hello panda...

now comes in cheese!!

very hard to find.. spent the weekend searching around and it was not to be found in cold storage, ntuc fairprice nor giant or even 2 petrol kiosks.. so far only found in my school canteen and the stall vendor said the supplier refused to disclose his sources! how nasty!

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Hello Panda is a somewhat popular brand of Japanese biscuits, manufactured by Meiji Seika. Each biscuit consists of a small hollow shortbread layer, within which resides either vanilla, strawberry, peanut butter or chocolate filling, of which the chocolate is more common. Upon the biscuits are cartoon style depictions of giant pandas; presumably this is where the product derives its name. The name could also be a possible allusion to the famed character Hello Kitty.

an allusion to hello kitty?? com'on!! don't insult this cool panda! and i've tried all the favours! :D

and some seem annoyed by the "sickeningly cute anime-stylized panda".. read this..

for the weight conscious, this is a write-up on the nutritional facts of a typical pack of chocolate filled hello panda... 30% fat! hahaha

vietnam halong bay



here's another pretty pic from last month's trip..

been a fun but exhausting weekend :).. will blog more when i get my energy back and have more time... 24 hours a day doesn't seem quite enough to get everything done..

Resepect & Greetings (Spam in Bad English)

From: "ritaarthur@cantv.net"
To: ritaarthur@cantv.net
CC:
Subject: Resepect & Greetings
Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2006 11:13:49 -0400
Show Full Headers Back To [INBOX]

Resepect & Greetings,

it is my pleaure to write to you after considering your profile. My name is Mrs Rita Arthur a nationality of South Africa. I am married to Mr. sylvester Arthur who worked with South Africa company in Ivory Coast for nine years before he died in the year 2004. We were married for fifty years without a child. he died after a brief illness that lasted for only four days. Before he death we were both Buddhist,When my late husband was alive we deposited the sum of$3.5Million (Three Million five hundred thousand U.S. Dollars) in a trunkbox and declare it as family valubales for export with a security company here in COTE D' IVOIRE


Presently, this money is still with the security company. Recently, my Doctor told me that I would not last for the next three months due to cancer problem. Though what disturbs me most is my stroke. Having known my condition I decided to donate this fund to Monasteries or Temples or better still a Buddha individual that will utilize this money the way I am going to instruct here in. I want a Buddhist individual that will use this fund to Monasteries or Temples, orphanages, Research centers and widows propagating the word Buddhism and to ensure that the Temples is maintained. I took this decision because I dont have any child that will inherit this money and my husband’s relatives are Christians and the are persecting me because I and my husband convert into buddhism and I dont want my family hard earned money to be misused by them. I dont want a situation where this money will be used in an Christian way. Hence the reason for taking this bold decision. As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the security Company. I will also issue you a letter of authority that will empower you as the new beneficiary of this fund. Any delay in your reply will give me room insourcing for a Temples or Buddhist individual for this same purpose. Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I stated here. Hoping to hearing from you with this email address above or below.

Thanks
Mrs Arthur
Hospital number+225-08167898
ritaarthur1@hotmail.com

so much for resepecting me... btw, Rita Arthur is sometimes a nationality of Pakistan and a "born again Christian" ... hahahah

Helping with the publicity: Upcoming event



impressive video and i think it's gonna be an impressive talk..

click here for more details.

the vent must NEVER be shut..

the definition from dictionary.com

vent1
n.

1. A means of escape or release from confinement; an outlet: give vent to one's anger.
2. An opening permitting the escape of fumes, a liquid, a gas, or steam.
3. The small hole at the breech of a gun through which the charge is ignited.
4. Zoology. The excretory opening of the digestive tract in animals such as birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish.
5. Geology. 1. The opening of a volcano in the earth's crust; 2. An opening on the ocean floor that emits hot water and dissolved minerals.

v. vent·ed, vent·ing, vents
v. tr.

1. To express (one's thoughts or feelings, for example), especially forcefully.
2. To release or discharge (steam, for example) through an opening.
3. To provide with a vent.

v. intr.

1. To vent one's feelings or opinions.
2. To be released or discharged through an opening.
3. To rise to the surface of water to breathe. Used of a marine mammal.

I know a bad move when i see one..

and TODAY removing the column of well-respected local blogger mrbrown is certainly one such move (see article)

every system needs a vent.. every government needs to offer or to create real opportunity where people can breathe, can speak out loud, can be allowed to "let out air" so they don't 'POP' (or as some like to say - "explode")..

mrbrown was one such outlet for many disgruntled individuals in Singapore - from taxi drivers, office workers, students, aunties and just about everyone - who mumble unhappily under their breaths (or over kopi in the kopitiam or lattes in the cafes) whenever they hear or read of some new policy or the revision of some existing ones, which they cannot understand or accept...

he raised and explained serious issues, and always managed to give these issues no doubt a satirical, but also a lighthearted touch so life could go on.. so everyone would feel like they were being heard and someone out there 'understood' them and even spoke out loud for them...

life felt bearable.. even if things almost never 'improve' quite as quickly as they wanted them to...

but now THEY've closed the vent..

one word.

dumb.

fruit juices



now THAT is a good idea, don't you think? :)

rabbitssss!!!



taken using a phonecam at The Animal Resort

where did my money go?

as yet another bill came in my mail today, i suddenly pondered on why i'm always feeling so "poor"...

where has all my money gone??

for those who know me, other than my occasional/rare indulgence in consumer durables (which has since dwindled further - my last so called "luxury" purchase being a discontinued model of Canon G2 digital camera - which cost me $699 - some three years back) and an odd independent budget trip (where i stay in US$10 hotels) here and there around Asia, I hardly spend in a month on anything i can remotely call a "luxury"...

i don't eat in fancy restaurants, nor watch too many movies in the cinema... i keep my phone bills and internet bills lean, and drive a simple Suzuki Swift using unleaded 95 petrol (and not 98) and try to drive efficiently .. and i have a wardrobe i dread to look at, containing stuff i should long have disposed of or donated away.. (hahahaa..:p )..

i don't even buy too many books and CDs nowadays (which were some of my previous "little luxuries")..

yet when i read of "Ministers on Pensions".. and "High salaries of some civil servants" and worse of all, the fact that hardly anything of what i give in taxes every year (which to me is a pretty substantial sum) actually comes back to me (cos i don't fall into any of the "categories" of people who deserve to be "rewarded" with tax reliefs (i.e. married, 3 children, NS etc) nor goes to areas that i would wish to see supported... i somehow feel... (well... i don't know how to describe the feeling...)

but i did get S$400 recently from the Progress Package (yes.. clap clap...rejoice rejoice...).. yippee.. out of all the tax money i pay out.. yippee...

i sigh out loud.. :(

Updates:
- What a coincidence: there was an article in Today about "S'poreans are fed, up with progress!" by Mr Brown. :)

- for Econs students: pls work on essay assignment with article: "To what extent can the MRP theory explain the wage differentials shown in the article?" - occupational hazard.. a teacher cannot help but spot a learning opportunity when she sees one..:p..

travelling matt



this should inspire u to travel a little more.. :)

the power of the media

i don't mean my blog to be particularly "political" but i can't help but want to share what i just read here about Chee Soon Juan..

until now, pretty much everyone i know (and i'm talking here about us common men & women-on-the-street) who ever mentions him, especially during election time, speaks of him in disparaging terms, using unflattering words like "untrustworthy", "joker", "crazy", "siding with the foreigners", "liar", "traitor", "troublemaker", "doesn't know what he is talking about"... many did not think him "fit to be a politician" from the "manner" he was reported to have confronted the ruling party members "head on", "harassing them" with his accusastions, resulting in an endless string of defamation suits against him, as well as how he had "supported the Western media's attack on Singapore" way back some 10 years ago..

i even read somewhere someone saying about him, "I cannot help wondering whether Dr. Chee and his colleagues are fighting for democracy or is it a personal vendetta against the government."

however, after i read the article, i started to ponder a little on why myself and the people i know have always had such a poor opinion of this guy whom i personally have never even heard from directly nor read his books... whence comes this impression of him...?

Only then did i truly comprehend the immense power of the regulated local media... i gasped at how narrow my view had become from my limited diet of the goings-on around me...as how i've slurped up the local media's report on what PM Lee said recently in NZ..

"Singaporean voters are not fools. They judge who are the more credible candidates, and they know that this man and his party are not credible. That he's a liar, he's a cheat, he is deceitful, he's confrontational and it's a destructive form of politics designed not to win elections in Singapore but to impress foreign supporters and to make himself out to be a martyr," Mr Lee said.

chee soon juan himself spoke on this..

"When they run my picture in the newspapers you expect to see horns growing out of my head," says the leader of the Singapore Democratic Party. "I don't blame people for not voting for us. If I relied for my information on the newspapers here I wouldn't vote for me either."

why is the media messing with my mind?? :(

vietnam 2006


halong bay

Sri Lanka 2005

Spare a thought for our fellow Singaporeans at Hougang and Potong Pasir

sign this petition!

not out of sympathy, but because (as a taxpayer), i feel money should go where it is most needed and not to help support particular political parties...

(as a forum letter says "I really don't mind not having a swimming pool, a sports stadium, a bicycle track or more covered walkways in Pasir Ris if the money could be used for more urgent and meaningful needs, like lift upgrading in Hougang and Potong Pasir.")

i second this.

--------------------
See related story.... ST June 11, 2006

No $100m upgrading package for Hougang

HOUGANG constituency, which returned Workers' Party chief Low Thia Khiang to power in the recent elections, will not be getting the $100 million upgrading package that was offered to the residents during the elections anytime soon.

The $100 million package was seen as an incentive for the residents to vote for the People's Action Party candidate there, Mr Eric Low. But he lost to the incumbent opposition MP, Mr Low Thia Khiang, in the polls.

After the election, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said that Mr Low Thia Khiang could still ask for the money as the Government had been prepared to put up a budget for it.

But Mr Mah (Bow Tan) told The Sunday Times that since Mr Low lost, Hougang will not get the money.

He said: 'The upgrading package that was offered for Hougang was part of the PAP candidate's programme for residents in the estate.

'The residents there decided that they are not ready to say 'yes' to the package. We will respect their decision.'

The minister said that though 130 blocks in Potong Pasir and Hougang were eligible for upgrading, there were about 800 blocks in other parts of Singapore that are older or as old that had not been spruced up in any way.

He said: 'To honour our commitment to the electorate, the Government will accord priority to blocks in the PAP wards.'

Noam Chomsky on Government



from: Understanding Power: the indispensable Noam Chomsky

World Cup Rivals

Singapore

Channel X - Episode 1

an alternative view to challenge our minds.

The Theory of the Dipper and the Bucket

Each of us has an invisible bucket. It is constantly emptied or filled, depending on what others say or do to us. When our bucket is full, we feel great. When it's empty, we feel awful.

Each of us also has an invisible dipper. When we use that dipper to fill other people's buckets -- by saying or doing things to increase their positive emotions -- we also fill our own bucket. But when we use that dipper to dip from others' buckets -- by saying or doing things that decrease their positive emotions -- we diminish ourselves.

Like the cup that runneth over, a full bucket gives us a positive outlook and renewed energy. Every drop in that bucket makes us stronger and more optimistic.

But an empty bucket poisons our outlook, saps our energy, and undermines our will. That's why every time someone dips from our bucket, it hurts us.

So we face a choice every moment of every day: We can fill one another's buckets, or we can dip from them. It's an important choice -- one that profoundly influences our relationships, productivity, health, and happiness.

-- From How Full Is Your Bucket? (Gallup Press, 2004)

another hapless visitor



... found in the fridge, next to the (expired) bottle of vanilla essence..



at the rate i go, i'll soon have no human visitors to my house... :(

x-men



thought provoking..

Quotation
The X-Men are hated, feared and despised collectively by humanity for no other reason than that they are mutants. So what we have here, intended or not, is a book that is about racism, bigotry and prejudice.

Uncanny X-Men writer Chris Claremont, 1982

For other possible social issues reflected in the show, click here and scroll down.

my personal DNA map

mouse over for details of each color block

Advocating Creator

extract from singapore travelogue

i was surfing the net for some malaysia road maps when i came across this globetrotter's travelogue on singapore...

"In our brief stints in Singapore it seems like all we ate was noodles. Fried noodles, noodles in soup, it all tasted good to me. The drinks served were much more of an "adventure." In the few hours of our layover there we had "Grass Jely Juice" which did indeed have actual bits of some jellylike substance and was the first to make our list of "worst drinks". "Water Chestnut Juice" was the second to make the list for no reason that I can decribe beyond it tasted bad.

The topper was the ice tea that we got after wandering about the extremely hot and humid midday of Singapore. We sat down in a food court and saw a tantalizing fishtank sized contanier full of iced tea and huge chunks of ice (don't worry, the water is safe in Singapore). We got two large glasses of it, but two our horror it was extermely salty! I don't know if I'll ever look at ice tea the same again.

These "traumas of beverages" were made up for in our second stop through Singapore all because of a bakery we like to call "Bread Talk." Well, I guess they like to call it Bread Talk as well since thats it's name. They had a chocolate bread pastry stuffed with this creamy espresso filling which was possibly the best pastry I've ever had. Sarah agrees and also thought the eclaire there was incredible. I didn't try it but after the espresso pastry I have no doubts about it. Bread talk was also the bakery that brings Singapore the pastry "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Bacon." I didn't try it but I thought the name was worth mentioning."

oh dear.. doesn't he make singapore sound dreadfully strange?

ladybug!!!

i haven't seen one since i was in primary school!!!



i remember that back then, they'll always fly into our flat in the middle of the day.. the common red ones with black spots, yellow ones with black spots, some that look like new york cabs... even white ones and one that looks like this! there are apparently nearly 5,000 species worldwide! we'll catch these dot-sized bugs in little glass containers to examine them for hours before letting them go.. after all, who could resist these fascinating creatures..?

then one day, the ladybugs got fed up. they were sick and tired of people's fascination and yet captivity of them.. they convened and finally made a drastic but desperate decision...

..to forever hide from the human eye.. into the dark cloak of the night.. and we couldn't see them no more, no matter how hard we searched....

(i'm sure of this fact because i checked with all my friends and their first reaction is always: "Ya! i haven't seen one for a really long time!")

but i was up at 3am last night and one flew onto my table where i was working on something! i couldn't believe my eyes and no words can express how i felt at that time..

anyway, i'm glad they're still around :).. cute fellas, eh?

wasped again!!?

we've been invaded by the disgusting green fellas again!!



for a change, here's a video of them rockin' & rollin' after their release from their dusty cocoons ... turn on the volume for the ambient noise, it's quite cool... hahahah



i need a life... :p.. and i think its time to clean the house..

Where I am NOW...

this is rather accurate.. but i shan't tell you the bits that are and those that are not.. :P

Your Existing Situation

Willing and adaptable. Only at peace when closely attached to a person, group, or organization on a which reliance can be placed.

Your Stress Sources

The tenacity and strength of will necessary to contend with existing difficulties has become weakened. Feels overtaxed, worn out, and getting nowhere, but continues to stand her ground. She feels this adverse situation as an actual tangible pressure which is intolerable to her and from which she wants to escape, but she feels unable to make the necessary decision.

Your Restrained Characteristics

Conditions are such that she will not let herself become intimately involved without making mental reservations.

Able to achieve satisfaction through sexual activity. :O

Your Desired Objective

Has exaggerated demands on life which are concealed behind specious rationalization and cautious behavior. Wishes to impress others with her achievements, but camouflages this desire and is inclined to be covert.

Your Actual Problem

Failure to establish herself in a manner consonant with her own high opinion of her worth, combined with the continued effort to prove herself with inadequate resources, have resulted in considerable stress. Tries to escape from these excessive demands on her meager reserves by adopting a defensive attitude in which she refuses to be committed, or to be involved in further unpleasantness.

hweeling took the free ColorQuiz.com personality test!

The Swift

yesterday, on my way home from work, a sweet little red car on the opposite side of the road suddenly caught my eye. it caught my attention because it looked like the kind of car that i would love to drive...

it was cute, sporty, zippy, yet not a "oh-i'm-so-cute-don't-u-love-me" wannabe like that.. urgh.. Nissan March - RETCH..!!!!

but i couldn't see what model it was because i could only see the side of it.. it was PERFECT... i craned my neck as my car was held back by the red light, trying hard to see if i could see the car model stated at the back of the car...

then when i finally inched forward enough to see it, it turned out to be .....

EXACTLY THE SAME CAR I AM ALREADY DRIVING NOW!!

HAHAHAHAHahaha... :">



an unexpectedly bimbotic moment ... :p...

gonna go for a roadtrip soon with my OWN little red car!! yippeee!! :)

Sipadan Reefs damaged

i gasped at the extent of the damage and couldn't speak for a while.. i didn't know whether to grieve more for nature, or for the stupidity of mankind... :'( ... how much longer must nature suffer at the hands of those who do not care?

"Sipadan - Tragic Incident." By Antonella Ferrari. FiNS blog, 16th May 2006.


Photo from article
Excerpt -

"An enormous steel barge carrying thousands of tonnes of coarse gravel, sand, steel tubes, iron mesh, prime movers, a large bulldozer and a gigantic crane, which had incredibly been allowed to anchor right in front of Sipadan's legendary dropoff before unloading its cargo on the supposedly protected island was pushed against the reef by wind, ending up beached on the island like some monstrous whale.

In the process of being beached, the barge scraped clean thousands of years of nature's delicate work between the old pier and Barracuda Point. The barge's flat steel hull wiped corals away like a giant knife slicing through butter, leaving in its wake hundreds of square metres of unnaturally flat limestone, and a veritable wall of coral and debris piled up against the beach."

Turning Batty



the sudden appearance of a (seemingly) large number of fruit bats in the school compound has resulted in a buzz of excitement amongst the student body.. it has turned the usually placid, unexcitable students rather.. umm batty...

the teachers, on the other hand, have decided not to bat their eyelids on the matter..

-------------
Update (17 May)

More of the batty fellows have since appeared..

Marshmallows

Cute Technology



StarWars!!

fluffy webcams, animal shaped speakers and funky usb thumbdrives.. cute & practical.. the perfect combination... find more at sites like Shiny Shiny or just google for them..

CHAPTER XXII
CRIMINAL INTIMIDATION, INSULT AND ANNOYANCE

Criminal intimidation.
503. Whoever threatens another with any injury to his person, reputation or property, or to the person or reputation of any one in whom that person is interested, with intent to cause alarm to that person, or to cause that person to do any act which he is not legally bound to do, or to omit to do any act which that person is legally entitled to do, as the means of avoiding the execution of
such threat, commits criminal intimidation.

Explanation.
A threat to injure the reputation of any deceased person in whom the person threatened is interested, is within this section.

Illustration
A, for the purpose of inducing B to desist from prosecuting a civil suit, threatens to burn B’s house. A is guilty of criminal intimidation.

Intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of the peace.
504. Whoever intentionally insults, and thereby gives provocation to any person, intending or knowing it to be likely that such provocation will cause him to break the public peace, or to commit any other offence, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 2 years, or with fine, or with both.

Statements conducing to public mischief.
505. Whoever makes, publishes or circulates any statement, rumour or report —

(a) with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause any officer or serviceman in the Singapore Armed Forces or any visiting forces lawfully present in Singapore, or any person to whom section 140B refers, to mutiny or otherwise disregard or fail in his duty as such;

(b) with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public, or to any section of the public, whereby any person may be induced to commit an offence against the State or against the public tranquillity; or

(c) with intent to incite, or which is likely to incite, any class or community of persons to commit any offence against any other class or community of persons,

shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to 2 years, or with fine, or with both.

Exception.
It does not amount to an offence within the meaning of this section, when the person making, publishing or circulating any such statement, rumour or report has reasonable grounds for believing that such statement, rumour or report is true and makes, publishes or circulates it without any such intent as aforesaid.

Punishment for criminal intimidation. If threat is to cause death or grievous hurt, etc.
506. Whoever commits the offence of criminal intimidation shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 2 years, or with fine, or with both; and if the threat is to cause death or grievous hurt, or to cause the destruction of any property by fire, or to cause an offence punishable with death or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 7 years or more, or impute unchastity to a woman, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 7 years, or with fine, or with both.
--------------------------------------
Update

some people who have no idea what i am talking about seem to be jumping to paranoidal conclusions.. durh.. anyway, here's the story..

Workers Party Chant



taken from the AMK WP rally two days ago.. an electrifying experience..

On the General Elections

one word... WOW.

i don't get to vote this time round (again..) but i hope i get to vote in 5 years' time...

Update (2nd May)

I went back to Alex Au's Yawning Bread and noticed he'd followed up with the scene at the PAP rally held at the same location just the next day.. here's a comparison... (note: both pics belong to Yawning Bread)

vs


Guess which is which?

More Will-power

Little Will



found in a drain.
fifty-fifty chance of survival.
lived.
and endeared itself to all.

the will to live.

so it was named "Will".

Enid's Exhibition

@ 61 Kerbau Rd (MRT: Little India)

Enid Sim's series of whimsical pieces addresses the status of what is natural. She attempts to show how man's understanding of the natural has shifted to the point of being paradoxical. For example, pet lovers keep animals as pets and invariably remove them from the very nature where they ought to be. As she puts it, "I am fascinated by man's paradoxical attraction towards nature - of how much nature captivates us and how we attempt to keep nature in captivity." In ‘Work-in-progress’, she injects the irony of man's obsession with nature and how our naïve intrusion and eagerness to know nature has done more harm than good. What a parody to our omnipresent thirst for knowledge and education!

Passfaces

According to this website, our brains are able to remember faces far better than we can remember numbers and letters, hence this fascinating new authentication system..


Passfaces (i tried the demo! it's cool!)

which replaces the need to remember numbers and letters with picking out a pre-agreed set of faces from several grids of other faces. Apparently, we can remember the set of faces we pick even after a long long time!

the govt should consider allowing us poor overworked civil servants to use this system to replace our current need to remember a ridiculous number of passwords!

since i joined the public sector (which hasn't been for very long), i've had to remember no less than 10 or so passwords, and mind you, they are of VARYING LENGTHS (of between 8 to 12 letters).

Of course i didn't start out with 10. I started with only 1 or 2 and used the same ones for the myriad (mostly non user-friendly) systems we were presented with to do the million and one (sometimes inconsequential) things we had to do regularly.. like mark attendance online, and key in results, and submit medical and dental claims, and handle exam applications, and apply for training courses, and update our online resumes, and what-nots.. but then, the passwords started expiring after random periods.. some expire at the end of each month (!!), others after a few months, yet others if we don't touch those systems for a period of time (durh! who needs to log in THAT often??).. so we all ended up with a bunch of different passwords.

the worse thing is, we WILL forget those passwords (who wouldn't??) and then, when we try and try in vain to log in again, the system will eventually "lock us out" and we will then, lagi worse, have to fill in and submit some ridiculous paper form to reapply for a new password, all the time getting disapproving frowns from the admin people..

so eventually we will all give up memorising those passwords. we will instead write down the whole list of passwords and display them neatly and prominently on our desks, next to our paperclips, highlighters and cups of coffee.. yes, so-called "passwords" but with zero security..

durh.......................

Jewel In The Palace??

the next person who tells me about this show will get some serious walloping from me!!!

>:(



look at the stone looking people! they even behave like that in the show!!

but everyone i meet: from the office to during social gatherings to my mum and even my best friend when we met two days ago mentions it, unprovoked, the moment we meet!! they even want to "go home early to catch it" sacrificing precious time they could spend doing something more worthwhile, like, err.. talk to me??

grrrr.... >:(

the dog



couldn't resist posting the pic above.. it is so cute..


but...even better...


i get to play with a real retriever! the one below named QQ.. still a puppy but extremely friendly and playful..:)

tired...

something we CAN do



we can be indifferent locally but let's see what we can do for the world.. :)

Walk the World Carnival 2006

When: 21 May, 2006; 9:00 AM - 3:30 PM (local time)

Where: MacRitchie Reservoir Lornie Road Singapore

Route: 5 km cross-country track

A Documentary

check out what Channelnews Asia will be screening at 7.32pm this Sunday 16th April... a documentary on Qin Shihuang!!



wahahahaha.... hope the poor fella responsible for this doesn't get into trouble.. brr... some people don't have a sense of humour, you know? :O

-----
and from ST Interactive April 13, 2006 "Who is afraid of voting against PAP?" - on yesterday's telecast discussion between the young and MM...

Mabel Lee: But is that the state that you really want Singapore politics to have... bearing in mind that your GRC system results in walkovers. You have a young generation of people who really don't care about politics. Or, they're even fearful if they do get to vote. So is this the system that we really want?

MM Lee: Are you fearful to vote against the PAP?

Mabel: Perhaps, yes. Honestly - a little bit.

MM Lee: (Laughs) Why? Tell me why. What will happen to you? How will we know that you voted against us?

(Group laughs)

MM Lee: No, no - let's pursue this 'Because I'm afraid!'. You tell me you've gone through O levels, A levels, university, working in 93.8 Live and you're afraid that if you vote against the PAP, something will happen to you?

Ching Wern: I think this is the impression that the PAP has created.

MM Lee: (Laughs) No, you're spreading that impression.

Ching Wern: No - you can ask every one of us here...

Pearl: Add to that effect that there isn't a level playing field for the opposition in the terms of upgrading.

MM Lee: There is no level playing field of any government helping opposition to win votes.

The Battle of Ideas

as the likelihood of an imminent general election looms over all of us, i suddenly feel this mysterious, but nonetheless overwhelming, desire to read LKY's memoirs again.

from cover to cover.

ok, i confess i never quite got past the first chapter the last couple of times i picked up the book...

this might just be the right time to read it again.. eh? might just help me to shake off some of that typical singaporean apathy for local politics that i have...

btw, did anyone watch "V for Vendetta"? i love that show... maybe i should go read the comic book too..

Still ENFP

ENFP - "Journalist". Uncanny sense of the motivations of others. Life is an exciting drama. 8.1% of total population.

Free Jung Personality Test (similar to Myers-Briggs/MBTI)

BIMBO BLOG = MONEY

(from kenny sia's blog)...

It's so much easier being a female blogger.

Guys can only write so much humour, politics and technology before we run out of inspiration. For girls, they can write the same stuff if they wanted to, but they can also write a bimbo blog.

Bimbo blog is a genre of blogging that'll never go out of style. They're characterised by the blogger (usually female) posting up half-an-Internet-full-of-bandwidth-sucking photos of themselves going about doing stuff like partying, going for manicures, shopping, partying, attending fashion shows, partying, doing their make-up, partying, meeting celebrities, going on a cruise, partying, partying, partying... zzzzzzz.

Bimbo blogs may not have a lot of substance or thought-provoking content, but you know what? They're fun. And people read it. And people DIG those shit. I know I do. Just look at the female bloggers I linked to on my sidebar - half of them write darn good bimbo blogs.

I read a lot of bimbo blogs because I'm a hot-blooded male and I never stop being curious about the opposite sex since puberty.

One thing though. Bimbo blogs are strictly the realm of female bloggers. Guys can't write bimbo blogs. I mean if you're a guy and you enjoy posting up multiple hi-resolution self-indulgent photos of yourself, mannnnn... you got some serious issues to deal with, mate. Stop touching my body.

umm.. i don't know how to write a bimbo blog...

Waspily grossed out...

check out what i discovered today in a corner of my room where i stack the mountain of books i have no time to get around to reading..

on my copy of "Eats Shoots and Leaves"..




and when i crushed it...



out came...






and more...






everyone say "ewwwww".......

and check out a picture of their daddy/mummy.. i saw it shortly before i discovered the nest...

THE PURPOSE OF EDUCATION
By Martin L. King Jr
1948, Morehouse College

As I engage in the so-called "bull sessions" around and about the school, I too often find that most college men have a misconception of the purpose of education. Most of the "brethren" think that education should equip them with the proper instruments of exploitation so that they can forever trample over the masses. Still others think that education should furnish them with noble ends rather than means to an end.

It seems to me that education has a two-fold function to perform in the life of man and in society: the one is utility and the other is culture. Education must enable a man to become more efficient, to achieve with increasing facility the legitimate goals of his life.

Education must also train one for quick, resolute and effective thinking. To think incisively and to think for one's self is very difficult. We are prone to let our mental life become invaded by legions of half truths, prejudices, and propaganda. At this point, I often wonder whether or not education is fulfilling its purpose. A great majority of the so-called educated people do not think logically and scientifically. Even the press, the classroom, the platform, and the pulpit in many instances do not give us objective and unbiased truths. To save man from the morass of propaganda, in my opinion, is one of the chief aims of education. Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction.

The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. But education which stops with efficiency may prove the greatest menace to society. The most dangerous criminal may be the man gifted with reason, but with no morals.

The late Eugene Talmadge, in my opinion, possessed one of the better minds of Georgia, or even America. Moreover, he wore the Phi Beta Kappa key. By all measuring rods, Mr. Talmadge could think critically and intensively; yet he contends that I am an inferior being. Are those the types of men we call educated?

We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character--that is the goal of true education. The complete education gives one not only power of concentration, but worthy objectives upon which to concentrate. The broad education will, therefore, transmit to one not only the accumulated knowledge of the race but also the accumulated experience of social living.

If we are not careful, our colleges will produce a group of close-minded, unscientific, illogical propagandists, consumed with immoral acts. Be careful, "brethren!" Be careful, teachers!

For your interest....

Encyclopedia Britannica of 1952 says the purpose of education is "to raise up children to follow in their parents' traditions with good success". Parents in all societies want their children to have the same values as themselves.. but the obvious question remains... whose values? and who has the last say on which values are the so called "right" ones?

Yet another statement made, before a group of English headmasters by the Archbishop of York, that the true purpose of education is "to produce citizens"... I went to check up on what a "citizen" is..

n.

1. A person owing loyalty to and entitled by birth or naturalization to the protection of a state or nation.
2. A resident of a city or town, especially one entitled to vote and enjoy other privileges there.
3. A civilian.
4. A native, inhabitant, or denizen of a particular place

i'm going to go ponder on this issue a little..

gravid sky



a sky gravid with moisture and yet it didn't rain.. amazing..

and guess what?? just now, when i went to buy peanut butter from the supermarket, for a moment (actually, it was for longer than just a brief moment), i actually thought it has a shelf-life of 13 years!!! couldn't believe it!

read carefully... don't be as blur as me.. :p

white bittergourd



albino bittergourd - mum's back from taipei with a whole assortment of strange and wonderful things. she says this is what they use to make bittergourd milk.

sounds yucky.

all drugged up



below is an incomplete list of medicines i've taken since i fell ill two weeks ago..

• Cepastat
  
• Panadol for Cold Relief
  
• P.E.C Syrup
  
• Serrazyme Tablet - Serratiopeptidase 5mg
  
• Anarex Tablet - Ophenadrine Citrate 35mg
  
• Ponstan 250mg
  
• Augmentin 375mg
  
• Pontalon - Mefenamic Acid 500mg
  
• Augmex - Clavulanate Potassium 125mg
  
• Panadol
  
• Paracetamol 500mg
  
• Senna 7.5mg
  
• Clarithromycin DHA 250mg
  
• Solmucol Lozenges 100mg
  
• Coughlax Forte Syrup
  
• Bricanyl Syrup 1.5mg
  
• Prednisolone 5mg
  
• Various other TCM herbal concoctions
  
• Acupuncture on arm, leg, neck, back
  

it's terrible.. and i've been abstaining (as best as i can) from all the so-called no-no food like seafood, chilli, fried/bbq/grilled food, coffee, chicken (supposedly bad for cough) but it doesn't seem to get better.. and now i'm getting all sorts of bodyaches from my incessant cough through the night...

the doc i went to last night sternly told me to stay home ("the epidemic is getting more serious! i have to give you an MC!") but assured me quickly, when i started looking really guilty and worried for still going to school and spreading the germs, ("Don't hold yourself responsible for the epidemic")

durh.

ok, better go rest.. starting to forget what life was like before i fell ill.. sigh..

gulp



it just kept going up straight after my last post! The last I checked, it had topped 40.3 degrees.. goreng otak..

and of course everyone starts to speculate why i'm so sick.. everything from dengue to lack of water to lack of proper diet and sleep..

just wanna go and sleep..

welcome to the holidays



caused a bit of a panic among my family members and dearest friends when my temperature refused to go down even after I downed a good bunch of Panadol tabs.

Fried brains, they were afraid.

I'm better now. :)

for some reason, i always fall sick immediately after the hols start.. it's like my body tries to hold out until I'm "allowed" to fall sick.. anyway, to all students and teachers out there..

Happy Holidays!

a random morning



some days are good but other days are better..

without filter, without photoshop.. an au naturale sunrise..

Consecration (maha kumbabishegam) of the AVGMT at Seng Kang




holy vessels.. sanctified water.. loud chants.. deities.. mystical powers..

Arulmigu Velmurugan Gnana Muneeswarar Temple (AVGMT)- a temple with three gods living in harmony.

i'm not e-l-a-s-t-i-c



feeling rather stretched.. only to find that i'm not that elastic after all.. today felt like it would go on forever, even though it was one of those days you wish wouldn't start but as soon as it does, you wish it would end soon....

but dear God blessed me with the most incredible rainbow on my way home just now, arching over the PIE as I drove back through the darkening evening sky...

i hope you saw it too. my k700i vga phonecam does it no justice.

life is beautiful, despite.