Asian Beacon

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The Emerald Promise
By Charmain and Chester Fernandez
Asian Beacon’s very own Executive Committee member,
Charmain Sim, recently wed her sweetheart Chester Fernandez.
Here is the story of Asian Beacon’s amusingly fortuitous role in
Chester’s search for the perfect engagement ring.
Charmain: An
evergreen love
Chester and I had known each
other for some eight years, were
corresponding friends for six
years, and had been a couple
for almost a year. Marriage was
in mind, so I knew a proposal
was due. What I didn’t expect
was Chester asking if I had a
preferred engagement ring. So
I said, “An emerald ring would
be nice.”
I had my reasons: diamonds
are overrated; diamonds are
not exclusive to engagement
rings; green is a unique color;
emeralds are classic; and the
emerald happens to be my
birthstone. Last but not least,
the stone was to be a reminder
to nurture an evergreen love. An utter
romantic, I hoped the ring would carry
greater meaning than a mere status symbol.
I guessed that an emerald would be
slightly harder to find than diamonds,
but my seemingly innocuous request sent
Chester on a whirlwind of a search.
Chester: My ring hunt
I knew nothing about diamonds; I knew
less than nothing about emeralds. This one
was definitely a bombshell. My adorably
naïve plan to walk into a jewellery store,
pretend like I knew what I was doing, and
walk out with something perfect was out
the window.
Because of my career as a marine
engineer, I sail often and have limited time
on land. Friends were roped in to help; I
took a trip to Singapore and secret drives
to KL from Malacca. But my ring hunt
was fruitless. Even if there were emeralds,
they weren’t ‘right’, and it took too long to
A mysterious emerald rainbow arced in front Chester and Charmain
custom make a ring. Weeks passed, and I
grew despondent.
Then, one day, while browsing a copy
of Asian Beacon with Charmain, I spotted
an advertisement by a store called Hong
Kong Gem. I was so excited I almost
shouted, “Hey, gems!”
But I wisely kept quiet. I later called
the store and reached the owner’s wife,
Ms Choi, and set up an appointment.
Cue another secret drive! At the store, Ms
Choi showed me a particular emerald. All
the ones I had previously viewed paled in
comparison to this gem: it was beautiful,
it was resplendent, it was perfect. She
promised to finish the ring in two weeks,
faster than any other jeweller I visited, but
she went the extra mile and finished it in
a week.
When I collected the ring, Ms. Choi
said, “It’s amazing how this has panned out:
I’m rarely at the store, but it so happened
that I was here to answer your call. At the
end of this week, I’ll be in Hong Kong, so
you’ve got this perfect window
before I leave. I really believe
that God has a hand in this ring.”
Awed, I could only concur with
her at this divine favour.
Charmain: The
emerald rainbow
That same week, Chester
asked my father for my hand in
marriage. Days after, he set up
a beautiful, quiet and intimate
proposal in my garden one
night that had him on one knee,
holding the emerald ring, asking
me to be his wife. Of course, I
said, “Yes.”
After hearing about his long
search, I felt guilty. But he turned
to me and said, “You’re worth it.”
Chester went above and beyond
my expectations. The effort that went into
attaining the gem on my hand made it even
more valuable in my eyes.
Upon our announcement, a friend
wrote, “Did you know that in the book
of Revelation, John saw a cloud around
the throne of God and described it as
an emerald rainbow?” He pointed to
Revelation 4:3: “And the one who sat
there had the appearance of jasper and
ruby. A rainbow that shone like an
emerald encircled the throne.”
This story is not just about an
emerald ring. It is about the love of our
Father in heaven who had watched over
our lives from time unknown up until our
season of courtship. And now, looking
on hindsight at the circumstances of the
ring hunt, we know that God has set an
emerald rainbow as a promise to continue
watching over us as we commit to each
other and to Him on our new journey
as one.
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