurous can try flavors like raspberry, lemon, and cherries jubilee. White chocolate and original are also available.

Putting waistline at risk, City News tried three of the most popular flavors with a scoop of delectable French Vanilla Bean ice-cream.

Original is as promised—ooey gooey molten chocolate. The cake is thicker and less sweet than the fondant cakes, but every bit as rich and even more deeply flavorful. The fondant, perfect for those with a sweet tooth, might come across as a little too sweet for those without.

If you love Reese’s peanut butter cups, you will be blown away by Peanut Butter. The chunky peanut butter paired with the dark, rich chocolate surprises with its saltiness. This is a killer combination, especially paired with the ice-cream. A word to the wise, though—having two of these is a not a good idea.

Cut the richness with the unexpectedly tangy Lemon. Almost jarring at first, the citrus note refreshes the palate, making you feel like you could just pop a few more of these calorific treats.

Each three-incher is plated with crushed roasted cocoa beans and a chocolate sauce. The beans provide a textural treat, and help to balance out the sweetness with their slightly bitter crunch.

Surprisingly, while all that is heavy in the tummy, it is light on the wallet. At S$6+ for each three-inch cake, your waistline will feel it faster than your pocket. 3-INCH-SIN also sells their RRRRoyal Choc Cake by the slice on weekends at S$7.

The four-month old establishment makes each order a la minute, so be prepared for a 20-odd minute wait. That said, what’s the rush? The ambience is good, there are magazines aplenty, and the proprietress, Celine, is friendly. This is the perfect place for a sweet treat on a lazy afternoon.

3-INCH-SIN
501 Bukit Timah Road Cluny Court
#02-27 Singapore 259760.
Tel: +65 6314 1217

Contributed By Melissa Chen

CN PHOTOS: Aaron Low, Andy Loh , Lee Lin Kai , Kenneth Lee

Four pastors share their personal testimonies to encourage the School of Theology 2010 students to step out toward their calling and destiny.

With seven more weeks of school to go, students at the School of Theology had a series of faith-inspiring lessons taught by four different pastors on July 12. Meant to encourage the students to pursue their calling in God, the pastors shared their experiences in ministry.

The session featured Tan Seow How, senior pastor of Heart of God Church; Wayne Chang, pastor of Taipei Hsin Tien Covenant Church; Billy Zukharian, pastor of Bethany Church of God Indonesia; and lastly, Andrew Gray, senior pastor of C3 Church Mount Annan, New South Wales, Australia. Each shared their testimonies and personal experiences to further prepare and equip the students for their ministry after graduation.

Tan Seow How

Tan opened the session by sharing a message entitled, The Journey Of A Dream, where he described the five stages of his dream of starting a church.

The dream was birthed when he followed the calling of God to go into full-time ministry which required him to forgo his family business. His application to another Bible school was rejected and he had the opportunity to enroll in SOT.

The second stage is the delay of a dream. Tan cautioned, “It is naive to think that if the dream is from God, it is going to be smooth sailing. Rather, even divine dreams have to go through ‘Calvary.’ The greatest challenge is fighting against self-doubt and discouragement.”

At the next stage, the dream faces death when it is attacked and faces what seems like a curse of endlessly recurring bad circumstances. But, Tan encouraged, “If your dream dies so easily, then it isn’t your dream! Even if dies, God can bring it back to life!”

Fourthly, God can resurrect your dream. Sometimes, it is not the triumph and breakthrough that cause people to believe, but the scars and the valleys that are experienced. “The key to resurrection is to make the dreams of others come true; believing that God will make your dreams come true. It is not always about me and my dreams.”
Lastly comes the fulfillment of a dream. This is where believers have to keep fighting. “The doubtful will believe when they see the scars of battle.”

Wayne Chang

Next, Taiwanese pastor, Chang, shared his testimony on how he received salvation and was later called into ministry to be a youth  pastor.

Sharing the secret to Taiwanese outreach, Chang said, “One of the common denominators is that the Taiwanese love food and they are very creative. It opens an opportunity for invitation to our fellowship!” He would always provide food for his youths as well as teach them the “boring basics” of equipping them with Bible study, prayer, reading the Bible and discipleship at the most natural setting.

“Many times, people look for opportunities instead of building an altar. We must look past their sin and see what God is doing in their life,” Chang added.

Chang then shared four main pointers about ministry.

First, it is crucial for believers to have a personal revelation of who God is, and who they are in Christ. Listening to His direction in each situation is important, as what works somewhere might not work elsewhere; believers should not blindly follow what others are doing.

Next, having the fruit of revelation should also bring transformation. “If there is no transformation in a church or cell group, then there must be an error somewhere! The problems most probably lie with us as God is always sovereign,” Chang explained.

This transformed behavior should become an inspiration for others. Testimony sharing is one of the ways to get others motivated. Also important is having a “Yes we can!” attitude. Doing something big is not as important as doing something that touches the hearts of others.

Lastly, ministers should lead their people to action. Chang exhorted, “Church is simple if you know how to reach people’s hearts! You must inspire them to action!”

Billy Zukharian

Zukharian shared how his church is built on four main pillars: saving the lost, having the Holy Spirit as an active part of its members’ lives, the divine healing and blessings of God, and finally, believing in the second coming of Jesus Christ.

He also revealed two main principles to take the church to the next level.

Firstly, the church needs to have a great attitude. Effectively, this means that the church needs to continue to learn, and to cultivate a learning attitude toward the future. Believers need to be humble and polite to everyone, and respect others with their attitude.
Secondly, the church has to possess great spirituality. This means prizing character development and the anointing of God which are synonymous. This allows every member to be used by God. By following these two principles, the church can continually progress from one stage to the next.

Andrew Grey

Gray gave Six Lessons About Successors. Famous biblical examples of predecessors and successors are Moses and Joshua, Elijah and Elisha, and Paul and Timothy.

Age and experience can help the next generation. Predecessors must join hands with their successors and pull them into their calling and destiny with God. “There is no self-made man or woman! Nobody arrives at the next stage in life without the help and favor of others. Good leaders are always constantly looking out for heirs to pass their blessing to the next generation!” Gray exclaimed.

The first lesson for aspiring leaders is for them to know that serving another vision is not the end. By faithfully serving, aspirants qualify for God to entrust them with greater things.

Secondly, a true disciple’s spiritual hunger is what empowers the teacher to teach effectively. Disciples must constantly follow and draw lessons from their teachers to grow.

Thirdly, disciples must honor their leader with their thoughts, words and actions. Giving a personal example, Gray said, “I choose to honor Pastor Phil [Pringle], the senior pastor in the C3 Movement, by addressing him as my pastor. We are equal in salvation and in Christ but not in leadership and experience.”

Fourth, good disciples are mature enough to ask questions about their own faith. Courage is needed to ask questions, especially in times of crisis.

Successors must be prepared to pay the price to release their own flow of anointing and revelation. They must pay this price to receive their own revelations, or else be stuck with second-hand sermons.

Predecessors must also realize that they must become fathers and not instructors. Gray explained that true fathers carry a reproductive power to birth faith in others. Across the generations, all disciples must be prepared to become fathers in the faith.

Concluding, Gray explained that success is a matter of positioning—one must position oneself to continually receive and grow. Success, he said, is more about position than about inborn talents or ability.

Hsieh Yi-Fei, 32, an SOT student from Taiwan, was greatly encouraged by the chapel session. “It really encouraged us to go toward our calling in God, especially for us international students. The session prepared us to face the difficult trials and challenges in our own various culture and environment when fulfilling [this calling]. It has definitely prepared and equipped us to have the right mental and emotional attitude.”

Derick Chan, 21, a Singaporean student, was impressed. “The topics have opened my eyes to how a church is built from scratch as we are now enjoying the fruits of our forefathers in City Harvest Church.”

He was touched by Tan’s perseverance in the face of adversity, that even though the church faced persecution, Tan still pursued his dream. Gray’s message of discipleship also struck a chord—“It is indeed thought-provoking as we are taught to be good disciples to our leaders in church as shepherds and armor-bearers!”

Transforming the hearts and minds of society to accept individuals with differences.

Contributed By Elizabeth Tan
Additional reporting by Joan Ho

 PHOTO: RUDIJANTO HADI

On July 3, Kits4Kids Foundation held a Harmony cum Family Day Fiesta at the Eunos Community Club. A fun-filled day of exciting games and performances, the event’s main purpose was to showcase the talents and abilities of underprivileged children.

Established in October 2005, K4K started with a cause to create a shared understanding and a sustainable future for people with special needs. A privately funded social enterprise founded by Eric Lim and Jessica Wang, its belief is that society could become more accommodating to children with special needs if there were sufficient awareness and education regarding these children’s impairments.

Its ultimate aim is “to improve the livelihoods and well-being of the people with special needs.”

Today, K4K has extended its social reach internationally, offering social volunteer programs to countries such as Madagascar, Nigeria, China and Australia.

Despite the foundation’s wide-scaled social reach, the Harmony cum Family Day Fiesta proved that the foundation does not neglect the intrinsic drive of social work—human fellowship.

It was a rainy day, but the rain did not drench the joyous and fun-filled fiesta. Many families turned up to enjoy the games, food, and different performances by different cultural groups such as the Chinese Dance Group from Telok Kurau Primary School, a magic show by Ronald McDonald, a hip-hop dance number by V-Production, a story-telling session by the National Library Board, a performance by The Millennial Orchestra, a mini sports day, a coloring contest, as well as a flea market.

The main objective of the fiesta was to integrate the children with special needs into the society and to showcase their talents and abilities through performances by the children, as well as an exhibition of their own art and craft. The organizers hope “to raise the society’s awareness of the children’s impairments and help these students overcome the barriers their difficulties present, quickly and easily in an environment which accommodates their inclusion.”

Said Joan Ho, speaking on behalf of the Millennial Brass Ensemble, “It was a privilege for the the brass section to participate in the Harmony cum Family Day Fiesta. It was a meaningful and memorable performance for us as we could contribute to a good cause of raising funds for children with special needs.”

The MBE performed two Japanese anime pieces, “Spirited Away” and “Kiki’s Delivery Service.” They also had the honor of playing a fanfare for the arrival of Guest of Honor, Mr. Zainul Abidin Rasheed, Senior Minister of State for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

TMO, a musical orchestra group made up of individuals with a common passion to bring orchestral music to the heartlands and to the underprivileged, set up a booth to receive enquiries from the public and to recruit like-minded musicians.

The event was successful as it helped to foster a sense of community togetherness, and also created the opportunity for individuals to enjoy quality time with their family.

But most importantly, the fiesta facilitated the children of K4K foundation in gaining more confidence to integrate more smoothly into society, fulfilling the fiesta’s main purpose.

Bible lessons are being conducted in South Africa—not in classrooms or Sunday schools, but on the football fields.

As well-meaning pundits question the fate of South Africa with the dissipation of the World Cup hype, another group has long sought to capitalize on the nation’s significant assignment as host to arguably the biggest global event of the year.

Through the Ubabalo eAfrica Whole Life Football program, launched in August 2006, youth are being taken off the streets and given football coaching, but more importantly, they are being taught biblical values and life skills that will equip and empower them to be a new generation of leaders sorely needed in a fatherless continent that is mired in poverty, sickness and violence.

To start off, the demographics in Africa make fertile ground for sports ministry—the average age in Africa is only 19.5 years old. Many of these young people are orphans of war, HIV/AIDS, promiscuity, crime and poverty. “Fatherlessness is the key word,” says John Yip, a global facilitator for Ubabalo eAfrica and missionary from Malaysia. With most issues plaguing the communities being traced back to the lack of leadership in the family unit, there was a need to reverse the fatherlessness in Africa and reinstate the father figure or role model first into the family and then to society.

Coupled with the fact that Sub-Sahara Africa is probably the most evangelized continent in the world (470 million believers make up about 21 percent of the world Christian population), there was a strong church structure to support the Ubabalo initiative. The on-going challenge is to expand the impact of the church into society. “The young people are not going to church because they feel the churches don’t speak their language. So, if they are not in church, where are they? They are on the streets and in the sports fields. To reach out to them, we need to speak their language. And that language is football.”

The Strategy

In 2005, a small group of sports ministry leaders and high-level football coaches gathered to brainstorm on ways to develop a post-WC2010 legacy. In that process, they discovered that each technique and skill has a related value. For example, short  passing illustrates the value of staying connected to one another. Shielding a ball in order to protect it is related to the value of respect, be it the Word of God, authority, creation, or one’s purity, and the technique of heading a ball teaches the players the value of courage, in facing one’s fears, in the face of adversity, and many others.

With that, the team of pioneers, which include leaders from the South African Sports Coalition (an initiative started by predominant church leaders representing a large constituency of churches in South Africa) and the global sports network, formed the Ubabalo eAfrica (ubabalo meaning “grace” in the IsiXhosa language) program.

Master trainers, of whom Yip is one himself, then partners with local churches in equipping their members who are coaches or who desire to be trained as coaches. Supplied with a football training manual as well as a Bible-based leadership and life skills manual, they, in turn, recruit or adopt football teams, with players ranging from 6 to 19 years old. The coach will meet his/her team for a football season. After one season, the youth would have gone through 60 sessions of leadership and life skills coaching in addition to soccer coaching. It is within this relational context between the coach and the player that discipleship takes place, as the coach becomes a spiritual father and mentor to the youth.

The 259 life skills taught include how to deal with winning and losing, superstitions, witchcraft, giving respect, service and sacrifice. “Everything follows the experiential learning methodology. We want these kids to have a redeemed worldview and grow up to lead the next generation.”

In South Africa, the aim is to mobilize a network of 100 hub churches and 100 Master Trainers, who will then multiply the same process with 10 partner churches each. This effectively creates an exponential effect of leadership building across the nation. Ultimately, the aim is to raise up 1.3 million young leaders for a better Africa.

 PHOTOS COURTESY OF UBABALO eAfRICA WHOLE LIFE FOOTBALL

Going Into All Nations

One of the biggest challenge, says Yip, is in keeping up with the phenomenal, exponential growth of Ubabalo­. From just two countries, Ghana and Kenya, in January 2008, the life coaching training and concept has now spread virally to 31 African countries and 60 countries around the world. It has been expanded into 11 sports. In addition to football, and translated into 16 languages. “Open sourcing” is the name of the game—while training materials are freely shared without any royalty charge, various organizations and churches have also hopped on the bandwagon to co-develop products and enrich resources for discipleship and training, including distributing Bibles and sending mission teams.

In the coming months, the Ubabalo Master Trainers will be conducting trainings in Cameroon, Kenya, Fiji, Burkina Faso, and Madagascar, and it is telling that even developed nations like USA, Germany and Holland have indicated growing interest to utilitze the concept of Ubabalo whole life coaching. It now seems that fatherlessness is not a felt need that is limited to Africa only.

Having been based in South Africa over the last four years, Yip has a much broader appreciation of the gospel and the Kingdom of God to impact lives. “I see the realities of the human condition and the ravages of sin, and I believe that all of us are called to act—this is not a clergy initiative. We all need to get involved to become change agents in a fatherless world.”

Brothers Hilton and Dylan were abandoned by their father at a young age, only to be left again by their mother in their early teens. At age 13 and 10, they were taken in by foster parents. As with any child who had gone through emotional trauma, they were at first difficult to handle—stealing, fighting, taking and selling drugs. But as a church pastor took them in and formed a soccer team with them, they started to experience authentic love and care, and learned to make better life decisions through the on-field life coaching. They duly gave their lives to Jesus and in witnessing the dramatic life change, the foster parents also surrendered their lives to Jesus. Over the past three years, both brothers have now been molded into youth leaders from street gangsters, and they in turn, have influenced their friends. Hilton has recently started coaching a team of 9 to 10 year olds. Ubabalo is no longer only a pipe dream for community transformation, as it witnesses up to three generations being impacted.

For more information on giving, voluntary work or missions, please log on to www.ubabalo2010.com.

Contributed By Daniel Chew

 CN PHOTO: Michael Chan

One of the greatest artistes Singapore has produced, Jeremy Monteiro, has performed with the likes of James Moody, Michael Brecker, Lee Ritenour, Herbie Mann, Ernie Watts, Charlie Haden and Simon & Garfunkel, just to name a few. He has indeed come a long way ever since starting his first band at age 16 and performing “illegally” at clubs.

Playing at the INK Club Bar at Fairmont Singapore over the weekend of July 17 and 18 to coincide with his 50th birthday, Monteiro treated jazz aficionados to the brand of music that has cemented his status as Singapore’s jazz king. He performed 50 of his original compositions over two nights accompanied by fellow jazz artists Tama Goh (drums), Brian Benson (bass), Andrew Lim (guitar), and also Shawn Letts (sax), Daniel Wong (trumpet) and Leo Jeoh (trombone).

Bob James, who wrote the theme for the 80s television series Taxi, can be heard as an influence in one of Monteiro’s pieces, “Brothers.” The soothing melodic lines were a throwback to the early era of Madonna, Guns N’ Roses and Depeche Mode.
Other pieces showed extreme complexity in arrangement, especially “The Boogaloo Dance,” which Monteiro only performs when Ernie Watts is around.

This time, he managed to lead the entire band through it even though there were a couple of tiny bumps. In jazz, there is nothing more perfect than when one is improvising and making a few kinks here and there. The Boogaloo is a genre of Latin music and dance that was popular in the United States in the 1960s. Boogaloo originated in New York City among teenage Cubans, Puerto Ricans and other groups. The style was a fusion of popular African American R&B soul with mambo and son montuno.

Other pieces included “Orchard Road,” which was a groovy samba-dancy tune composed in 1990, and a familiar one for Singaporeans—a jazzed-up rendition of “One People, One Nation, One Singapore,” composed by Monteiro to commemorate the nation’s Silver Jubilee—25 years of independence. Another piece was “Count On Me Singapore,” which Singaporeans will fondly remember singing with gusto during National Day parades.

What does a great artist like him think about? Someone once said, “An amateur plays with his body, a musician with his body and soul, an artist with his body, soul and mind.” There is no doubt of which Monteiro is. City News met the man himself over champagne and pizza.

How was it like when you first started out?

Jeremy Monteiro: Well, live music was banned in the 1970s, and we all felt like we were pioneers of something new, something exciting after the ban was lifted. There were times when we felt burnt out and tired but we have always come back to the right track, which is jazz music.

What projects are you busy with currently?

JM: I’m preparing for a fundraiser concert on July 30 for the Community Chest at the Ritz Carlton, where the President will attend as the guest of honor. We are targeting to raise S$1 million. On July 31, I will be holding a concert with Ernie Watts [on the saxaphone] and Hong [playing the drums]. A week later, I will be performing with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra on a new concerto written for me by Dr. Kelly Tang. I have never been busier in my life. Now, I work 16-hour days with very little rest.

You also have a new CD coming out?

JM: Yes, I have wanted to do this for a long time for my own compositions. It’s called Compositions Volume One. Every year I try to release one CD. This one is coming out next week.

Who do you think are some of the more prominent up-and-coming musicians on the scene?

JM: You know, many people think that prominence is an indicator of how good you are. The fact of the matter is that some of the best musicians are unknown because they don’t wish to communicate at all to the people. So, some of the great musicians are quite unknown.

Under-rated you mean?

JM: Well that’s just the point! They don’t even care about the ratings. For me I have become quite well-known here but I have always thought that my celebrity status is a by-product, nothing else. So I don’t take it seriously. I am thankful for the recognition but that’s not why I did this for, I did this to make beautiful music, period.

So that’s what you’d advise younger musicians?

JM: Just make the best music you can. Of course, learn to be savvy, communicate to people about what you do and your gig … it is all very important, but never allow the myth about you in the public and the press to be too far out of step with what you are doing. The myth and the substance has got to be respectably close and not so far away that there’s this legend and then when you see the person, you think, “What’s this hype about?”

Jeremy Monteiro was a recipient of the Cultural Medallion in 2002. On the international front, he was accepted as a Fellow of the London College of Music in 2007 and also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, Manufactures & Commerce in the UK. Current Fellows include Nelson Mandela and Stephen Hawking. Past Fellows include Benjamin Franklin and Charles Dickens.

Monteiro is also an active mentor to younger musicians. He was appointed a Board Member of the National Arts Council in 2006. He was also appointed Professor & Visiting Chair of Jazz, School of Music, Faculty of Performing Arts & Integrated Studies, LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts on May 29, 2006. Since Brother Joseph McNally founded it in 1984, he was the first Singaporean to be appointed Professor at the Institution.

An active voting member of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (Los Angeles Chapter), Monteiro has voted at the Grammy Awards from 1991 through 2009. In late 1992, he produced the album Stand Up for Grammy Award-winning saxophonist Ernie Watts. He has composed over 700 pieces of music and racked up over 20 jazz albums as leader. Chicago Jazz Magazine proclaimed him a “consistently excellent vocalist.”

Nothing drives home the pain of a multitude better than a personal account, and Chinese director Feng Xiaogang leverages on this to great effect in his film Aftershock, made to commemorate the victims of the Tangshan earthquake in north China’s Hebei Province in 1976.

 PHOTO COURTESY OF SCORPIO EAST PICTURES PTE LTD

The story opens in 1976 Tangshan, China. A deadly earthquake has just struck the city, and a pair of 7-year-old twins, a boy and a girl, are trapped under the rubble. As their mother pleads with the rescue team to save her children, they explain that saving one child will almost certainly result in the death of the other. Forced to make the most gut-wrenching decision of her life, she chose to save her son, Fang Da. Unbeknownst to her, her daughter Fang Deng overhears the decision her mother makes. Against all odds, she survives the trauma, and is eventually adopted by a Chinese couple.

Growing up, Fang Deng never forgets the hurt inflicted by her mother’s choice, and harbors emotional baggage that dictates most of her life choices. As the plot unfolds, the audience sees how the aftershocks of the earthquake ripple silently through the lives of each family member. Chinese actress Xu Fan, playing the mother who lives in the past, never quite getting over the choices that she made, grounds the film with a raw performance. A rich, well-developed script gives equal gravity to the other characters, depicting the painful yet ever-hopeful journey of parenthood as well as the sometime-peculiar intergenerational ties that bind one family to the next.

Thirty-two years later, when the Sichuan earthquake strikes, Fang Deng returns to China as a voluntary rescue team member, which sets her on the path of reuniting with her family. The events that happen thereafter lay bare the themes of loss and regret, forgiveness and closure in a highly affecting manner, showcasing the human spirit at its lowest and highest. Ultimately this is a film about love and family, well deserving of a spot among the biggest surprise hits of the movie season.

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Yvonne Tan makes her mark in the bridal industry with her sincerity and can-do spirit.

 PHOTO COURTESY OF YVONNE CREATIVE

Stepping into Yvonne Creative, one can instantly feel the sincerity and caring attitude of the staff. A one-stop bridal services provider, the company does everything from designing bridal gowns to attaching bouquets to the car.

The business has been going strong since it opened in 1993. Yvonne Tan, 47, was teaching a dressmaking course at a private school when several of her students asked her, “Teacher, since you are so good at sewing wedding gowns, why don’t you enter the business yourself?” They arranged for her to work at a few bridal boutiques, and eventually, she decided to strike out on her own.

“From a very small shop, I just sewed and sewed and learned on the job for about three to four years before we started to expand.” At that time, the bridal studio had started to do wedding photography as well. Today, the shop at 75 Tanjong Pagar Road takes up three floors of its four-story shophouse—the first floor for the gowns and fitting rooms, the second for its photography studio, and the third floor as a showcase for wedding albums.

Tan explains, “If you only do wedding gowns but not photography, it may pose some inconvenience for the customer and is more expensive. That’s why we decided to have everything done in-house. That gives me a sense of satisfaction: whatever the customer wants, I know I can provide it.”

The gowns are designed by Tan and sewed by her staff. They are then outsourced for the finishing touches. The client then tries on the gown, and alterations are done back at the boutique. At the beginning, the whole gown was made in-store, but now, with the volume of business, the extensive sewing and finishing is outsourced, Tan explains.

The store debuts a number of new designs regularly and participates actively in bridal shows and beauty pageants—contestants at pageants such as Miss Singapore World and Miss Earth, for example, wore Tan’s designs at the competitions. Supporting such pageants, especially those in aid of charitable causes, is Yvonne Creative’s way of doing its duty as a corporate citizen.

Customers rave about Tan’s can-do attitude. Whatever the request, be it an extra-long train, special make-up, or a different neckline, Tan’s mantra is that she will do what she can. Nowadays, she says, as tattoos are becoming more popular, more brides-to-be turn to her for ways to cover up or accentuate their body art. “We’ve been in this business for such a long time that we’ve seen almost every request, and we’ve learned to accomodate each one.”

All this is part of the job, Tan explains. “In this industry, people only get married once, so we cannot afford to take things lightly. We have to be sincere, and we must give them the best service.” Clients referred by satisfied customers form a large part of Tan’s client base. The staff remember past clients, much to their surprise. This brand of personalized service is a hallmark of Yvonne Creative.

Coming from an Indonesian family where her brothers are in the textile business, the young Tan would experiment by making outfits from whatever pieces of cloth available. “I loved to wear beautiful clothes, but couldn’t buy them, so I started to experiment and do it myself. After a while, I developed a great interest in dressmaking, so I came to Singapore to learn.”

Currently, the studio has become a family business—her husband helps with the photo-retouching and album design, while her 25-year-old daughter is managing the studio’s marketing and publicity efforts. Her staff are also like family, as each one is personally trained by her. Now, they handle most of the fitting and alteration work. Despite this, Tan is at the studio six days a week, resting only on Tuesdays.

Her greatest lesson learned? “The most important thing is sincerity,” she says. “Every customer is different, so I needed to learn how to relate to them, to help them have the happiest wedding possible. Everyone comes from a different background, has different tastes, and my greatest satisfaction is when I can serve them so they have a happy, relaxed wedding.”

Yvonne Creative
75 Tanjong Pagar Road­
Singapore 088496.
Tel: +65 6327 8331

National Family Celebrations launch a nationwide event to reinforce the importance of the family.

 PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK

As a voice of the Singaporean family, the National Family Celebrations aims to be “a champion and advocate for the Singaporean family.” NFC seeks to reinforce the importance of the family unit. In doing so, it hopes that its line-up of events and activities that involve families spending quality time, will ensure a time of family bonding.

With the theme “Live, Love and Play. Together!” NFC seeks to reflect the message that family bonds can be strengthened through shared activities.

A key highlight of the celebrations this year is the Singapore Family Pledge Movement, where family members are encouraged to make a pledge of their commitment toward their family. A pledge of commitment toward the family could be in the form of a parent bringing the family out for breakfast on Sunday; a parent reading bedtime stories to his/her children every night; a child committing to help mom wash the dishes every alternate day; a family pledging to sit down to dinner together as a family every night—anything that would help foster family ties.

The idea of having the pledge movement is encourage people to take the time to consider how they can improve their relationship and appreciate one another in the family by showing affection or spending time together, instilling a sense of family togetherness while the children are at a young age.

For this groundbreaking national movement, the NFC hopes to garner at least 250,000 family pledges island-wide through schools, corporations and the community. Schools and organizations that have garnered more than 500 pledges will be recognized as a Pledge Ambassador of the Singapore Family Pledge Movement.

The public can log on to www.nfc.sg to view the pledges made by various individuals.

The National Family Celebrations website offers a list of tips and activities for families to take part in. Here are 15 ideas.

1. Take the new Circle Line MRT as a family outing and get off at various stops to explore the surroundings.

2. Plan a local holiday together and embark on exploring places of interest in Singapore as a family.

3. Enjoy a relaxing day building sand castles on the beach with your family.

4. Set aside time once a week to play a sport together.

5. Say “thank you” to everyone in the family.

6. Start a weekly family movie night with everyone taking turns to choose the movie.

7. Make a family scrapbook of the times you spend together.

8. Trace your family tree together with your family.

9. Volunteer for community projects together as a family.

10. Say “goodbye” to your family before leaving the house for school or work.

11. Discuss as a family how household chores can be shared.

12. Make birthdays a special and memorable occasion for the birthday boy/girl in the family.

13. Spend some time with your family everyday talking to one another.

14. Get everyone involved in the preparations and cooking of a family meal.

15. Make a list of your family’s favorite hawker dishes and sample one dish a week with your family at a highly recommended stall.

A full list of Family Tips can be viewed at www.nfc.sg.