christian

More of "O Holy Night"

Posted by Chong | 12/25/2008 11:55:00 PM | | 0 comments »

By: The Late Luciano Pavarotti & Placido Domingo





Celtic Woman / Chloe Agnew - "O Holy Night"



Christmas Carols

Posted by Chong | 12/25/2008 11:43:00 PM | | 0 comments »

Some of my favourites...





When they are in Singapore..



On 23rd of December, my parents and myself were invited by Elaine to her care
group place for My Hope Singapore Dvds viewing. We watched Kelvin's conversion testimony together with 20s other pre-believers.

God work in an amazing way... my mum prayed the sinner's prayer together with another 3 pre-believers that was present during the session.

Looking back...in 2008 Dec 14th my dad too prayed the sinner's prayer.. God's perfect gift during the month of Christmas.



Jesus Loves You


For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes on Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

In order to be saved we must first realize our need of a Savior. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23. For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23.

We need to repent of our sin. True repentence is a genuine remorse for our sins and a turning away from them. We need to realize that salvation is a gift from God not of our own works but the grace of God. In order to recieve that gift we need to accept it.

Jesus Christ died on the cross to buy our pardon from sin. We need to believe that Jesus died for our sins on the cross and that He rose from the grave and be willing to turn from our sins and accept His gift of eternal life.

Invite Jesus to come into your heart and cleanse you from your sin and ask Him to live in your heart and recieve Him as your Lord and Savior.

How to pray:

Dear Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner and need your forgiveness. I believe that you died for my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I now invite you to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow you as Lord and Savior. In Jesus name. Amen

The Lord Jesus prayed: Give us this day our daily bread. He was talking about spiritual food. Our daily bread is the word of God. Read your Bible everyday. Set up a time each day when you can be alone with God. A good place to start is the book of John. Jesus commands us to unite with other believers: Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is. It is important to attend a Bible believing church. Jesus says to pray unceasing, meaning that we should talk to Him in our thoughts as we go through the day as well as during our daily devotional time. Jesus gives us His Holy Spirit so we will never be alone.

Asean Charter

Posted by Chong | 12/15/2008 10:55:00 PM | | 1 comments »


On 15th December 2008, the charter of the Association of South East Asian Nations now has official status, binding members to an enhanced legal framework. But as Asia begins to experience the full force of the global economic crisis it may be some time before the grouping begins to operate as a European Union-style community.
What is in the Charter?...

Principles set out in the charter include:

  • Emphasising the centrality of ASEAN in regional cooperation.
  • Respect for the principles of territorial integrity, sovereignty, non-interference and national identities of ASEAN members.
  • Promoting regional peace and identity, peaceful settlements of disputes through dialogue and consultation, and the renunciation of aggression.
  • Upholding international law with respect to human rights, social justice and multilateral trade.
  • Encouraging regional integration of trade.
  • Appointment of a Secretary-General and Permanent Representatives of ASEAN.
  • Establishment of a human rights body and an unresolved dispute mechanism, to be decided at ASEAN Summits.
  • Development of friendly external relations and a position with the UN (like the EU)
  • Increasing the number of ASEAN summits to twice a year and the ability to convene for emergency situations.
ASEAN's members are Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

They are home to half a billion people. In terms of development, they range from wealthy modern Singapore and Brunei to impoverished, agrarian Laos and Cambodia. Politically, members include democratic Philippines and Indonesia, and military-ruled Burma.

The charter was to have been inaugurated at the annual ASEAN summit in Thailand this month, but a political crisis there forced its postponement. Monday's meeting at the Jakarta secretariat was convened specially to enact the charter.

The charter opens the door to a single ASEAN market within seven years. However, the unfolding global economic crisis may slow
. There are fears that the crisis may slow efforts to negotiate the free trade agreement.

ASEAN has also come under attack for failing to address human rights abuses by its member, particularly in military-ruled Burma.


New source of Energy

Posted by Chong | 12/10/2008 12:59:00 AM | | 0 comments »


Jatropha, a plant that is native to Central America and grown in countries throughout Asia such as India, China, Indonesia and Myanmar. Could be the rising star as biofuel replacing the crude oil that we are using now.

Jatropha is a resilient plant. It is resistant to drought and pests attack. It produces seeds that can produce yield of up to 40% oil. When the seeds are crushed and processed, the resulting oil can be used in a standard diesel engine.

Myanmar can produce up to six million barrels of crude oil annually. At current stage it is not enough to meet domestic demand thus forcing them to spend more than US$200 million (S$302 million) a year on diesel and crude oil imports. But this could change when the production increases.

Comparing with other feedstocks, Jatropha when used in diesel engines will emits less carbon emissions thus making it a good alternative to diesel.

Jatropha's oil yield is said to be 2,000 litres per ha, against rapeseed's 1,200 litres and soybean's 600 litres.

Although, palm oil yields is higher, at 4,500 litres per ha but it is less sustainable and suitable cos it is a food crop and competes for arable land, at times leading to deforestation.

In terms of breakeven costs jatropha is by far the most efficient biofuel at US$50 per barrel. It trumps other traditional feedstocks such as palm oil (US$149) rapeseed (US$190) and soybean (US$144).

Let's see how jatropha will develop to become the champion of biofuels in the 21st century


Good news to many of us, the price of oil is going south. But fall in oil prices could somehow be limited by the news that President-elect Barack Obama plans to implement a major infrastructure program to help boost employment in the weakening US economy.

With all the stimulus packages and output cuts by Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), we may see the oil price stabilizing.

Opec, which controls about 40 percent of world crude supplies, announced a production cut of 1.5 million barrels a day in October and 500,000 barrels in September.

But let's keep our fingers crossed as Opec will meet again in Algeria on December 17th to discuss on further output reduction, this may cause the oil to go up again.

Sale of the last of Singapore Power Plant

Posted by Chong | 12/04/2008 02:01:00 AM | 0 comments »

PHOTO: COURTESY OF POWER SERAYA



The news in the papers really shocked me! Power Seraya was sold to Malaysia's YTL for a really good price of $3.8billion, the least among the 3 power plants. This also surprised many market analysts.

The price tag of $3.8billion is low compared to Tuas Power being sold to Chinese firm Huaneng for $4.23 billion and Senoko Power to a consortium led by Marubeni Corp for $4 billion.

My question is why the sale of a Key National Assets to a foreign company. Thank God, Singaporeans are not like citizens of other countries, we don't take to the streets. Most recent case, the sale of Thailand telecommunication to Temasek caused a out cry among the Thais and that lead to them taking to the streets.

Since both GIC and Temasek has reported good growth and healthy dividen growth why is there a need to sell of all 3 of Singapore's power plant?

Just wondering will this 3 Gencos gang up like those fuel supply companies...after all is the 2 are in the oligopoly market.. .. remember the days when our fuel exceed $2 per liter? It just take 1 company to increase it prices and the rest will follow..vice versa...



Reports by Straits Times:-

TEMASEK Holdings has stunned the market by announcing that it has sold electricity generator Power-Seraya to a unit of Malaysia's YTL Power International for $3.8 billion.

This came just a week after the Singapore investment company said it would shelve tender plans for PowerSeraya, owing to 'market conditions'.

Market talk had suggested that relatively poor investor interest and lower-than-expected indicative bids by investors had led to Temasek's earlier decision.

Temasek said in a statement yesterday, however, that Sabre Energy, a wholly-owned unit of YTL Power, would pay $3.6 billion for PowerSeraya and assume $201 million of its adjusted net debt as at March 31 this year.

The transaction for PowerSeraya - the third and last of the electricity generation companies (gencos) to be sold by Temasek - is expected to be completed early next year.

In June last year, Temasek announced it was selling the three gencos to liberalise the power generation industry. It had targeted to complete the sale by the middle of next year.

Ms Gwendel Tung, Temasek's director of investment, said yesterday that after the company put a stop to the tender process last week, YTL Power submitted an 'unsolicited proposal' that met Temasek's requirements.

Referring to YTL Power, Ms Tung said: 'We are confident that their expertise and experience will add significant value to Singapore's electricity market and PowerSeraya in particular.'

Other factors may have also come into play. One possibility, suggest industry watchers, is that the funds will come in handy in helping cushion losses from other investments that have soured amid the global financial crisis.

They say another possibility concerns Temasek's outlook on market conditions. Temasek might have worried that, with asset prices declining rapidly, it might not have been able to secure such an 'acceptable' price again had it 'procrastinated'.

Temasek's other gencos fetched higher prices. Tuas Power went to Chinese firm Huaneng for $4.23 billion. Senoko Power, meanwhile, was sold to a consortium led by Marubeni Corp for $4 billion.

A third theory concerned the other bidders for PowerSeraya, which were said to be a Hong Kong CLP Holdings-led consortium and Bahrain's Arcapita.

Due to deteriorating market conditions, and with banks taking more precautions on lending, Temasek might have been concerned over whether these bidders would face difficulties in financing the deal.

Temasek declined yesterday to comment on the talk and also declined to provide the names of the shortlisted bidders.

The sale of the three gencos is aimed at liberalising the power generation industry. Private ownership can trigger stronger competition, possibly leading to lower costs and lower electricity prices.

The acquisition of PowerSeraya is not YTL Power's first foray into Singapore-based assets.

Its parent company, YTL Corp, owns majority stakes in two Sentosa Cove projects. In November last year, the group made history here by paying $2,525 per sq ft per plot ratio for Westwood Apartments in Orchard Boulevard - the most expensive site to be sold collectively.

YTL Power managing director Francis Yeoh said the 3,100MW of licensed capacity operated by PowerSeraya would give YTL Power 'significant participation' in the Singapore energy market.

YTL Power believes its participation in Singapore's electricity market will put it in a prime position to contribute towards the liberalisation of the Malaysian electricity market.

gabrielc@sph.com.sg

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