A birthday celebrated

The psalmist teaches us to count our days in order to gain a wise heart (Psalm 90:12). Not everyone counts their days in the same way. My peers in the west seem to like marking 50 years, as well as almost every childhood year, with a fun birthday party. I have memories of some of my childhood birthdays, as I hope my son will too, since we've given him a party almost every year.

Chinese see 60 as significant, not 50. And as for childhood birthdays, some of my Singaporean colleagues remember only getting extra noodles or an egg for their birthday, if anything. Not that they were deprived. It just wasn't considered significant.

Anyway, my wife, Yu Chin Cheak, and I, recently celebrated a birthday. Guess who.


Suffice it to say that it was a good excuse to fellowship with friends and eat nice food. I think the author of Ecclesiastes said something about that. And come to think of it, our Lord was often found enjoying table fellowship.


One of the helpful skills that I have gained while living in Singapore is the art of collaboration. So a great thanks go to my co-conspirators, Dianna Khoo and Daniel Koh, as well as Chin Cheak's cousin, Ting Eng Ing with her classmates. Also credit goes to my son, Walter, for keeping a secret and coordinating behind the scenes with text-messaging.

My wife has a lot of great friends all over the world. Unfortunately, I reached only a fraction for this celebration. So appreciation is due all her friends, family and colleagues around the world, who have supported her.

May we all gain the wisdom of our years, at least.

--georgos

PS --Photos by nephew Wong Zi Tao

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