Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Deepavali - public holiday in Singapore

Hindu families all around the world turned their homes into enclaves of warm golden light even as they offer prayers, exchange gifts and share sweetmeats with each other.

Singapore is a multiracial country and Tuesday was a public holiday - Deepavali.  This is celebrated by Hindus to mark the triumph of good over evil and light over darkness. The celebration begins with the simple act of lighting an oil lamp

In his Facebook post our Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugararetnam explained the tradition of lighting up oil lamps in homes to celebrate the festival. "It's about the flame of the human spirit - overcoming the darkness of ignorance and bigotry with learning and understanding."

Public holidays or not, life remains the same with us. Last night we had our usual Bible class where we dealt with the conversion of Saul - a most unlikely candidate to become a Christian. He was all out to get rid of Christians when he met Christ on the road to Damascus. What an event.  Saul the persecutor of Christians met Christ the Light of the world and was wonderfully transformed. The persecutor saw the light and vision of Christ and heard His voice. He submitted to Divine authority and became a wonderful disciple of Jesus bringing thousands to the light of Christ.

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