Crash & Burning Cash

Fortunately, no one else was involved

(Note to self. Get better tires.)

Sadly, for what's it worth, I’m still alive.

Winning

A post by Scott Adams, one of my favourite comic artist, at his blog on 24th March 2006. Check it out!

What impressed me is not the obvious triumph over adversities but the fact that he remembered and his reason behind doing it (if its true).

Imagine you were him, and was just a step away from victory and glory that would have validated his sufferings and all and also to show the cruel world that you are better than Fate.

Would you have done the same thing that he did for the supposed reason? Or would you just be selfish then and maybe say thank you later?

Defeating the Ego is never easy and is a continuous battle daily.

Serving Others

A Sufi teaching story tells of a man who prayed continually for the awareness to succeed in life. Then one night he dreamed of going into the forest to attain understanding. The next morning he went into the woods and wandered for several hours looking for some sign that would provide answers. When he finally stopped to rest, he saw a fox with no legs lying between two rocks in a cool place. Curious as to how a legless fox could survive, he waited until sunset when he observed a lion come and lay meat before the fox. "Ah, I understand," the man thought. "The secret to success in life is to trust that God will take care of all my needs. I don't need to provide for myself. All I have to do is totally surrender to my all-sustaining God."

Two weeks later, weakened and starving, the man had another dream.

In it he heard a voice say, "Fool. Be like the lion, not like the fox."

Schadenfreude

A german word that means " taking pleasure in other’s misfortune " that i learnt from Boston Legal on Sunday.

Quite a common thing everywhere and with everyone.

How did we turn out this way?

题破山寺后禅院

诗人- 常建

清晨入古寺
初日照高林
曲径通幽处
禅房花木深
山光悦鸟性
潭影空人心
万籁此俱寂
惟余锺磬音

A Buddhist Retreat Behind Broken-mountain Temple

In the pure morning, near the old temple,
Where early sunlight points the tree-tops,
My path has wound, through a sheltered hollow
Of boughs and flowers, to a Buddhist retreat.
Here birds are alive with mountain-light,
And the mind of man touches peace in a pool,
And a thousand sounds are quieted
By the breathing of a temple-bell.

God save the bears

Aussie "bear" detained as Britain's queen starts Singapore visit










Singapore police detained an Australian animal-rights activist dressed in a bear suit as Queen Elizabeth II began a state visit to this former British colony.

Jodi Ruckley, a 33-year-old activist of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) from Sydney, was questioned after brandishing a placard saying "God save the bears" near the Istana palace, where the monarch was to be formally welcomed by President S.R. Nathan.

Ruckley called AFP later to say police had released her with a warning.

She said her brief detention had prevented her from making the queen aware of PETA's opposition to the use of Canadian black bear pelts for the Queen's Guards' ceremonial bearskin hats.

Ruckley threatened further protests during the queen's two-day Singapore visit, saying she was prepared to risk further police action on behalf of the bears.

"To tell you the truth it is risky but... that's nothing compared to what they're going through," she said.

Protests are banned in tightly-governed Singapore unless organisers obtain a police permit in advance.

The brief demonstration occurred just hours before the queen's husband Prince Philip was to attend the formal opening of environmental group WWF International's office in Singapore.
He is the president emeritus of the organisation, which also works for the protection of endangered species.

"We are not giving up till they change to synthetic fur," PETA spokesman Jason Baker told reporters of the bear-inspired protests.

Earlier protests staged here by PETA have been against fastfood chain KFC and the treatment of sheep in Australia.

A police spokesman said the PETA demonstrator was released after being taken away in a police van.

"Officers interviewed the person and checked on her to find out the purpose of her being there. Thereafter, she was advised to leave as it was inappropriate for her to be there," the spokesman said.

The queen later reviewed a guard of honour at the Istana palace and went ahead with her planned meeting with Nathan.

Later Friday she was to visit a war memorial, tour a public housing block and have a reunion with a Singaporean family she first met in 1972.

She arrived Thursday night for the two-day state visit, which is to conclude Saturday with her awarding the winner's cup at the Queen Elizabeth II horse race at the Singapore Turf Club.
It is her third visit to the former British colony where, according to a veteran Singaporean diplomat, she enjoys "universal" respect and admiration.

"The queen is no stranger to Singapore and Singaporeans are familiar with the very high standards she has steadfastly and regally maintained in office despite the changing times and the difficulties in her own personal life," the diplomat told AFP.

"Especially for the older Singaporeans, who have grown with the queen, her majesty is one lovely person. She is also seen as the person who single-handedly, with her unquestionable integrity and enormous diplomatic skills, has kept the monarchy alive and respected," he added.
Courtesy from Yahoo & AFP

Anyone can make it if they know how to shake it.

Courtesy from Paramount Classics

Mad Hot Ballroom

Watched the above with Tracy and YY on last Tuesday.

I wanted to watch this show coz I needed some sun to shine through this cyclic shroud of darkness that is enveloping me this few weeks.

The smiles and the laughter from these kids reminded me that there is still hope for mankind.

And also that I should try to pick up tango when i have spare cash in the future. There’s something about tango… especially that famous scene from Al Pacino’s Scent of a Woman and also from that of True Lies.

Besides heaven and hell, if you believe in this concept, schools are the other likely place where one can find humans of different race and religion besides one another without much tension. I think the introduction of these dance programs are a great idea that are not just psychologically and socially beneficial to these kids but also helps to bring different types of people together. Having close contact with different cultures in their early years, hopefully, will lay the seed of tolerance and understanding that is crucial for our future by clearing their ignorance and built up social goodwill.

There is prob a high chance that this documentary will be shown on Arts Central in the future… like that famous Penguin documentary... oh well…

The song that haunts me today

Title : I can't dance

Performer : Phil Collins

“Hot sun beating down
Burning my feet just walking around.

Hot sun making me sweat
’gators getting close, hasn’t got me yet

I can’t dance, I can’t talk.
Only thing about me is the way I walk.
I can’t dance, I can’t sing
I’m just standing here selling everything.

Blue jeans sitting on the beach,
Her dog’s talking to me, but she’s out of reach.

She’s got a body under that shirt,
But all she wants to do is rub my face in the dirt.

Cos, I can’t dance, I can’t talk.
Only thing about me is the way I walk.
I can’t dance, I can’t sing
I’m just standing here selling everything.

Oh and checking everything is in place,
You never know who’s looking on.

Young punk spilling beer on my shoes,
Fat guys talking to me trying to steal my blues

Thick smoke, see her smiling through.
I never thought so much could happen just shooting pool.

Cos, I can’t dance, I can’t talk.
Only thing about me is the way I walk.
I can’t dance, I can’t sing
I’m just standing here selling everything.

Oh and checking everything is in place
You never know who’s looking on

But I can walk.
No I can’t dance.
No no no I can’t dance
No I said I can’t sing.
But I can walk. ”
A perfect body with a perfect face - uh-huh.

No, I can’t dance, I can’t talk.
The only thing about me is the way I walk.
No, I can’t dance, I can’t sing
I’m just standing here selling everything.”

And i dun even know why i remembered it...

Crash

Officer Ryan: You think you know who you are?
[Officer Hanson nods]
Officer Ryan: You have no idea.

Watched this Oscar winning movie around midnight last Saturday night with Ash and YY. It is indeed worthy of an Oscar.

In short, the above tagline sums up the reality of our lives.

Almost everyone would like to think of themselves as a good person that is non-sexist and non-racist. The truth is that most of us fall short. We are all racist and sexist to various degrees, just that we are probably unaware of it. When one is pressurized in extreme situations as depicted in Crash, our unconscious little bigot would start to emerge. One may give excuses that one is stressed or what not, but in realty, that doesn’t negate what wrongs that we might commit as a bigot.

Human beings are complex, i.e doing a wrong to some one one day and risking your life to save the same life the next day. Which is why what separates us from the rest of the animals is our conscience and our self-control over our basic instinct. Maybe it’s our environment that has a part in shaping our believes and instilling the stereotypes or maybe we are just naturally afraid of the unknown. Whatever it is, we all have the strength to rise above our darker side. One day
or another.

All I got was a stupid receipt

The Silent First

Sunday ~ Received the notification sms around 1008hrs while still fishing with Uncle Zhou. Disturbed by the Army centre sms a few more times before the fishing ended. Read the papers & send some sms to nearby army friends (S & C) to meet before finally getting out the house at 1130hrs. Made a mistake not to drive in to camp coz I listened to instruction. A mistake that I will learn not to repeat for the next mob.

Taxi is amazingly hard to catch on Sunday morning even if you are at a taxi stand. Maybe its at BB that’s why. Only reached the camp at 1230hrs… but already saw others leaving the camp….

Apparently this silent mob was activated by our CO and not directly by Mindef, using NS men as guinea pigs for the new automated response system. Went in camp, got registered by 1250hrs and is allowed to return, unlike previous where every one has to wait for everybody to arrive. Grumbling about the waste of time and effort to get our stuffs ready made us hungry where we had some food at the canteen before taking a cab home.

Reached home 1345hrs.

Its good to catch up with my 2 friends, S & C. S is now at NIE. Complain of heavy school loads, i.e 2 assignments and 1 write-up for each subject and there are 9 of them. Worst then his Uni life. C has quitted his pharmaceutical sales job some months ago and is concentrating on creating his own trading cards for his business venture. Apparently he made enough money not to work for
at least 2 years. Hmm… pharmaceutical sales…

A weekend burnt, in a good way.

Friday. IT Show 2006 at Suntec ~ Traffic was bad, all the way from Bencoolen to Suntec… got there late but still managed to signed up for singnet unlimited broadband services. Just register and can take the ADSL modem home. Have to go to Sim Lim tomorrow to buy a cheap ethernet card for my 6+ years old PC.

Coincidentally saw Darren Y and his wife, Shuhui, signing for broadband too. Recognised him from the back… as I had mentioned to him “ alamak, of course lah, your hair style never changed since I first know you, wahaha”. Had porridge with them at Chinatown before sending them back to Shuhui’s place. Darren Y got promoted to “Client Manager” which requries him to do a bit of travelling. His first stop is appparently India. I pointed to his wife that she should have no worries coz there is nothing much for him to do in India and to which, she replied, he might have to hold hand with his indian clients while touring the HQ there. Hahaha… just a little racist joke here.. sorry. Oh yeah, his wedding is set for 5/5/06, a Friday some more.

Saturday ~ My Salsa grp was going to Sentosa for sun and sand… too bad I’m stuck in office now. Hopefully they will have dinner later but I can’t join them for salsa at Union Square coz I need to go to Sim Lim. Also later have to catch the movie “Crash” late at 2350hrs with another group of friends.

Sunday ~ 1000hrs. Open Mobilisation. Have to prepare my stuff for reporting to camp tomorrow. Sianz… why in the world must they choose a Sunday…

Hmm… A weekend burnt, in a good way



Something that i did while waiting for photocopying of stuff.

My only regret in Uni

The heart stirs.
I know not why.
Of why we met
Of how fate negates

Thought it died
Yet it hides
In not loving
In her sight.

How to stop
If time has failed
The Pricking of heart
Ha Ha Ha.

As per scheduled

As per scheduled for Monday and Tuesday…

Monday – Met up with Bob, KS and Cam. Actually could have reached Marina Sq on time but have to pick up Cam who has to buy a medium size luggage for her 4D trip to China on Tuesday morning.

Proceeded to send them all home… the woes of being a man… feels like Zhiwei no.2. Shouldn’t be too nice to women, I say. hahaha

Tuesday – Met up with Terrence, Daniel and Hon at Raffles City before we head to Loof for some beer. Man… these guys are getting bigger each time I see them… especially Hon… who somewhat look like the incredible hulk. Darren Y and Jiemin couldn’t join us in the end. But amusingly, Hon was considered early for once. Terrence was the earliest coz he had fired his boss 3 weeks ago… too much office-politics for him, he says.

Spend the night lamenting about jobs, relationships and life over beer before we split…

Silent/Open Mobilization

7th to 13th March.

Probably will kanna. Have to go and cut hair…. Pack up the fullpack. And throw them in one corner for a grab and run situation.

Prob should take my time and report at the last minute even if I knock off early on the alert as we will prob wait for most of the people to come back.

In anticipation of the above, I have scheduled my social life for next Monday and Tuesday.

Tuesday. Meeting Daniel, Terence and Darren Y (who is now a legally married man) for a round drinks. Kelvin H hasn’t replied, as usual. Even asked JM to take leave from his CO and Small CO. See how. It’s a man’s night out.

Meeting Cam and Bob on Monday. Hopefully KS can shake off her class mates. WL cannot make it, so is FJ who took up ACCA. Cam did her lasik just recently and is walking around in her shades. Bob is happily in love and practicing for Salsa. KS is doing her HR course for her career.

Looks like everyone is moving on ahead in life. So what have I been doing these while.…

The only thing that comes to mind is “Driving forward @ 0km/h”.

Third day of March.

Apparently its also the birthday of Alexander Graham Bell who actually looks like this .hmm… never realised that he looked like that and that he had also invented a lot of stuff too. Cool.

In Japan, this is day called Hinamatsuri or Girls' Day where people in Japan play with dolls.

Maybe I should give dolls to people whose birthday is today… ha ha…