Phép lạ hằng ngày 42

Chào anh chị em,

Khi mình cùng đường, mình dựa vào Chúa. Lắm lúc mình quá mệt mỏi và khổ đau, mình chỉ còn cách van vái, than thở hoặc có khi kêu la với Chúa. Cả thời gian dài, khi chưa biết Chúa, chưa tin Chúa, mình như chết dần, chết mòn.

Với mình, cố gắng nắm tay Chúa là lựa chọn duy nhất, như con người cần sống thì cần hơi thở. Mình cần nắm tay Chúa thường xuyên trong ngày để sống; để trong cơn biến cố, mình có thể chịu đựng cơn đau để vượt qua. Khi tĩnh lặng hơn rồi, mình mới nhận ra được đó là phép lạ của Chúa. Là Chúa giúp mình ra khỏi đường chết, giúp mình từ từ sống lại. Continue reading Phép lạ hằng ngày 42

Impact of Trump 2.0 on Southeast Asia’s Energy Geopolitics

Fulcrum.sg Published 3 Mar 2025 Mirza Sadaqat Huda

Trump’s rent-seeking foreign policy pertaining to energy and critical minerals will force Southeast Asian countries to do what they least desire: making a choice between China and the US.

The Trump administration’s insular and rent-seeking foreign policy will significantly alter the geopolitics of energy transition in Southeast Asia. This will manifest in two ways. First, the potential cessation of US involvement in the region’s energy sector will heighten fears of China’s dominance in energy infrastructure projects — including the ASEAN Power Grid (APG). Second, Trump’s intentions of using critical minerals as a bargaining chip for providing military assistance, if applied to the ASEAN region, will impact the regional vision for sustainable mineral development.

The shutting down of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), an important player in the energy sector, will intensify existing fears of China’s dominance in electricity transmission and generation. As shown in Table 1, China provided approximately US$534 million in aid to the region’s energy sector in 2022, accounting for more than a quarter of the total share. Comparatively, the US provided only US$23.7 million, or 1 per cent of total energy-related aid to Southeast Asia. In addition, the China Southern Power Grid Company and State Grid Corporation of China own and operate significant portions of the national grids in Laos and the Philippines, respectively.

China Leads in Energy Aid

Table 1 Energy-related aid to Southeast Asia 2022 (excerpt) (USD, in %)

Donor Amount Contribution
China 534 million 26
ADB 368 million 18
Germany 274 million 13
Canada 231 million 11
South Korea 211 million 10
Japan 167 million 8
World Bank 90.0 million 4
EU Institutions 42.3 million 2
France 42.2 million 2
AIIB 34.8 million 2
United States 23.7 million 1

The table is modified from Lowy Institute’s (2024) Southeast Asia Aid Map.

Continue reading Impact of Trump 2.0 on Southeast Asia’s Energy Geopolitics

Sài Gòn yếu đuối biết dựa vào ai?

Dear brothers and sisters,

This song reminds me of the time before I came to DCN – often lonely but not knowing who to rely on. Perhaps more exactly, I was often suffering and wanted to stop suffering but not knowing how.

I started feeling lonely since I was 7 years old. I started dying from then on. I died. However now I live.

I send my wish to the stars, so that the lonely people on the earth can feel that there is a star in the sky praying for them and is making itself a light for them to look up to and hope. Continue reading Sài Gòn yếu đuối biết dựa vào ai?

John 5

The Healing at the Pool

Series on John:
(0)(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10), (11),
 (12)(13)(14),(15)(16)(17)(18), (19), (20), (21), (final)

Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda[a] and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. [4] [b]  —and they waited for the moving of the waters. From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up the waters. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease they had. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

Continue reading John 5

Phép lạ hằng ngày 41

Chào anh chị em,

Khi mệt mỏi, căng thẳng quá, mình luôn muốn ngủ. Hồi đó mình không biết, nghĩ đó là lười biếng nhưng từ từ sau này Chúa mở mắt, thì biết cảm giác buồn ngủ là cách Chúa muốn mình được nghỉ ngơi và hồi sức. Vì khi ngủ, cơ thể dồn hết mọi năng lượng để chữa lành cả bệnh thể chất lẫn tinh thần. Đó là phép lạ lớn của Chúa với mình. Continue reading Phép lạ hằng ngày 41

A town with an ocean view

Dear brothers and sisters,

Do you know how happy it feels to be born and raised by the sea?

That is, you can watch the sunrise. You can go to the sea early in the morning, when the sun has not risen yet. A bit chilly, even in the summer, and it is so dark that you may not see each other clearly. You can sit on the beach, cover yourself with sand to keep warm and watch the first red, organ and pink rays of the sun, then run down to the sea to bathe. Even if it’s winter or rainy, the sea water is always warm. So great. Continue reading A town with an ocean view

John 4

Series on John:
(0)(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10), (11),
 (12)(13)(14),(15)(16)(17)(18), (19), (20), (21), (final)

Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman

Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.

Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.

Continue reading John 4

Phép lạ hằng ngày 40

Chào anh chị em,

Dịp này trường mình học tổ chức chương trình hiến máu nhân đạo. Mình đăng ký rồi.

Hôm nay đi học thì có anh bạn cùng lớp rủ sau giờ học đi hiến máu cùng. Anh nói mình vào đăng ký tài khoản trên trang web của Viện Huyết Học, phải đăng ký mới đi hiến được.

Mình nhớ ra là khi đăng ký, mình chưa làm việc này. Anh bạn hướng dẫn chu đáo nên mình đăng ký rất nhanh. Mình biết là phép lạ của Chúa, tới giúp mình đi hiến máu thuận lợi. Continue reading Phép lạ hằng ngày 40

John 3

Series on John:
(0)(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10), (11),
 (12)(13)(14),(15)(16)(17)(18), (19), (20), (21), (final)

Jesus Teaches Nicodemus

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.[a]

Continue reading John 3

Phép lạ hằng ngày 39

Chào anh chị em,

Chúa Jesus và Đức Phật Thích Ca dạy mọi người những điều rất giản dị. Đó là: không nói dối, không ngoại tình, không giết người, không ăn cắp…, rồi yêu thương, từ bi với tất cả mọi người.

Hồi đó mình nghĩ đó như là lời dạy kiểu giáo dục công dân. Nhưng từ từ trải nghiệm cuộc sống, mình càng thấm thía những lời dạy này. Đó điều là những sự thật, chân lý rõ như ban ngày. Đây là sàn làm người, ứng xử giữa còn người với nhau như vợ chồng, bạn bè, thầy trò… Không thể dưới mức này được. Nếu dưới mức này thì không còn là con người nữa. Đây là Chúa mở mắt cho mình. Là phép lạ của Chúa. Continue reading Phép lạ hằng ngày 39

Fruits of spoil: Laos’ forests disappearing as fruit farms flourish (2 parts)

Fruits of spoil: Laos’ forests disappearing as fruit farms flourish

Mekong eyes – 16 December 2024 at 9:27 (Updated on 16 December 2024 at 15:40)

The country’s improved railway connectivity facilitates fruit exports to China but has also sparked a boom in foreign-owned banana and durian farms, leading to forest clearance

A Chinese-owned banana plantation on land that was once forested, located in Attapeu province, southern Laos, in August 2024.

The report was produced with support from the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network (RIN) and Internews’ Earth Journalism Network as part of the “Ground Truths” collaborative reporting project on soils. 

ATTAPEU, LAOS — The new high-speed railway has enabled faster fruit exports from Laos to China, attracting more investment in large-scale plantations. However, this growth has come at the cost of deforestation.

Bananas and the “king of tropical fruit” – durians – are very popular in China, but they typically ripen within a few days of harvesting.

However, that problem was resolved with the launch of the Laos-China Railway in 2021, which has enabled landlocked Laos to deliver its fruit quickly to China’s 1.4 billion consumers.

Continue reading Fruits of spoil: Laos’ forests disappearing as fruit farms flourish (2 parts)

Lý do nào để yêu em

Dear brothers and sisters,

I like this song – “Lý do nào để yêu em”. Bùi Công Nam composed and performed it, released in Octorber, 2021.

To Bùi Công Nam’s version, I feel the guy in the song is cute. He likes a girl but is shy, maybe more exactly, afraid of her, because she is too high up, he can’t reach, so he doesn’t dare to approach her. However, he is still cheerful and dreamy. His feelings is pure and lovely. Continue reading Lý do nào để yêu em

John 2

Series on John:
(0)(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10), (11),
 (12)(13)(14),(15)(16)(17)(18), (19), (20), (21), (final)

Jesus Changes Water Into Wine

On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

“Woman,[a] why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”

His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

Continue reading John 2

Phép lạ hằng ngày 38

Chào anh chị em,

Khi mình gặp biến cố lớn, phản ứng đầu tiên luôn là rất nhức nhối, xung động, rối rắm…, người nằm bẹp dí, chẳng thiết ăn uống gì. Khi mình biết tới Chúa, mình cầu nguyện với Chúa rất nhiều trong những lúc đó, để xin Chúa cho mình tĩnh lặng, bớt nhức nhối và buồn đau. Thường thì ngay sau đó, lòng mình sẽ lắng dịu hơn. Continue reading Phép lạ hằng ngày 38