grateful

it's almost been a year since i've started reading the financial times and new york times as my daily newspapers. when i was in singapore, i would occasionally have a look at the straits times. but since i'm now in china, i hardly ever read the straits times and hence, i hardly ever read about singapore. when i do, it's either our sovereign wealth fund making a huge loss (oops, sorry govt, i know it's a private company...heh) or it's the economy taking a big hit. just today, i read that the singaporean economy shrank 10.1% in the first quarter of 2009 year-on-year. 10.1%! we're in the double digits. sigh. it's unavoidable that such a small country so dependent on trade and foreign direct investment would do really badly in bad times but this is horrible. it probably was unthinkable just a while ago. but it's a reality right now.

it makes me really grateful for what i have. i recently did a count of the countries i've been to. in my 23 years (omg i feel so old), i've been to 21 different countries (hong kong is not considered a country but monaco and the vatican are). i've been travelling since birth practically. my parents never deprived me of anything, i never had to worry about money, even when times were tough, my parents never let me feel lack (i didn't even know we were tight on money back then). my parents have always supported my every dream, provided for my every need, allowed me to indulge.

when i went to hong kong with sebastian recently, i remember so clearly going to ocean park with my parents and my brother when i was probably 6. that was where i got my first ever double scoop ice-cream (1992). even when times were not so good, my parents took us to disneyland in california (1997). we loved disneyland so much that we wanted to go again. so we went to the florida one as a family (2000). i want to travel through europe, my mum goes with me (2002). i want to go the uk for a trip, they pay for it (2005). i pass my driving, they buy a car (2006). i wanted to go to bible school. i asked my mum if she would pay for me, she said sure (actually i told God if my parents didn't pay i wouldn't go...it probably worked. hahaha) (2007). i want to go to america for summer school, they say okay (2008). i come to china and want to travel, my father agrees (2009).

my parents work their asses off so our family can have a comfortable life. i'm really grateful. back in 1994, when my father was deciding where to go, the china back then was a different china. backward, dirty, inefficient. but my parents prayed. and God brought my father to china. the economy was not open yet. noone was venturing into china yet. but God sees what we don't. for that, i'm really grateful to Him.