Professional Documents
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Trumpet2015Aug (E)
Trumpet2015Aug (E)
Trumpet2015Aug (E)
AUG 2015
With Thanksgiving
and Tenacity
Tan Kim Huat
egardless of race, language, religion or political persuasion, Singaporeans may be united in thanksgiving
at the upcoming Jubilee celebrations. There are many reasons for this.
TRUMPET
CELEBRATES SG50
1
Major Themes in
Christian Spirituality
I
Theological Education
for Christian Service and Ministry
TC students come from every walk of life. Ranging from the young fresh-faced graduate
to the 60 year old retiree, all like-minded in responding to Gods call. Student life
in TTC is an incredible formative journey that trains them to integrate this theological
education with practical ministry in the world.
Orientation week. It was a joy to watch seniors work tirelessly at settling their school
mates into the TTC community. Student Council president Mak Sue Ann reflects, A spirit
of oneness permeated the grounds of TTC; this helped to build strong camaraderie between
new and old students alike. What better way to kick start a new academic year!
The TTC Orientation and Retreat is an annual event held at the start of each new academic
year serving to help both staff and student ready their hearts and minds for the year ahead.
Jonathan Huang, chairperson of the Orientation Committee shares his views on the
programme; We invited various seniors from diverse backgrounds to share about their lives
in TTC and ended the Orientation with a commemorative service. Students were invited to
pen down their convictions on their calling to TTC, which will be kept until their graduation.
All these things emphasised the need to walk together as a Christian community.
Hailing from 11 different countries around the region, 67 new first-year students arrived
at the college on Monday, 6 July 2015, with little clue what lay in wait for them during
6
Voices in Praise
Congratulations to ...
Dr Lee Mee Onn (MTh 1994) on his installation
as the Principal of Malaysia Bible Seminary on 26
March, in Selangor, Malaysia.
Punctuations . in . Time
To the Diaconate:
Rev Chan Wei Han Christopher (BD 2010)
Rev Peter Jeremy Ponniah (MTS 2010)
To the Priesthood:
Rev Charles s/o Tewer Sahyam (BD 2011, MTh
Year 2)
Rev Dino Veerasamy Thangamany (BD 2013)
Rev Wong Kok Yean (MDiv 2007)
Condolences to ...
Patsy Lye-Hwa (Mrs To) and the family of the
late Rev Albany To Shiu-Kin (BTh 1961) aged 83,
who was called home to the Lord on 18 April, in
Maryland, USA.
Rev Edmund George De Souza (BTh 1982) and his
wife Jessie on the demise of his mother, the late
Mdm Lim Swee Neo, on 22 April.
The family of the late Rev Ezra Loke Cheng Wah
(MTh 1980), aged 74, who was called home to the
Lord on 11 May, in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, West
Malaysia.
Bishop Yong Chen Fah, former Warden of St Peters
Hall, whose beloved wife Mida, passed away on 2
July in Sabah.
Rev Dr Kow Shih Ming (MDiv 1992) on the passing
away of his father, the late Mr Kow Choon Chuan,
aged 86, on 17 July.
Bishop Dr & Mrs Wee Boon Hup (MDiv 1984) on the
demise of his beloved mother, the late Madam Tan
Lee Neo. She went home to be with the Lord on 17
July at the age of 95 years.
10
Evening Classes
Course A: Being Faithful In Troubled Times
Lesson from 1 & 2 Peter
Dates: 16 September - 4 November
(8 Wednesday evenings)
Time: 7.30pm - 9.30pm
Venue: St. Andrews Cathedral
11
TRUMPET EDITORIAL:
Ms Nie Yicong, Ms Dawn Lee, Dr Tan Loe Joo, Dr Leow Theng Huat,
Ms Eunice Low, Rev Yap Seok Chin (Editor for Chinese),
Rev Dr Ngoei Foong Nghian (Editor)
12
TRUMPET CELEBRATES
celebrating
Singapores
fifty
years
of
always been part of Christianitys self-understanding from its inception. Christians believe that because
man had his faults (who doesnt?) as his political opponents and critics are wont to point out
and even his admirers acknowledge. Yet when
one takes into account the overall arc of his
life, it is incontrovertible that he did well. To
think otherwise would be wilfully jaundiced
and churlish.
From a Christian standpoint, God is the ultimate giver of all that makes for human flourishing. He inspires the good that humans do,
and works in and through people everywhere
to accomplish his good purposes in history,
whether they acknowledge him or not.
By his own admission, Mr Lee was an agnostic
when it comes to religion. Yet regardless of his
own faith or the lack of it (in this regard we
are all agnostics), inasmuch as the man gave
his life to improve the lot of his fellow Singaporeans, inspire hope, instil courage, bring
order out of chaos, combat corruption, restrain
evildoers, uphold the rule of law, educate the
masses, provide employment, foster social cohesion and ensure honesty in government, he
did the things that resonate with all that God
desires for human society.
Income inequality is therefore a fact of economic life. It should be pointed out that far
from being unjust, some income inequality is
actually the sign of fair distribution of income
based on factors such as abilities, experience,
productivity and work ethic. Thus, a society
that ignores these factors and pays everyone
equally may be said to be unjust.
Dr Roland Chia
Chew Hock Hin Professor of Christian Doctrine
Scholars have been tracking the rising income inequality in Singapore for more than ten years, taking their
cue from the Gini co-efficient and other income inequality metrics like the Palma or Hoover indices. Although this trend is a matter of concern for some, what
is perhaps even more worrying is that it is accompanied by wage stagnations and slowing social mobility.
This phenomenon is, of course, not unique to Singapore. The United States and many countries in the
European Union are experiencing rise in inequality, as
are developed Asian countries like Japan and South
Korea.
But as some scholars have pointed out, What makes
Singapores inequality picture stand out is the speed
at which it has increased as well as the level which it
has increased to.
In responding to this issue, it is crucial to see that
Take, for example, Bangladesh and the Netherlands, two very different countries that had the
same Gini index of 0.31 in 2010. While these
two countries had the same level of income
inequality, their per capita incomes were
vastly different: US$1,693 in Bangladesh and
US$42,183 in the Netherlands.
If inequality is not the problem, what is? The
simple answer is poverty.
The Singapore Government has always understood this. Its fiscal policies are designed in
such a way that lower income citizens receive
most of the benefits while higher income earners pay most of the tax revenues.
But helping the poor does not only have to do
Faced with overt and subtle prejudice, Christians should exercise their freedom and right
in defending their faith and values in a manner
that honours the lordship of Jesus Christ. In
this respect, the celebration of religious freedom is not a trivial matter; it challenges our
social imagination and affects the way we live
and relate to one another in a multi-religious
society.
Of course, there is little we can do about prejudice from outside, especially when it is driven
by ideology. On the contrary, the problem of
religious excesses can only be adequately addressed from within the church rather than
from outside.
After making the positive remarks on religious
contributions quoted earlier, PM Lee continued
by saying that religious fervour can also lead
to separation and mutual exclusion between
different groups. Peoples social circles tend to
shrink down to only their own group, leading to less mixing between different faiths and
people may feel less respect and tolerance for
other groups and may proselytise more aggressively, offending others. Is it right that we
offer prayers of thanksgiving to God without
giving thought to concerns such as these? The
answer is clearly no. In fact, these are not
only socially problematic, they also reflect an
inadequate or skewed theological understand7
Religious excesses hinder social understanding, deepen suspicion and invite intolerance
of religious particularities. However, it is more
than a social problem to the church when
Christian evangelism is turned into insistent
hard-sell that ignores the role of the Holy Spirit
in conversion, or into a battle for political
influence and power that Jesus himself never
sought. Such truncation and deviation reveals
the danger of Christian passion without theology. Following Paul, we can say that their
zeal is not based on knowledge (Rom 10:2).
Such religious excesses serve to remind us of
the importance of developing an adequate
theological understanding as we cultivate
passion to witness for Christ. Therefore, our
celebration of religious freedom should lead us
to a renewed commitment to Christian teaching and learning that seek to develop sound
Christian thinking that undergirds our exercise
of freedom in word and deed.
The problem of proselytization may lead some
to confine religious faith to the private realm.
Our constitution, however, allows the religious
population to share their faiths with others.
It uses the term propagate, a word that has
now acquired a negative connation associated
with brainwashing. However, we read from
the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary
that propagate simply means to spread
(views, knowledge, beliefs, etc.) more widely.
In this descriptive sense, propaganda is a
neutral term referring to the dissemination of
information in order to persuade the recipients
to accept certain ideas.