I set up this blog about 10 years ago in 2011 and I’ve not updated it in several years.
(I’ve even forgotten how some of its bells and whistles work. If someone could remind me how to change the subheader, that would be most helpful.)
This “portfolio” has not been updated with 7 years and 11 months worth of documentary projects at CNA.
I’ve grown a lot since 2011. Not only have I had to step up to projects with greater scale and sophistication, I got married in 2017. And it’s all been a welcome journey.
My initial leap to my current workplace was fueled by excitement and patriotism. Years of experience and testing by assorted challenges may have put guardrails on my enthusiasm, but my sense of purpose remains steadfast. I’ve a new and more tempered perspective on what it means to serve the public through documentary-making, storytelling and journalism. Yet it still thrills my heart to see a story well told.
Current developments in the world, show us how precious truth and integrity is. Truth shines light on our dark world.
Storytellers in the media must continue to play our part in enlightening and delighting people with truth and inspiration.
Today I held my newly born nephew, a baby boy named Elijah. (What a name!) And I wondered, ‘Here’s a little person, what has God in store for him in his life ahead? What purpose and calling?’
Knowing what you are called to do can help you focus on what you’re supposed to do and eliminate stuff you aren’t to do.
Persevering is noble, but to persevere at what you’re supposed to do is even better.
I believe I was called to tell meaningful stories of value to our society. I had a conversation with a friend about an opportunity to do something like that again and just the thought of it got my heart pumping excitedly.
I reflected on what work I found most meaningful and it always involved telling stories that I could put my heart into. A recurring theme in them has been the search for identity and characters longing to know who they really are, where they really belong. Journeys to the roots of your community, your faith, your sense of nation and of home.
As you may know, last year we produced a documentary special for Mediacorp Okto around national day called “O Singapura: Songs to Inspire Nation” and back then I saw quite a few encouraging personal responses on social media.
Twitter:
Facebook:
When your work connects, moves hearts or inspires, it gives you that sense of satisfaction that the work was worth the while! And perhaps work that gels with your true purpose may be the most satisfying, but sometimes it might just be hard going!
All glory to God who made it possible. 🙂
We just gotta believe that in the end everything will work out for good. As it’s written ‘Many are the plans in a man’s heart but the Lord’s purpose that prevails’. That gives me hope!
A challenging off and on, up and down journey of over six months ends tonight. Reflections soon.
"O Singapura" is a TV documentary about Singapore's national & patriotic songs.
It started with coffee at Holland Village with a friend, and now it’s like crossing the finishing line of a marathon. I guess if this goes okay, it might be an appropriate time to do the ‘mobot‘.
Things in the past do give us hope and belief in the future.
Recently, a somewhat anxious coworker asked me if I thought a certain TV project would be hard. And I said it didn’t look so hard, really. The most difficult things would be the things we have little control over.
When you’ve come through flood and fire before, certain troubles don’t look all that unmanageable. You have a sense that things will be okay in the end, because they have come good before. It’s not so much a confidence in one’s own abilities, but in the divine providence and amazing grace that has seen you through similar scenarios time and time again. More about that later!
Among many things I’m looking forward to in 2012, I’m looking forward to the live action version The Hobbit! Are you?
But did you know they made an animated version of Tolkien’s tale in 1978? I watched that recently.
Bilbo Baggins in "The Hobbit"
Interestingly, at the beginning of the story, Bilbo Baggins, a relatively unadventurous Hobbit, signs a contract to go on an adventure with a band of treasure-seeking dwarves. And as the terms are vague, he is pretty much taken advantage of all the way, forced to do daring and adventurous things. But midway through the story, Bilbo begins to pen down the adventures, and is given a bit more responsibility by Gandalf the Wizard. From that point on, The Hobbit who was originally a mere passive voyager, now becomes the author of his own adventure. Growing ever bolder, Bilbo proves himself a clever hero.
The tale, one said to be suitable for young boys 11-14, I think, is a call to adventure – to adventure even if you aren’t entirely sure where it’ll take you. You never quite know what you’re getting into at the beginning of an adventure, but you go and along the way unexpected tests and trials grow you as a person.
Here’s the rather poignant lyrics of the theme song of the 1978 movie.
The greatest adventure is what lies ahead.
Today and tomorrow are yet to be said.
The chances, the changes are all yours to make.
The mold of your life is in your hands to break.
The greatest adventure is there if you’re bold.
Let go of the moment that life makes you hold.
To measure the meaning can make you delay;
It’s time you stop thinkin’ and wasting the day.
The man who’s a dreamer and never takes leave
Who thinks of a world that is just make-believe
Will never know passion, will never know pain.
Who sits by the window will one day see rain.
The greatest adventure is what lies ahead.
Today and tomorrow are yet to be said.
The chances, the changes are all yours to make.
The mold of your life is in your hands to break.
The greatest adventure is what lies ahead.
While I do think that our lives aren’t entirely our own to mold, I think the words still ring true. Painfully so at parts.
In recent days, I’ve been trying to keep things safe as possible. Once bitten, twice shy and all that. And I found it slightly counterproductive.
I realize sometimes pain makes you wary. You wish to avoid meeting unpleasant situations again. It’s a learned response but it isn’t always good.
We’ve got to proceed with an amount of faith. Not so much in man, but in the God who has kept you safe all the way.
I suppose like the Hobbit we’ve all been “There and Back Again”. Most of us have had a few adventures but few of us have had the good sense to jot them down.
So a few weeks ago, I was delighted to rediscover an article about my involvement in ‘Modern Pilgrims’ a TV documentary, which I did for CNA while at MV in ’09.
I thought it timely to reflect on it, as the new year dawns and as I make my roundabout return to TV production again. Not so much to rest on laurels, but hopefully to remember the hard graft and sweat that went into, and inspire more adventures. More importantly I thought it would be good to remember the hand that saw us through, so we can believe in God and believe in the future.
Here’s a transcript of that article for your reading pleasure.
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(From OnTRAC, a publication of the Trinity Annual Conference of the Methodist Church in Singapore. Edition title: “Experential Theologians” Dated: 3rd Quarter 2010.)
“Chatting with the Producer of ‘Modern Pilgrims'”
by Pastor Anthony Lee
Chatting with the Producer of 'Modern Pilgrims'
Have you watched “Modern Pilgrims” on Channel NewsAsia? The four-part series of hour-long television documentaries featured contemporary Singaporeans of different faiths embarking upon pilgrimages to the origins of the world’s great religions. The series was telecast in 2009 and 2010, during the weeks of major religious celebrations like Deepavali, Christmas, Easter, Vesak Day and Hari Raya. OnTRAC caught upo with the TV producer who pioneered the series, Chong Yew Meng, 29, a member of Barker Road Methodist Church.
OnTRAC (OT): Hi Yew Meng, nice to meet you. Could you tell us a little about your background in the media?
Yew Meng (YM): After I graduated from NTU with a degree in Communication Studies in 2006, I joined an independent TV production company called The Moving Visuals Co. (TMVC), where I worked as a producer/director/writer for nearly four years. I had previously interned with TMVC for six months during my third year in University. The company produces TV programmes for all the Mediacorp channels (5, 8, U, Okto, CNA), and regional cable channels (Nat Geo, Star World, Disney, History) too.
OT: What inspired you to produce this documentary series?
YM: Back in December 2008, I went on a Holy Land tour to Israel, Egypt and Jordan. During lunch one day, a few of us discussed how great it might be to do a documentary about religious pilgrimages. I took note of that, and when I went back to Singapore, I was inspired to write up a proposal. The proposed TV series, originally titles “Pilgrim Age”, would feature people from each major religion (Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu) going on heartfelt journeys to the lands where their faiths came from. I hoped it could help audiences understand other people’s basic beliefs better and help us appreciate people as people regardless of religion. As I floated the idea a few times to my supervisors, around April 2009, Channel NewsAsia (along with MDA’s Public Service Commission) came looking for ideas and they liked my reworked proposal, and the rest as they say is history.
OT: Tell us more about the shows and how it was like for you as producer / director.
YM: In our first episode, for the week of Deepavali, we followed a really nice Hindu couple to India and its sacred River Ganges. We filmed them performing rites for their late loved ones. The busy journey to India’s sacred cities was eye opening. In the second episode of ‘Modern Pilgrims’, we took a Christian couple to Israel to retrace the earthly life of Jesus. It was a real privilege to film in Israel. I’m sure the crew felt it too. These were historic and scenic places where Jesus may have set foot! However, in the days leading up to the trip, I worried if it would happen at all. The preparations were made in some haste, as production had to fit a dauntingly tight schedule. I was still finishing up the first episode, time was running out and we hadn’t found right candidates so we could not confirm travel bookings. Unusually, there was a shortage of good camera crew too, as many productions were going on simultaneously in Singapore. Trouble upon trouble! Surely this was a trip that could only be made possible by the grace of God! We prayed. Sure enough and just in time, things came together. We found good and appropriate interviewees, a superb cameraman, a really pleasant soundman, and the travel bookings could just fit everyone’s schedules! A day later or earlier would’ve been impossible! Israel is not a place to shoot without official permission, but thanks to our well-connected and hardworking travel agency we found that too! Thanks to all who helped, especially God, everything worked out for good! During the trip, it rained every other day. That was a real bother and a tad discouraging. I never knew it could rain that much in arid Israel! Thankfully, we always seemed to have just enough sunshine for what we needed to accomplish. The others encouraged me to see God’s hand in that. The rainy weather even enhanced some scenes! In the Garden of Gethsemane, the sky was overcast and it drizzled, setting a mood of melancholy. How apt that in a place where Jesus felt intense pain and sorrow, the heavens should be crying. Haha! Small mercies! (P.S. Also when we needed a Pastor to help with communion at the Garden Tomb, lo and behold a Singapore Methodist Pastor availed herself! What providence!) The documentary screened during the weeks of Christmas 2009 and Easter 2010. (P.S. I heard it also screened on Christmas 2010! Value for money? haha). All in all, I feel privileged to have worked on this series. It rated well and I’m pleased whenever I heard that the programme has touched a viewer positively.
OT: What advice would you give to those who are called to the media industry?
YM: I should say a good thing about working in TV production is that you can work in t-shirt and jeans. I will miss that in my next job! Seriously though, and as you might have guessed, Singapore’s media industry is not as glamorous as it seems. While mass media allows you to impact many with positive stories, it’s a passion-driven industry where you work very hard for modest pay. And it’s busy, hard work. Due to tight deadlines and the nature of the work, late-nights and filming on weekends are normal. I remember working Sundays in a row, without a day off. I’m sure burnout rates are quite high. In part, I survived by guarding personal devotional times. Before entering the office in the mornings, I’d find quiet spots to pray and I’d sing to God on my way. Occasionally, I’d hum worship songs at work, possibly annoying and amusing my colleagues. Haha! I wouldn’t advise that! While I did see the hand of God in the care of good colleagues, I think after a busy fortnight rapt in dizzying work, popping into a church service with God’s people is very gladdening! So whenever possible I attended worship services and cell group. The people who last longer in TV remember to take time off. I think (p.s. some) people in TV proudly say it’s quite a harsh or superficial industry. ‘All about image’ some say. Some embrace it, some don’t. I remember a boss once told me half of the job was just acting like you knew a lot. But that never sat well with me. I don’t think you need to act big, smart or important. Admitting your shortcoming can go a long way in working with others. Over time other professionals will appreciate your honesty and authenticity, and if you’ve got any quality it’s bound to surface. I just worked as hard as I could, trying not to bring down the name of Christ in my work place. I know God gave me creative talent, but I found that in the real challenges of life, our strengths mean next to nothing, and you can only depend on God to see you through. ‘Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come’ and God’s amazing grace has brought me safe thus far. For that, I am deeply grateful. So my best advice to anyone in any industry is to hang on to God!
OT: Thanks Yew Meng for that deep and honest sharing. What do you think about the idea of having Christian support groups in the media industry?
YM: That would be great. As far as I know, there aren’t any.
OT: Yes, may God indeed raise up likeminded Christians for this purpose.
Yew Meng is now working a a Web Manager / Multimedia Editor at the Ministry of Home Affairs, helping with its new media efforts.
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End of article.
Backpage of OnTRAC article about me & 'Modern Pilgrims'.
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Notes: I believe I did that interview in June 2010, and of course, if you didn’t already know, I left the government in Sep ’11 and I’m now independent/freelance in the media again so I wont have to to miss wearing t-shirts and jeans to work anymore! It’s like a part of life has come full circle.
It’s funny how much can happen in a couple of years! Some of the things I said above astonish me slightly.
I think the Engineer dad sometimes scoffs at work in the media industry. ‘It’s not a real profession (like engineering/medicine/law/accounting),’ he might imply.
But I say horses for courses. TV, media & comms just happens to be the sphere of influence I’m called to inhabit. What’s yours?
(A friend let me try his iOS programming tutorials, which were okay, but sheesh programming is tedious! Even when I did programming as a kid, I’d try to make games that told stories.)
I still get excited about telling good stories! We should go where we can do the most good, and if you can, do stuff that you love.
So 3 months in, I thought I’d share with you a few lessons gleaned so far from my little adventure.
1. Everything’s better together.
I’ve determined that greater collaboration and teamwork is the way forward.
In my first month at work I did a few projects on my own. I’d call them DIY projects. Where I would produce, direct, research, write, shoot, do sound, edit, liaise, all by myself.
While it may save you having to pay anyone, and you can make the turn around time pretty fast, collaboration is just way better.
In later projects, I made sure to involve or hire more people in the work.
Teaming it up is better because…
a. It keeps you from tiring yourself out.
b. It avails you to concentrate on other things other than production (e.g. frontline work like sales, connecting with relevant people, or vital back-room functions like business & product development.)
c. It means you can cover the whole process with joint expertise, and for you and the client that’s a more satisfying experience.
d. As iron sharpens iron, it usually produces a better product in the end.
Steve Jobs famously said that his model for business was The Beatles. They were a team of talented guys who kept each other’s destructive tendencies in check. The whole was greater than the sum of its parts.
As a big Beatles fan myself, I have to agree. They did good and occasionally great solo-work but none of it was consistently as good as what they produced as a band. The solo-work of John Lennon and McCartney, sometimes sounds like weak echoes of the Beatles work. And I’m sure most people wish would’ve wish they’d stayed together for longer ala The Rolling Stones.
The spellbinding music of the Beatles probably came about from that great to and fro of ideas, clashing perspectives, and riffing on each others creativity, and of course that mind-blowing synergy of a band filled with more than a pair of prolific musical geniuses. Yes, there’s bound to be conflict in there, but well, that’s relationships, and those are worth sticking at. ‘Love, love, love’ is what you need. It’s like the Beatles once declared, we ‘get by with a little help from our friends’ so let’s ‘Come together, right now over me’. 🙂
You may say it’s pretty quick, but I think freelancing or running this independent partnership shall only be a short street on the long path to something greater.
Going forward, I’ll be looking for more ways to team up and collaborate with you and others, to build or join a team that kicks-ass regularly. I’d encourage any meeting of minds, hearts, souls.
Reflecting on the work I’m most proud of down the years…I realize most of it was achieved through collaboration – blood, sweat, laughs, arguments, teamwork etc.
(P.S. Still, I doubt I’ll return quickly to being an employee, for I’m learning far too much out here, teaches you a different form of tenacity away from fixed lunch breaks etc.)
2. If you can, make stuff that people will love.
You may have heard it said that in life, you should find something you really love to do, and then do it passionately. That way, you’ll enjoy what you’re doing and work won’t seem like ‘work’ anymore.
There is truth in that, but it’s also true that we can’t always do the things we like.
So here’s a thought to throw into the mix.
If you’re going to spend all this time working on something, work on creating stuff that people will really love.
To that end, videos are still magic. There’s something amazing about watching stories unfurl on screen, that great illusion of light and sound, artificial time and space connecting with truth, character, emotion.
I’d like to compare the difference between video work for TV and work for businesses and organizations.
If you do a great job at TV or film people say “it’s a good show’. It had good content in it. It entertained them, informed them, moved them. Themes, character, story, stir their imaginations.
Audience may even fall in love with the product, the characters, the story, the world etc, (e.g. Star Wars), and even form a community around it. They adopt the story into their lives, it becomes part of them.
For a video about an organization or community, made for that organization that tells their story, it must move them in a different way.
It goes in reverse. For a start they already feel for the characters (themselves) and the story (their story).
They connect with the on-screen characters immediately, because they are people they interact with daily.
If they’ve been working hard at creating something at that organisation, I suspect it stirs something in them to see their labour of love presented on screen
Capturing the essence of a community and presenting it back to them connects with hearts and minds in a special way.
I have an experience, that sort of illustrates my point.
A few weeks ago, one of my rather kindhearted and grateful clients invited me to the first live screening of a video I produced for ACS Oldham Hall, a boarding school.
And so I sat behind about a hundred or so boarders and staff as it played in the hostel canteen, and here’s what I saw.
Watching all that, it felt a bit like being at a short film premiere and it also reminded me of a seemingly bygone era where they’d have roving film projectors play movies in villages.
There is still a special value to videos and films being enjoyed as a community. It’s like a story told around a campfire.
I mean with TV you don’t really get to see how people react to your stuff, except some ratings, or a few well-meaning pats on the back from whoever’s seen it.
(By the way, I believe there’s space for social media to plug a gap, to enhance or recreate shared experiences in our rather segmented media in this era.)
Anyway, compare making stuff that people love, with just making stuff for people to meet some kind of KPI or their boss’s boss’s boss’s deadline… (And I’ve done a bit of that.) Inspire me man!
Storytelling just feels more meaningful when you consider the human connection.
I want to make stuff people really love and connect with, and video might very well be part of it.
I want to create great experiences that will come to mean a lot to people.
Those are the kind of products and services we should pursue creating.
Down that vein of thought, I really like this iPad ad.
I won’t comment much. But they really nailed it, such awesome marketing.
3. Stay Hopeful.
It’s important to have hope.
There have been ups and downs the last 3 months. Must be a mistake or two (or three or more) here and there. I’ve done a couple of things I sorta regret. Missed opportunities etc.
You’ve got shrug it off quickly, learn from it and press on with hope in your heart, knowing that in the end things will be okay. That’s hope!
While hopelessness makes you yield in the face of obstacles and mope around in the pool of what might have been, hope opens your eyes to opportunities and solutions.
Hope isn’t only grounded in positive thinking. It’s the rational, emotional response to knowing that a sovereign loving God has you in the palm of his hand, will look after you and has good plans for you.
“In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.” – Proverbs 16:9
It also fuels perseverance, it gives you a sense that life is worth the while and good awaits us around the next corner.
A lack of hope makes you want to give up, but being hopeful makes you want to make exciting plans for tomorrow, even if you don’t have the full picture just yet.
In conclusion.
So that’s where I am, making plans to excite, looking to team up and collaborate as much as possible, wanting to make mind-blowing stuff people will love, and staying hopeful!
“Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust him, and he will help you.” – Psalm 37:5
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P.S. Hope you find these musings amusing! haha. 🙂 Do drop me a note or comment and we can stay in touch la.
My first month in the new business has gone quite well. Thanks be to God! 🙂 But I’m also reminded to listen out for a greater purpose.
He feeds the sparrows…
God feeds the sparrows, surely he will provide for you.
For the record, and as a reminder to myself, lest I get carried away and think all this month’s accomplishments were all my own doing, I shall give credit and thanks to where it’s due – to the Lord my provider.
I’m thankful to Him and I suppose I should be humbled to know that even out here daily provision does not depend on anxious striving. Indeed he feeds the sparrows, clothes the lilies and provides us his children with enough.
So far I’ve been kept busy by projects from referrals and new acquaintances, and all the capital I’ve put into this little venture I’ll be making back and more. Now, if only I could stay focused on listening to His voice. Surely he has even better things in mind for the days ahead.
Do I think it was the right choice venturing out? I think so. It’s given me the opportunity to learn, experience so many new things, and there’s so much more to grow into. Thanks family, friends and clients for your support and encouragement in this rather fascinating time!
I also believe God has been gracious and allowed most of the work of my hands to prosper this month.
Social Media
This month, I’ve had a bit of success providing social media solutions. I designed some strategic enhancements for the Facebook page of a client’s magazine and helped them run a promotion on it. Their Facebook following grew from just over 70 fans to over 700 fans in just about 10 days! To help you understand the scale of that little achievement, it took my previous office’s Facebook page about 6 months to reach numbers even close to that. It’s safe to say I’ve learnt a few tips and tricks during and beyond my previous work experience that helped. But it also took some open-minded collaboration and trust from the client, and well some grace from above. It’s just an injection of pace, now the challenge lies with the content providers to grow and engage with kick-ass content.
Ironically, my own social media platforms get a wee bit neglected whenever I get busy with work for a client. haha! I should continue to press on.
Corporate Videos
Thanks to a friend’s referral, I got to complete a corporate video with a tight deadline for a multinational hotel management company. Thank I completed it without a hitch in spite of the quick turnaround required, and they seemed quite pleased with the outcome. Thank God. And they say there may be more to come in the future.
Also, about a week ago, I shot a video for the ACS Oldham Hall boarding school, where I got to meet and interact with students from all over Asia, and I look forward to putting that video together soon.
TV
It’s been cool to get back to a bit of TV concept and content development work. I had the opportunity to help a friend with her documentary pitch to a TV broadcast channel. A week on it’s been shortlisted and the channel sounds keen so I’m hoping it gets picked up. But whatever happens, it feels meaningful to use my experience & expertise to help others grow their business.
The option to return to TV in a more conventional way also came along. The old company called me up and we met. They had interesting TV projects in the pipeline that they asked me to consider working on freelance. They were rather long projects 30-90 days and they didn’t have enough budget to make up for my opportunity cost, so I thought it may be better to let it go. Maybe next time. I had mixed feelings about having to pass those up, but I sense even more meaningful opportunities may avail themselves soon.
Growing Partnerships and the business
I’ve come to the conclusion that in the longer run it will be important to grow a team or join up with others beyond myself, or possibly the business needs to grow deeper, meaningful long-term business partnerships, not only to secure more sales and revenue streams or greater production capabilities but also to be prepared for more eventualities. For example there can be better cover when you’ve got to serve the country during reservist.
I think the next phase, beyond mere survival, will be to find strategic partners and clients that can really take the business to the next level. And this will involve setting up more meetings, finding more leads and strategizing sales and development. But this being a small operation I find it hard to work on sales and outreach whenever I’m in the thick of production work. It’s a challenge but I’m looking forward to it.
Purpose, Mission & Jobs.
The late Steve Jobs, the former Apple CEO and co-founder, wasn’t by most accounts the nicest of guys but he knew a thing or two about living with purpose.
He said, in what must by now be a much overtweeted quote:
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. … Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
Knowing one’s core purpose is of primary importance. It surely shouldn’t only be about money.
I set up the business with the intention of achieving social good and creating good media content that tells good stories for good purposes. But there’s a lot of good to be done and to really know what good you need to help with in the world it may take more time listening and discerning what good God has on His heart for you to work on. And I hope that in the hours, days and weeks to come I shall always give this the utmost priority, for the world is full of distractions that could take you away from your best and truest purpose – what you were made, designed and created for, that God may be happy and glorified, and you might find joy in being what you were born to be.
“(Design is) not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”
Sorry, I couldn’t resist another Steve Jobs quote. But you’ve got to admit he knew a thing or two about design. 🙂
Similarly, our design is not to work to achieve things for the sake of keeping up appearances or for the applause of others, ultimately we should to do what we were designed to do. I hope you want that too.
But we don’t define our own purpose. We are like clay in the hands of a master potter, or here’s a more modern analogy in line with recent events, we are like iPhones in the hands of an owner.
Our purpose is defined by the greater being in whose hands we are in. We are wonderfully made but our true worth is expressed in fulfilling a purpose greater than ourselves.
If we don’t listen to our Master’s voice, we’d be like the iPhone 4s Siri personal assistant switched off or malfunctioning – rather useless or maybe even dangerous (!) Imagine it messaging people without your permission!
I’m pretty certain Siri is somewhat useless in a super noisy environment, are we’re pretty useless if we’re drown out in the noise of the world. How can we hear the voice of Truth amid a world of din and distraction?
If we can’t hear the Master’s voice, we won’t know what we really we need to do, or worse yet we might do the wrong thing!
We mightlet the noise of others’ opinions can drown out your own inner voice (haha.. oops!)
For the Christian, his or her inner voice should be the still, small voice of God – a voice that echoes the Word of God, messages from our maker that resonate with something within us.
And we need to press in to listen to those life sustaining words. Beyond listening, we’ve to understand. Beyond understanding, we’ve to know what’s being said to us. And beyond discerning the message, we’ve to obey and let it live out in our daily lives. (O man that sounds challenging! I wish I’d actually do that more.)
Are our sensors switched off or numbed? Are we inattentive when the Master’s has something to say to us? Or are we too caught up in the noise of daily care and the busyness of the world, that we can’t hear whispered instructions?
Reflecting on the month’s provision, I am reminded of the following Bible verse…
“He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known,
to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” – Deut 8:3
The next time He speaks, I want to press in to listen, because everything else is secondary.
So after a year serving the government, I’m back in business, quite literally. I’ve registered the business as Mengspiration LLP (…more on the name later :P).
In some ways, I must be the farthest thing from a civil servant now. I’m not only a business partner, but a freelance ready for hire! Ah, a free-lance – sounds like an extra knight, or a roaming swordsman, that a king may hire to bolster his forces before heading into battle.
Aye, ye dragon of doubt and gloom, taste the steely lance of freedom!!!
I’ve rather quickly launched this new website, got my cards printed, and by the grace of God, the army has granted me a deferment so I may get the new business going and spearhead my return to the media industry. Oh the media! Be it TV, film, video, or social media, I’ve had my fingers and thumbs in each of those pies, and surely for good reason. Surely, my experience as a TV producer, director, writer, and my experience managing the website and social media, can be forged into something good.
The Lord says he has prepared good works in advance for me to do. Of that I have no doubt. But of what that good is, can we be entirely clear? All I know is that I’ve committed to it, and as far as I can see I was made to tell stories on screen.
For a while, I was like Rapunzel – locked in a tower and with talents used for not necessarily the greatest good, but now I am set free to, well, to do whatever it was prepared in advance for me to do. I hope the few hours we spend on upon this terrestrial ball will be spent shining brightly.
And that leads me, rather conveniently, to describe how I came to give this website and the business its name. I was googling variations of the meaning of my name.. I tried – striking, brilliant, glaring, blazing, meng, etc and various cheeky upgrades to the yew portion of the name (like yewniversal studios haha) and most were already taken! Yes, we live in a corny world. You can imagine what other combinations there were. After a few late night facebook chat brainstorms, I’d all but given up, and thought I should just give it a wee boring name, when suddenly, out of the blue, came inspiration. The brother had this awesome suggestion, which he transmitted via the sis-in-law, that I thought fit the spirit of what we were going for quite well – “Mengspiration”. Ding! the lightbulb in the head lit up immediately. And I pretty much said, ‘Yes! that’s it!’
It was silly enough to pull a laugh, a tad catchy and above all it was meaningful! (at least to me!) And nobody on earth had taken it for a name yet!
明 Meng the bit of my name which means bright, a combination of the Chinese characters for the sun and the moon, combined with “inspiration”. Bright, luminous inspiration. The taking in of breath or air to support luminous combustion!
Definition of INSPIRATION
1
a: a divine influence or action on a person believed to qualify him or her to receive and communicate sacred revelationb: the action or power of moving the intellect or emotionsc: the act of influencing or suggesting opinions
2
: the act of drawing in; specifically: the drawing of air into the lungs
3
a: the quality or state of being inspiredb: something that is inspired <a scheme that was pureinspiration>
Please let all of that be true in time. Bright Inspiration. That fits, surely.
The Dad said it was a good name. I might live out what the mum wanted me to be. But hang on, I said. Didn’t my parents want to name me “Yew Fatt” like Chow Yun Fatt? They were only joking it seems. My, my, a revelation after 30 years, or maybe it’s a case of foggy memories?
So, Mengspiration it is. Take it, leave it, or better yet “Like” it!
Like my all-new facebook page and take it beyond 25 likes, so I can give it a better URL like /mengspiration. It’s currently at facebook.com/bleaghoverlycomplexurl...
Seriously, they’re the easiest ways you can join me on this grand adventure and stay up to date with what’s on this blog etc. 🙂 Follow Mengspiratoin on social media and recommend it to your friends, family, loved ones, arch-rivals, businesses, acquaintances, and random strangers! 😛
What is Mengspiration so far? It’s still new and defining itself. I hope it can be a sustainable media solutions business that fuels charitable and divine purpose. That can be a challenge, no? It’ll be fun, frightening and challenging, but above all I hope it will be good!
Do support me and Mengspiration, wish me luck and many blessings. haha.
As the hilarious Jose Mourinho puppet on Special 1 TV might say,
