Daniel's Courage

Mrs Tso, principle of Covenant Kindergarten, members of the kindergarten management committee, teachers and staff of the kindergarten,

Family and friends,

Good evening…

Thank you, Mrs Tso for your kind invitation to me to be here this evening, to witness the wonderful work that you and your staff are doing the lives of these precious children at a very special milestone in their lives…

And parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles, thank you for putting your trust in our kindergarten and allowing us to partner with you as we build into the lives of your children

During these formative years of your child’s life…

Time flies and your children are at the end of their pre-school education,

Preparing to go into primary school…

You know your children brings me great joy…

Sometimes when I come into the office,

I will meet your cute children along the corridor,

When they are going from one place to another,

Or waiting for the rest of their friends to finish using the washroom,

Most of the time, I can’t help but stop to interact with them for a while,

And just give them a high-5…

And it would brighten up my day…

I’m sure your children will have many great memories of this place…

Hope you spend the last few months of your children’s time here taking lots of pictures…

And talking about memories,

Bicentennial celebration

One of the biggest thing in Singapore this year is the bicentennial celebration where we commemorate 200 years since Sir Stamford Raffles came to Singapore in 1819…

And because it’s such a significant year,

There were a lot of initiatives and events this year to help us rediscover and remember our history…

These included the Bicentennial Experience at Fort Canning Centre,

Several Heritage Trails,

And there is even a series of films to talk about the origins of our food and how they are reflect our history and journey as a people!

(You can’t go wrong with food…)

And even in our very own kindergarten,

Kindergarten Bicentennial Celebration

We were very honoured to have Prince Sang Nila Utama, Sir Stamford Raffles, as well as Mr. Lee Kuan Yew join us at our national day celebration this year…

And one of the stories I’m sure you hear many times this year is the story of Sang Nila Utama,

To remind us that the story of Singapore did not start 200 years ago,

And I’m not sure how much you remember that story but let me just give you a short summary of the founding of Singapura…

And I actually went to the original source… the Malay Annals…

And according to history,

Sang Nila Utama

Sang Nila Utama was a 13th Century Palembang Prince from the Srivijaya ruling house…

On one occasion, the prince and his wife, Wan Sri Bini,

Were holidaying in Bintan, and while Sang Nila Utama was hunting,

He ended up at the top of a rock and from that vintage view,

He saw a fine place across the sea which the sands was “white as cotton”

And he enquired on where this place was

to which one of his ministers Indra B’hupala informed him that the place was the country of Temasek

having set his eyes on that land of Temasek,

he decided to visit it, and not even a violent storm at sea could deter him…

after a struggle at sea and giving up his crown,

he finally ended up on the shores of Temasek,

but it was on that shores of Temasek where they saw an animal which he described as extremely swift and beautiful,

has a body that was red in colour, black hair and white breast,

extremely agile, of great strength and little larger than a goat…[1]

After asking around for a while,

The prince discovered that it was a lion…

a Singha…

and saw it as a good omen…

it was then that he decided to settle down in the land

Temasek now called Singhpura

siṃha (सिंह), which means "lion", and pūra (पुर) means "city"

ruled over it and called it Singhpura siṃha (सिंह), which means "lion", and pūra (पुर) means "city"

which apparently in Sanskrit means Lion City

and according to our historical records,

that’s how we got the name Singapore

this was a wonderful story about a person who served in a court, went to a foreign land, encountered a lion, was not afraid and persevered…

according to our records, this incident happened in 1299,

720 years ago…

And friends, another story about a person who served in a court, went to foreign land, encountered a lion, was not afraid and persevered is much much older…

Story of Daniel

And this is the story of Daniel who lived in the 6th Century BC,

He was a person who lived most of his live in exile in a foreign land,

First under the rule of the Babylonians and then under the rule of the Persians…

And because he was wise, well educated and had good EQ,

He was made to serve in the royal courts, even though he was a foreigner…

And it is recorded for us in the bible that he was elevated to a high position not just during the time of the Babylonian rule, but also during the time of the Persian Empire…

And this was because he was able to interpret the dreams of the kings that nobody else in the kingdom was able to do…

And this, he was able to do so,

because the Lord was with him…

In fact, not only was he able to interpret those dreams,

It was recorded to us that he was given the ability to know what the dreams were in the first place,

Because we know from scriptures that the king was unwilling to share the details of the dreams…

And yet Daniel was able not only to know the details of the dreams,

but also able to interpret them accurately as the things he shared came to past…

And he was able to do so, because God was with him…

Another thing that made Daniel stand out was that he was willing to do the right thing even when the circumstances made it favourable to compromise on his values…

In the royal courts, he was offered choice food and wine,

It seems very attractive at first sight…

Why would anyone refuse that?

Well, that’s because if he would to accept those food and wine,

That would mean that he would need to participate in some rituals that were morally questionable and dignity eroding…

Rituals that would make him compromise on his principles, values and dignity…

Essentially rituals that would cause him to have a life of debauchery…

Of course, going with the flow and doing what the majority of the people were doing would be the safer thing to do…

After all, that would also mean a lesser chance of getting into trouble with the authorities…

However, Daniel thought otherwise…

He was committed and convinced that he should stick to his principles and values…

Principles and values that had been inculcated in him…

He had the courage to stand against the challenges presented to him

And to stand up for what is right…

He had the courage to stand up against the temptations,

And not bow down to the easier but less desirable route…

And these two things we learnt about Daniel came forth most dramatically during the episode when people who were jealous of him came together and wanted to get rid of him…

And this happened when there was a new empire and a new ruler over the land…

And even though the king liked Daniel,

He was tricked into coming up with a law that got Daniel into trouble…

And how did they do that?

They made the King come up with a law that they knew Daniel wouldn’t be able to conform to because Daniel was not able to compromise on values and dignity…

And the punishment for not following the law?

To be thrown into the Lions’ den…

And the bible tells us that when Daniel was accused of breaking the law,

The king worked hard to prevent Daniel from being sent to the den but to no avail…

And the bible also said that the king didn’t eat at all and even said that he did not sleep all night after Daniel was sent to the den…

And at the break of day,

It was recorded that the king anxiously went in haste to know the fate of Daniel…

And was recorded for us in

Daniel 6:20 NIV

When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?”

“When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?”” (, NIV - Anglicised)

“When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?”” (, NIV - Anglicised)

To which Daniel replied in

Daniel 6:22 NIV

My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.”

“My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king.”” (, NIV - Anglicised)

And indeed, when Daniel was taken out of the den,

“no harm was found on him…”

Daniel was not in familiar grounds…

He was in a foreign territory…

Yet Daniel knew what right from wrong…

And he had the courage to continuing doing what was right despite the pressure…

And he had the courage to do what was right because he knew God would honour him and take care of him…

And it was true…

Daniel was not harmed…

Likewise, even as our graduating class goes to primary school next year,

It is our prayer that they had indeed been sufficiently inculcated in moral and social values so that they will always know what is right and have the courage to do so…

And even as they face challenges in school,

They will always have the courage to overcome them because they know that God our Lord is always watching over them and protecting them from harm…

So God bless them and keep them and watch over their every step…

And may they be courageous like Daniel as they step into new territories next year… Amen

[1] John Leyden, trans., Malay Annals (Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1821), 40–44.