GOD WILL SHOW THE WAY

Kenapa judul seperti diatas? Memang Tuhan akan menunjukkan jalan.
Ada sebuah pengalaman yang bagus menurutku, hari ini Minggu, 15FEB2009 kira-kira sepulang dari gym, aku sudah berjanji akan menemui saudara ku yang tinggal lama di Singapore dan sudah lost contact selama 7 tahun, karena mereka berpindah-pindah rumah, dan tiba tiba kemarin malam punya kerinduan untuk menjenguk salah satu keluarga dari pihak ibu, grand Auntie (atau apalah bahasa Indonesia nya, tapi aku panggil dia Khiupho), suami nya dia adalah kakak adik dengan nenek saya, kalo di jejerkan, nenek saya adalah anak tengah dari 3 bersaudara, dan yang saya temui tadi adalah istri kakak lelaki nenek saya yang sekarang dah hampir menginjak 100 tahun, tepat nya kira kira 95tahun.

Setelah turun naik bus di dekat National Library, langsung menuju ke block 233 di Bras Basah Complex, salah satu Komplek perumahaan di tengah kota. Saya sudah lupa lantai berapa, karena ada 25 lantai... saya hanya berbekal engetahuan yang sangat minim, yang saya tahu salah satu dia adalah seorang guru piano. Dan naik lah saya ke lantai 24, kemudian nae satu lantai dengan tangga ke lantai 25, ketuk pintu di salah unit itu, dan tiba tiba ada sepasang anak muda keluar, setelah saya tanya ... mereka tidak tahu. kemudian saya tanya lagi di lantai 25 juga, sepasang keluarga kecil, sayabilang di lantai ini adalah pemain piano kah? oh salah satu nya kenal, pemain piano... saya sudah senang... tapi sayang nya mereka tidak tahu dimana unit rumah nya... akhir nya saya keluar dan menikmati pemandangan ke arah Marina Bay dan sangat indah, walaupun pagi tadi seluruh Singapore ada penyemprotan demam berdarah, jadi agak berkabut...

Dan tiba tba adalah seoang pembantu yang saya tanya yang kedua kali itu kelaur, dan menemui saya, dia bilang .. oh ibu-ibu yang pakai kaca mata yang agak tinggi yah... well, saya cuman menggangguk saja, padahal saya gak tahu anak Khiupho saya rupanya seperti apa. Kemudian dia bilang, dia ada di lantai 15, cuman saya tidak tahu nomer rumah nya unit berapa, dia adalah pemain piano juga, kata pembantu itu, dan akhir nya saya ke lantai 15, dan langsung mendatangi rumah yang tidak di tutup pintu nya dan bertanya, ... maaf mau bertanya, apakah ibu adalah pemain piana? dan dia menjawab... iyah saya pemain piano dan guru piano... lalu senang lah hati saya, dan akhir nya saya bertanya... apakah Ms. Yap?, dan dia bilang... bukan, tapi saya kenal dengan Ms. Yap, dia guru piano juga, dia ada di lantai 17.... Wah ternyata salah orang hahahaha... langsung saya ke lantai 17 dah mengetuk pintu, dan bertanya dan bener akhir nya saya bertemu dengan Ms. Yap, dan dengan senang nya ketemu Khiupho itu... Puji Tuhan...

Padahal saya dah mau balik... tapi dalam hati saya... pasti dapat... tidak mau menyerah... dan Tuhan menunjukkan jalan nya... walaupun dengan lika liku... DIA past membimbing....

ST. ANDREW'S ANGLICAN CATHEDRAL - INNER CATHEDRAL'S ARCHITECTURAL DISPLAYS

THE OLDEST CHURCH IN SINGAPORE - THE ARMENIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

The Armenian Church of Saint Gregory the Illuminator is the oldest Christian church in Singapore, located at Hill Street in the Museum Planning Area, within the Central Area, Singapore's central business district.

HISTORY
George Drumgoole Coleman, overseer of Convicts and Superintendent of Public Works, was the architect of many of Singapore's finest historical buildings. The Armenian Church, arguably his masterpiece, is perhaps the finest landmark in the early architectural development of the nation.

The government granted the land on which the church stands to the Armenian community in 1833. By 1835, the building was completed. Consecrated by Reverend Eleaza Ingergolie in 1836 and dedicated to St Gregory the Illuminator, the first Patriarch of the Church in Armenia, it was the first church to be built in Singapore.

Half the construction cost of 5,000 Spanish dollars was donated by the Armenian community in Singapore, with the rest coming from Armenians in Java and India, and European and Chinese merchants in Singapore. Considering that the Armenian community was tiny — the 1824 census counted only 16 members — its contribution to the Armenian Church was huge in proportion, a testament to the great wealth and social standing of the Armenian community in Singapore. Even in 1821, two years after Sir Stamford Raffles' landing, the group was celebrating its religious services and, in 1827, after funds had been collected, the first priest, the Reverend Krikor Hovhannes (Gregory John), arrived.

Armenian Street is named after the church and its Chinese name is seng poh sin chu au (the back of Seng Poh's new building).

Armenian Church was gazetted as a national monument on 6 July 1973.

ARCHITECTURAL
The original, elegant and symmetrical design included neither tower nor spire. It featured an octagonal cone supporting a small bell turret with Ionic columns.

The existing Armenian Church, built in the British Neo-Classical style, is modelled after St Gregory's Church in Echmiadzin, the mother church in northern Armenia. It is possible that the client's brief made reference to this. The structure is circular, imposed on a square plan, with projecting square porticos using Roman Doric orders. The chancel-cum-altar is semi-circular. The Palladian-style design was possibly inspired by James Gibbs' first circular plan for St Martin-in-the-Fields which he published in his Book of Architecture (London, 1728).

Nevertheless, with all the eclectic references, Coleman produced a design which is adapted to suit Singapore's tropical climate. For instance, the wide verandahs give essential shade and protect the timber-louvred windows on the ground floor from heavy downpours. The windows, in turn, diffuse the sunlight and induce cross ventilation. The pews, which would normally be entirely in wood, are backed with woven rattan, a much lighter and cooler material.

The spire, topped with a ball and cross, sits on the octagonal tower, and is the second to replace the original bell turret by Coleman, which proved to be structurally unsound and was demolished. It was replaced by a square tower, using Doric pilasters, in 1846, followed by the present spire in 1853. An English architect called Maddock had the pitched roof replaced by the present one, the bell turret removed and, to support the existing tower and spire, added the east portico around the original chancel. Probably, at the same time, the main entrance on the west portico was widened.

On the north, south and west fronts of the church are Tuscan Doric porticos capped with triangular pediments. The east front, where the main entrance lies, bears an elegant bowed apse with a pediment into which the date "1835" is carved to commemorate the year the church's foundation was laid. The north, south and west porticos were designed such that horse carriages could pull into the porches, right up to the doors of the church. The porches were designed to be on level with the base of the carriages so that ladies could step into the church without soiling their dresses on the ground below.

Although the interior is curcular, said to resemble the famous round Holy Sepulchre in Cambridge, England, it is actually based on a square cross, symbolic of the Cross of Christ. Facing the main entrance is the grand altar, prominently raised above the height of the pews.

On the church grounds are the parsonage and the Memorial Garden to Armenians. The parsonage, a two-storey bungalow, was built in 1905 by Nanajan Sarkies in memory of her late husband, John Shanazar Sarkies. Amongst the Armenians in Singapore, the Sarkies family was probably the most notable, in particular brothers Archak, Aviet and Tigran of Raffles Hotel fame. A number of Sarkies' tombstones lie in the Memorial Garden, alongside those of other prominent Armenians, such as Agnes Joaquim and Catchik Moses.

Interestingly, the Memorial Garden was never actually used as a burial ground. The tombstones that lie there were all transported from the Christian cemetery in Bukit Timah when it was exhumed in 1988.

CURRENT USE
The last Armenian parish priest died many decades ago, and with the dwindling Armenian population in Singapore, a successor was never appointed. Armenian and Eastern Orthodox services were held occasionally, particularly on Christmas and Easter, for a number of years. The only group of Orthodox to use the church on a regular basis are the Jacobite Syrian Church of India and Coptic Orthodox community of Saint Mark. The Jacobite Syrain Church holds services in the evenings on First Sunday and in the mornings on other Sundays. The Coptic Orthodox church holds Vespers, Matins and Divine Liturgy on the first weekend of every month.

In 2006, the church was used as an exhibition site for the Singapore Biennale. "Everything Is Contestable" by Indian artist Ashok Sukumaran was a site-specific intervention that introduced two switches which would be able to control the lights of the church, one at the gates of the church (working only intermittently) and one across the street.


From: All sources

HOW TO WIN FRIENDS & INFLUENCE PEOPLE BY DALE CARNEGIE

This is my new "bible" given by my beloved Mommy Boss.
She wants me to be a good person in sales and marketing.
Hhhhmmm very interesting field that I will get in.
This book is quite attractive to read, especially who is in this field.
The book has 276 pages divided by 4 chapters.
This was my Christmas Gift....

Encourage to read, this book is using quite simple ENglish,
that I believe for the ENglish beginner could follow the tracks.

Lord, help me! (St. Matthew 15:25)

I am holding you by your right hand - I, the LORD your God.
And I say to you, 'Do not be afraid. I am here to help you'.
(Isaiah 41:13)

The LORD says:"I, even I, am the one who comforts you."
(Isaiah 51:12)

Jesus said:"I will not abandon you as orphans - I will come to you."
St. John 14:18)