I’ve long commented offline on how silly it is for local political boundaries to be constantly redrawn to mark the start of the Electoral process, thus negating any and all preparation by opposition political parties should the area they were canvassing suddenly become part of a PAP stronghold like Marine Parade or Tanjong Pagar. So naturally, I was glad to be proven wrong when this year’s General Elections went ahead with minimal changes to the political map. It gave me a fair amount of hope that maybe Singaporeans would be given more reason to exercise their vote.

Until Singapore Idol came along, of course.

Up until the Wildcard participants were announced last night, I was under the impression that the contestants with the third and fourth highest number of votes each week would be automatically shunted to the Wildcard round. This made the most sense to me. They had already proven themselves and Singapore voted for them. The Wildcard round would be for them to raise the stakes and compete to see who the most popular two were. Already, I knew who I had in mind. Terence Tay and Gayle Nerva. Two people whom I felt were unjustly left out of the Top 12.

So you can imagine my disbelief when I discovered that the Wildcard participants turned out to be picked by the judges based on standards unknown to the general public. It was only then that I remembered that this was the standard from the Idol franchise. The Wildcard round was filled with people whom the judges felt deserved to be in the Top 12. “Deserved”? Instead of 3rd placed Terence Tay, they only picked Norman Then from the first week. Nothing against Norman, of course, but if you were only going to pick one from a VERY lopsided bunch of contestants… then Terence should have been it. And why only one? Instead, the judges picked five girls and only three guys to round out the Wildcard round.

And *sigh* Geraldine is one of them. What an absolute waste of space.

Not to mention that apparently due to some technical glitch, Mathilda is NOT the top voted contestant from last night. In fact, she’s not even in the top two. The best female pure singer I have ever heard from Singapore Idol was not even voted into the top two. Now she has to compete again for her spot, which shouldn’t be much of a problem, I guess.

So doctored voting system aside, here are my predictions for the Wildcard round, in order of preference: Gayle, Mathilda, Jay and (for lack of a better choice) Siew Woon. The first three are obvious picks. They’ve more than proven themselves and should very well have been in the Top 2 for their respective rounds. Siew Woon, because she was let down by song choice and should be given a second chance to prove her worth.

The rest, Geraldine, Norman, Primero and Meryl should be humbled that they got this far and be thankful to their fans for voting them. But do they deserve to go further? Hell no.

It’s one of those nights where you’re called to muse on the one driving force that keeps the universe in motion, the sole factor that sets humanity apart from the rest of the animal kingdom, and the one source of heroism, courage and fervour.

For what can be greater than God’s love?

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

God’s love is unique to each person – everyone experiences it differently, but all desire it as something to be given and received. In that understanding alone, I find the greatest wonder. For if something is valuable because it is unique, how much more incredible can God’s love be, unconditional and unyielding in millions of different ways?

He provides dozens of ways and means in order for us to learn to accept His love. They could be large, dramatic and truly amazing in form, but they could also come in small, gentle and unassuming ways, allowing you to only recognise them on hindsight. For God is not limited by method nor is he limited by our weak faith. His love descends upon our lives whether we are ready to accept it or not. How fortunate we are when we are prepare to welcome it!

This Catholic War Machine accepted it at a time when he felt ugly, despised and rejected. He found in God (through Jesus Christ) the acceptance that he longed for, an approval from a person greater than any human being. He found in God a refuge from his hurt and pain and a comfort in his anger and sorrow. But most of all, he found in God a friend that would listen and not grow tired of his conversations. In short, he had found the perfect friend.

Often, it is easy for someone to dismiss God’s love as a cheap ideal or as a unfulfilled dream of a vivid imagination. But the grace of God allows us to realise that truly, God’s love is not a gimmick. It really is as straightforward as others have testified to. God’s love is waiting for us to accept it, and to allow it to transform our lives into meaningful ones proclaiming his glory.

For the love of God!

In all of professional wrestling, there has never been one man who has inspired me more. This was a guy who, despite being a monster and fighting Hulk Hogan (arguably the most popular man in pro wrestling history), continued to impress me every time he came to the ring. I even insisted on choosing his character everytime I was at the arcade. I may have become a Kane fan later, but this man played arguably the first pro wrestling character I truly adored.

His name was John Tenta, but most peope know him as Earthquake.

About a year ago, he was diagnosed with bladder cancer, one that he seemed to be steadily recovering from. He was upbeat, excited about each new day and truly looked right on the road to recovery. It was around this time that I got to learn of the human side of him and how this giant of a man had a heart filled with love that was larger than anyone else’s. He spoke fondly and with much humour of his days as a professional wrestler, and even agreed to write the foreword of the Wrestlecrap book. I even recall how at one point he was promoting mangosteen juice and how he credited that drink for improving his health.

Two weeks ago, a close friend of his informed the internet wrestling community that Tenta’s condition had taken a turn for the worst, and on June 7th, John Tenta passed away at the age of 42, leaving behind his wife and three children.

It’s hard to fully describe the impact John Tenta had on my life. I know most could not begin to appreciate it. But if there’s anything I’m glad for, its that his suffering is over and that he is now resting in peace. In addition, his gentle and giving nature has no doubt earned him a lot of fans and friends who are joining in support for his widow and family. But most of all, I’m grateful that in a world where pro wrestlers tend to resort to vice to relieve the immense amounts of stress they endure, John Tenta was able to rise above it all and live his life to the fullest.

Rest in Peace, John “Earthquake” Tenta. You will always be larger than life to me.

One of these girls is not like the other…
One of these girls does not belong.

At the end of the day, it was Rahimah Rahim and Jasmine Tye who stood tall (well, relatively speaking, since Jasmine is the shortest female finalist). And it was Gayle who missed the top 2, despite getting praise from both Dick and Jacintha.

Me? I’m just glad that Geraldine is unlikely to make it to the top 12. She didn’t even deserve to be in the top four of the group.

… and feeling blessed. I believe, in a way, I got everything I wanted out of my first mission trip, and more.

Firstly, the company was wonderful. I think that was the one thing that truly struck me as I think back of the four days we spent there. The youth of the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary that went are a group of open-minded and enthusiastic people and the four days felt like forever because of the number of new people I got to know relatively well: Eugene, Nigel, Joy, John, Julie, Ratna, Marcus, Thex. And of course, for those whom I already knew before who went with me on this mission: Nick, Polly, Greg, Fiana. I think the trip would have been much less interesting if not for these.

Secondly, I knew I would make my first mission trip to Indonesia. It all seemed appropriate enough to me. I had picked up a minimal amount Bahasa over my last three years in CSA and I was rather excited to be able to use it – which I did, of course. Now I know “Thank you” is “Terima KasEEH” and not “Terima KasEH” like I’ve been errorneously pronouncing for over a year.

And thirdly, was the opportunity to once again experience God through group sharings that were honest and open; to understand how God communicates with you through learning how he speaks with others. I had enjoyed such an experience last year at the CSS Retreat and I was grateful to be able to enjoy a similar experience with my group on the Mission Trip. To Eugene, Joy, Angeline, Vanessa, Kelly and John, thank you.

And of course, to Polly, whose photo I invaded. *grin*

Well, two supporters, at least.

Apparently at 1p.m. yesterday, Singapore Idol contestant Gayle Nerva left a comment on my last post thanking me for her support. Did a quick quick check on several other blogs that featured posts about Gayle (all of them giving positive support, I might add) and it seems like she’s left a tag on someone else’s board. If it’s really her, she’s getting into the whole mini-celebrity schtick, with her personalised comments and all.

Naturally, there’s also skepticism that it really isn’t Gayle (since on the official website her smileys are ‘:)’ but in the comments they’re ‘(:’, a subtle but significant difference) but at least the various comments posted so far aren’t “copy and paste” from one blog to another. If nothing else, this inspires me to vote even more for her, haha! Too bad I won’t be in Singapore when it matters (i.e. Wednesday night). Can someone volunteer to vote for her on my behalf? I’ll pay for any and all call costs when I get back. I would ask my family, but it seems everyone but me thinks its a ridiculous idea to pay 60 cents per vote.

Anyway, as I mentioned above, I will be away from Monday till Thursday, on my first mission trip and my first visit to any part of Indonesia. Do keep me the rest of the mission team in prayer, yeah? Seeya all soon.