Date: 24 April 2008 (Thursday)

Speaker: Mr. Gideon Khoo

Drugs vs. Students

Mr. Gideon Khoo is the director of a drug rehabilitation centre called "The Hiding Place".

The Hiding Place is a drug rehabilitation centre providing residential programme started in 1981 by Mr Gideon Khoo, a former drug dependent. At any one time we have about 30 addicts undergoing our 18-month rehabilitation programme through:-

a) The Hiding Place

b) The Halfway House

We were glad to have Mr. Gideon Khoo as our speaker recently to share about drugs, their effects and how students today are getting themselves unknowingly addicted to drugs.

The editor apologizes for the late upload of this article as when Mr. Gideon Khoo's sharing was being taken down, it ran up to twelve pages long. Yes, TWELVE!

A church service does not bring forth the Word of God until the Word itself is preached.

Psalm 119:9 à How can a young person stay pure?

                          By obeying your word and following its rules.

If only we can be sixteen forever, making mistakes along the way and thinking that we could learn from our mistakes…

If so, how can a man keep his ways pure then? Well, as stated in Psalm 119:9, you must have the Word of God planted in your heart.

You are here in college to study, and to get your degree. But you must also study the Word of God. Those words will motivate and transform you.

During the 1970s, Gideon was imprisoned for housebreaking. Visitors who came along were considered as his means to receive freebies from them (drinks, food, etc.). One lady doctor whose son was influenced by Gideon to take drugs, made it a point to visit Gideon at the prison. One day, the doctor gave him a Christian church tract for him to read.

Gideon did not think much about that tract, but he kept it. One day, he wanted to smoke tobacco but had run out of tobacco leaves. Desperately in need of a smoke, Gideon found the tract and decided to use it to smoke tobacco.

The moment Gideon saw the tract, he saw the words: “He can make you the man you should be.”

He was already in prison for the fifth time then. And he realized that he wasn’t much of a man.

So many times, we keep God’s Word in our minds, but we forget to put those words into our hearts.

The strength of the Lord is found from the inside out, not outside in.

We have the power, but it’s where you put the power that’s important.

You go to church every week. Where do you keep the Word of God?

Most of the time, we keep the Word in our minds, but not our hearts. God’s Word sometimes goes in one ear, and goes out from the other.

You go to church every week. Where do you keep the Word of God?

How can a young man keep his ways pure?

You are not protected within your campus, and still protected by your family. But how about when you are out there once you graduate?

New drugs vs. old drugs

Between you and your child, if you don’t talk to your child about drugs, someone else will- and you wouldn’t know how credible that person would be should this happen!

Many college students have been arrested due to carrying drugs illegally.

It was probably difficult for the young and impressionable student to differentiate between having a dream career and being a drug courier when they are given the opportunity to stay in five-star hotels and live glamorous lives by being used to carry drugs.

Malaysian woman held in Madrid: Suspect caught with a kilo of cocaine

Another Malaysian woman believed to be a victim of an international drug syndicate is being held at the Soto Del Real prison in Madrid, Spain.

’Berita Harian’ reported that the woman had been held since March 20 for suspicion of trying to smuggle cocaine into Spain from Brazil.

The 24-year-old from Klang, Selangor, was detained at the Malaga airport in Madrid after authorities found more than a kilogram of the substance hidden at the bottom of a bag she brought from Brazil.

The woman who works as a clerk in a company in Klang is believed to be a victim of the same syndicate, which entrapped Dayang Sakienah Mat Lazim, 20, and Norfaizura Azura Md Alias, 28, who are being detained in Malta for similar offences.

(extracted from “The Star”, Friday, 25 April 2008)

As students, you have to be very careful.

There are many syndicates out there looking for “innocent” and impressionable students to carry out their dirty work.

They rope you in by starting to make friends with you first- if they don’t throw the hook, they won’t get the fish.

The person from the syndicate would normally go around driving an expensive car and use branded items. Just like a gigolo, he would be nice to you, build up the trust level with you.

Therefore, we need to be discerning when it comes to making friends or when a stranger starts being friendly with you.

As a young female student, when you are coveted with all kinds of expensive worldly things, you’d end up getting “dazed”, though somehow impressed.

The gigolo who knows how to attract girls' attention (I'm sorry I had to choose this picture. Who else if not James Bond?)

When the person concerned invites you to go buy luggage to travel to far-off places such as China, Shanghai and Kenya, how could you object to such a great offer?

Upon purchasing the luggage, the luggage would be modified without your knowledge. Drugs would’ve been hidden in a certain part of the luggage. And when you and your newfound friend were to travel to the foreign country, your friend would take the faster lane for local residents, whereas you, as the foreigner, would have to go through the lane for foreigners. You lag behind due to having to go through checking by the Customs’ officials. Should you end up being caught with the drugs in your luggage, your newfound friend who had seemed so trustworthy at the beginning would be the first person to disappear from the scene and leave you stuck in a foreign country- with drugs stashed inside your luggage.

Cocaine seized from British teenagers burned outside Ghanaian courthouse. To read the story, click here.

So much for meeting Prince Charming…

Many people have been conned before in such a way. If you have been caught with drugs in your possession at the Customs, you can’t run anywhere else.

What is drug use?

Drug use happens when a doctor prescribes medicine to you for your sickness.

What do you do when you go to a hotel for a buffet meal? Certain people might take coffee or tea, after which they might smoke, if they are smokers. Coffee contains caffeine whereas cigarettes contain nicotine. This is called drug use.

What is drug misuse?

When you fall sick, you go see a doctor. With the medicine prescribed to you, you don’t take the complete dosage because halfway through, you have already recovered. The extra medicine is just kept away without being finished up. This is called “drug misuse”.

 Correct method of cough mixture consumption, as per the doctor's prescription 

What is drug abuse?

A doctor prescribes cough mixture for your cough. You were supposed to use a tablespoon to consume the cough mixture. Instead, you just drink from the bottle. That’s drug abuse!

What is drug dependence?

This is considered an addiction whereby the drug addict would have to depend on drugs.

Revelation 21:8 à But cowards who turn away from me, the unbelievers, and the corrupt, and murderers, and the immoral, and those who practice witchcraft, and idol worshippers, and all liars- their doom is in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur. This is the second death.

The “cowards” are not those who are fainthearted in their faith or who sometimes doubt or question but those who turn back from following God. They are not brave enough to stand up for Christ; they are not humble enough to accept His authority over their lives. They are put in the same list as the unbelieving, the corrupt, the murderers, the immoral, the idolaters, the liars, and those practicing magic arts.

Those who can endure the testing of evil and remain faithful will be rewarded by God.

New drugs: Amphetamine-type Stimulants (ATS)

ATS can be divided into two subgroups, namely CNS stimulants and hallucinogenic ATS (see footnote*).

Old drugs: Heroin, opium, marijuana

Drug addiction is a spiritual thing, not physical. A drug addict can be in prison for ten years, and also given six strokes of the “rotan” (caning), but on the night before he is discharged from the prison, do you think he could sleep well? No. Because his mind would already running. It’s a spiritual thing. He would be thinking where he could go for his next fix, and how much money he had with him.

Because of this, the government opens doors for spiritual leaders of various religions (Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism) to reach out to the drug addicts in the prisons.

New Drugs

With new drugs around, this is not to say that old drugs are no longer sold in the market.

Ice (a type of ATS)

New drugs are synthetic substances made by man. Old drugs were created by God. How so?

Opium, heroin and morphine were used in hospitals for medication, but men misused them.

Afghanistan is currently the number one opium grower in the world.

When Gideon was a youth, he had disgraced his family. But he now goes around sharing God’s Word.

Gideon had become a vagabond for six solid years and had mingled around with the American G.Is. He had made a fool of himself and had slept in monsoon drains- all this for a person whose family had been above average.

Gideon has counselled people who seem to have everything in their lives, but still can’t live in peace. There was a family who had an only son who had been sent overseas for his tertiary education. Back at home, this son had been well-protected. But out there in a foreign country, he was exposed to various negative influences around him.

The young boy had made a mess of himself by buying drugs from a group of Vietnamese people while studying at the university.

When this boy came home from overseas, he was still in a mess. He once came home in the wee hours of the morning to smash up the family’s luxury cars.

The boy’s mother, always paranoid of losing her only son, kept signing cheques to support her son’s habit.

We always think: “I’m not that stupid”. But it’s easy to trip and fall if you are not careful.

Three types of drugs

1. Stimulant (upper)

-         An ATS

-         Ecstasy, Ice (syabu)

-         This type of a drug makes you feel “high”

-         Makes a person very active

An Ecstasy pill with the fancy X logo 

2. Depression (downer)

-         Heroin, morphine, codeine (cough mixture)

-         How to detect if a person is taking such drugs? The person would look shabby, always isolate himself from, no appetite, skip class or turn up late for class

-         Such drugs make you feel slow

3. Hallucination

-         Makes you see things

-         Certain people turn suicidal because of such hallucinatory drugs

The Ecstasy pill

Ecstasy is a kind of drug that many yuppies are currently taking.

Is Ecstasy an addiction? In what form is it an addiction?

Don’t just think of Ecstasy consumption as a weekend thing. It’s an addiction that catches hold of your mental state of mind.

A person might only take Ecstasy during the weekends, but during those other working days, he would still keep thinking about it. It can become a mental addiction that can be difficult to get rid of.

You might not take Ecstasy for two or three weeks, but your mind would still be on it.

Each time you try those drugs, you’d remember that experience and would want to try more.

If there is a first time, there is bound to be a second time, third time… and in the end, you’d end up with “no time”.

If there is a first time, there is bound to be a second time, third time… and in the end, you’d end up with “no time”.

Many young people, especially students, are deceived by friends and club bouncers to take drugs. When you are down, they’d give you an “upper” type of drug. The door to darkness opens from there.

On a typical Friday night after work, a man would take an “upper” type of drug. The same thing happens again on Saturday. Such drug consumption would cause the person to remain active for two days. On Sunday, the person would avoid taking that drug and would go to sleep early in order to go to work on a Monday.

Such a thing happens when a person takes the Ecstasy pill. The person would remain active for two days. Even after going clubbing, the person would not be able to sleep till the next day. On the third day, the person would end up sleeping like a log.

Knocked out by the third day... not "resurrected"...

This is a bad weekly habit that could turn into a mental addiction.

Sixteen to seventeen years ago, Ecstasy pills had come from the United Kingdom. The pills costed RM 60 to RM 70 each during that time. Consuming real or pure Ecstasy pills could cause a person to go “high” and remain in “happy” mode.

At a club, a bouncer would stand outside the club and sell chewing gum- this makes the effects of the Ecstasy pill more effective.

Woman died after taking Ecstasy

Dawn Rennie, 37, of Woodlands Way, Bursledon, died at Southampton General Hospital on Saturday after taking a tablet the previous night.

Police have warned people to be wary of tablets described as round and white with an image of two cherries hanging from two leaves.

A 51-year-old Bursledon man was arrested on suspicion of supplying drugs and has been released on bail.

Detective Inspector Linda Howard said: "These tablets should be treated with extreme caution.

"We are awaiting chemical analysis of the tablets, but people should exercise extreme care."

Found limp

The reverse side of the tablet is plain with a line through the centre.

The woman, who has not been identified, took ecstasy at about 2300 BST on Friday, police said. By 0100 BST she was vomiting.

She was found limp at 0400 and was taken to hospital where she died at 0600 BST.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/6580959.stm

Nowadays, Ecstasy pills are all locally made. In businesses where Chinese people are concerned, it is all about business talk and profits. The locally produced Ecstasy pills are no longer in pure form, and have been mixed with a certain kind of grass that can cut blood-flow in the veins and thus cause faster stimulation.

One jug of tap water with ice: RM 25.00

In most clubs, a jug of water would be sold at around RM 25- nothing but tap water added with ice cubes.

But many people can’t help but pay for such an amount of money just to drink tap water because locally-made Ecstasy pills cause a person to become dehydrated. Those pills had already been mixed with rat poison. Such a product could only come from people who want to make money.

When you go to clubs with your friends, your friends may be OK, but you must also know your friends’ friends. Sometimes, your friend’s friend may not be as nice as you would have thought he/she would be.

When you go to clubs with your friends, your friends may be OK, but you must also know your friends’ friends.

Ecstasy used to come in pill form. These days, they don’t even have to be in pill form. It can even come in liquid form.

When you go to a club with your friend, you might not realize that your friend had given an eye signal or a wink to the waiter- a sign to use Ecstasy. A newbie like you wouldn’t have realized all that happening.

To test for the presence of drugs in your drink, America has produced a paper strip  to check the presence of Ecstasy in drinks.

Other types of drugs

An innocent girl going out with a guy might end up getting gang raped. Ecstasy is not only to make a person go high, but also affects a person’s sex drive.

The “French Fly” is a hormonal drug that comes in liquid form. It is used on female pigs for the purpose of reproduction. This drug has been misused in humans for all the wrong intentions.

As a college student, you have to be very careful since your parents are not around with you. Not only must you know your friends; you must know your friends’ friends as well. Today, you are safe from drugs, but you can’t be sure whether or not you will be safe from ATS.

Just like instant noodles and instant 3-in-1 drinks, drugs also come in “instant” form- all in one. Examples: Syabu, Ice.

Our local “Mat Rempits” (illegal motorbike racers) take “upper” drugs such as Domicom and WY so that they could be very alert while riding their motorbikes on the roads, especially during the weekends.

Another type of drug taken is the “daun ketum” which is an “upper” drug that can cause the person to become very bold after taking it.

Mat Rempits

A Mat Rempit is a Malaysian term for 'an individual who participates in illegal street racing', usually involving underbone motorcycles (colloquially known as Kapcai) or scooters. Not all Mat Rempits are involved in street racing; some of them simply ride their motorcycles in a dangerous and haphazard manner for fun.

 Sorry, wrong picture. This is the correct illustration of a "Mat Rempit". Depicted here is one of Mat Rempit's favourite 'Aerodynamic Pose' a.k.a. 'Superman' seen on the streets of Malaysia.

Among the “Mat Rempits”, they challenge each other to perform dangerous stunts. A representative from each group would be sent out, and the winner would get to go to Haadyai (Thailand) for free, and get to look for prostitutes.

Once you take Ecstasy, there are other drugs in that same family that you could get addicted to, such as “Syabu” and “Ice”.

ATS drugs affect the mind. Old drugs such as morphine and heroin destroy a person physically.

 New fashion drugs destroy your mind. You may go into rehabilitation to get better but you can’t get perfect healing. You’d only end up mumbling to yourself and become forgetful. God can’t give you a second mind once it deteriorates. The scars would still remain with you for a long time.

People who take the old types of drugs can still become normal upon rehabilitation.

ATS is more dangerous and a lot of college students are currently taking those type of drugs.

In Singapore, Ketamine is a very popular type of “upper” drug.

Ketamine [2-(2-chlorophenyl)-2-(methylamino)-cyclohexanone] is used as a general anaesthetic; in pain management to reduce opioid tolerance and withdrawal; in controversial drug-assisted psychotherapy; recreationally, as an ill-named "club drug"; and as an experimental tool to investigate the properties of mind.

Hallucinatory drug

There was once a member of the Pahang royal family who had killed his own mother. He was on ATS and could not sleep for three days. A person who takes ATS would end up hearing voices. He’d sleep, wake up and suddenly feel paranoid.

Tragedy in Malay Royal Family

- Malay princess is killed by her own son; son dies of an overdose

By: Ruxandra Adam, News Editor

Malaysian princess Tengku Puteri Kamariah, sister of Sultan Ahmad Shah, who controls the eastern state of Pahang, was stabbed to death on Monday afternoon by her own son while attempting to prevent him from attacking his father, CNN reports.

The murder took place at the princess’s home in Pekan town, Pahang, according to The Malay Mail and The New Straits Times. Both newspapers recalled that the princess’s son, Prince Tunku Rizal Shahzan, aged 21, attacked his 74 year old father with a screwdriver, and at that point, Kamariah tried to stop him and got killed in the subsequent fight, being stabbed in the back.

According to The Star, the young man’s father Tunku Ismail Tunku Sulaiman had to be rushed to the intensive care unit of the Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital in Kuantan, since he displayed wounds to his stomach. The princess’s son died later on due to what appeared as a drug overdose, which in turn might offer potential explanations for his strange fit of rage. Hospital officials stated that the man’s wheelchair-bound father was in stable condition. As far as Rizal was concerned, rumors were that he was under the influence of "some kind of designer drugs", more precisely syabu, a local version of crystal methamphetamine.

Although royal representatives did not comment upon the latest tragic developments in the Malay royal family and did neither confirm or infirm the reports, they did acknowledge that surviving family members took part in a series of burials on Tuesday. No comments could be obtained from the Pahang state police either, since chief police officer Razak Buhary declined any statement, according to his secretary.
Malaysia does not have one royal family, but nine, since nine of Malaysia’s 13 states are still ruled by a sultan or raja, yet only for ceremonial purposes only. The nine kings take turns in governing Malaysia for five-year terms. Malaysian royal families have been the subject of ongoing controversies that included the murder of the wife of one of the sultans by alleged black magic supporters and the arrest of another royal figure who started a fight during the festivities of a wedding, injuring several people.

Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Tragedy-in-Malay-Royal-Family-30940.shtml

Birds of a feather flock together

When you do bad things, you won’t commit such acts alone. You try to get somebody to “die” along with you.

When people invite you to do something bad, they pull you down, not up. The same thing happens when you are in college.

When a person is involved in glue sniffing, he would try to get his friends to join him in taking up that addiction. School students who can’t afford to buy expensive drugs would sniff glue.

Thai street children sniff glue at a road construction site in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, May 4, 2001. The number of homeless children is on the rise since the collapse of the country's economy in 1997. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Source: www.thaistudents.com/newsphotos/socialissues.html

Bullies usually group together in large numbers to bully a helpless victim. They go in groups to beat up one person- usually as ordered by a “boss”.

Hence, know your peers well when they try to suck you in to a group. Don’t think that because you are in a group, you are safe.

Survivor: Guatemala (To outwit, outplay and outlast each other)

Don’t think that because you are in a group, you are safe.

Marijuana

 Marijuana comes from the Cannabis sativa plant and is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States.

Is taking marijuana an addiction?

If you don’t take marijuana for two days, you are alright. But you still think about the drug. Taking marijuana is an addiction in the form of the mental and physical aspects.

Dried marijuana might sometimes be too green. To get rid of the green colour without having to get rid of the leaves (and thus saving cost), opium added with water would be sprayed onto the marijuana leaves. Alternatively, heroin and water would be sprayed onto the leaves. This is the localized production version.

Marijuana is a “downer” type of drug. When you take the drug, it not only becomes a mental addiction- it becomes a physical addiction. Since marijuana is now sprayed with morphine, heroin or opium, the person addicted to marijuana would be affected with serious negative side effects.

Don’t just say, “I’m only taking half…”

Bit by bit, one day, you’ll end up “exploding”.

God heals

Gideon had once hung out with the American G.Is. He had played music for them. He ended up wasting eleven years of his life after that.

But there is a God who can heal.

OTC

OTC stands for “Over the Counter” drugs.

Codeine (cough mixture) was a drug that was easily available in pharmacies. Now, when pharmacies want to dispense cough mixture, they take down the buyer’s name and identity card number. It is now a controlled item.

This is because it was discovered that “mat rempits” and schoolboys mix the cough mixture and Coca-Cola and Pepsi.

The Golden Triangle

The Golden Triangle is one of Asia's two main illicit opium-producing areas. It is an area of around 350,000 square kilometres that overlaps the mountains of four countries of Southeast Asia: Myanmar (Burma), Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand. (Other interpretations of the Golden Triangle also include a section of Yunnan Province, China.) Along with Afghanistan in the Golden Crescent (together with Iran and Pakistan), it has been one of the most extensive opium-producing areas of Asia and of the world since the 1950s.

Poppies are flowers. Evil hides behind beauty.

A wild field of poppies, West Azarbaijan Province, Iran

Chiangrai is one of the places located in the Golden Triangle.

Raw opium

Opium is derived from poppies.

"A pipe is the fountain of contemplation, the source of pleasure, the companion of the wise; and the man who smokes, thinks like a philosopher and acts like a Samaritan."
Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803 - 1873) 
 

A Chinese opium smoker is called an “Ah Phien Sien” (see picture above).

The Last Emperor of China also smoked opium. Opium is a “downer” type of drug. A person who is addicted to opium can’t think and speak fast. Young and old people alike can get addicted to opium.

In Chiangrai where most families live in small houses, the mother would cook whereas the father and children would wait in the house. The father would start smoking opium, causing the children to become passive smokers. In the end, during the rehab session, the whole family would have to go for rehab, not just the father.

Chasing the Dragon

Afghanistan is the number one legal opium grower in the world. Opium is needed to produce medicine to cure cancer.

Morphine is needed to treat wounded soldiers.

A person who takes heroin can “chase the dragon”, but can’t jab the drug into the flesh.

Chasing the dragon (Photograph by Brian Finke)

Heroin addicts would smoke heroin. Once their tolerance to the drug increases, it would be difficult to maintain the amount of heroin taken in. This would provoke the addict to “chase the dragon”.

"Chasing the dragon" (a slang phrase of Cantonese origin from Hong Kong) refers to inhaling the smoke from heated morphine, heroin or opium, which is referred to as a dragon in some Asian cultures. The term evokes the similarity between the rippling smoke and a dragon's tail.

After “chasing the dragon”, the addict would end up going into a “high” level and inject the drug into the bloodstream. Lime is used as a catalyst to dissolve heroin faster.

Drug addicts are experts in finding veins- something that even trained doctors and nurses find hard to do.

An addict would have to be fast in pumping the heroin into the bloodstream because once the heroin cools down, it would turn into powder form. It cools down very quickly. Therefore, the addict would have to be fast in pumping the drug into the vein.

Needle sharing

Drug addicts- they were like you. They were young, smart students once. But drugs destroyed them.

Needle sharing is hazardous  

In a place where drug addicts group together to smoke heroin, heroin is cooked by one person after which one syringe containing the cooked heroin would be pumped into many veins through a shared needle.

Let’s say someone needs 75 cc of heroin. The person-in-charge would cook up  100 cc of the drug, pump in 75 cc into the friend’s vein and take in the remaining 25 cc for himself.

Sometimes, when the drug is pumped in, the needle doesn’t hit a vein but hits the flesh instead. This causes the flesh to become swollen.

How much heroin must you take before loneliness, rejection and death starts eating you up?

By taking heroin, a gang leader soon ended up as a street beggar.

Conclusion

The love of money is the root of all evil. Once you make a wrong step, you will fall badly.

Drugs know no boundaries.

Never play with drugs. There is no way for you to scoop fire with your hand without being burned.

Smoking can be a gateway to drug addiction.

We were sinners but Jesus died for us. It is through His grace that we are saved- that’s the greatest gift from God.

Our salvation is a gift. Playing music is a gift.

We didn’t buy our salvation. Let us bless others with our gift.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path (Psalm 119:105).

We have a big God.

Some people buy big amulets to protect themselves. But those expensive amulets had been bought with money.

Your parents may not be with you here. But God is with you… always…

EXTRA

* Much ado about ATS

CNS Stimulants

The main drugs in this group are -

• amphetamine (street names: Bennies, Dexies, Benzedrine);
• methamphetamine (street names: Ice, Meth, Crystal); and
• methcathinone (street name: CAT).

The effects of CNS stimulants

The sought-after effects of these drugs are -

• a feeling of well-being, exhilaration and euphoria;
• increased alertness and energy;
• delayed hunger and fatigue; and
• an enhanced ability to perform manual and intellectual tasks.

The possible short-term effects of these drugs are -

• loss of appetite;
• faster breathing;
• increased heart rate;
• raised blood pressure;
• dilated pupils;
• strange, erratic, at times violent behaviour;

The possible effects of large doses are -

• hallucinations;
• talkativeness;
• a sense of power or superiority;
• restlessness;
• hyperexcitability; and
• irritability which can lead to anxiety and paranoid psychosis.

The possible effects of excessive doses are -

• convulsions;
• seizures;
• death from respiratory failure;
• stroke;
• cerebral haemorrhage; and 
• heart failure.

The possible long-term effects of these drugs are -

• destruction of the tissue in nose if the drugs are sniffed;
• respiratory problems if the drugs are smoked;
• contraction of infectious diseases if the drugs are injected;
• abscesses if the drugs are injected;
• malnutrition and weight loss;
• disorientation;
• indifference;
• confusion and exhaustion due to a lack of sleep;
• an increased tolerance to the drugs;
• a psychological dependance on the drugs; and
• paranoid psychosis.

When a person stops using these drugs, he/she will go through a period of excessive sleeping followed by a period of depression.

Hallucinogenic ATS

The main drugs in this group are -

• 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) (street names: Ecstasy, XTC, E, Adam and various names catalogued in the 2003 Logo Index);
• 3,4-Methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) (street names: Ecstasy, XTC, E and various names catalogued in the 2003 Logo Index); and
• 3,4-Methylenedioxyethylamphetamine (MDEA) (street names: Ecstasy, XTC, E, Adam and various names catalogued in the 2003 Logo Index).

The effects of hallucinogenic ATS

The sought-after effects of these drugs are -

• a feeling of emotional closeness to others (empathy);
• increased sociability; and
• increased physical and emotional energy.

The possible short-term effects of these drugs are -

• fatigue and depression after use of the drugs is stopped;
• restlessness, anxiety and intense visual and auditory hallucinations with larger doses;
• nausea and vomiting;
• a rise in blood pressure and heart rate; and
• death from heatstroke.

The possible long-term effects of these drugs are -

• damage to nerve tissue;
• brain damage; and
• liver damage.

Chemical safrole used as a precursor in manufacturing hallucinogenic ATS is reasonably anticipated to be a carcinogen, that is, a substance that can cause cancer, according to the Ninth Report on Carcinogens (PB2000-107509, 2000).

References

Terminology and Information on Drugs, Revised Edition, United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, New York, 1999.

Merck Index, 13th Edition, Merck & Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station NJ, 2001.

NUCCF

Date: 9 April 2008 (Wednesday)

Speaker: Mr. Allan Yong

How many of you know why you are here in college?

Why are we here in college?

(Picture is for illustrative purposes only)

Some would say...

 ...I’m here to be a student.

 ...I’m here to complete my degree.

 ...I’m here to prepare myself to go to the States for my final year.

If you believe in God, why do you think God had put you here? There must be a purpose that God had put you here.

How many of you here believe that you are here only to study?

I'm only here to study. Nothing else matters anymore...

And how many of you here agree that you are here to evangelize?

I'm only a student. What much can I do to evangelize?

Even if you don’t agree on the evangelizing part, the Bible still says so.

Matthew 28:19-20 à ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in^[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

When God sends you out to “make disciples of all nations”, what should you do?

It’s partly to fulfil this great commission.

There are only two great things that people say about in the Bible: the Great Commission, and the Great Commandment.

Great Commission

In Christian tradition, the Great Commission is the instruction of the resurrected Jesus Christ to his disciples, that they spread his teachings to all the nations of the world. It has become a tenet in Christian theology emphasizing mission work, evangelism, and baptism. It has been a primary basis for Christian missionary activity.

Send me, I will go...

Some versions of the Great Commission appear in Matthew, Luke, John, and in Acts, which is the second part of Luke-Acts. Details vary from book to book. In Matthew, Jesus directs the disciples to baptize people of all nations in the name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the Trinitarian formula. In Luke, Jesus tells the disciples to preach repentance and forgiveness, and promises that they will have divine power. In John, Jesus says the disciples will have the Holy Spirit and the authority to forgive sins and to withhold forgiveness. In Acts, Jesus promises the disciples that the Holy Spirit will inspire them. In Mark, Jesus never speaks with his disciples after his resurrection, since modern scholars agree that the original gospel of Mark ends at verse Mark 16:8 with the women leaving the tomb.

There is nothing greater than the Great Commission that could be shared with the non-Christians.

Great Commandment

Loving the Lord with all your heart is not just something spiritual. It is something emotional, physical, and mental as to how you must know Him.

You express God’s love by loving your neighbours as you love yourself.

Love Thy Neighbour...

The Great Commitment

You would need to have a great commitment to the Great Commission and Great Commandment. When you have a great commitment to the Great Commission and Great Commandment, you will be a great Christian. When you are a great Christian, you can build a great church.

Why does Satan want to make us be lousy Christians?

Because you are a lousy Christian, he will have more business in hell. If there are more Christians around, then Satan would come to an end.

Satan has a great interest to make you a lousy Christian.

You are not just supposed to be a student- but also a Christian student. You’re not just a student who happens to be a Christian.

You are not just here to study. You are here to study and also to evangelize.

You are not just supposed to be a student- but also a Christian student.

A church is not just a building. The people maketh it.

But the people should also go out and evangelize. Not just stay within the four walls of the building and remain in their comfort zone.

I'm happy as I am being in church. The outside world is a scary place to be in. People cuss a lot. And lots of people like to smoke and drink too. I'm scared.........

When you talk about serving in the Christian Fellowship, it’s because you want to make the best out of the Great Commission and Great Commandment.

Don’t just say that you love God. Put your words into actions.

John 13:35 --> By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

People know that you love God not by the way you dress, but by the goodness and warmth emanating from you.

 If your group is warm, people will be able to feel welcome.

If there’s only cold reception, that will just make a person feel like a fish lost in a desert.

So...

 ...be that warm and friendly individual in that sea of dreary coldness...

If your group has got interesting activities and a good band, people can enjoy your gatherings and singing, even though they are not yet Christians.

But you can’t depend on entertainment alone. How long can you depend on entertainment to keep the crowd interested in you? This method does not last for long.

Entertainment and activities may be important, but the people must also be drawn to something- the love of God.

If the group has great teaching, then it will be worth their time to attend. During Bible study sessions, talk about issues that interest people (e.g.: evolution).

The group, teachings and activities have to be great in order to draw people to the Christian Fellowship.

The Great Commission is the spoken Word of God.

Mark 8:38 --> If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels.

"If you are ashamed of me, I will be ashamed of you too when I judge you."

Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30)

      ¹⁴"Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. ¹⁵To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. ¹⁶The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. ¹⁷So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. ¹⁸But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.

    ¹⁹"After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. ²⁰The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.'

    ²¹"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'

    ²²"The man with the two talents also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.'

    ²³"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'

    ²⁴"Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.'

    ²⁶"His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? ²⁷Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

    ²⁸" 'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. ²⁹For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. ³⁰And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

Three servants received money from their master. Two of them invested the money whereas the third servant (the lazy servant) buried the money.

In the end, the lazy servant was judged by his master and cast out into the outer darkness. He wasn’t thrown into a lake of fire. In the darkness, there is no light and very cold (thus, the gnashing of teeth).

Before that, the lazy servant was in the light. Who represents the light? God Himself.

The lazy servant was supposed to be in the light. Only then could he be cast into the darkness. How can you cast darkness into darkness?

Unfaithful servants will be cast into the outer darkness. Where would you wan to be at the judgment seat? The Bible never mentioned any “in between” state apart from light and darkness.

God won’t rewards you based on how much you get, but how you effort you have put in to do something. At least, God could use your effort to bless other people.

This parable of Jesus teaches you to use the talent that God has given you. And you do have some things that you can do really well.

Make a list of the things you do well. Use those talents for God. You may discover that He has given you a new talent; one that you didn't even suspect that you had. Then find a way to use that talent for Him!

"Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." (quoted by John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States)

NUCCF

Date: 13 February 2008 (Wednesday)

Speaker: Ms. Elizabeth Fu

Introduction

It’s a man’s desire to be with peers or to be in a group- no man is an island.

What's he celebrating anyway?

Since men have such a desire, they initiate a reason to get together to celebrate. Hence, we have birthdays, farewells, anniversaries, Christmas, Chinese New Year and all kinds of other public holidays.

Celebration with a reason comes from a man’s desire. If you have no reason and no desire, you then have no celebration.

"Bah, humbug!" says Ebenezer Scrooge (illustration by Ronald Searle, "A Christmas Carol", 1960)

Seeds of Wisdom

To share my sermon in a group is indeed very challenging. The preparation is still the same no matter how many people I may be speaking to; one person, two people, ten thousand people- the preparation is still the same.

While preparing this sermon, I had asked, “Lord, reveal to me what needs to be shared with the people…”

This got me concerned…

¹⁸ “Now listen to the explanation of the parable about the farmer planting seeds: ¹⁹ The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message about the Kingdom and don’t understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches away the seed that was planted in their hearts. ²⁰ The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. ²¹ But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word. ²² The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced. ²³ The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” (Matthew 13)

When the words of wisdom are shared, these words may be well received by some, make a few others uncomfortable, or be totally rejected.

When the words of wisdom are shared, these words may be well received by some, make a few others uncomfortable, or be totally rejected (Sorry, can't find any other picture to illustrate the speaker's point...)

Your heart has to be prepared to listen.

The Cause for Celebration

We should know the reason why we celebrate certain things.

It will be Valentine’s Day tomorrow (Valentine’s Day would’ve passed by the time I am done typing out this sermon for this website) and Chap Goh Meh (15^th day of Chinese New Year) is also just around the corner.

When we celebrate, what are we celebrating? Where does the desire come from? Why do we celebrate? And how?

What are you celebrating? Why... and how?

Jesus Tells the Parable of the Rich Fool

Luke 12:13-21

¹³The someone called from the crowd, “Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our father’s estate with me.”

¹⁴Jesus replied, “Friend, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that?” ¹⁵Then He said, “Beware! Don’t be greedy for what you don’t have. Real life is not measure by how much we own.”

¹⁶And He gave an illustration: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. ¹⁷In fact, his barns were full to overflowing. ¹⁸So he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store everything. ¹⁹And I’ll sit back and say to myself, My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Not take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!’

²⁰”But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get it all?”

²¹Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”

 And I’ll sit back and say to myself, My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come.

The “rich fool” within

I have the money and the fame. I’ll just retire early and go on a well-deserved long vacation… I can be happy every night… Gosh, it’s so good to be rich…

You may have the money, but not the relationship with God.

God is not against wealth or celebrations. It is the intentions of your heart that matters most.

You are what you eat

Man’s desire to celebrate had come from God. God had created us for fellowship and to celebrate for He wants somebody to celebrate and rejoice.

Genesis 1:26 à Then God said, “Let us make people in our image, to be like ourselves. They will be masters over all life- the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the livestock, wild animals, and small animals.

What do people do during celebrations? It’s usually all about eating, drinking and being merry.

But what do you think “celebration” is all about, in the Bible context? Is it all about eating, drinking and being merry?

Let's celebrate!

Genesis 2:16-17 à ¹⁶But the Lord God gave him this warning, “You may freely eat any fruit in the garden ¹⁷except fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat of its fruit, you will surely die.”

During a celebration, it is alright to eat anything you want, but what you are eating is important.

You are what you eat...

When God created Adam, Adam had felt lonely. So, God gave him Eve.

Genesis 2:18 à And the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a companion who will help him…”

The first celebration that God had celebrated was that of life. After that, it was of the first marriage between Adam and Eve.

God does celebrate.

We can celebrate too. But it is the intention of the celebration that is important.

The intention of the celebration is important.

Serpent Says…

When we celebrate, we eat all kinds of things.

When a person were to ask you, “Why are you eating this?”, you might say, “Because I was tempted…”

You must flee from temptation just as to how Joseph had (Genesis 39).

1Now the serpent was the shrewdest of all the creatures the Lord God had made. “Really?” he asked the woman. “Did God really say you must not eat any of the fruit in the garden?

2”Of course we may eat it,” the woman told him. 3”It’s only the fruit from the tree at the centre of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God says we must not eat it or even touch it, or we will die.”

4”You won’t die!” the serpent hissed. 5”God knows that your eyes will be opened when you eat it. You will become just like God, knowing everything, both good and evil.” (Genesis 3)

 Serpent says, "Surely you won’t die!"

The first temptation was just a simple fellowship between Eve and the serpent. This is akin to being with the wrong person at the wrong time for this person whom you are dealing with has got all the wrong intentions in mind.

The Artful Dodger might seem friendly at first glance...

Don’t just think, “This person must be the right person,” each time you see a friendly-looking person.

Don’t just think that there’s no serpent around.

Don't just think there's no serpent around...

To know what you should or should not eat, walk closely with God. You will know how to differentiate the good from the bad when you walk closely with God.

Origins

Our desire to celebrate comes from God.

Yes, you can celebrate, but do you know the meaning behind what you are celebrating? And what is your intention to celebrate?

Valentine’s Day and Halloween’s are two of the occasions in the world that is not really well-accepted by Christians (see explanation attached*).

Valentine’s Day and Halloween’s were celebrated a long time ago by the pagans.

During the celebrations in the pagan world a long time ago, they usually sacrificed humans. The sacrifices later evolved to the usage of animals instead. 

Love is in the air

Valentine’s Day is a pagan celebration. However, it has become so overly commercialized today.

Think Valentine’s Day and the next word that might come into mind is “romance”.

Romances are to be kept until after marriage. The intimacy involved in such a celebration during Valentine’s Day is meant for married couples.

Otherwise, what special occasion would you celebrate then after your marriage apart from your children’s birthdays?

Intimacy and romances should be kept after marriage. Don’t take these things so seriously when you are still students.

Valentine’s Day has become so commercialized that it has become a lovers’ celebration to the extent that guys are required to buy something for their girlfriends on this day. The tension has been upped whether you like it or not.

On this day, everything suddenly becomes more expensive- roses, special dinner menus… Everything has become part of an intelligent profit-making business. But young people seem to be getting so stressed up because of Valentine’s Day.

Imagine a scenario where a husband comes back from work on a Valentine’s Day, sans Valentine’s Day gift for the wife. What the husband has in mind is an expectation that the wife would have had prepared dinner for the day. However, the wife had expected the husband to take her out (since it’s Valentine’s Day after all). 

Celebrating Life Together

This Valentine’s Day, if you are already feeling left out in the dating game because everyone seems to be so happy being attached, just spend your time reflecting upon your relationship with God.

We have so many celebrations that we sometimes forget what it’s all about.

Christmas is an occasion that has become so commercialized that Jesus has somehow been taken out of the context. One day, many wouldn’t even know what Christmas is really all about. Most children would probably think that Christmas is all about Santa Claus, reindeer and snowmen.

  Merry Christmas???

There is always a reason to celebrate a good cause- a time for family and friends to get together.

In the United Kingdom, people usually get together at the pub or club to drink and watch football. Do you want that kind of a life?

You must have something in your life worth celebrating about every day. Bring joy to the people around you.

And when you celebrate something, you must bring God’s love along with it. Celebrate with a purpose. Otherwise, you’re just going to wake up the next day after a party thinking, “Uh, is that all? No more party? Where is everybody?”

 Party’s over. Where’s everybody?

The trend these days is to jump into relationships, get engaged and then get married- the sooner, the better (you’re probably hoping for that instant “happily ever after” ending, aren’t you?). But not too long after that, people end up crashing and burning and don’t even know why things had not worked out.

If we get the wrong footing in a relationship with the wrong person at the wrong time, this would only result in trouble.

Just like Eve, she was supposed to have been with Adam, but she wasn’t. It only takes a very short while for a person with the wrong intentions to walk into your life to take away what you hold dear most in your life.

Pleasing somebody has to be your second nature. You don’t have to think so hard: “What should I cook today, what should I wear, what if he/she doesn’t like what I’ve done for him/her?” (this would definitely drive you insane)

There must be love, for sure, and love comes from God.

Conclusion

If you don’t have anyone to spend your time with this Valentine’s Day, don’t worry. God had created Adam and He had realized that Adam had been lonely. As such, God created Eve.

Ask God for what your heart’s desires may be. Forget about online matchmaking services- that’s probably only for those frustrated ones.

Ask God to show you the right person.

Our desire is from God. Honour Him with a sincere heart. That’s why we celebrate.  

* Valentine's Day or Saint Valentine's Day is a holiday celebrated on February 14th. In the Americas and Europe, it is the traditional day on which lovers express their love for each other by sending Valentine's cards, presenting flowers, or offering confectionery. The holiday is named after two of the numerous Early Christian martyrs named Valentine. The day became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.

The day is most closely associated with the mutual exchange of love notes in the form of "valentines." Modern Valentine symbols include the heart-shaped outline and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten notes have largely given way to mass-produced greeting cards. The sending of Valentines was a fashion in nineteenth-century Great Britain. In the United States, the imported fashion leading to a mid-nineteenth century Valentine's Day trade was a harbinger of further commercialized holidays in the United States to follow.

In Ancient Rome, February 15 was Lupercalia, an archaic rite connected to fertility, without overtones of romance. Plutarch wrote:

“Lupercalia, of which many write that it was anciently celebrated by shepherds, and has also some connection with the Arcadian Lycaea. At this time many of the noble youths and of the magistrates run up and down through the city naked, for sport and laughter striking those they meet with shaggy thongs. And many women of rank also purposely get in their way, and like children at school present their hands to be struck, believing that the pregnant will thus be helped in delivery, and the barren to pregnancy.”

The word Lupercalia comes from ‘lupus’, or "wolf", so the holiday may be connected with the legendary wolf that suckled Romulus and Remus. Priests of the ‘collegium’ of ‘luperci’ would travel to the ‘lupercal’, the cave where the she-wolf who reared Romulu and Remus allegedly lived, and sacrifice animals (two goats and a dog). The blood would then be scattered in the streets, to bring fertility and keep the wolves away from the fields. Lupercalia was a festival local to the city of Rome. The more general Festival of Juno Februa, meaning "Juno the purifier "or "the chaste Juno," was celebrated on February 13-14. Pope Gelasius I (492-496) abolished Lupercalia.

Halloween, or Hallowe'en, is a holiday celebrated on the night of October 31. Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, ghost tours, bonfires, costume parties, visiting "haunted houses" and carving jack-o-lanterns. The term Halloween (and its alternative rendering Hallowe'en) is shortened from All-hallow-even, as it is the eve of "All Hallows' Day", which is now also known as All Saints' Day.

The modern holiday of Halloween may have its origins in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain. The festival of Samhain is a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture, and is sometimes erroneously regarded as the "Celtic New Year". Traditionally, the festival was a time used by the ancient pagans to take stock of supplies and slaughter livestock for winter stores. The ancient Gaels believed that on October 31, the boundaries between the alive and the deceased would merge and the dead would become dangerous for the living by causing problems such as sickness or damaged crops. The festivals would frequently involve bonfires, where the bones of slaughtered livestock were thrown. Costumes and masks were also worn at the festivals in an attempt to mimic the evil spirits or placate them.