Is Joseph Tan a Christian ?

[kuntakinte]

KNN !!!! I hope he is not a Christian.

If he is, f88k, gosh...... for f88k sake, such superstition !!



http://www.straitstimes.com/print/ST+Forum/Story/STIStory_280424.html

Sep 20, 2008
Baby's birth cert reverses parental joy
THE arrival of my newborn daughter was a source of joy for my wife and myself - until I went to obtain her birth certificate from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA).

To my horror, she was given the number T08-XX444X. As Chinese Singaporeans are aware, the number four suggests death, and implies misfortune.

I appealed to the ICA officer, also a Chinese Singaporean who understood my discomfiture. But she firmly rejected my plea because rules were rules, I was told. Subsequently, I appealed to a superior officer and waited an agonising week, making several calls in between, only to be given the same answer.

I grant that sticking to a system of rules is important. But so too is crafting exceptions which humanise the system.

My wife and I took great pains to craft our daughter's name, consulting time-honoured cultural principles, because we wanted an auspicious life for her. Imagine having a birth certificate number like 444 which counters all that.

A birth certificate is a personal and important life-long document.

A system which forces officers to stick rigidly to the rulebook without due regard for cultural sensitivities is not a good one. Rules are made to serve citizens and not the other way round.

I'm not giving up. I hope that my daughter can be given a more appropriate birth certificate number and I'm not asking for very auspicious figures.

Joseph Tan

 

[SIFU]

straits time published this type of junk mail

no wonder they r ranked 150+ in the world..

 

[kakowi]

Your post puzzles me until i realize that you possibly meant why use the name 'Joseph' if you are such a believer that the numbers 444 will affect your daughter's life.

Two possibilities:

He is really a christian but cultural values are his foundation

or

He just like Andrew Llloyd Webber's musicals.

BUT to be fair to him, numerology plays a very part in some christian's life. For example there is another 'Joseph' who got a '555' for his car license plate because according to him, '5' stands for grace. I do not know enough to comment on how widespread numerology amongst christians is, but symbols and symbolisms play a large part in the psyche of human beings.

As a person thinks, so he is.

In this case, the government could have program a skip of the number '4' from the birth certificate but then i understand that number '4' is not a bad number for other races. In such a case, where to draw the line.

Supposing Joseph Tan is not a christian, then perhaps he might like to put a talisman on his daughter's birth certificate especially if the government will not budge.

 

[Ramseth]

straits time published this type of junk mail

Perhaps Straits Times is trying to provoke responses. Let's see.

 

[middaydog]

In this case, the government could have program a skip of the number '4'

like skipping SEX for car number plate

 

[Ramseth]

Chinese superstition with numbers and mentality with the pronunciation of numbers are incomprehensible. For example, the number 8, usually associated with striking good luck or fortune. In Mandarin, 8 is pronounced "ba", in Cantonese it's "paht", in Hokkien it's "pueh". But the prounciation for the word superstitiously associated 发 is "fa" in Mandarin, "faht" in Cantonese and "huat" in Hokkien. Where's the similiarity that leads to the linkage that the pronunciation of the number 8 equates good luck?

How about "wang ba" 王八？ Literally, the king of eight. It means tortoise, turtle or bastard.