COPE Idol 2009

Singapore’s got talent, too, and they are not bound by age. The elderly of Toa Payoh and Old Airport got their fair share of the limelight as they showcased their singing talent at the COPE Idol competition held on 14 March 2009 at K-Box Cineleisure.

This annual event is an initiative of the Community Outreach Program for the Elderly (COPE) by City Harvest Community Services Association (CHCSA).

Partnering with South East Community Development Council (SECDC), CHCSA seeks to build meaningful friendships among the elderly through fun-filled outings and recreational events.

That Saturday afternoon, the hall was crammed by 110 talented elderly individuals and their passionate supporters. Each one was given party packs comprising a clapper, whistle, blower and mask. The joyful atmosphere gave the 20 contestants a healthy dose of morale and confidence boost. Stepping up the platform to sing their piece was certainly a triumphant moment for them.

Music guru Estella Chia and Project Superstar Chen Zhen Liang graced the occasion as judges of COPE Idol 2009. The overall winner, Tay Teck Chye, picked the perfect song which suited his vocal range. Runners up were Carol Titt Soo Naun (2nd place) and Amy Hee Yoke Yin (3rd place) who turned simple songs into a masterpiece that captured the hearts of the crowd.

In a video interview, contestant Foo Heok Kiow said he was very appreciative of the efforts of the CHCSA team. In spite of their busy schedules, they spent time caring for the elderly and engaging them in an unforgettable experience.

PHOTOS: Irene Chia

The elderly group is anticipating an even bigger and better competition next year. They are already gearing themselves up by spending time singing along with their karaoke machine. Music and entertainment experts have offered to plan for vocal classes and with that, the contest will certainly rise up to the next level.

J-Just Fantastic

It was a birthday bash like no other. A day after turning 28 on 28 March 2009, Singapore singer-songwriter JJ Lin brought the roof down at the Singapore Indoor Stadium when he gave an 8,000-strong local crowd the first taste of his JJ World Tour 2009.

PHOTOS: Daniel Poh

Opening the concert with a slick hip-hop solo dance number, Lin sang a staggering 30-odd repertoire of songs, which included familiar hits like ‘编号 89757’ (‘No. 89757’), ‘江南’ (‘River South’) and ‘曹操’ (‘Cao Cao’) in addition to songs from his latest album Sixology. Watching him alternate effortlessly between unplugged ballads and easy pop ditties, there was no doubt that Lin had come into his own as a musician, vocalist and song-writer. It was a vast departure from his first concert in 2006, which featured more gimmicky, thematic role-playing and stage effects.

As the evening progressed, Lin spontaneously built warm rapport with his fans, bantering and joking as though he was facing a group of eight instead of 8,000. Every now and then, a fan would let rip with a frenzied scream, leading Lin to respond with the wit of a stand-up comedian. He was polished, yet completely at ease.

Hearts swooned further when he handpicked a starstruck female fan to sit with him on stage as he played the song ‘Baby Baby’. When it ended, both disappeared off the stage on a descending platform, escalating the crowd’s cheers to an almost ultrasonic pitch.

Drawing some of the biggest laughs that night, however, was Lin’s spitting parody of two famous names in pop music — Jacky Cheung and Michael Jackson. He mimicked the former King of Pop’s entire moonwalking and crotch-grabbing routine. Singaporean celebrity twin sisters BY2 and Taiwanese singer Fan WeiQi held their own well as guest performers, giving Lin time to change and take a breather.

On a more heartwarming note, he shared with the crowd about a rough period he went through two years ago, and thanked God and his loved ones for helping him bounce back. In fact, he displayed a spiritual conviction rarely seen in secular concert settings, as he repeatedly professed his Christian faith, especially at the timely recovery of his voice for the evening’s show.

He also shared about how much music meant to him, as he candidly professed to his audience that he wasn’t very linguistically-inclined in expressing himself. Although it wasn’t anything profoundly revelatory, it definitely helped to bring the audience one step closer to him.

In a Singapore exclusive, Lin’s family appeared on stage alongside him and delivered a rousing performance with his mum on the pipa, his dad on the erhu and his brother on the piano. The display of familial solidarity was one of the most emotionally-charged moments of the evening, as Lin called it “a birthday present to remember for life”.

In addition to his affectionate camaraderie with the crowd, he had little surprises in store. The star sent everyone groping beneath their seats for a “birthday surprise”, which he had hidden randomly around the hall for 100 lucky fans. It turned out to be a white envelope containing a personally hand-autographed picture of him, a much-appreciated personal gift to his fans.

Watching an international superstar performing live is exhilarating, but watching one of our very own make good — that’s priceless.

Big Girls Ministry Glam Inauguration

Big Girls Ministry (BGM) held their first ever Glam Inauguration on 13 March and it was certainly a night of glitz, glamor, and good girly fun. Headed by Josephine Lim, BGM is essentially a support group for girls aged 13-21 and it has a vision of reaching out to troubled girls to meet their needs and provide true love and friendship.

The Glam Inauguration was the first official gathering of BGM, and the girls came dressed in their best, with many donning pretty dresses and high heels. The event was kicked off with a soulful rendition of “Beautiful” by Moxi Looi. She serenaded the crowd with her stunning vocals and brought home the message that every one of them is beautiful.

PHOTOS: Lin Xiuzhen

After the song item, Josephine Lim shared the objectives and vision of BGM, as well as upcoming programs, which include workshops to empower girls, shopping sprees, and parties. Two girls, Rachel Lim and Lin Xiuzhen, were also invited to share their testimonies, which dealt with struggles such as depression, self mutilation and family abuse.

They shared how they started to change when they found God and experienced love from other members. Slowly but surely, their life turned around.

After the sharing session, the fun began. Various booths were set up providing services such as henna, nail polish, nail art, makeover, beads, and a song dedication counter. Excited chatter began to fill the air as the girls crowded around the various booths. The henna booth was definitely the hot favorite, as the skilled artist drew elaborate henna designs for the girls. The makeover booth also saw a steady stream of visitors as many girls were transformed into beauties by the talented makeup artists.

The girls were also treated to a sumptuous spread of handmade sandwiches, eggs, tidbits, chocolate crisps and more. As the event drew to a close, the girls were clearly reluctant to leave, and many stayed back to enjoy the fellowship with one another. Truly, the event was a tremendous success.

Forging A Path To Financial Freedom

“I am in control of my financial life completely!”

“I will get my wealth creatively!”

“I will generate my wealth intelligently!”

“I will guard my wealth responsibly!”

“I will grow my wealth progressively!”

“I will give my wealth generously!”

This robust chorus rang loud from the auditorium of the Research Centre on Leadership early on the morning of Saturday, 7 March 2009.

What may come across to some as being a wealth and investment seminar or a session of Debtors Anonymous, was in fact a special workshop organized by The Wealth College to help people overcome and eliminate debt in practical ways.

The trainer, Bernard Lim, is a certified financial planner, and is both a practitioner and director of The Wealth College, one of the world’s largest financial services companies. He has written books on practical debt management and taught individuals how to avoid financial pitfalls in borrowings and loans, thus increasing their financial literacy and ability to eliminate debt.

Lim’s unique teaching style involved audience participation to repeat out loud the key concepts taught during the session. Instead of the usual one-way presentation, Lim actively involved the audience to ensure that they got a good grasp of what he was teaching.

More than just stating “I want to be financially free”, attendees were made conscious of the fact that the term “financially free” refers to a state where one’s passive income (i.e. one’s money, ideas and people working for you, like investments, a business that is owned by you but managed by someone else, royalties for a book you have written) has effectively replaced one’s active income (i.e., you spending time working for your money).

To aid people in assessing the depth of their financial woes, Lim used a simple “Wheel of Life” Model. Money/Finances affects all other aspects of the wheel such as Family, Social Life, Career/Business, Health, so looking at the visual representation of finances allowed the participants to quickly grasp what areas of expenses and cost-savings they may not have noticed before.

Lim is a believer in the principal of tithing — now a widely-embraced financial concept endorsed even by the likes of Oprah Winfrey. “Releasing the tithe — or 10 per cent of our income — ensures that our eyes are open to opportunities to monetize our abilities, skills and knowledge,” he shares.

As an additional source of help for individuals who face deeper financial issues, Lim is currently setting up a team of financial planners to help to address and deal with serious and complicated debt situations.

If you are looking for more information on wealth planning, visit Bernard Lim’s site at www.wealthhub.com.sg

New Life Church: Living the Cultural Mandate

Christianity in Taiwan, especially among the youth, was in a rather dismal state in 1997. The church population was aging and many were growing weary serving the ministry. The leaders’ relentless efforts to reach out to the youth saw no results and they lacked the faith and the direction to effectively build relationships and evangelize the un-churched.

1997 was also the year when Taipei New Life Church (TNLC) got to know about City Harvest Church (CHC), Singapore, through an International Pastor’s Conference hosted by CHC. Abraham Ku, the founder and senior pastor of TNLC, came with a heart full of expectancy for a new vision and longed for the spirit of revival that CHC has been experiencing.

He was overwhelmed when he witnessed confident, young people loving God and serving Him passionately, bearing the spirit of excellence in all they do — particularly in their dressing! He was tremendously impacted during the Conference and hungered for a mighty move of God in his home country.

PHOTOS: Melvin Chen

CHC and TNLC soon started to forge an inextricable relationship with each other. CHC sent their key leaders to train and build up their pastors and church workers regularly and aided them to host many exciting youth events, like Taiwan Emerge.

Through the mentorship of Kong Hee, Ku drew on the discipleship values learnt and sought to establish strong relationships with the un-churched through secular and creative methods. He recognized that relationships are the avenues to influence and impact, sustaining a long lasting transformation in the young people.

TNLC actively reached out to celebrities and many were saved and set on fire for the Lord through their ministry. These celebrities then pulled their talents and resources together birthing forth creative programmes, such as the Rainbow Connection and producing a secular music album of faith, hope and love, to penetrate into the schools in a secular method, but conveying the sacred message of the Gospel.

TNLC is in the midst of a huge wave of youth revival in Taiwan, growing from 11 in 1997 to 450 high school and university students. To date, they are averaging 2,500 people on a regular weekend service. Indeed, TNLC fully lives out the Cultural Mandate; transforming not only their church, but their society as well!

The Big Screen: Confessions of a Shopaholic

In a country like Singapore where the national pastime is shopping, this chick flick will find no lack of an audience.

Adapted from the Shopaholic series of novels by Sophie Kinsella, it stars a surprisingly lovable Isla Fisher as an plastic-wielding, incurable shopping addict Rebecca Bloomwood, for whom it’s “a basic human right” to be clad in $200 Marc Jacobs underwear.

Rebecca is a journalist who aspires badly to works at Alette, a high-fashion magazine not unlike Vogue. Through an error however, she receives a job offer at Successful Savings, a financial magazine where the monetary insight she is expected to pen is as dry as the state of her bank account.

With her escalating bills aggravated by a sudden retrenchment, she takes the job, and begins an ironic career of dishing out advice about money smarts. Using an unconventional, refreshingly jargon-free way of relating to her readers, her column becomes an unexpected hit with the everyman, or in this case, the every woman.

She becomes the toast of the town overnight and garners the increasing adoration of her editor Luke Brandon (Hugh Dancy) but as her own sordid financial affairs start to catch up with her, she is forced to make some very painful decisions.

As with most chick flicks, the plot here is unapologetically simplified, and if you’re looking for an exposition into the perils of a credit-dependent lifestyle (as though what’s in the newspapers nowadays isn’t enough) or the evils of consumerism, you won’t find it here. But what gives this joyride some weight is the comedic honesty with which it portrays the psyche of a spendthrift — through some hilarious Shopaholics Anonymous sessions and talking mannequins.

Other than that, the laughs are generated mainly from visual and slapstick gags, none of which are very original or creative — do we really need to guffaw at another head-on collision with the poor waiter carrying a tray full of food? But it’s thanks to Fisher’s charm and knack for comic timing that Confessions turns out to be a better-than-expected piece of escapism… if only to keep you from swiping that piece of plastic for a whole, umm, 100 minutes.

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