My wife Betty is near the end of her 37th week of pregnancy now.  In expectation of our first child, we have been preparing, waiting, taking classes, reading books and sewing (well, the last two are more her).  The more I reflect on this time, the more I realise how much the pregnancy process points to the work of another – that is, God.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: ,

Betty and I have been married for THREE years now and it has really gone by fast!  Yet at the same time, it does feel like three long years.   Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: ,

Perhaps one of the most difficult questions posed to Christianity is how a good and all-powerful God can allow great natural disasters to occur.  This, I would say, is a mystery that most Christians (including myself) have a really hard time dealing with.  However, on the flip side, the way people have responded to recent crises has, for me, given a hefty argument for the existence of God. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , , ,

Last week, I attended a two-day conference at Birmingham University in honour of the philosopher John Hick.  If you are not familiar with the man, he considers himself a liberal Christian and claims that “the different religions, with all their manifest differences and undeniable incompatibilities of belief, can be on an equal level as different complexes of belief and practice within which their adherents can find salvation.”[1]  In other words, Jesus is not the only way — people can reach salvation through other means.  On the first day of the conference, scholars from around the world discussed the philosophy of this man, most in great admiration.  To begin the second and last day, Hick himself began a session by asking the delegates to discuss the question of social concern.  In the 1970s, when he first came to Birmingham, he was an activist who brought together people of all faiths to resolve the prevalent racial tensions of his day.  It is perhaps in this context that the man’s personal theology moved from an “evangelical” conviction to where he is now.

Now, throughout that session, several delegates discussed this question and repeatedly there was the critique against “conservative Christians” or “evangelicals” who have not cared about society.  On the one hand, as an evangelical myself, I was a bit offended by the attacks levied by those in attendance.  On the other hand, I must confess that conservative Christianity has not been on the forefront of the social problems this world faces.  Historically speaking, conservatives have shunned away from social reconstruction and emphasised an individualised, spiritual reconstruction.  This world is fleeting and not of our concern — we must simply save souls.  What I find additionally interesting is that, while I cannot agree with Hick’s thinking, I have to say that his theology has given him the philosophical impetus to engage the society and work towards remedying the groans of the cosmos (Romans 8:22). Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , ,

Many people don’t know that my parents were born and raised in Burma (also known as Myanmar).  So while I ate a lot of Chinese food growing up, my mom also made several awesome Burmese dishes.  My all-time favourite is called Ohno Kaukswe (Ohno = coconut; Kaukswe = soup).  And just this week, Betty and I made it for the first time!  You can read the recipe here.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , ,

Merry Christmas everyone!  If you are interested, you can check out our 2010 Year in Review!

Tags: , ,

Last week, I spent several days in Frankfurt participating in my company’s European Symposium.  With over 300 attendees, we discussed the latest internet technologies and the future of our software and company.

Earlier this week, I took a 3hr+ train from Birmingham to Durham to attend a conference at the University (put on by CODEC) that explored the “theological refraction” of the internet.  One of the major questions discussed in the conference was should theology play a role in the internet, and vice versa. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , ,

History was just made this morning.  My parents traveled internationally, by themselves, and landed safely in London Heathrow airport.  If you don’t believe me, here’s the proof!

Why is this a historic moment?   Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , , ,

Where do you think the picture below was taken?

It may look like China (and, indeed, Betty and I took pictures like this in Suzhou earlier this year), but this was in fact taken in San Marino, California at the new Chinese garden exhibit at the Huntington Library.

I recently came across two very interesting news articles that highlight the question of national pride for ethnic Chinese in countries outside of China:

  • LA Times article about the celebration of the founding of communist China in Southern California.
  • CBC article about the Chinese government funding a Chinese language course in the Greater Vancouver area of BC, Canada.

The question that I want to pose is: is it unpatriotic to the US (which I am a citizen) if I were to be proud of China (which is where my ethnic origins are) and its latest accomplishments?  This is something that seems to come up quite a bit (esp. if you read the seemingly racist comments by some readers of the CBC article).

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , , ,

Yesterday (June 15, 2010), I attended the funeral of my maternal grandmother.  All of my other grandparents passed away well before I was born.  She was the only grandparent I ever knew.  She was 99 years old. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: ,

« Older entries

Page optimized by WP Minify WordPress Plugin