Nowhere To Run :: By Edwin Tan

Some three-plus decades ago, I could count myself as being part of a stain that would be on my country’s demography. There was no shortage in the numbers that were flocking to greener pastures; these thirty-somethings and forty-somethings had more than their fair share of the pressure cooker environment which dominated the island nation they lived in. A sizeable number would inadvertently chase the American Dream or live it up in the Lucky Country Down Under!

It never occurred to me that I would be part of this crowd. Singapore was then more than satisfactory as far as I was concerned – it thankfully still is at this moment.

There were quite a lot of folks who were making a din [uproar] about an enclave in Western Australia, a little Singapore south of the Swan River. Lots of families from my country dotted the landscape in Murdoch, Kardinya, and Winthrop – I was least interested in this development. I had my reasons – it all boiled down to my years at the University of Western Australia. There was more than a mouthful that I could never fancy. Cricket took on the pace of a paddle steamer on the Mississippi, Aussie Rules [Australian football] was alien to Planet Soccer, and on a personal note, golf took on a geriatric twist. Pub crawling [going to multiple bars], which was accompanied by binge drinking, did not go well with a then health-conscious young man. Neither did the soppy nature of typical Australian drama on big and little screens.

All that negativism about setting down in Australia was indeed part of His plan and, more so, a blessing. I found out that it was nothing lost but more of a gain when the articles by Ron Ferguson stunned me. Ron was a fellow writer on Rapture Ready that gave me the shocking truth, material many would downplay for the sake of worldly trivia. Australia had a massive facelift not favorable to the Body of Christ. The swan had finally become an ugly duck! I could sense that Australia was by far WOKE to the hilt. Extremes were the norm, and it would take on a frenetic if not fanatical form.

I received a nerve-shattering revelation when I came across Ron’s recent post. He alluded to the insanity in the realm of sport which is a time-honored Australian tradition. Seven sportsmen were publicly humiliated for taking their stand against the LGBT largesse. They vehemently refused to don jerseys with the Pride colors because they saw it as an abomination against the Lord. A hefty price to pay; an effective end to being on the who’s who list in the sporting arena aside from backlashes from numerous quarters – notably the media.

So I get the ugly piece that some call a work of art. I could draw a parallel with the incessant shelling that has been part and parcel of life in the Ukraine. Except for the fact that it is societal pressure versus howitzers! The WOKE nonsense is at every strata and about every corner where you go. I can imagine what it is like when this is as good as the norm; it might as well be a tough call when respite from this barrage is increasingly hard to come by. It brings to mind what I reckon would be worse than being repeatedly stabbed with a dagger; being confronted by people who do not know you but are hell-bent on forcing everything WOKE down your throat – regardless of whether death is the end result!

So I am thankful to God for pulling me away from a nasty like this; it does you no favors when you are in your early sixties. Greener pastures were a thing for memoirs, not just in Australia, but what about North America, Canada in particular? No more picturesque surroundings; it is gradually morphing into an ugly landscape that is laid waste by a nuke! What about my own backyard as I continue to write? It could be partially fair dinkum [excellent], mate! In my opinion, it might be a rather short time.

At this time, I am spared from that which would have been genuinely unbearable. But the situation in Singapore is barely bearable, all because of my desire to walk in the paths set by the good Lord. For a start, nearly all the churches in the island nation brush aside Bible Prophecy, many preferring sugar-coated fairy tales which emanate from Joel Osteen, Kenneth Copeland, and Rick Warren. I have even encountered books written by Bill Johnson in so-called Christian bookshops. I keep wondering whether the folks know what this guy and the New Apostolic Reformation are all about.

Talk about the Great Reset and the troubles associated with it; nobody cares about it. The ongoing supply chain nightmare and the impending global food shortage are of little interest to people who assume that things would be all right as it was in previous years. Whether it would be the case by the next Lunar New year is highly debatable. There is indeed a crowd that shuns the advice concerning realistic living in James 4:13-14. “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit’; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”

It’s much like calm waters at this moment. Food is plentiful and in great variety – all at affordable prices. Hardly any empty shelves in every store. Anything pertaining to LGBT is kept in check by the law of the land. Does it look like a storm brewing? Many would not think so. It reminds me very much of The Perfect Storm, which was arguably one of George Clooney’s finest!

Looks like many Christians in my country are taking an extended siesta. Few would have time to question the implications of the latest global developments – until it hits them very hard. They cannot stomach the existence of a multi-headed monster in the form of global government that could tear their lifelong dreams into shreds. It is already taking shape in many nations across the planet; the tentacles of torment seemingly know nothing about boundaries! Many dominoes would be falling; perhaps Singapore could be the last one! I was at a Burger King, a short twenty-minute walk from my place, just over a week ago. They were publicizing that synthetic burger so touted by the anti-meat globalists. Is the writing on the wall?

At the end of the day, we who are the Body of Christ cannot call any part of the world our home. “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself” (Philippians 3:20-21).

Praise the Lord! I am comfortable with almost being a loner, except for less than a handful of individuals that understand my picture. I would gladly regard this as a temporary set-up; I have a lot of time for the truth (available in cyberspace) besides prayer and meditation that focuses on God. There will indeed be eternal fellowship with the multitudes that belong to the Body of Christ.

MARANATHA

EDWIN

Contact me at [email protected]

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