Rants & Ravings

Quotes of the Day

10) "Amanda will look good in PTI vest cause shoulders so broad." unknown
9) "Aiyah my shoulders very broad leh.. broader than you guys. how?" Amanda
8) "Let me teach you a way to make your shoulders seem less broad. Put on weight. " Joel
7) "Or make your head bigger." Joel
6) "But my head big already." Amanda
5) "Wear the PTI vest with a big belly sticking out. Disgrace the PTIs" Daryl
4) "You want an electric violin? Sure, pass me ur expensive violin, a drill and give me a day, I'll give u your electric violin.. with less wood.. much less.. hehe" Joel
3) "How can you deny Li jie? " Joel and Daryl
2) "Who is Lijie?" Everyone else
And the No.1 quote of the day

1)"You owe me a big favor Amanda." "Ya lah I know lah.. what is the favor? You not asking me to marry you right?" " I said you owe ME a favor, not me owing you one" *Laughter but amanda still doesn't get what just happened, I take a drink then she gets it like 30 seconds later *

Endgame (Part the last)
Last time that this band lineup will be playing. Last gig Andy will be playing with us for at least a few months.
Good night. It's been fun.

Emotional feeling (Day in retrospect part the Fourth)
Gig and all was a pure adrenal rush from start to end. Everything went great. Was indeed blessed thru the whole event. Shawn's group rocked!.. think the opening act better than us the actual act..haha.. but all good all good.. but the emotional feeling I felt stronger abt was what happened before. Before we used the venue, there was a service being held for the hearing impaired. Was very interesting. Usually when you enter a room and there are many people in the room, you will usually be able to pick up scant bits of conversations.. but there was none to be had.. other than stuff being moved about or people walking about, not a sound.. everyone was communicating via sign language. Was a sight to behold. Just something abt that sensory exp that felt unique to me.

Intellectual Stimulant (Day in retrospect part the Third)
After that had bible study. The study itself was ok.. Nothing too controversial except for 1 part.. but its ok.. The part I found most interesting was a question which was posed. "Do you think the Church is too watered down?" (Capital C for all the churches in the world and watered down as in we've compromised in many areas) Personally I feel yes and Teng Ngan said yes too but Jocelyn and Daryl were more of the no side. Was a very interesting conversation which I later shared with the band guys on our drive to the gig venue where we discussed this too. Well just food for thought.

Intermission (Day in Retrospect Part the Second)
After lunch, went to do or rather try to do some tutorials in the excel tuition room with the rest of the chao muggers.. well didnt go that well.. tutorial still stuck cause I dun understand why the notes show certain workings.. (the lecturer has a habit of jumping steps.. big steps.. intercontinental steps)
In the end just read my notes for micro-e materials which I've not done yet.. its a weird module. the notes don't really give a feel of what I'm supposed to be getting out of the module.. dunno why.. maybe haven't gotten into the groove yet..

Observations (aka Day in retrospect Part The First)
Today was a busy day. Very busy. Busy from morning 9am to now.. almost 12.. virtually no time to rest.. Seriously I think this and not my unhealthy diet of lard and salt will kill me.. haha..
Anyhoo morning had worship prac for tomorrow's second service. Went quite well .. well better than last week. Was tighter today and sounded better.. think the main hall has better acoustics. I'm more tired than worried but relatively more worried abt that than tonight's gig.. dunno why also..haha..

Well yeah that's the first part

To a friend
To a friend who's feeling quite bum-med out over not doing so well for an exam. In the words of Thomas Edison, "You haven't failed, you just found another way that doesn't work." Seriously, take it from me whose gone down this road like tons and tons and oodles of times, it sure sucks but use it to spur you on. :D And yes I know I said already, but just say again here lah.. haha.. just vent and let go all ur frustrations and disappointments..

Whoo hoo.. got my lab slot!!
Happy Shalala.. etc etc...

Absolutely Serious' First Solo Gig!
Just realised I haven't plugged this gig at all so I will now. Its on this Saturday (21st of Aug) at 7:30pm at "The Magic Box" at Bukit Merah Touch Community Centre. For more info on how to get there and stuff.. well leave a comment here or use www.streetdirectory.com.sg :D

Olympics
Man those games are harsh. Caught a match today. Singapore vs Thailand Badminton. Singapore got beaten quite badly.. but I think our Susilato did his best. I mean you could see on his face that though he knew he was probably going to lose (I mean his opponent was good.) He hung in there and gave it his all. Think sometimes when the chips are down we tend to want to pack up and go home and call it a day. Yet sometimes I think we should ride it out and see what happens.
Oh well.. that's just me..

Please pray for Andy

He's quite sick. Has flu symptoms. Pray that he will recover quickly. Thank you for your time.

Announcing the formation of a new club

The P.K.K. Founding members are Daryl, Jocelyn and myself. P.K.K stands for the Pampered Kids Klub. :) We are now recruiting members. Only 1 criteria. You must be a pampered kid.. heh..

When you're running on empty...

Today was my long day and it was tiring. This was partly because I slept late last night and also had a long day yesterday. Lecture was at 8am. Was fighting to stay up then. The lecturer has to give an earlier break and also let the students go off 15 minutes earlier and not 5 minutes. It takes me like 10-15 minutes to run from the arts LT to the engine LT. Anyway was in the danger of falling asleep the whole day. Finally managed to stave off the sleep and went home, ate and then napped till 5.

Just came back from dinner with Ade. Just catching up. Haven't talked to her for a long time. We went to this Japanese restaurant at Siglap. Very nice. and quite reasonably priced. Can consider going there again.

Now just enjoying today and then tomorrow its wake up early to clear all my commitments. Free day!! yay

Do dreams have meanings?
This is a very interesting question. I've mentioned before that dreams have always fascinated me. Which is partly why I'm doing psyche. Also cause I'm reading the book of Daniel now and Daniel is one who could interpret dreams. And the chapter I had to read for psyche today was on consciousness and dreams. Quite interesting.. its like (if I might take this as a sign) something I'm supposed to gain from this. Anyway had 2 vivid dreams last night. 1 was that I was somehow back in primary school in my current age and form with everything I know now. So 1 would think its an advantage. Anyway turns out that a few of us missed out primary 7 after primary 6 so the government made it compulsory for us to do it again.. quite dumb but oh well.. so we go and do.. half the class is ppl like us who wear normal clothes (assuming its cause we can't fit into primary school uniforms) then other half is small kids. Anyway I get really pissed at the teacher somehow and argue with her and get made to stand in the corner with daryl. haha.. dream ends with me telling daryl I'm sorry that he also had to stand in the corner.. haha..
2nd dream was scarier/sadder.. dun really want to go into details but in it, I hurt someone because of a misunderstanding and it sucked cause even in my dream I was too prideful/pig-headed to apologize. Dream ended with me just walking away not resolving the issue. Woke up here to find it to be 9-30ish..
Wish I knew what the dreams were trying to tell me.

There's a new superhero in town (redux)

This is actually me trying to recreate the post I lost last night to the stupid server. Anyway the new hero in town is Captain Singapore. The creation of Captain Singapore (C.S) was inspired by this red lancer I saw in school on friday with a giant crescent moon and 5 stars on its bonnet and my fave t-shirt. Anyway told Daryl about it then we created more mythos about C.S. The mythos were further expanded upon last night with contribution from Lionel.
a) Captain Singapore has a V-shaped body and his costume is that of the Singapore Flag. He has the singapore mobile (above mentioned car). His HQ is a hdb flat painted red and white with a crescent moon for the door and 5 stars for the windows.
b) He has a sidekick called the Merlion Kid who's ability is to vomit (like the merlion does with water).
c) He belongs to a league of superheroes called People's Assault Party.
d) C.S can morph into final form C.S when his costume turns all white and there's a blue circle and red lightning on the front. His face morphs into that of Lee Kuan Yew (LKY). Granting him superpowers such as eg drawing a 6 figure salary, being able to tax people, being able to make people pick up litter etc etc..
e) Singapore mobile also morphs into a white car with the logo and the lancer logo turns into LKY's face.
f)Merlion kid also can morph into a Merlion statue which spews more vomit. His final form is the Sentosa Merlion which we call Mega Merlion Zord. In this form Merlion Kid rides in the mouth of MMZ and increases his vomitting power. He is also able to shoot lasers from his eyes that can summon the P.A.P (with the theme song "This is home, surely... ") When they defeat an enemy, the enemy explodes and fireworks come out of him and the song "1 people 1 nation 1 singapore is played" and a super puma carrying a singapore flag flies past.
g)Also the P.A.P is originally consisting of foreign workers.. when C.S transforms, they transform into middle age men wearing white shirt and pants with 1 malay, 1 sikh and 1 woman standing behind them.(this one is from daryl. He says to ensure that P.A.P is representing all the groups of people)
h)C.S is summoned when the 3 psyches summon him and the spirit of singapore will enter... MICHELLE!!! haha.. who becomes C.S..

The above stuff was created when we were sober but bored.. please do not sue us.. its not real.. any coincidence is merely inspired by inhaling car exhaust..

Today in review

Today was another long day. And oddly enough I didn't have to go to school today. The day started out quite badly.. was woken up by my mum's alarm clock at 6:10am.. which she didn't switch off cause she was up already and making breakfast downstairs.. I was lazy and waited hoping that the stupid !@%!%! clock would just shut up but it didnt.. seems that its a very persistent piece of work.. would like to smash it on its inventor's head.. anyway 5 minutes later I went to switch it off.. but turns out that was the snooze and it kicked in again later.. but this time my mum was back and she stopped it.. then went back to sleep.
Had a series of odd dreams last night.. also quite sad/scary (depends on how I look at it). Will talk abt it in another post. Scared blogger go crazy again..
Woke up at 930-ish then went to do CORS.. had sms from cheryl saying cannot bid tutorial modules.. then I went from sleepy to heightened alert mode (this happens when I think NUS is going to screw me over again) which they did.. turns out that they delayed the module bidding to 3pm cause of some crap.. anyhoo was bad cause I was going to be out from afternoon till night. Anyway I thought I would be back in time since its supposed to close at 3pm tomorrow.. but as luck would have it.. or rather as NUS would screw me over, they closed the thing at 11pm and would open again at 4am.. and guess what? I came home from band prac at 11pm..yes.. Joel, thy life's theme is Irony..
So anyway enjoyed the afternoon meeting up with jocelyn and daryl. Just went to tampines to eat long john's and bum. Good lah.. just sit back and talk nonsense and serious stuff.. quite nice.. relaxing.. then later came back to church for band prac till a while ago.. now being a listening ear to a friend.

Testing..
Need to see if this post will stick.. stupid blogger ate my super long post last night!!!!

Stupid blogger lost my long post

Make way for a new hero in town

And his name is Captain Singapore. (Inspired by my captain america t-shirt and a car I saw in school on Friday). On Friday I saw a red mitsubishi lancer with a giant crescent moon and 5 stars on its bonnet. I thus called that a very patriotic car. Then I told Daryl on Saturday and we created Captain Singapore who sits in the Singapore Mobile. Then with Lionel and Daryl over dinner/supper tonight, we came up with more stuff for Captain Singapore or (C.S) for short.
Firstly, he is to have a sidekick. The sidekick's name is "The Merlion Kid". Special ability is to vomit like the merlion. haha.. Then Captain Singapore's secret headquarters is a HDB flat whose outsides are painted Red and White with the crescent moon as the door and 5 stars as the windows.
Secondly Captain Singapore has 2 forms. First form is in the Singapore Flag with a V shape body. Second form is his ultimate form. Most powerful. When angered by anti-singapore statements, his costume changes into a white shirt and white pants with a blue circle and a red lighting on the front. And the most freaky part of the transformation is that his face morphs into that of Lee Kuan Yew. hahaha.. In this form has has many abilities such as drawing a 5 to 6 figure salary, being MM or Minister Mentor, able to utter the most powerful word (like Mau'deep from Dune) which is "Merdeka!"
Thirdly Captain Singapore in first form can summon foreign talents to arrest opposition. This is the equiv of the justice league. Its called People's Assault Party or (P.A.P). When C.S transforms, the P.A.P also transforms into chinese men wearing white shirts and pants.
Fourthly, merlion kid too can transform. He can transform into a real merlion which can vomit more. But he has a final form which is to summon the Sentosa Merlion (ala Power rangers) where he will ride in the mouth to increase the power of his vomit. Final Form C.S can stand on top of Sentosa Merlion where he can unlease the power of the laser eye of the Merlion. This creates a large Singapore flag in the air which is used to summon the P.A.P (ala Thundercats) The song they use as their battle cry is "This is home, surely.. etc etc". Then after defeating their enemies with the giant merlion, the bad guys explode (like ultraman, power rangers etc etc) and fire works explode from their bodies with the song "One people, one nation, one Singapore" playing in the background. Then all the members of the P.A.P will pose with 1 malay man, 1 sikh man and 1 woman standing behind all the chinese man with big pockets (quote from daryl) .. haha..
But C.S can only be summoned by 3 individuals when Singapore's stake is threatened and these are the 3 psyches of michelle.. Then MICHELLE transforms into C.S!! That is C.S' TRUE IDENTITY!!!

Long day

The day was long. Well actually not true.. Its still 24 hrs (approx) but just that spent a lot of time in school. Was in school since 12pm for lecture which ended at 2pm. Could have gone home except that I had make up lecture for psyche which was at 6pm. So what to do for 4 hrs? Well thankfully I didn't waste it. Asked Mai Van to tutor me one module which I foresee me to suck majorly at.. haha.. so currently I'm ahead.. yay... that took like 2 + hrs.. Then halfway thru, bad news came.. the dark cloud.. amanda kang msg me for a favor. Ask me if I could go to medical library to help her get the notes/book (take note.. crucial plot twist) So since I would be done soon, and had time to kill.. why not.. (curses!!) so off I went to medical library.. had to find it.. ended up taking a very adventurous route.. bumped into a few friends who asked why I was in school till so late.. yes..unbelievable.. make up lect.. blah blah blah.. need to make Joel's FAQ.. tired of repeating the same things over and over again.. so found the place.. now .. outside the library.. there was a sign saying Members only.. so I'm thinking .. wait wait wait.. I'm getting ahead of myself.. ok once I REACH the library.. I receive a message from kang saying no need.. she got jasmine to do it.. so now I'm pretty much peeved.. so I call but she's in lesson so I message.. I tell her that I'm there already so might as well get it. so then I see the members only sign.. so I dunno if the members means a) NUS student or b) med student anyway ambiguous sign so I wait for amanda to reply so she said go in so I do.. hmm time to insert paragraph.. story too long..
So I go in and try to find the photocopy aunty. She's on the second floor end of the room. I realise that Med students are super chao mugger.. serious.. its like... Bizarro world..anyway I find the room. There's this 2nd year med student inside waiting and the aunty is there.. I wait for confirmation from Kang on what to tell the aunty.. she says its notes. So I tell the aunty notes.. aunty (she's from China.. super chinese.. hard to explain that I want some etc etc notes in chinese) so I just say notes to which she says no notes and goes off to do other stuff.. then I send msg to kang to ask again.. then kang says its copy of a book.. so its a book.. ok so now I wait for like 15-20 minutes when the aunty looks at me finally and says "you still here?what you want?" now I say "book" then she says "what?" then I give the title and she says "oh I have.. why earlier dun say??" at this point Amanda owes me a titanic size favor which balloons to like a continent. So I tell her "my fren tell me one".. haha.. finally get that monkey off my back.. decide to eat in science since long time never eat there.. eat already then realised that spent too much time at the shop.. now need to rush for psyche lecture.. heng got there just in time. told Cheryl to chope seat.. then she msg say the students and lecturers all nuts.. like 10 minutes before lecturer is there and backrow of centre aisle is packed.. madness.. crazy freshies.. sigh.. Lecture is ok (pays to read the text before) then decide to find ppl to accompany me back to the east.. after much asking (everyone ended early today) lucky buggers.. found James who was having floor ball tryouts.. after trying to find him, gave up and waited for him in YIH tv room where I bummed till he came with his fren also year 1 but engine student.. Turner.. cool guy.. reminds me of Paul Lim (Janis' brother) mannerisms also.. both from VJC..haha.. oh well then got home.. now just ranting.. (need to fulfil at least half of the website from time to time)

So how was YOUR day?

:D

Debt of gratitude

Today I owe a great debt of gratitude to Ms Mavis Chin Yuen Yee. Was having some problems with school module bidding system but she has helped me complete the first step which can hopefully help me solve my module problems. I know she doesn't read this site but still thankful. :D

Quiet Day

Today was a peaceful day. No school so just stay home and relax abit.. Doing my readings for Psyche. Have done 3 chapters so far. Trying to keep up a momentum so I'll be at least 1 reading ahead for the module. It's interesting so its not a chore doing the readings.. unlike 2011 and 2007.. After that tried to do 2011 tutorial. Managed to roughly do the 1st qns and that's it. The rest I don't even understand the solution.. sigh.. not good.. but cannot give up. Promised that I would give 100% this semester.. sigh..

Of Green dragons and Helium inhaling professors

Today was officially the beginning of 5th semester for me. Lessons started at 8.. man it was early.. had to wake up at 645.. haven't woken up that early in a long while.. but lecture was interesting.. The lecturer has a teaching assistant which is a soft toy green dragon.. looks like the one mac's gave out years ago.. he throws the dragon at people and if it lands on you, you have to answer the question. Then after that you get to throw it to someone else to answer. Thankfully I sit really high up and at the corner.. Bought the textbook after that.. super heavy and the stupid co-op now very messy.. haha been reading the textbook since this afternoon.. Really interesting subject. Too bad not my major.. unless psyche engine.. hahaha..
After this rushed back to engine for engine pro which is basically how to make ethical engineers.. then after that was Engine Electromagnetism.. the lecturer when I heard from outside I thought was a lady, but was a man who sounds like he inhales helium 24/7.. haha.. very funny guy

The Tiger or the lady

Felt like doing an abridged paraphrased version of the above story by Frank Stockton. Its quite a famous story.

Long ago in a faraway land (its name does not matter because it could happen anywhere), lived a semi-babaric king. He believed that everything that happens is meant to happen and thus he governed his empire by that same reasoning. He was well known for 1 thing which was how he administered justice to people accused of crimes. For crimes which were blatantly obvious, they were punished accordingly. But for crimes which he was unable to discern, he put them thru a test of fate (or luck if you will). And that is the tiger or the lady. The accused would be put in a room with 3 doors. 1 is the door he came in and there are 2 other doors. Behind 1 door is a fierce tiger which would tear the person to shreds in an instant. And behind the other door was a beautiful maiden who would be given to the accused as his bride and the king would also give him a hefty sum of gold. (At this point you might find yourself asking, what if the criminal was a woman? Well given the time of the story, women were usually sentenced without a trial anyway.) Anyway back to the trial. Only the king knew what was behind each door which made it fair as the accused would not have an unfair advantage. And before you say that the king could have cheated and put a tiger behind each door, there have been occasions where the accused did get the hand of the fair maiden.
Anyway the tale takes place when a servant of the king falls for the king's only daughter vice versa. The king finds out about this and is furious. How can my daughter of royal birth be given to this lowly servant ? So in a fit of rage, he throws the servant into prison. Then one day he decides that this will not do for his daughter will not eat while her lover is in prison. So he decides to let the fates decide the servant's fate. He arranges for the servant to play "The tiger or the lady " with a twist. Behind 1 door is a ferocious tiger as usual, and behind the other was a beautiful lady. This lady though not of royal birth, was one of the many children taken from their parents at a young age to serve as a prize in the game. She was an exquisite beauty and on par with the princess. The princess knew her too. She had seen her quite often in the palace courts and had on several occasions caught (or thought she had) her lover and the lady giving each other longing glances. Now comes the twist. The king knew that his daughter was a jealous girl. It was in their blood. So he told her before the trial what lay behind each door and that for this trial, she would decide for her lover the door he would open. In her mind she was wrestling with this newly acquired knowledge. Should she tell him the correct door but then have him marry the lady ? Could she trust him enough to not marry that lady? Or should she tell him the wrong door so that the tiger will kill him? After all if she could not have him for herself, no one else should.
Then came the trial. The servant stood in the room and looked up at his love waiting for her to tell him which door to open. She stood beside her father and after some thought, pointed to the door on the right. Without hesistation, the servant went to the door on the right and opened it...

Movie Spoofs

Been watching tons of movies and trailers and now lots of spoof ideas are running in my mind.

1) Sargent : Sir, the reports coming in say that the thief is agile and jumps all over the place. She's
supposedly as agile as a cat and can dodge bullets and stuff. What should we call her?
Inspector: Hmm.. what about... DOGMAN?
Sargent: !!!!

2) Movie trailer. Background voice says "From the writer and director of "The Sixth Sense", "Unbreakable", "Signs" and "The Village" come "Smell: One of the 5 senses"
Synopsis: Story of a blind boy who has heightened senses and can smell this race of invulnerable people
who can't be seen seen by normal people except that they leave carvings as signs wherever they go
to indicate they were there. They have a weakness to water which explains the smells. The plot
twist is that these people dun exist at all. His parents rub a stinky gym sock under his nose every
night so that he thinks he smells them. The lesson they want him to learn is the importance of
showering. If you don't shower, you disappear. :D

The Village..
..idiot is Mark Seow.. haha.. just finished watching The Village with Adrian, Daryl, Jocelyn and Lionel. Was a good show but I knew the whole show before I watched so basically was in the right frame of mind.. Quite well crafted with a interesting idea. Lots of funny moments in the show. Also finally managed to catch new movie trailers at GV.. besides the usual ones we've been seeing the past 2 weeks. Realised that the sequel to the movie Anaconda is Anacondas which lionel pointed out is similar to the Alien franchise so along those lines, we would have Anaconda, Anacondas, Anacondas 3 and Anacondas Resurrection. Then Anacondas vs ? (either lake placid or the monster from The Village ) :D

Looking for this book

Nevid's Psychology: Concepts and Applications

Early mornings are here again

Just got my bidding result.. my appeal for soci still not in, but I got the hotly contested Psyche mod.. haha.. which I dun mind doing just that the lecture is early.. very early.. which makes my tuesdays 8am to 7pm.. utterly pissing annoying.. also have to buy a 47 dollar textbook..

Movie Marathon
It's about to end.. 1 more movie to cap it all off.. and its The Village. :) Watched Connie and Carla today. Yeah sure the critics might have said that it wasn't that great, but I found it funny, and darn it.. that's the only audience that matters to me.. haha.. anyhoo.. yeah.. that would bring the grand total of movies watched these past 2 weeks to 4. "I,Robot","Ella Enchanted","Mean Girls" and "Connie and Carla". When school re-opens only got 1 show worth watching which is AvP..

Today we learnt that really smart people draw out 1000 dollars at the atm .. haha..when trying to draw 50 dollars. hilarious.. I can see how a mistake like that can happen since 1000 is so similar to 50.. wait.. it isn't!!! hahaha..

And yes we expanded on the mythos of Bronto.. we found the anti-bronto who is Tricia the Veggie-saurus Rex.. and talked more about the alternate timelines and stuff.. I just realised could probably milk this Bronto gag for at least 1 more month.. haha..

Also talked a bit about how you approach people you know but haven't met for a long time and have forgotten their names.. the best would be you want to add their number to their phone and would like to know how to spell their name.. except of course if their names were really simple already.. then.. oh well..

Mean Girls
Watched mean girls with daryl, lionel and jocelyn today. Nice show. Very funny. Very well written.. lots of witty one liners.. haha.. Kudos to Tina Fey.. :) Had lunch at Ajisen Ramen.. hmm.. interesting place.. but don't think I'll go there to eat any time soon.. not my kind of thing.. After the movie we went around buying lots of misc stuff.. I used the first of my 4 vouchers to buy the super posable spiderman toy with 47 pts of articulation.. but he seems to be missing one of his fingers.. so sad.. haha.. 9 finger spidey.. fun.. going to pose him on my pc tomorrow..

My reply to the post below

Dear Kalinga Seneviratne,
I’m writing this letter in response to your article in the 26th of July edition of Today which was entitled “The deadly battle for Iraqi souls”. I’ll start this off by saying that I’m a Christian and everything that entails with that. I feel that you took a very subjective slant on the subject matter. Firstly, “Invasion”? Why do you call it an invasion? Do we go into Iraq armed? Do we point guns at peoples’ heads and force them to listen to our “good news”? No we do not. You mistake us for soldiers.
Yes we do go into Iraq as “civilian contractors, aid workers or businessmen.” Civilian contractors are needed to build houses and other forms of infrastructure that a country coming out of a turbulent period like Iraq needs. Aid workers to provide aid and businessmen to set up business and provide jobs. We do not go there solely to preach the good news under the guise of the above-mentioned jobs; rather we do the above-mentioned jobs because we care. We are not only interested in the souls of the people of Iraq, but equally concerned about their physical well being. That is why we go to Iraq and any other country that needs aid. Your article portrays us as being only interested in the former and not the latter. This is not true.
I personally did not know the late Mr Kim Sun II however the fact that he was fervent enough to learn Arabic, means he felt strongly compelled to spread the gospel to the people of Iraq and went to great lengths to ensure that he was well equipped for the task. I applaud his effort for he has done something that most Christians would be afraid of doing (myself included) which is to go to a country where Christians are persecuted. However I feel that to call him and other missionaries who are willing to go to Iraq to minister to the people fanatical is highly uncalled for. We are told to go and preach the good news to people of every nation and this includes places where we face persecution and even death. If we do not share with them the gospel, who will? It is up to God to convict the people’s hearts not us. We are only messengers. Yes, it might be foolish to go to a place where we might possibly die and I guess that would make us “fanatical”. However we go in faith that God will be with us every step of the way. To balance out this letter, I will agree that because of the statements made by “neo-conservative Christian supporters” we Christians have been painted in bad light. Most Christians do not share the sentiments echoed by them. To assume that the missionaries who go to Iraq or missionaries as a whole subscribe to such ideology is to generalize us. And because of such statements all missionaries might be seen as American collaborators and part of a “colonialist plot” However, how does sitting back improve the situation in Iraq? Wouldn’t it better if the people in Iraq saw actual Christians in action helping out with the people rather than hearing statements made by people sitting back in the comfort and safety of their country making controversial statements? The people in Iraq have a misconception of Christians and from the statements made by the “neo-conservative Christian supporters” it would seem that the conservative Christians in America might have a misconception especially after the events of September 11. The best way to solve this problem is for both parties to see each other in action. And articles like this do not help to improve the situation.

Your's sincerely,
Joel Lim

Read This.

With Christian evangelism deepening the crisis, what is needed is Muslim humanitarian aid
by Kalinga Seneviratne

The invasion of Iraq has been followed quietly by another invasion — that of Christian missionaries, mainly from the United States and South Korea, who often disguise themselves as civilian contractors, aid workers or businessmen..Their main objective is to spread the "good word" to Muslims in Iraq, where only 750,000 of the country's 25 million people are Christians. Some of these "contractors" have been taken hostage by Islamic militants. One of them, South Korean Kim Sun Il, was beheaded. Mr Kim worked for a South Korean company which delivered military supplies. But he was also a fervent Christian who was learning Arabic in order to spread the gospel in Iraq — which made him a prime target for Islamic militants.
.Fanatical Christian evangelists, who believe that the "divine spirit" has sent them to Baghdad to minister to the country's Muslim population, are deepening the conflict there.
.Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi recently offered to send a medical team and to help mobilise the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) member states to help rebuild Iraq.
.It showed a recognition on Mr Abdullah's part that what is needed in Iraq is not more troops or Christian missionaries, but more Muslim humanitarian aid groups to work hand-in-hand with their Muslim brothers.
.Iraqis need to be reassured that the foreigners offering to help them are not part of a colonialist plot hatched in Washington by President George W Bush's neo-conservative Christian supporters. This suspicion has contributed to the violence against so-called foreign contractors.
.In February, an American Baptist missionary was killed execution-style and two others were wounded. They were in Iraq to open the country's first Baptist church.
.In April, seven South Korean missionaries from the Korean Council of Evangelical Churches were detained by Islamic militants while en route to Mosul to open a missionary school. They were later released following behind-the-scenes negotiations with the kidnappers.
.Recently, an Islamic group in Iraq threatened to kidnap and behead any Korean Christian missionary who set foot in the country.
.Some missionaries have military backgrounds. Mr John Kelly, the Baptist missionary gunned down in February, was a former US Marine who had studied Arabic. America's Southern Baptist Church, one of the leading lights of the fundamentalist evangelical movement, offers training on how missionaries can disguise their evangelical work.
.Two such trainees, Mr Craig Johnson and Mr Michael Jones, told the Wall Street Journal in May that they went to Iraq at their pastor's suggestion in June last year to explore business opportunities. Mr Johnson works for a natural gas utility and he typifies the new breed of American evangelist who believes in "spreading America's good fortune" to other lands through business and proselytising.
.One of the leading exponents of this brand of Christian evangelism is Rev Franklin Graham, the former leader of the Southern Baptist Convention, who called Islam "an evil religion" after the 911 attacks. He heads the Samaritan's Purse, a Christian disaster relief ministry which had a budget of US$194 million ($334 million) last year.
.Rev Graham is a close friend of Mr Bush and prayed with him on the eve of the war. He also delivered the sermon at Mr Bush's inauguration and was invited to lead the Good Friday prayer at the Pentagon this year. Even before hostilities began, Samaritan's Purse stockpiled food, housing materials and other goods in Jordan for victims of the war and waited for the signal to enter Iraq.
.Rev Graham's teams now provide for the needs of more than 100,000 Iraqi Muslims made destitute by the war. And Iraqi Christian groups hand out Arabic-language Bibles and related literature produced with American funds.
.With an estimated 12,000 missionaries worldwide, South Korea is home to some of the world's most aggressive Christian evangelists. South Korean missionary Kwon Hyuk Gan told the Kookmin Ilbo daily in Seoul that nine churches have been set up in Iraq by Korean missionaries since the US occupation began.
.Prof Paul Boyer, professor emeritus of history at the University of Wisconsin, warned that these fundamentalist crusaders pose a grave threat to world peace because of their belief in the second coming of Christ and the need to liberate Jerusalem (of Muslims) to facilitate it.
.The "shadowy but vital way that belief in Biblical prophecy is helping to mould grassroots attitudes towards current US foreign policy" is a dangerous trend, he has said, and one that must be reversed.
.The writer is a journalist, broadcaster and media analyst who currently teaches broadcast communications in Singapore.
.If you have a view on this, email us at news@newstoday.com.sg
With Christian evangelism deepening the crisis, what is needed is Muslim humanitarian aid
Kalinga Seneviratne
The invasion of Iraq has been followed quietly by another invasion — that of Christian missionaries, mainly from the United States and South Korea, who often disguise themselves as civilian contractors, aid workers or businessmen.
.Their main objective is to spread the "good word" to Muslims in Iraq, where only 750,000 of the country's 25 million people are Christians.
.Some of these "contractors" have been taken hostage by Islamic militants. One of them, South Korean Kim Sun Il, was beheaded.
.Mr Kim worked for a South Korean company which delivered military supplies. But he was also a fervent Christian who was learning Arabic in order to spread the gospel in Iraq — which made him a prime target for Islamic militants.
.Fanatical Christian evangelists, who believe that the "divine spirit" has sent them to Baghdad to minister to the country's Muslim population, are deepening the conflict there.
.Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi recently offered to send a medical team and to help mobilise the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) member states to help rebuild Iraq.
.It showed a recognition on Mr Abdullah's part that what is needed in Iraq is not more troops or Christian missionaries, but more Muslim humanitarian aid groups to work hand-in-hand with their Muslim brothers.
.Iraqis need to be reassured that the foreigners offering to help them are not part of a colonialist plot hatched in Washington by President George W Bush's neo-conservative Christian supporters. This suspicion has contributed to the violence against so-called foreign contractors.
.In February, an American Baptist missionary was killed execution-style and two others were wounded. They were in Iraq to open the country's first Baptist church.
.In April, seven South Korean missionaries from the Korean Council of Evangelical Churches were detained by Islamic militants while en route to Mosul to open a missionary school. They were later released following behind-the-scenes negotiations with the kidnappers.
.Recently, an Islamic group in Iraq threatened to kidnap and behead any Korean Christian missionary who set foot in the country.
.Some missionaries have military backgrounds. Mr John Kelly, the Baptist missionary gunned down in February, was a former US Marine who had studied Arabic. America's Southern Baptist Church, one of the leading lights of the fundamentalist evangelical movement, offers training on how missionaries can disguise their evangelical work.
.Two such trainees, Mr Craig Johnson and Mr Michael Jones, told the Wall Street Journal in May that they went to Iraq at their pastor's suggestion in June last year to explore business opportunities. Mr Johnson works for a natural gas utility and he typifies the new breed of American evangelist who believes in "spreading America's good fortune" to other lands through business and proselytising.
.One of the leading exponents of this brand of Christian evangelism is Rev Franklin Graham, the former leader of the Southern Baptist Convention, who called Islam "an evil religion" after the 911 attacks. He heads the Samaritan's Purse, a Christian disaster relief ministry which had a budget of US$194 million ($334 million) last year.
.Rev Graham is a close friend of Mr Bush and prayed with him on the eve of the war. He also delivered the sermon at Mr Bush's inauguration and was invited to lead the Good Friday prayer at the Pentagon this year. Even before hostilities began, Samaritan's Purse stockpiled food, housing materials and other goods in Jordan for victims of the war and waited for the signal to enter Iraq.
.Rev Graham's teams now provide for the needs of more than 100,000 Iraqi Muslims made destitute by the war. And Iraqi Christian groups hand out Arabic-language Bibles and related literature produced with American funds.
.With an estimated 12,000 missionaries worldwide, South Korea is home to some of the world's most aggressive Christian evangelists. South Korean missionary Kwon Hyuk Gan told the Kookmin Ilbo daily in Seoul that nine churches have been set up in Iraq by Korean missionaries since the US occupation began.
.Prof Paul Boyer, professor emeritus of history at the University of Wisconsin, warned that these fundamentalist crusaders pose a grave threat to world peace because of their belief in the second coming of Christ and the need to liberate Jerusalem (of Muslims) to facilitate it.
.The "shadowy but vital way that belief in Biblical prophecy is helping to mould grassroots attitudes towards current US foreign policy" is a dangerous trend, he has said, and one that must be reversed.
.The writer is a journalist, broadcaster and media analyst who currently teaches broadcast communications in Singapore.
.If you have a view on this, email us at news@newstoday.com.sg
With Christian evangelism deepening the crisis, what is needed is Muslim humanitarian aid
Kalinga Seneviratne
The invasion of Iraq has been followed quietly by another invasion — that of Christian missionaries, mainly from the United States and South Korea, who often disguise themselves as civilian contractors, aid workers or businessmen.
.Their main objective is to spread the "good word" to Muslims in Iraq, where only 750,000 of the country's 25 million people are Christians.
.Some of these "contractors" have been taken hostage by Islamic militants. One of them, South Korean Kim Sun Il, was beheaded.
.Mr Kim worked for a South Korean company which delivered military supplies. But he was also a fervent Christian who was learning Arabic in order to spread the gospel in Iraq — which made him a prime target for Islamic militants.
.Fanatical Christian evangelists, who believe that the "divine spirit" has sent them to Baghdad to minister to the country's Muslim population, are deepening the conflict there.
.Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi recently offered to send a medical team and to help mobilise the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) member states to help rebuild Iraq.
.It showed a recognition on Mr Abdullah's part that what is needed in Iraq is not more troops or Christian missionaries, but more Muslim humanitarian aid groups to work hand-in-hand with their Muslim brothers.
.Iraqis need to be reassured that the foreigners offering to help them are not part of a colonialist plot hatched in Washington by President George W Bush's neo-conservative Christian supporters. This suspicion has contributed to the violence against so-called foreign contractors.
With Christian evangelism deepening the crisis, what is needed is Muslim humanitarian aid
Kalinga Seneviratne
The invasion of Iraq has been followed quietly by another invasion — that of Christian missionaries, mainly from the United States and South Korea, who often disguise themselves as civilian contractors, aid workers or businessmen.
.Their main objective is to spread the "good word" to Muslims in Iraq, where only 750,000 of the country's 25 million people are Christians.
.Some of these "contractors" have been taken hostage by Islamic militants. One of them, South Korean Kim Sun Il, was beheaded.
.Mr Kim worked for a South Korean company which delivered military supplies. But he was also a fervent Christian who was learning Arabic in order to spread the gospel in Iraq — which made him a prime target for Islamic militants.
.Fanatical Christian evangelists, who believe that the "divine spirit" has sent them to Baghdad to minister to the country's Muslim population, are deepening the conflict there.
.Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi recently offered to send a medical team and to help mobilise the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) member states to help rebuild Iraq.
.It showed a recognition on Mr Abdullah's part that what is needed in Iraq is not more troops or Christian missionaries, but more Muslim humanitarian aid groups to work hand-in-hand with their Muslim brothers.
.Iraqis need to be reassured that the foreigners offering to help them are not part of a colonialist plot hatched in Washington by President George W Bush's neo-conservative Christian supporters. This suspicion has contributed to the violence against so-called foreign contractors.
.In February, an American Baptist missionary was killed execution-style and two others were wounded. They were in Iraq to open the country's first Baptist church.
.In April, seven South Korean missionaries from the Korean Council of Evangelical Churches were detained by Islamic militants while en route to Mosul to open a missionary school. They were later released following behind-the-scenes negotiations with the kidnappers.
.Recently, an Islamic group in Iraq threatened to kidnap and behead any Korean Christian missionary who set foot in the country.
.Some missionaries have military backgrounds. Mr John Kelly, the Baptist missionary gunned down in February, was a former US Marine who had studied Arabic. America's Southern Baptist Church, one of the leading lights of the fundamentalist evangelical movement, offers training on how missionaries can disguise their evangelical work.
.Two such trainees, Mr Craig Johnson and Mr Michael Jones, told the Wall Street Journal in May that they went to Iraq at their pastor's suggestion in June last year to explore business opportunities. Mr Johnson works for a natural gas utility and he typifies the new breed of American evangelist who believes in "spreading America's good fortune" to other lands through business and proselytising.
.One of the leading exponents of this brand of Christian evangelism is Rev Franklin Graham, the former leader of the Southern Baptist Convention, who called Islam "an evil religion" after the 911 attacks. He heads the Samaritan's Purse, a Christian disaster relief ministry which had a budget of US$194 million ($334 million) last year.
.Rev Graham is a close friend of Mr Bush and prayed with him on the eve of the war. He also delivered the sermon at Mr Bush's inauguration and was invited to lead the Good Friday prayer at the Pentagon this year. Even before hostilities began, Samaritan's Purse stockpiled food, housing materials and other goods in Jordan for victims of the war and waited for the signal to enter Iraq.
.Rev Graham's teams now provide for the needs of more than 100,000 Iraqi Muslims made destitute by the war. And Iraqi Christian groups hand out Arabic-language Bibles and related literature produced with American funds.
.With an estimated 12,000 missionaries worldwide, South Korea is home to some of the world's most aggressive Christian evangelists. South Korean missionary Kwon Hyuk Gan told the Kookmin Ilbo daily in Seoul that nine churches have been set up in Iraq by Korean missionaries since the US occupation began.
.Prof Paul Boyer, professor emeritus of history at the University of Wisconsin, warned that these fundamentalist crusaders pose a grave threat to world peace because of their belief in the second coming of Christ and the need to liberate Jerusalem (of Muslims) to facilitate it.
.The "shadowy but vital way that belief in Biblical prophecy is helping to mould grassroots attitudes towards current US foreign policy" is a dangerous trend, he has said, and one that must be reversed.
.The writer is a journalist, broadcaster and media analyst who currently teaches broadcast communications in Singapore.
.If you have a view on this, email us at news@newstoday.com.sg
With Christian evangelism deepening the crisis, what is needed is Muslim humanitarian aid
Kalinga Seneviratne
The invasion of Iraq has been followed quietly by another invasion — that of Christian missionaries, mainly from the United States and South Korea, who often disguise themselves as civilian contractors, aid workers or businessmen.
.Their main objective is to spread the "good word" to Muslims in Iraq, where only 750,000 of the country's 25 million people are Christians.
.Some of these "contractors" have been taken hostage by Islamic militants. One of them, South Korean Kim Sun Il, was beheaded.
.Mr Kim worked for a South Korean company which delivered military supplies. But he was also a fervent Christian who was learning Arabic in order to spread the gospel in Iraq — which made him a prime target for Islamic militants.
.Fanatical Christian evangelists, who believe that the "divine spirit" has sent them to Baghdad to minister to the country's Muslim population, are deepening the conflict there.
.Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi recently offered to send a medical team and to help mobilise the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) member states to help rebuild Iraq.
.It showed a recognition on Mr Abdullah's part that what is needed in Iraq is not more troops or Christian missionaries, but more Muslim humanitarian aid groups to work hand-in-hand with their Muslim brothers.
.Iraqis need to be reassured that the foreigners offering to help them are not part of a colonialist plot hatched in Washington by President George W Bush's neo-conservative Christian supporters. This suspicion has contributed to the violence against so-called foreign contractors.
.In February, an American Baptist missionary was killed execution-style and two others were wounded. They were in Iraq to open the country's first Baptist church.
.In April, seven South Korean missionaries from the Korean Council of Evangelical Churches were detained by Islamic militants while en route to Mosul to open a missionary school. They were later released following behind-the-scenes negotiations with the kidnappers.
.Recently, an Islamic group in Iraq threatened to kidnap and behead any Korean Christian missionary who set foot in the country.
.Some missionaries have military backgrounds. Mr John Kelly, the Baptist missionary gunned down in February, was a former US Marine who had studied Arabic. America's Southern Baptist Church, one of the leading lights of the fundamentalist evangelical movement, offers training on how missionaries can disguise their evangelical work.
.Two such trainees, Mr Craig Johnson and Mr Michael Jones, told the Wall Street Journal in May that they went to Iraq at their pastor's suggestion in June last year to explore business opportunities. Mr Johnson works for a natural gas utility and he typifies the new breed of American evangelist who believes in "spreading America's good fortune" to other lands through business and proselytising.
.One of the leading exponents of this brand of Christian evangelism is Rev Franklin Graham, the former leader of the Southern Baptist Convention, who called Islam "an evil religion" after the 911 attacks. He heads the Samaritan's Purse, a Christian disaster relief ministry which had a budget of US$194 million ($334 million) last year.
.Rev Graham is a close friend of Mr Bush and prayed with him on the eve of the war. He also delivered the sermon at Mr Bush's inauguration and was invited to lead the Good Friday prayer at the Pentagon this year. Even before hostilities began, Samaritan's Purse stockpiled food, housing materials and other goods in Jordan for victims of the war and waited for the signal to enter Iraq.
.Rev Graham's teams now provide for the needs of more than 100,000 Iraqi Muslims made destitute by the war. And Iraqi Christian groups hand out Arabic-language Bibles and related literature produced with American funds.
.With an estimated 12,000 missionaries worldwide, South Korea is home to some of the world's most aggressive Christian evangelists. South Korean missionary Kwon Hyuk Gan told the Kookmin Ilbo daily in Seoul that nine churches have been set up in Iraq by Korean missionaries since the US occupation began.
.Prof Paul Boyer, professor emeritus of history at the University of Wisconsin, warned that these fundamentalist crusaders pose a grave threat to world peace because of their belief in the second coming of Christ and the need to liberate Jerusalem (of Muslims) to facilitate it.
.The "shadowy but vital way that belief in Biblical prophecy is helping to mould grassroots attitudes towards current US foreign policy" is a dangerous trend, he has said, and one that must be reversed.
.The writer is a journalist, broadcaster and media analyst who currently teaches broadcast communications in Singapore.
.If you have a view on this, email us at news@newstoday.com.sg
With Christian evangelism deepening the crisis, what is needed is Muslim humanitarian aid
Kalinga Seneviratne
The invasion of Iraq has been followed quietly by another invasion — that of Christian missionaries, mainly from the United States and South Korea, who often disguise themselves as civilian contractors, aid workers or businessmen.
.Their main objective is to spread the "good word" to Muslims in Iraq, where only 750,000 of the country's 25 million people are Christians.
.Some of these "contractors" have been taken hostage by Islamic militants. One of them, South Korean Kim Sun Il, was beheaded.
.Mr Kim worked for a South Korean company which delivered military supplies. But he was also a fervent Christian who was learning Arabic in order to spread the gospel in Iraq — which made him a prime target for Islamic militants.
.Fanatical Christian evangelists, who believe that the "divine spirit" has sent them to Baghdad to minister to the country's Muslim population, are deepening the conflict there.
.Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi recently offered to send a medical team and to help mobilise the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) member states to help rebuild Iraq.
.It showed a recognition on Mr Abdullah's part that what is needed in Iraq is not more troops or Christian missionaries, but more Muslim humanitarian aid groups to work hand-in-hand with their Muslim brothers.
.Iraqis need to be reassured that the foreigners offering to help them are not part of a colonialist plot hatched in Washington by President George W Bush's neo-conservative Christian supporters. This suspicion has contributed to the violence against so-called foreign contractors.
.In February, an American Baptist missionary was killed execution-style and two others were wounded. They were in Iraq to open the country's first Baptist church.
.In April, seven South Korean missionaries from the Korean Council of Evangelical Churches were detained by Islamic militants while en route to Mosul to open a missionary school. They were later released following behind-the-scenes negotiations with the kidnappers.
.Recently, an Islamic group in Iraq threatened to kidnap and behead any Korean Christian missionary who set foot in the country.
.Some missionaries have military backgrounds. Mr John Kelly, the Baptist missionary gunned down in February, was a former US Marine who had studied Arabic. America's Southern Baptist Church, one of the leading lights of the fundamentalist evangelical movement, offers training on how missionaries can disguise their evangelical work.
.Two such trainees, Mr Craig Johnson and Mr Michael Jones, told the Wall Street Journal in May that they went to Iraq at their pastor's suggestion in June last year to explore business opportunities. Mr Johnson works for a natural gas utility and he typifies the new breed of American evangelist who believes in "spreading America's good fortune" to other lands through business and proselytising.
.One of the leading exponents of this brand of Christian evangelism is Rev Franklin Graham, the former leader of the Southern Baptist Convention, who called Islam "an evil religion" after the 911 attacks. He heads the Samaritan's Purse, a Christian disaster relief ministry which had a budget of US$194 million ($334 million) last year.
.Rev Graham is a close friend of Mr Bush and prayed with him on the eve of the war. He also delivered the sermon at Mr Bush's inauguration and was invited to lead the Good Friday prayer at the Pentagon this year. Even before hostilities began, Samaritan's Purse stockpiled food, housing materials and other goods in Jordan for victims of the war and waited for the signal to enter Iraq.
.Rev Graham's teams now provide for the needs of more than 100,000 Iraqi Muslims made destitute by the war. And Iraqi Christian groups hand out Arabic-language Bibles and related literature produced with American funds.
.With an estimated 12,000 missionaries worldwide, South Korea is home to some of the world's most aggressive Christian evangelists. South Korean missionary Kwon Hyuk Gan told the Kookmin Ilbo daily in Seoul that nine churches have been set up in Iraq by Korean missionaries since the US occupation began.
.Prof Paul Boyer, professor emeritus of history at the University of Wisconsin, warned that these fundamentalist crusaders pose a grave threat to world peace because of their belief in the second coming of Christ and the need to liberate Jerusalem (of Muslims) to facilitate it.
.The "shadowy but vital way that belief in Biblical prophecy is helping to mould grassroots attitudes towards current US foreign policy" is a dangerous trend, he has said, and one that must be reversed.
.The writer is a journalist, broadcaster and media analyst who currently teaches broadcast communications in Singapore.
.If you have a view on this, email us at news@newstoday.com.sg
With Christian evangelism deepening the crisis, what is needed is Muslim humanitarian aid
Kalinga Seneviratne
The invasion of Iraq has been followed quietly by another invasion — that of Christian missionaries, mainly from the United States and South Korea, who often disguise themselves as civilian contractors, aid workers or businessmen.
.Their main objective is to spread the "good word" to Muslims in Iraq, where only 750,000 of the country's 25 million people are Christians.
.Some of these "contractors" have been taken hostage by Islamic militants. One of them, South Korean Kim Sun Il, was beheaded.
.Mr Kim worked for a South Korean company which delivered military supplies. But he was also a fervent Christian who was learning Arabic in order to spread the gospel in Iraq — which made him a prime target for Islamic militants.
.Fanatical Christian evangelists, who believe that the "divine spirit" has sent them to Baghdad to minister to the country's Muslim population, are deepening the conflict there.
.Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi recently offered to send a medical team and to help mobilise the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) member states to help rebuild Iraq.
.It showed a recognition on Mr Abdullah's part that what is needed in Iraq is not more troops or Christian missionaries, but more Muslim humanitarian aid groups to work hand-in-hand with their Muslim brothers.
.Iraqis need to be reassured that the foreigners offering to help them are not part of a colonialist plot hatched in Washington by President George W Bush's neo-conservative Christian supporters. This suspicion has contributed to the violence against so-called foreign contractors.
.In February, an American Baptist missionary was killed execution-style and two others were wounded. They were in Iraq to open the country's first Baptist church.
.In April, seven South Korean missionaries from the Korean Council of Evangelical Churches were detained by Islamic militants while en route to Mosul to open a missionary school. They were later released following behind-the-scenes negotiations with the kidnappers.
.Recently, an Islamic group in Iraq threatened to kidnap and behead any Korean Christian missionary who set foot in the country.
.Some missionaries have military backgrounds. Mr John Kelly, the Baptist missionary gunned down in February, was a former US Marine who had studied Arabic. America's Southern Baptist Church, one of the leading lights of the fundamentalist evangelical movement, offers training on how missionaries can disguise their evangelical work.
.Two such trainees, Mr Craig Johnson and Mr Michael Jones, told the Wall Street Journal in May that they went to Iraq at their pastor's suggestion in June last year to explore business opportunities. Mr Johnson works for a natural gas utility and he typifies the new breed of American evangelist who believes in "spreading America's good fortune" to other lands through business and proselytising.
.One of the leading exponents of this brand of Christian evangelism is Rev Franklin Graham, the former leader of the Southern Baptist Convention, who called Islam "an evil religion" after the 911 attacks. He heads the Samaritan's Purse, a Christian disaster relief ministry which had a budget of US$194 million ($334 million) last year.
.Rev Graham is a close friend of Mr Bush and prayed with him on the eve of the war. He also delivered the sermon at Mr Bush's inauguration and was invited to lead the Good Friday prayer at the Pentagon this year. Even before hostilities began, Samaritan's Purse stockpiled food, housing materials and other goods in Jordan for victims of the war and waited for the signal to enter Iraq.
.Rev Graham's teams now provide for the needs of more than 100,000 Iraqi Muslims made destitute by the war. And Iraqi Christian groups hand out Arabic-language Bibles and related literature produced with American funds.
.With an estimated 12,000 missionaries worldwide, South Korea is home to some of the world's most aggressive Christian evangelists. South Korean missionary Kwon Hyuk Gan told the Kookmin Ilbo daily in Seoul that nine churches have been set up in Iraq by Korean missionaries since the US occupation began.
.Prof Paul Boyer, professor emeritus of history at the University of Wisconsin, warned that these fundamentalist crusaders pose a grave threat to world peace because of their belief in the second coming of Christ and the need to liberate Jerusalem (of Muslims) to facilitate it.
.The "shadowy but vital way that belief in Biblical prophecy is helping to mould grassroots attitudes towards current US foreign policy" is a dangerous trend, he has said, and one that must be reversed.
.The writer is a journalist, broadcaster and media analyst who currently teaches broadcast communications in Singapore.
.If you have a view on this, email us at news@newstoday.com.sg
With Christian evangelism deepening the crisis, what is needed is Muslim humanitarian aid
Kalinga Seneviratne
The invasion of Iraq has been followed quietly by another invasion — that of Christian missionaries, mainly from the United States and South Korea, who often disguise themselves as civilian contractors, aid workers or businessmen.
.Their main objective is to spread the "good word" to Muslims in Iraq, where only 750,000 of the country's 25 million people are Christians.
.Some of these "contractors" have been taken hostage by Islamic militants. One of them, South Korean Kim Sun Il, was beheaded.
.Mr Kim worked for a South Korean company which delivered military supplies. But he was also a fervent Christian who was learning Arabic in order to spread the gospel in Iraq — which made him a prime target for Islamic militants.
.Fanatical Christian evangelists, who believe that the "divine spirit" has sent them to Baghdad to minister to the country's Muslim population, are deepening the conflict there.
.Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi recently offered to send a medical team and to help mobilise the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) member states to help rebuild Iraq.
.It showed a recognition on Mr Abdullah's part that what is needed in Iraq is not more troops or Christian missionaries, but more Muslim humanitarian aid groups to work hand-in-hand with their Muslim brothers.
.Iraqis need to be reassured that the foreigners offering to help them are not part of a colonialist plot hatched in Washington by President George W Bush's neo-conservative Christian supporters. This suspicion has contributed to the violence against so-called foreign contractors.
.In February, an American Baptist missionary was killed execution-style and two others were wounded. They were in Iraq to open the country's first Baptist church.
.In April, seven South Korean missionaries from the Korean Council of Evangelical Churches were detained by Islamic militants while en route to Mosul to open a missionary school. They were later released following behind-the-scenes negotiations with the kidnappers.
.Recently, an Islamic group in Iraq threatened to kidnap and behead any Korean Christian missionary who set foot in the country.
.Some missionaries have military backgrounds. Mr John Kelly, the Baptist missionary gunned down in February, was a former US Marine who had studied Arabic. America's Southern Baptist Church, one of the leading lights of the fundamentalist evangelical movement, offers training on how missionaries can disguise their evangelical work.
.Two such trainees, Mr Craig Johnson and Mr Michael Jones, told the Wall Street Journal in May that they went to Iraq at their pastor's suggestion in June last year to explore business opportunities. Mr Johnson works for a natural gas utility and he typifies the new breed of American evangelist who believes in "spreading America's good fortune" to other lands through business and proselytising.
.One of the leading exponents of this brand of Christian evangelism is Rev Franklin Graham, the former leader of the Southern Baptist Convention, who called Islam "an evil religion" after the 911 attacks. He heads the Samaritan's Purse, a Christian disaster relief ministry which had a budget of US$194 million ($334 million) last year.
.Rev Graham is a close friend of Mr Bush and prayed with him on the eve of the war. He also delivered the sermon at Mr Bush's inauguration and was invited to lead the Good Friday prayer at the Pentagon this year. Even before hostilities began, Samaritan's Purse stockpiled food, housing materials and other goods in Jordan for victims of the war and waited for the signal to enter Iraq.
.Rev Graham's teams now provide for the needs of more than 100,000 Iraqi Muslims made destitute by the war. And Iraqi Christian groups hand out Arabic-language Bibles and related literature produced with American funds.
.With an estimated 12,000 missionaries worldwide, South Korea is home to some of the world's most aggressive Christian evangelists. South Korean missionary Kwon Hyuk Gan told the Kookmin Ilbo daily in Seoul that nine churches have been set up in Iraq by Korean missionaries since the US occupation began.
.Prof Paul Boyer, professor emeritus of history at the University of Wisconsin, warned that these fundamentalist crusaders pose a grave threat to world peace because of their belief in the second coming of Christ and the need to liberate Jerusalem (of Muslims) to facilitate it.
.The "shadowy but vital way that belief in Biblical prophecy is helping to mould grassroots attitudes towards current US foreign policy" is a dangerous trend, he has said, and one that must be reversed.
.The writer is a journalist, broadcaster and media analyst who currently teaches broadcast communications in Singapore.
.If you have a view on this, email us at news@newstoday.com.sg