This Christmas...

Well, christmas is around the corner and as expected, we are all rushing about buying presents and doing some shopping. But at this time of the year, can we not forget what is most important here. No it is not the spirit of giving or the idea of celebrating the nativity (YES they are important and all).

But what is the single most important thing is the idea of coming together as a family unit and thanking whichever god you belive in for a wonderful year and how he/they have been gracious to you and protected you for the past 360 days of the year.
No, it is not the time for you to be going out with your friends and getting pissed drunk and mistake your flushed nose to be Rudolf. But it is a time to sincerly look back and well, appreciate it.

Christmas is here and to me there is more to it then just presents and gifts. It should be a time for rememberance. For christians, it is to remember someone who gave his life for you. For others, it is a time to remember people who would give their life for you. It is a time to take stock on the quality of your life and be thankful for it. Just for this day let us not chase ambitions and goals without first taking time to look back and reminisece about the goals that we have accomplished

So this christmas, let us not get wild and over the top, let us not use the excuse of a mistletoe for a free kiss and let us not think christmas is some lightshow that makes Orchard rd more pretty (although it is not the case this year). Let us instead appreciate the friends and appreciate the love bestowed on us.

A MERRY CHRISTMAS ONE AND ALL.

Thanks

This post is dedicated to the person who managed to help me get all the links into the blog! Tks Colleen, sorry I dunno what is html or any of this programming things, rather noob at this. Thankfully you know this IT thing...





PS: notice the role reversal in this modern world. What next, female Phua Chu Kangs? Hmmm

Bloody Bas***d Breeze!

The problem with technology is that it is not 100% reliable! I was trying to access the e-learning portal which contained my holiday homework and well, lo and behold, I cannot get in and school is starting soon and there is a test for this topic! (go figure).

I mean why can we not stick to paper and pen? There is a saying, if there is nothing wrong with it, don't fix it! Sorry for this flusttered post, but it is very irritating when I cannot get something which I want done. Anyhow, it has been a quiet week, and nothing realy meaningful has sufficed.
It pains me to wonder how the definition of the term 'holiday' has been brutally mauled by the Singaporean education system. No longer do we get to rest, instead we are given homework.

What is this world coming to?

Confessions of a Cab driver 2

Well well , I was on the way back from a cab on Wednesday morning (2am), and I met another interesting cab driver with his own anecdote about life.

He was sharing with me how difficult life was being a cab driver, and how the increase in fares did not just affect us, but him also. He complained of how the new fares had turned off customers who would rather wait for the first bus or first train rather than take the cab. He had also talked about how his 2 children would starting primary school and how he had to single handedly put rice on the table for his wife, his children and himself. Sigh such is his predicament.

Well, he had mentioned about the constraints that he had faced and how he only had primary school education and how it had led to him ending up driving since he was a tender age. Of course, he had also mentioned how times had changed and how one needed an N or O level cert to drive a cab. Subsequently, he was worried that his children would not be able to adapt to the society for them in the future.

Sigh, times have really changed. 3 decades ago, noodles could be bought at 50 cents and things were so much easier. Education was fun and people were happy. Nowadays, we go about our daily innings with this 'computed' mindset and with our even thought or appreciation for life. Life has become such a bitter struggle to make ends meet and has been hard on the general population. I respect this uncle who has chose to struggle on and to continue to work against the odds and try to support his family. The education system has been taxing on us, and I guess, we really need to change and adapt, or else we would be sorely left wanting.


'let us not take the roof over our heads, the food on the table and the starhub cable as simply necessities, when somewhere just maybe a few roads down, these maybe be luxuries.'



PS: if the taxi driver and the passenger is at the loosing end of this new meter system, who is making the dough? Rather obvious eh.

Changes

Friends are back from Aussie-land! Anyhow, Ben has to go for army now, so wont be seeing for long.

Its amazing how things can change since the last time I saw them (which was a year ago). I guess it just emphasizes how we all change and how 365 days can mould someone to a completly new person not jsut physically, but also in terms of his/her character and mannerisms. Well, I think ACJC has changed me alot in both good and bad ways, but then again I am not like the gahmen, I accept that pros come with cons.

Well, I was wondering to myself, can we ever remain true to ourselves? When we first started off as children, we had always claimed that we would never (emphasis on 'never') tell a lie. But looking back, I am afraid that the lies I have made can make you a millionaire if 1 lie cost $1. Well, we say that we would not smoke, not have pre-maritial sex, but how sure are we that we do will abstain?

Tsk tsk tsk, the temprement of the human will, so easily to change, so easy to turn 180 degrees, so easy to love, so easy to hate, so easy to give in.

Appreciation...

Been thinking again, in life, who do you want to be:

An artist? An actor? Or a Cleaner?

What is the difference? well I think the difference is how you will be apprectiated. For an artist, the day you are remembered and loved is the day you are six feet under and well dead. For an actor/ actress, the only time you are remembered is if you do something that makes people sit up or makes them weep for your character. Or you could be a cleaner, never really appreciated, but always essential. Never always seen, but always having an impact. (I will leave it to your highly developed minds to figure out this hypothesis)

So What do you want to be? someone who is appreciated after life, someone who gets 15 mins of fame or someone who is not even known but knows that his/ her contribution is great? Rather hard to choose don't you think?

Chinese reflections....

China Trip

I Ihave to admit that I had harboured tad bit of aprehension before my trip to China. Lets just say that I was not 'feelin' China and that I did not really like the place. So what if my ancestors were from there? I am not Chinese, I am Singaporean!

Thus, needless to say, I had a stereotype of China as a dirty and third world nation that had a conundrum trying to feed its 1.3 billion people (tht is a lot of zeros mind you) Well, I landed in Shanghai and was greeted by the wet and cold weather. Not a very promising sign of things to come. My 8 day trip took me to Suzhou, Wuxi, Nanjing, Huangzhou and back to Shanghai. It was many hours on the bus and a real bore.

But before I begin a narration, lemme talk about the trip on the whole. It was barely educational ( the tour guide spoke in Chinese, so not much could be comprehended), most days were raining, the food was full of pork dishes, smoking was a national pasttime and the people were so rude that they would cut the taxi queues!!

Aside from that, China has the most wonderful of scenerys. I mean, it is better than England, Australia, Israel, Spain even Korea. ( the pictures above would do justice to this statement). Anyhow, China was more of an eye opener more than anything else. I kind of feel a greater afinity to it even though it had presented me with so many 'turn-offs'. I felt rather comfortable and not so foreign.

However, passed all the beautiful facades of the rich culture and modern buildings, i saw the lesser known side of her. There were beggars on the streets struggling to survive as the standard of living surges ahead with her development.

For exmaple, an average worker earns about RMB2000, which is like S$500 and the cost of a MacDonalds there is like RMB22. So it is not a lot of $$$ to live on.They really are surving day by day. I think it was an eye opener to make me appreciate the life that I currently have. Anyone of us could have easily been in the same shoes as the beggars. After all, you did not decide if you wanted to be born and who your parents were to be. did you?

Well, I guess that is the purpose of holidays, besides the traditional idea of taking a break, visiting other countries has allowed me to further understand cultures and appreciate not only the life that we live, but the society that we are in. Anyhow, it was a good break but I'm glad to be on this sunny island, at least it does not rain every day! So enjoy the pics and till next time,
adieu

BAck

Well, Just got back. Gimme me sometime and I will share with You about CHINA. (&(%&^$^$OY*&^ (tht was vulgarities)

I saw this really nice quote and thought I should share it:

'She was my cream and I was her coffee and when you poured you poured us together, it was something.'

I saw this outside spinelli's I think. Well, so who is going to be your coffee today? more importantly, do you evn like your coffee with cream? Or are you more of a conventional drinker, no sugar, no cream. If that is so, what do you go well with then??

Conformist?

I am once again suffering from a relapse of my melancholic mood again. So here comes another life questioning post:

Well, the past few days have set me thinking, can there ever be one side to a person? Can a person remain what he/she is for the rest of his/her life? Can we as human beings even remain true to the closest person that we know. Ourselves.
I was thining, the blog is a far cry from my outer personality, yet it is me. However, the outer personality is also who I am. Thus I am faced with a conundrum. Which should I be? Myself or myself?Have any of you reading this had those times when you feel that you have betrayed yourself? I sure have.

Anyhow, can we really have a fixed personality? Can we always hate that person or always love that so and so. Can we be true to ourselves? Society has cast a shadow over our wretched lives, she has spurned a web of deciet and lies. She has forced us to conform, and labeled non-conformist as outkast of the society. When all this time, this people are the ones who are the true victors and we the outkast.

Well, the melancholic phased has past and back to the normal ways, for now. So till next time, adieu.

Food for thought

'Sometimes we can be so superficial.'

I had arranged to have dinner with my parents and their friend today. It was the friend's birthday, and I had thought that we would be dining in some posh 5 diamond restaurant. So I had gleefully tagged along. Instead of that, we ended up eating Chinese food in some shop tucked away in Chinatown. When we reached there, I was pissed! I mean, I came all the way down to eat this? WTF?! (I was thinking all this while I was dressed in t-shirt and shorts) I had never thought to consider if the food was as any good or better than the environment that it was situated. It turned out the food was fantastic and the service was also good. I dare say that it is better than some hotels I have eaten, where the food is a total joke.

Well, I guess this event was a small situation to teach me the basic concept of not judging a book by it's cover. How can one compass the qualtity of the, in this case , the food without having tried it? How can we judge someone with out learning more about him/her and giving them a chance?

I think this anecedote is just a reflection on life, we never really see the joy that it has. We see a man with a big house and a Ferrari parked outside and we jump to the conclusion that he is one 'hellova' happy man. We see a man sweeping the floor and we think that he is a sad man who is forced to do this. We however forget to see the sorrow in the rich man's life and the satisfaction in the sweeper's life. In society, we should not stick with the 'in-crowd' and forsake our values, we should not be so shallow as that. Lets give everyone a chance and lets live life without jumping into stereotypes.

Another parting thought for another eventful day:
People are like food, you can never tell their true character with out tasting them.

Pondering Bus Thoughts....

Holidays have officially begun and it is time for some fun and to chill out and metally prep myself for the year ahead.

Interesting things happen on buses and I was a recipient of this interesting happening. I was in the bus and it was jammed pack with people. I was sitting on board and pondering over how these people might be feeling on board the bus as the cars whizzed by and as they pack themselves like sardines.

However, there was one constant thing that they shared. They all had these downcasted and stoned expression on their faces. There was no life at all! It's amzing how commitments and work can jsut sap the life out of us and leave us so weak and so 'stoned'. It is therefore my suggestions that we embrace life and for us to see another day as not just another 24 hours. Instead, we have to see it as another window of oppurtunities and another chance to experience what life has to offer.

So what if it is a work day or a school day? Does that mean that no happiness can be drawn from it? Does that mean that it will be void of any meaning? I think the answer begs the question. We have to embrace life, cause, who would know how much time we have left. Are you certain that you will be alive tommorrow? Can you be sure that you will still have your 2 legs a week from now?

The answer is clear. So we should enjoy life and every moment of it. We should not be so downcasted by work that we fail to appreciate the day that has unfolded. We should not let our life be slaves to conventions and dejections.

Ps: listen to 'Closer' by Goapele. It's damn chill out

"Free Hugs"

"What the world needs now, is love sweet love, its the only thing that theres jus too little of". That was a quote from a song some time back. Amazing that it is just as relevant now as it was a few years back. Tht picture that you see above is a women holding a cardboard with the word 'Free Hugs' written in Polish.

What struck me was how we just need acts of kindness and maybe a hug or two to really brighten up those melancholic days. I was on the way for the class party when lo and behold, the phone's battery went dead and I needed to contact the others! So I was in a state of peril. What should I do? I mean who would lend their phone to a total stranger and let him place a call? Well, I decided to try the train contoller and asked for him help. He had not only lent me the battery for my phone, but even offered to charge my phone!

Such an minute act has a great impact on the lives of the people around you. Wether you know it or not, your kindness goes a long way. No this is not a publicity for the courtesy campaign or a belated advertisment for the '4 million smiles' saga. I feel that these acts of kindness really make one's day.

Moving on, what we need to do is be like the lady in the picture. Lets spread the love around. Its the only thing that we do not get poorer from giving more. Life is way too short to remain resentful all the time. What we need to do is to spread the love and joy. As the holiday season draws nearer, let us mean it when we say that this is a season of giving. Let us mean it when we say 'merry christmas' let us mean it when we say 'ol lang syne' (forgive the spelling). Lets stop the hate. Lets stop being selfish bastards and become the society that we are hyped up to be.

'Sometimes it is self benefitting to be selfless'

'Hua Yu Zai Jian'

I think this post is going to be rather redundant, but I need to let this off my chest.

Chinese As are over!

Goodbye 'cheng yu', goodbye 'yan yu', goodbye one of my H1! well now that it is over, I can concentrate on more important and more pressing issues. My Homework. You notice how this vicious cycle continues to play in the Singaporean education system? You are delighted to complete 1 task and only to find another 2 more staring at you.

This cruel irony has got to stop. My time has been sucked up by studying! I think the phrase 'youth is wasted on the young' is rather pertinent here. One has yet to to fully enjoy life and the pleasure of youth when it is heinously stolen from them. Therefore I think that we need to really cherish the moments in our life. Life is not made up of events, but of moments that take your breath away. It is these moments that give it new meaning and purpose.

We all wake up, shower, brush our teeth and go to our respective places of work. What we lack to cherish, is the nitty gritty things that happen around these events. A simple smile, a word of encouragement does wonders to the soul. I guess it is time for us to take stock on the simple things that makes a world of a difference.

PS: I did tell you that this post was random

the Chinese conundrum

'The world would be a better place if we all spoke only 1 language'

Sorry for this random thought, but I am being forced to study for my Chinese A levels and boy! I sure wish we had only needed to speak only a language. Who cares about the preservation of culture and tradition?! It is already being perverted by the mass media and needs no help.

Think of a world where we only speak 1 language. It would be a so much better place. Business transactions would go smoothly with no 'lost in translations'. Holdidays will be so much more fun, considering that you can speak to the locals and ask them where the best places are. The world would be so much happier! So what if we loose a bit of our heritage? after all, isn't the most important thing in the world progress?

Ok, gotta go back to Chinese. Sighs

Confessions of a Cab Driver

'You see the truth of the situation when talking to talking to strangers'

Well, was on the way back in a cab from clark quay with Reuben and Rose. Well, we had just dropped rose off when the taxi driver had wondered why we had dropped her off first (considering that it would have been more practical to have dropped Reuben and I first). He went on to talk about how he had problem trying to get passengers as he was black!

Before I am called a racist and someone who is out to destroy the social fabric of our society, it was he who had said that. Anyways, he had mention that passengers were afraid to ride the cab and were scared that they would get "raped" and "something bad would happen to them". I am not kidding! he had said that.

That got me to ponder about the gravity of his claim and how reliable it is. To think about it, if there were such incidents mentioned by him, it would mean that there is actually no racial cohesion, instead there is only mere tolerance and each race is suspicious of each other. I mean, everyone be it Indian, Chinese, Malay, Japanese or African are all out to make a decent living and we shld not prevent this beacuse we carry with us a stigma about how each race is. In the words of Martin luther King, Jr, we should judge someone "by the color of their skin, but on the content of their character".

Thus the message for today is:
We cannot carry with us a stigma of a person, it is a huge breach of human rights and that would ruin the social fabric of our society. So if you are a Chinese, jump into a taxi with a Indian cab driver, If you are an Indian, jump into a Cab with a Chinese cab driver. Let us not have stereotypes guide our actions, but instead, let us go in the belief of trusting one's character and not on his/her race.

The Lady that changed my life....

It seems that the reality of life always hit at the most awkward of moments. I was waiting for melodie and alyssa today at the mrt station. Then I say this lady walk right up to the dust bin, stuck her hand in and started pulling out all the newspapers and laying them on the ground! Believe me, I was shocked. It's not everyday that you tend to see people doing what she just did. I had kindda felt rather disgusted and yet rather sorry for that poor lady.

Anyways, she had took the newspapers and had rearranged them, placing them in neat stacks and she tried to make sure that the papers were clean and new. Well, after awhile of digging and stacking, she left-this is when the reason for this post kicks in. Well, she was walking whilst a young lady brushed past and dropped her purse or something and unknowingly walked on. Well, this lady who had just stuck her hand into the dustbin, picked it up, caught up her and gave it back to her!

I guess this ancedote draws up the idea of moral fiber and the values we value in our life. Imagine if you had to stick your hand into dustbins for a living and to make ends meet. Would you have the conviction and the moral courage to give back a purse that could well hold enough cash to get you by for a week? maybe even 2? I guess that her chacracter of being upright and honest is a true acid test of a person.

It is not the money or the cars, it is the morality that one displays. Come to think of it, some rich people are too scheming to even return back the purse.Yet, this lady who is struggling to have 3 meals a day can. It then begs the question as to what is becoming of us. Moreover, it also allows us to reflect on how fortunate we are.

At that time, I was listening to Chris Botti on my new NANO and at the instant, that lady was picking newspapers out of the dustbin! I think that I need to be more appreciative of the life presented to me and how we must cherish it.

Coming back to morals, we should take a leaf out of the pages of this lady, I do not know her name, but I know her character and her purity of heart. I know that she is financially poor, but spititually rich. Some of you may say that she is a fool and that money talks. But well, I do not think that money talks all the time. It caves in to morals and moreover, spiritual and mental fortitude. What can you do with all the money in the world when you are running away from your inner self? It is senseless and downright sad.

Well I guess that is all for now, time for me to sleep and reflect more on this incident that has well changed my day.

Bittersweet...

Sigh. You know how sometime, you just need to deal with your loses and move on in life? Well, I guess it is easier said then done. After a whitewash with 1sc3's frisbee team, we were really on the brink of endlessness. Not to mention that this was coupled with our wonderful promotional results that in my case, contained no vowels. I guess that was bittersweet, considering that the vowels would have spaned both sides of grade range.

Anyhow, it was pretty good for the class though. We all got promoted!! but then again, it is not the destination that counts but the road to it that mattered. Although we did make it to J2, we had just scrapped through, and it was far from a good performance. None the less, it calls for a bit of celebraTION and fun. Sigh, easier said than done.

Unguarded Serendipity... by =ProsePetals

A little something to emphasize my day:

In a breath of gently spoken words of truth
over shades of softest honesty revealing
to the return waxed exhalation of smoke
and the tap-dancing rhythm of anticlimax.

a tempestuous reality of words
that never should have been spoken
from a heart that was meant to be broken
time and time and time after time

As the smooth, cool blade of subtle irony
cuts through the texture of my blitheness
so jealously guarded and unwittingly
and carelessly spent in a moment of candor.

and a wild and dangerous spirit
that takes greater risks than prudence
would ordinarily allow, in past tense
and will never be present tense again

Initial token sensation of anger and frustration
at a slip of otherwise untouchable lips, a sweet
transition of unexpected liberty for by missing
the words for reasons undisclosed yet known…

when strains of violin refrains in softest
tones of languid, sanguine yesterdays
that no longer exist, can’t find their way
into today, and really, that’s more than okay

You casually and caustically set me free
from the chains that held me so close to your
heart and the secrets that my own keeps are held
in the dark and quiet place where serenity sleeps…

when silence is voluminous and
irony is luminous, and everything else
just falls away and nothing matters
more than the quiet times of simplicity

Ho hummm....

Today was one of those ho hum days. But I did manage to catch 'the Prestige' though. It was throughly entertaining and managed to maintain the suspense to the very end. Sadly, like an exhausted plot, the play ended with only many dead people and a twisted web of logic. 2 important lessons were learnt tho:
1. The pursuit of Greed and Power can lead to a great man's downfall.
2. Sometimes, the simplest of reasons are the correct answer.

However, what struck me today was when I was on the bus. I saw this old lady with a diamond encrusted watch. She was also adorned with jewellry. It had set me thinking: what must I do to enjoy such luxuries when I'm Older? When will I be able to enjoy these things? Then, I guess I had an epiphany!

I need to study harder!

You must be wondering about the link, but it just struck me. After that, I had lapsed into one of those melancholic moment all the way home. I was seeing but I was not processing,my mind was stagnant and my vision was just a blur of lights. This was how I ended another of those ho humm days.

Parting thoughts: Man also want to grab what he cannot grasp.

More thoughts....

Today is the Deepavali. like any other Saturday, I was lazing around again. Nothing productive was done. AGAIN. Nonetheless, heard that MM Lee was visting Las Vegas. Guess he had wanted to see the peril and the destruction that the Intergrated Resort (a nicer name for Casino) was about to knell.

Once again no good news about the world to report, people are still dying and the world is getting filled with vices, corruption and clueless people. Just heard from the news that some Indonesians did not know that we were suffering from the haze. I mean, How STUPID can someone get. It just goes to show the ampathy tht is in this world. I would not have expected such ampathy to something that adversly affects them.

Moving on, I entered my account and realized that the account was in Chinese! worse of all, I don't eveb know how to change it back to English. although I am supposedly bilingual, I am finding it hard to navigate through the blog. Sigh. I guess this would be all for now, till next time....

Cheers

Randoms....

Not gonna say much now... Just wondering how about life and it's meanin. You know how we all go about our daily ramblings with out ever considering the meaning and the significance of it. We should enjoy life and to do that, it would meant that we need to understand it and love every aspect of it. But that again is another random thought for you to ponder on.... I mean, it is not as though there is a deeper meaning to the brushing of yr teeth.

Srijith asked is there was anything abt him, so being the welfare person which I am, i'm going to squeeze him in. He is a nice guy and 'adaptable' (private joke). Anyways, If you are reading this, you need to put in more effort!

OK then nothing really left to say, besides kindda tipsy with all the VODKA now...

Intro...

After the subtle pressure and influence of my schoolmates and the sudden pang of getting thoughts out of my head, I have started a blog! I guess now is the time to give you a little about my self. Well, I am rather thick headed, cynical and quirky. I am a Volatile,impatient and I hope funny person to be around with. I hate Mondays and I hate Sundays(it's the eve of the day I hate).

Well, I like to chill alot and gym (gotta burn those fats off), Anyhow, I like meeting people and playing pool and really hanging out in coffee joint . Any activity to take off the stress from my mind is a good activity.

I have a fatal addiction to chocolates (that is why I need the gym),watches and handphones. I love to Slack, and well to enjoy the finer things in life (wadever they maybe) I have a habit of infactuations (loads) and insulting people and I have a spelling problem too(as you will discover along the course of this blog's existence). I am a cynical person and don't really see the good things in life but rather zoom in on faults(quite nihilistic actually) and how sucky the world is getting and how fares are going up and how life is getting $$$.

I love flying and the feeling of putting my life in the hands of a man whom I have never seen b4 and may be an extra in brokeback moutain for all I know and my trust in pieces of metal nailed together by a company called Boeing...(worst still! I just found out SIA uses CHina pilots! now everything is 'made in China') Well, I want to live an eventful life feeling that if I do die tomorrow, my life had been colorful, meaningful and well, worth it (very Singaporean). I also like to know what is going on in the world (life would be so meaningless if you do not know about how bad your life is or how worst it could be). I want to know when I die so that I can at least mark it down and F**K the world before I leave.

I think that love is a fictitious state of great passion, pain, sadness and leaves you hoping tantalus. That does not mean that I don't want it mind you...But really it is an emotion that is so hard to compass, but yet so apparent in our world.

I love Ironies. More so if they are cruel ( I told you I was mysogynistic).

I want my epithat to read: "He died, Everyone gave a F**K" ( it does not a rocket scientist to tell that I am rather vulgar, but that is if you could be bothered to read this far). Finally I'm a person that either makes or breaks your day and for your sake I hope it is the former. I am true to myself and have no qualms about bitching you in the face.


I guess that is a short intro about myself and contary to the URL of this website, This blog would be anything but 'in my sense' it would be wild crazy and may end up like Mr Brown's column (which I do hope he gets back). So signing off for now.

See ya (whoever u may be)