Managing money & fame

‘Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.’ (Proverbs 23:5) 
‘Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.’ - John Wooden

It is sad that Whitney Houston with amazing singing talent, stunning look, should die at such a relatively young age. The autopsy findings confirmed that she was a chronic cocaine user. Drug substances such as marijuana, Benadryl,drug gear,including crack pipe and cocaine-encrusted spoons, were found in the filthy room where she spent her last hours.

Whitney began singing in the choir at her church. By 1992, she was already on top of the world, but her life went downhill very quickly when in that year she married the R&B singer, Bobby Brown. Her career got off the track, from a ‘good girl’ with a perfect image in the 1980s and early 1990s to one that constantly battling addiction to drugs,lifestyle excess and erratic behaviour. When high on drugs, she would imagine herself been beaten by demons whilst the truth is that she bit and punched her own body without realising it. She looked immensely haggard at the age of 48 when she died.

What a tragic for a person who once said, "I think I knew then that my singing ability was an infectious thing that God had given me." should die this way. She is just another victim to one’s own success and fame. Charlie Sheen, an American film and actor whose personal life always made headlines, including alcohol, drug abuse and marital problems, has this notable quote-‘Fame is empowering. My mistake was that I thought I would instinctively know how to handle it. But there's no manual, no training course.’ Money and fame is not everything in life.

Connect through facebook

“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.” (C S Lewis)

The past one week or so I have been glued to facebook. I must say I am truly grateful to this social media platform for helping me to ‘locate’ my secondary school friends whom I lost touched for more than 35 years. Within days, just through one person, I was able to ‘find’ 7 others. There are so many things to share with one another and life becomes exciting again as I walk down the memory lane. Now I understand why so many people are ‘addicted’ to facebook.

This is sort of miracle to me,and I am happy that it happens at the opportunistic time when I’m entering into this season of my life with uncertainty over my health condition. It fulfilled one of wishes in my life. Many of these friends come from poor and humble family background. Have a phone at home was a rare ‘thing’ then while moving from one place to another was common. It is just amazing how technology brings people together wherever they are.

'Killers' of JOY

'the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.' (Philippians 4:7)


It is so easy not be joyful most of the time. We all faced with the ‘killers’ of joy in every season of our lives: circumstances, things, people and worry. Of all of these, the ‘killer’ that I find so difficult to overcome and still grips me a lot is ‘people’. I am easily hurt and in tears when people dear to me lashed harsh words on me. This is particularly so after I contracted cancer. I struggled a lot on these for years till recently.


Somehow I got acquainted with this lady who is about my age through a close friend. Guess what, she survived cancer without chemo treatment more than a decade ago. She confided to me that she was once like me, kept problems to herself, and felt unappreciated for what she had done, deep misery inside. Then her dreadful sickness changed everything. She realized that she had been for years trying to change people around her instead of changing herself. From then on, she learnt to accept people as who they are and willing to ‘let go’. The heavy burden on her back was suddenly lifted up. Since then, she has become a more joyful person. 


What a marvellous revelation for me. We often failed to realize that we still cling on to that part of our old self and refuse to change. Last few weeks have been better as I gradually learnt to accept these hard facts: I cannot change circumstances, things or people; and I have more to lose by worrying.

Battling Cancer with Nutrition

Recently I came across the website of Healthxchange which offers some useful information to those who are keen to battle cancer risks with the right nutrition. These took the form of Q & A. Ms Chang, a pharmacist from the National Cancer Centre gives some pointers as below:

• Cruciferous vegetables can convert bad estrogens to good estrogens.
• Bitter guard helps to lower blood glucose levels
• It is important to eat well during cancer treatment rather than start following a strict diet.
• Avoid overdose on vitamins supplement as this can affect the efficacy of chemo drug. If one really wants to take during cancer treatment, choose those multivitamins that are only 100% of the RDA.
• Raw potato juice may be helpful for gastric and stomach disorders.
• Lingzhi should not be consumed during cancer treatment as it can increase the risk of bleeding. However, it is a useful supplement once one completed all cancer treatments.
• Have plant-based diet, at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day (difficult for most people even for myself as I can only hit 3 or 4 servings at most).

source: http://www.healthxchange.com.sg/answers/Pages/Cancer-and-Nutrition-Doctor-Questions-and-Answers-Health-Xchange-Singapore.aspx