SUNDAY SERVICE (ENGLISH)
24 Feb 2008 (Sun) - 10.30am
FCC Main Hall
56 Geylang Lor 23
Level 3, Century Technology Building
All are welcome!
Speaker
JEAN LEE
Transformation Series
From Slavery to Freedom
____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _____
Worship Leader - GARY CHAN
Vocals - HO KOK WEI, JONATHAN FOONG
Keyboards - ERNEST THIO, NICHOLAS LEOW
Guitars - JIN WEI TANG, KELVIN NG, NATHAN GUO
Drums - JIN YU TANG
Sound - QING LONG LUO
Video - YAP FOO KEONG
Prayer - JAIME LOW
Communion - JONATHAN FOONG
Service Pastor - SUSAN TANG
FCC Service (Feb 24)
Sunday, February 24, 2008
ST:14 home-grown works in S'pore film fest (Feb 22)
Friday, February 22, 2008
Feb 22, 2008
14 home-grown works in S'pore film fest
Two films with gay content, Women Who Love Women and Lucky7, could
prove controversial
By Douglas Tseng
THIS year's Singapore International Festival showcases 14 movies made
by home-grown talents including two works with gay content which could
prove to be controversial.
Women Who Love Women: Conversations In Singapore is touted as one of
the few documentaries ever made about lesbians here. In it, three
Singapore lesbians talk candidly about their lives and loves.
Lucky7 is an experimental film with seven directors at the helm. One
director does a 10- to 12-minute segment of the film and this is
continued by the next director who knows only what has happened in the
last minute of the previous segment.
The movie's central character is played by by Sunny Pang. It has
homosexual content and has been rated R21 for 'sexual content and
disturbing images'.
Festival director Philip Cheah said Women Who Love Women was submitted
to the censors on Jan 10 and is pending a rating.
He said: 'All the films are like our children, we want to see them all
through the process.''
The festival has a policy of showing films uncut. Last year, Kan
Lume's experimental film about a gay couple, Solos, was withdrawn from
the festival after the censors ordered three cuts.
Other films that were withdrawn after the censors wanted cuts included
Sam Loh's serial killer thriller Outsiders (2005) and Zai Kuning's
short film Even Dogs Have Choices (2005), a short film featuring local
singer X' Ho.
Women Who Love Women, directed by Lim Mayling, 28, an events manager,
was screened at the Hong Kong Lesbian & Gay Film Festival last
November. It has also been screened privately in Singapore.
The three lesbians are Amanda Lee, 24, an undergraduate at the
Australian National University in Canberra, Australia; Sabrina Renee
Chong, 40, a photographer; and Gea Swee Jean, 24, who works in
business and IT marketing.
When asked how the audience would react to the documentary, Lim said:
'We will leave it to the audience to have their own thoughts. It is
still a little surreal to have been selected for the festival. It
remains to be seen if the film will be screened or how it will be rated.''
Other Singapore works to look out for include Royston Tan's After The
Rain, a short film about a young lad's move from the countryside to
the city, and Tan Siok Siok's Boomtown Beijing, a documentary on the
impact of the upcoming Olympics Games on a group of Beijing residents.
Royston is one of Singapore's most well-known directors, whose last
film, 881, about getai singers, made about $3.5 million at the box
office. Siok Siok is a long-time television producer who has worked
with Discovery Channel and MediaCorp TV. Boomtown Beijing is her debut
film, which she made while lecturing at Beijing Film Academy.
Festival manager Yuni Hadi said of the Singapore film segment:
'Whatever pre-conception we have of what a 'Singapore film' is, should
be left at the door and be challenged, twisted, questioned and discussed.'
The festival's opening film on April 4 is Wayne Wang's The Princess Of
Nebraska, a story about a pregnant Chinese girl's life in the United
States. Wang, who made his name with The Joy Luck Club (1993) and Eat
A Bowl Of Tea (1989), will be here for the festival.
Other films to watch out for include Wang Quanan's Tuya's Marriage,
which won the prestigious Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival last
year. It tells the heartbreaking story of a Mongolian woman who tries
to find a suitor to take care of her and her disabled husband.
douglast@sph.com.sg
# Ticket sales at Sistic outlets start from March 5. For ticketing
details and programme information, visit www.filmfest.org.sg
# The Siff venues are Lido cineplex at Orchard Road, National Museum
of Singapore, The Substation, Goethe Institute, Republic Polytechnic
and Sinema@Old School.
Reuters: FACTBOX: Facts about Singapore, winner of Youth Olympics (Feb 21)
Thursday, February 21, 2008
(Reuters) - The International Olympic Committee on Thursday awarded the first Youth Olympics for 2010 to Singapore.
Singapore beat the only other contender, Moscow, for the Games, which will have around 3,200 athletes, aged 14-18, competing in 26 sports.
Here are facts about Singapore: * The island state lies at the southern tip of the Malaysian peninsula, just one degree north of the equator, and has a surface area of just 700 square kilometers (270 square miles) -- about eight times the size of Manhattan. The total population is 4.6 million, including foreigners. Among Singaporeans, about 77 percent are ethnic Chinese, 14 percent Malay and 8 percent Indian.
* A former British colony, Singapore became a republic in 1965, when it separated from Malaysia after a two-year union. The People's Action Party has had a stranglehold on parliament and the opposition has never had more than a few seats. Singapore is one of the world's few city-states, like Monaco and Vatican City.
* Singapore is the wealthiest nation in Asia ex-Japan, with a 2006 Gross Domestic Product of about $29,000 per capita, on par with G-7 member Italy. About 85 percent of its citizens own their own government-built apartment. The city is known for cleanliness, tropical greenery, and a low crime rate.
* Singapore's economy is driven by electronics manufacturing, financial services, and oil refining. The republic has the world's busiest port in terms of shipping tonnage and the world's largest container trans-shipment centre. In a bid to fight competition from low-cost China, Singapore is trying to build up new industries such as biotech and tourism.
* Singapore is famous for its tight social controls and restrictions on the sale of chewing gum. Homosexuality is illegal (but tolerated) and pornography is banned. Demonstrations are illegal, while public speaking and gatherings of more than four people require a permit. Reporters Without Borders' 2007 press freedom index ranked Singapore 141st out of 169 countries, after Azerbajian and Sudan, reflecting restrictions on the media and arts.
* Singapore has stiff penalties for drug use and a mandatory death penalty for drug traffickers. Singapore also practices caning for a variety of offences.
* The city-state has been trying to soften its image in recent years, with government ministers saying they want to create a "vibrant" city with more "buzz". It allowed some bars to stay open for 24 hours, permitted bar-top dancing, and held its first sex exhibition. In a bid to woo tourists and boost its image, Singapore legalized casino gambling in 2005 and is building two multi-billion-dollar casinos.
(Reporting by Singapore Newsroom)
LUSH: Lesbians United for Self Help starting new group
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Hi all,
Given the recent debate on the issue of homosexuality that has been taking place, some of us may have a better understanding of the issue, while some of us still remain conflicted. For women who are struggling to reconcile our faith and sexuality, Safehaven, a ministry for lgbt christians under the Free Community Church, is starting the Fourth run of LUSH in March 2008. We started LUSH I in 2006, and LUSH II and III were both completed in 2007. So for those who may have missed the previous runs, we invite those who want to find out more to join us in LUSH IV, and information is as follows:
LUSH: Lesbians United for Self Help
What: Support Group for Gay Christian Women
We are now opening up for more women interested to be part of our fourth run.
Why: Very often, we women are told by our churches and the people around us that being gay or lesbian is a sin, and that Christianity doesn't condone same-sex partnerships.
As a result, many of us struggle to reconcile our sexuality with our faith. There seems to be a contradiction between "What We Have Been Taught" vs "What Feels Right To Us", and it seems impossible to resolve.
Who: Facilitated by Cephas and Julia of FCC, LUSH is a platform for women who struggle with this conflict. The group will be based on the format of a support group, providing a safe space to exchange ideas, explore other points of view, and encourage each other along our shared journey. (To aid the effectiveness of such a format for sharing, the size of the group will be limited, and members will be admitted on a first-come-first-served basis.)
How: The format will be based on discussions and sharing on a range of issues from the topics: Loving Ourselves; Sexuality and what the Bible says; Our Relationships; and Our Community.
When: Once a week, running for approximately 6 months with breaks in between.
If you are interested or have any enquiries, please contact Cephas at < diver_cep@yahoo.com > or Julia at < julspt@gmail.com>. Please reply by 24th of Febuary 2008.
Women's Nite 23rd Feb 2008: Getting to know you... online
Is it possible to truly fall in love with someone whom you've chatted with
online but have not met in person? But wait, how do you know she's for real
and she's really a "she" for that matter?
Apart from getting that next date, what else can we use the Internet for?
Whether you're a Women's Nite regular or an online lurker, you're invited to
a face2face discussion about getting connected through the Net - in more
ways than one.
***
Women's Nite February 2008
Saturday 23rd Feb, 7pm Venue (in Singapore) will be disclosed upon
registration. Limited to 30 invites, so please register with your full name,
contact number, the full name/s of your guests, if any, and the type of
halal food or drink you would be contributing to the potluck. Although
Women's Nite is open to women of all orientations, please let us know if you
are straight, or are bringing along straight guests, so that we can be
sensitive to the needs of all women present. Please send your details to
women.snite@gmail.com [women dot snite at gmail dot com] Registration closes
at midnight 22nd Feb 2008 *** About Women's Nite Women's Nite provides a
safe, neutral and alcohol-free space for lesbians and bisexual women in
Singapore to discuss the issues relevant to their lives. The event, held on
the last Saturday of every month, was started in December 2003. Over a
potluck dinner, we hold discussions on wide ranging topics like self
acceptance, homophobia, relationships and identity. We also invite special
guests to field questions on legal rights and sexual health, and conduct art
and dance therapy nights. To check out the past months' events, or find out
more, please go to http://women_snite.livejournal.com To get email updates
on each month's event, please visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group
/women_snite/ to join our mailing list. As far as possible, we would like to
keep this space commercial free. To advertise events and projects, please
email us at women.snite@gmail.com
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