'we were meant to live for so much more...'

2011-06-02T23:44:00.001+08:00

i have moved (yet again) -- http://singaporeanheartlander.blogspot.com/

see you there! (:

2011-05-08T12:56:00.002+08:00

so, life goes back to normal again, but i'm already looking forward to the journey ahead (:

i love singapore.

2011-04-14T12:43:00.002+08:00

guys, whatever you're doing, please remember to take care of your health. just had a gg combination of fever + diarrhea yesterday, and i can tell you it doesn't feel good. argh. hope to get well soon.

2011-04-10T18:27:00.002+08:00

random quote:

"If you had done something differently, it wouldn't be you, it would be someone else looking back, asking a different set of questions."

koped it from someone's signature while looking for stuff on forums, and i thought it makes a lot of sense. there are times when we tend to think of the "what if"s in our lives, but the truth is, we'll just never know what the different outcome might be, because whatever choice we make will always be part of a chain of events.

2011-04-01T19:44:00.003+08:00

oh. just realised that my previous post was my 100th post here.

anyway, wanted to post this on wednesday but didn't have to chance to until now:

do we tend to believe in things blindly? read this story today (been coming across lots of random stuff while doing research at work. haha):

'A child was watching her mother cook a roast. The mother cut off both ends of the meat and placed it in a big pot for cooking. When the child asked, "Why do you cut off each end?" the mother replied, "I do it because my mother did it that way, so it must make the meat taste better." When the child asked, "Why does it make the meat taste better?" the mother replied, "I don't know, go ask your grandmother." So the child asked the grandmother and she replied, "I do because my mother did it that way, so go ask your great-grandmother." When the child asked the great-grandmother why she cut off each end of the meat, her great-grandmother replied, "Because my pot is too small!"'

and the blogger said "Often, we find that some of the things we do, we do for no good reason at all, other than because that's how it's always been done."

hmm...i think it's kinda interesting how kids always like to ask "why", but as we grow up we simply become too lazy/apathetic to find out the reason behind things, and we take it that we should do certain things in certain ways because that's how they've always been done.

2011-03-27T20:26:00.003+08:00

wow. haven't heard this song for awhile but i popped up on my mp3 player last week and it's been stuck in my head ever since. james morrison's voice is really good (:

Let me hold you
For the last time
It's the last chance to feel again
But you broke me
Now I can't feel anything

When I love you,
It's so untrue
I can't even convince myself
When I'm speaking,
It's the voice of someone else

Oh it tears me up
I try to hold on, but it hurts too much
I try to forgive, but it's not enough to make it all okay

You can't play on broken strings
You can't feel anything that your heart don't want to feel
I can't tell you something that ain't real

Oh the truth hurts
And lies worse
How can I give anymore
When I love you a little less than before

Oh what are we doing
We are turning into dust
Playing house in the ruins of us

Running back through the fire
When there's nothing left to save
It's like chasing the very last train when it's too late

Oh it tears me up
I try to hold on, but it hurts too much
I try to forgive, but it's not enough to make it all okay

You can't play on broken strings
You can't feel anything that your heart don't want to feel
I can't tell something that ain't real

Well the truth hurts,
And lies worse
How can I give anymore
When I love you a little less than before

But we're running through the fire
When there's nothing left to save
It's like chasing the very last train
When we both know it's too late (too late)

You can't play on broken strings
You can't feel anything that your heart don't want to feel
I cant tell you something that ain't real

Well truth hurts,
And lies worse
How can I give anymore
When I love you a little less than before

Let me hold you for the last time
It's the last chance to feel again

2011-03-20T20:11:00.004+08:00

"I heard he volunteered even though he will be retiring in just half a year, and my eyes are filling up with tears. At home, he doesn't seem like someone who could handle big jobs. But today, I was really proud of him. I pray for his safe return."

these are the words from a Japanese girl whose dad is working at the nuclear plant.

i (and i'm sure so does everyone else) seriously hope that there wouldn't be a nuclear meltdown. the nuclear plant workers who have volunteered to stay behind knowing that the radiation will certainly give them long-term complications even if it doesn't kill them, and the doctors and nurses who stayed to look after hospital patients who were unable to evacuate, these people really exemplify the human spirit.

may japan pull through this crisis.

wedding at macs

2011-03-10T22:20:00.002+08:00

ah. had this blog entry in my handphone but had to wait until now to post it:

came across something interesting in the sunday times last week - weddings at macdonald's.

(if you haven't read about it, you can refer to http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2055444,00.html )

i've never really given much thought as to what my dream wedding will be like. would i consider having a macs wedding to save costs? i don't know, but i'll be surprised if my future other half and our friends and family actually want that.

i guess i should just consider to save up for my 老婆本 (funny term really. literally means 'wife costs')yea?

hmm. food for thought. lol.

2011-02-25T22:53:00.002+08:00

religious people = nicer people? hmmm...

just some afterthought from the talk at lky school of public policy which i attended with my colleagues just now. the topic was "the changing role of religion in america" by Robert D. Putnam, a world-renowned academic.

it was quite interesting really, learning abou stuff like how religion in america has become more polarised than ever, yet it is also more tolerant. surprisngly, within a few weeks of my internship, i'm already much more interested in religious issues. not so much on the theology of it, but how it affects our social capital. ah. i really want to become less sua gu and more able to discuss all these social issues/public policies with my colleages.

but for now, it's time for the usual weekend schedule. sleep + movie + football.

i'm looking forward already (:

2011-02-23T22:36:00.004+08:00

came across this story which i found particularly meaningful, esp with the issue of foreign talent in singapore:

When Persia (modern day Iran) was invaded and the Parsi Zoroastrians were forced to flee to India, they met the local ruler, Jadi. Initially relucatant to accept them, Jadi presented them with a vessel of milk which was filled to the brim. The Parsi head priest understood that this was the king's way to signify that his kingdom was already full and could not possibly accommodate them. In response, he asked for some sugar and added it into the milk. He told the king that they were strangers who would enrich the local community without displacing them. They would dissolve into life like how sugar dissolves in the milk, sweetening the society but not unsettling it. Impressed by his actions, Jadi allowed these new immigrants to stay.

Subsequently some of these Zoroastrians came to Singapore from India. One of them, Mr Navroji R. Mistri, even donated a million dollars to Singapore General Hospital in the 1950s to build a pediatric wing there. A million dollars back then must be like a few billion right now. If you talk about adding sugar to milk I think that milk would proably be diabetic lol

2011-02-16T23:43:00.002+08:00

the wonders that a 30-minute jog can do to your mind.

and jogging while talking to friends is so much more enjoyable. covered the longest distance i've done in the park for awhile.

tomorrow will be a better day (i hope. lol). need to get better at work.

2011-02-02T23:13:00.002+08:00

wow. 大世界 was surprisingly good. it's funny, heartwarming, and it's refreshing to see dialect being so widely used throughout the movie. watched it just now after reunion dinner with my parents, aunt, uncle and 2 cousins. to think i had initially wanted to watch jack neo cross-dress instead -_-

if you're looking for a movie to watch over this new year period with your family or relatives, look no further. 大世界 is definitely worth watching.

i think the benefits of promoting kinship here are way underrated. and rather than asking the chinese to learn their own language for pragmatic reasons (i.e to do business in china), the focus should be on encouraging our youths to learn more about their own roots. that means not just learning the chinese language, but our dialects as well. they're part of our culture, and there's no reason why we shouldn't be proud to continue speaking them.

祝大家新年快乐！:)

2011-02-02T16:32:00.001+08:00

i like reminiscing about the past with old friends. everyone brings up a different shared memory, and you can then piece it together like a huge jigsaw puzzle. haha.

2011-01-26T21:06:00.003+08:00

was reading a very old copy of reader's digest and came across this story:

at a bus stop, the standing passengers on the bus refused to move to the back of the bus, and so no one could board. seeing this, the bus driver turned his head and shouted at the passengers, "will all the smart and good-looking people please move to the back of the bus? the ugly and stupid people can stay in front. thank you."

i wonder if humans are fundamentally selfish. seriously, i can never understand how some people simply refuse to move to the back of the bus even if there's plenty of empty space right beside them. the nonchalence in their eyes as they look at people struggling to board the bus- it's just disgusting. it doesn't kill to be a little more considerate yo.

2011-01-12T20:48:00.001+08:00

yesh! i did it! finally managed to get into mcys (ministry of community development, youth and sports) albeit only as an intern. it's still a start though. haha. ever since i figured out that there're enough brains contributing to the economic development of our country and my talents (if i have any at all) would be put to better use on social development, this is the first step that i've taken. will try to learn as much as i can from my time there (: looking forward to it already. haha.

ORD (in 15 days' time) loh!

2011-01-12T11:38:00.000+08:00

wow.

new year resolutions

2011-01-07T13:59:00.000+08:00

resolutions for the year of 2011

1) be more mature
2) be less sarcastic
3) get my driving license, hopefully on the 1st attempt
4) learn (basic) korean
5) learn cooking from my mum
6) run my first ever night race (sundown 2011 10km)
7) exercise regularly (running, swimming, cycling)
8) make lots of new friends (and hopefully a few close ones) in uni
9) mug hard for good results in uni
10) get at least 1 tuition assignment to earn some pocket money

and most importantly, stay healthy and be happy! (:

2011-01-04T03:48:00.000+08:00

my current favourite song. haha

2011-01-02T12:05:00.000+08:00

wanted to post this last night, but ended up watching parts of MBC Gayo Daejun online and parts of the new year countdown on tv, so this shall become my first post of 2011 instead. haha.

heard about this on yes933 last night:

this person was looking through her old photos when she found that there was a photo of her and a boy taken when she was in kindergarten. she felt that the boy had some resemblance to her husband, so she decided to show the photo to him. upon seeing the photo, her husband took a closer look and realised that the boy in the photo was really him! haha. such a sweet story.

fate's an amazing thing really. it's like we're connected to the people around us by invisible strings or something. haha. and i guess it's true that strangers are just friends whom you haven't met, and perhaps lovers are friends who are bound by fate to complete each others' lives. just one of my random theories, as usual. haha.

happy new year everyone! (:

2010-12-30T14:18:00.000+08:00

met a hwachong junior from 09s7h when i went for my internship interview at the Account-General's Department (AGD)yesterday.

just some background info on AGD here (i'll be very surprised if you already know what it is. coz i haven't even heard of it prior to this). it's in charge of stuff like preparing financial statements, managing our country's reserves and conducting value for money reviews on the various agencies' spendings (memorised this from their website lol). anyway i was given a list of internships to choose from by the public service division, and AGD's one of my choices, so there i was at their office for the interview.

i find it quite cool how a talking to a stranger can suddenly feel like catching up with an old friend when you find out that the 2 of you were from the same school. i guess it's some kind of bond you share, having gone through the same experience, and in this case having mutual friends coz' the age gap is only 2 years.

and it makes me miss hwachong, both college and high school. i know i haven't even started uni, but i doubt that it can replace hc as the place with the most family feel in my school life. haha.

2010-12-28T13:50:00.000+08:00

hmm. somehow i've had a greater affinity with animals since NS. probably coz i'm always feeding the stray dogs and cats in camp, even more so when i'm on duty. still remember spending my national day night playing with the stray cat at coyline. haha.

was going out yesterday night when i saw a stray cat hiding under a car downstairs. it looked damn happy to see me and came running to me as soon as i meow-ed to it. haha. cute.

passed by the playground on my way home just now and it was a even cuter scene when a small boy (around 2 years old maybe?)started running after a dog that was the same size as him. slowed down my footsteps just to watch that. somehow my mood is always lifted whenever i see dogs happily wagging their tails, especially when i'm jogging in the park. haha.

having a pet dog is one of my childhood dreams, but i never came close to doing so coz of a few reasons- my parents would never allow it, it is rather costly, and there simply isn't enough space for a dog in a hdb flat in my opinion. plus it takes alot of committment to care for man's best friend, so i've never given it serious thought. but if i ever get to stay in landed property next time, i'll definitely get a dog so that he/she can roam freely in my backyard. i can get to bring the dog for jogging, and my kids can get to play with him/her. haha. sounds like a plan.

2010-12-27T07:36:00.000+08:00

happy boxing day!

did you know that boxing day actually has nothing to with boxing(the mohammed ali kind)? the actual origins of boxing day are unknown, though most versions make references to the opening of boxes of presents on the day after christmas.

sadly though, no one celebrates boxing day here, and the only reason i got to know about it is that there're always premier league matches being played on 28th december and they're known as boxing day fixtures. haha.

anyway, here's a great song that i only got to hear recently. it's the kind of song that can somehow touch your heart, especially if you're listening to it on a cold, quiet night. haha. enjoy (:

2010-12-19T12:10:00.000+08:00

i like watching "america's got talent" auditions, coz' you'll never quite know what you're going to get. some people may look all ready impress, but end up flopping miserably. of course, there are the usual weirdos and lunatics on show too. but some people really have got huge talent and are a real joy to watch. some are inspiring, like the band of musicians from haiti. when asked by one of the judges what the competition meant to them, their reply was "after what has happened in haiti, we want to show the world that we are still standing".

2010-11-28T14:38:00.000+08:00

woohoo. no more driving theory tests again. the uncle beside me yesterday wasn't so lucky though. i could feel his nervousness and uncertainty at doing the computerised test, but i certainly didn't expect him to click on "end test" when he wanted to change the language settings to chinese. he tried to ask me for help after that, but there wasn't anything i could possibly do. ohwells.

a few random rants here:

1. north korea sure is a fucked up country. at least, its government is.

2. isn't it funny how some people think that pressing the button repeatedly at the traffic light will make the light turn green faster?

3. i wish i had the guts to tell that indian lady off and get her to give up her seat for the old man on the bus. the old man was standing right beside her but yet she could just continue smsing like nobody's business. what a selfish woman.

2010-10-31T07:30:00.000+08:00

you know, we're always told to plan ahead in life, but just how far ahead can we see ourselves to be in?

when i was in jc, the furthest i could imagine was the end of A levels. sure, i planned out my possible university courses, and even made a list of things to do after A levels, but when the moment finally did come, it felt all so surreal, like i had never really expected it to happen.

it's a case of deja vu now that my army stint as a NSF is almost over. from the day that i went in to tekong and had my head shaved, from the first night i ever slept on a saf bed, i had tried to picture the day where i would have my pink ic back. that day had seemed so far away, especially when you take into consideration that time passes by much more slowly in army than in school.

but hey, i'm only 89 days away from yet another milestone in my life. and hopefully this time, without the exam stress, i'll be much more ready for it and make full use of my time before i become a student again.

so here's saying no to early matriculation, and yes to a meaningful 6 plus months before uni.

ORD (soon) LOH!

2010-10-24T10:55:00.000+08:00

just found out that my fantasy premier league club is currently leading the other members of the manchester united singapore supporters club. winner gets a prize at the end of the season i think haha.

2010-10-22T23:56:00.000+08:00

the countdown to 270111 has begun (:

(look to your left)

2010-10-20T12:30:00.000+08:00

Was on my way home from my umpteenth chiropractic adjustment today when I thought of how my scoliosis has affected me over the past few years. It has cost me money, made me give up my favourite pastime of basketball and my new-found love in long distance running. It also caused me to down-pes and be called a chao keng kia by some, but that doesn't bother me really. What hurts is that i now have to let my body partially rot away. After starting to hit the gym so enthusiastically, i'm now unable to build on it.

But when I look at it from another perspective, god has been very kind to me in many other ways. My education has been sponsored since secondary school. My parents give me a lot of freedom and very little pressure. I have relatives who're always willing to help (like my cousin who actually travelled all the way from boon lay to pasir ris to help me book my class chalet when i was in j1). And of course, I have some very awesome friends whom I know will be there for me.

Besides, life can't be always fair and everyone suffers at some point in their lives, some longer than others. Perhaps god chose me to have a curved spine because he thinks that i'm tough enough to deal with it. And he certainly has sent me plenty of support in the form of the great people around me.

Some you win, some you lose. That's life, and I'm pretty contented with mine (:

2010-10-17T12:48:00.000+08:00

i suppose singapore is the only place where you can find a malay wedding and a chinese funeral just one block away from each other at the void deck, and that's what happening at the blocks oppposite mine right now. it's the perfect example of racial harmony here. reminds me of the time i was at pagoda street at chinatown (as part of the battalion amazing race), where fo ya shi buddhist temple and sri mariamman temple are situated. it's really a place full of heritage. to think i used to see it only as a place to buy chinese new year goodies lol. anyway, speaking of chinatown, there's a pastry shop at pagoda street that sells really good pies and buns. i had an egg tart while my friends bought stuff like po lo buns, and they all tasted great. mmm...yummy.

2010-09-28T12:24:00.000+08:00

met my granduncle (my grandpa's younger brother) at the bus stop today. he asked me about uni, and ended up reminiscing about the day he brought my dad to enrol at chinese high.

"time flies, doesnt it?" he asked.

it sure does. that was 48 years ago! haha.

have a little faith

2010-09-19T10:52:00.000+08:00

The reviewers are right- 'Have a Little Faith' is undoubtedly the best book by Mitch Albom since 'Tuesdays with Morrie'. It's nothing short of being inspirational, and the best i can sum it up would be like this:

Life is not about trying to erase your past mistakes. There's no 'undo' option in life. We do good deeds not because we want to redeem ourselves. We do them because we can, and we should. It's not about whether we've done enough good things to get to heaven when we die. It's about how much we've helped to improve the lives of those around us while we're still alive.

Have a little faith in what we can do. Have a little faith in life.

chances

2010-09-17T11:00:00.000+08:00

chances in life are very much like those in a football game. opportunity falls to you in front of goal, and you have to make a key decision within a split-second.

if you shoot and you score, you are lauded as a hero. but if you shoot and you miss, you are condemned for being selfish and wasting that chance.

if you pass to your teammate and he scores, you are praised for your unselfish play. but if you pass up the chance and the ball is cleared/your teammate misses, you are blamed for not taking up the shot yourself.

funny isn't it, the comparisons between sports and life. i guess that's why i love watching matches so much.

2010-08-29T19:18:00.001+08:00

i'm a yog convert.

sure, i was strongly against it right from the time we bidded to be hosts. why bother spending so much money when we haven't even constructed our new sports hub, i thought. we could've made much better use of the money by using it to fund the development of the local sports scene.

even weeks before the games started, i was still sceptical about whether it would be a success. it wasn't just me too. there was a general nonchalence about it amongst the public too.

but i've been won over by what i saw, especially after heading down to catch the handball competition at suntec last weekend. our hosting venues may not have been world-class (think bishan stadium), and there certainly were issues here and there (seats were left unfilled even though tickets had been sold out, complaints about food etc), yet the whole idea of having the youths of the world come together not just for competition but cultural exchange as well materialised here. the sight of our local athletes competing on home soil brought about some much needed national unity and pride as well. they may not have won gold medals, but they showed plenty of spirit, and honestly, that's all that's required to win over the home crowd.

so i say, well done to the organising team and the volunteers. no one knows what future YOGs will be like. maybe they'll be on much larger scales, maybe they'll garner much more global interest. but what we do know is that we have left behind a legacy here, and we are all now part of olympic history. hopefully this will inspire more youths to overcome all odds and take up sports professionally here. we still have a long way to go in becoming a sporting nation, but generating public interest in sports is a pretty good start, isn't it? (:

2010-08-27T21:45:00.000+08:00

passed by the street soccer court on my home just now and came across an interesting sight- a group of bangladeshi workers(aka bhangrahs) playing football with a bunch of local lads (a mix of middle-aged men and teenagers). it reminded me of the time i was at the high school canteen and i saw a foreign cleaner (another bhangrah, but that's not the point) buying a copy of the new paper from the school bookshop and eagerly flipping to the sports pages at the back of the papers. that's what i always do too haha, scanning through the football news before anything else.

i have this coca-cola wristband that says "we all speak football", and i think it's pretty true. regardless of our culture, we all support the sport we love with the same passion, and follow it with the same fervor. haha. football fans ftw (:

2010-08-23T20:56:00.001+08:00

some people like to pay lots of money to dine alfresco at restaurants.

i prefer to eat at coffeeshops by the roadside, where i can sit down and watch the world go by, while enjoying good food at less than one-fifth of the price.

2010-08-20T20:27:00.000+08:00

was on my way home on the bus when this man stared at the mcdonalds dinner in my hand and glared at me before alighting the bus.

being the ever-analytical me (yea right), i thought of what could have been going through his mind:

1) what a inconsiderate guy, bring food up onto the bus and stink up the bus.

which would've been a false accusation anyway, cos' i had tied up my plastic bag, and we all know macs smells good.

2) what a unhealthy fellow, eat so much junk food.

3) oh man i'm hungry, i should've bought macs for dinner too

or maybe, he was just in a bad mood. so much for analysing.

2010-08-16T13:10:00.000+08:00

life's funny. one minute i regret not waking up earlier to go for a swim, and the next moment it starts raining and i'm glad i didn't go.

and i finally solved the problem of my lagging computer! of all places, i found a comprehensive and easy-to-understand guide on how to increase computer speed from manutdsg forum. haha. lucky me.

2010-08-15T22:20:00.001+08:00

i'm bored.

sometimes i wish my spine was alright and i can just go out to the basketball courts and play matches with strangers, just like how i used to. but one can't have everything in life, can he? at least i enjoyed that experience while i had it.

or i would wish that i were rich, and be able to travel to different countries with my friends, like the group of them who're going to alaska this december to view the aurora. oh well, at least my dream of going to watch world cup 2018 is still in sight.

once in awhile, i will think of what it might be like if i had a sibling. even having someone else (other than my parents) to squabble with appeals to me. perhaps the only consolation i have is that there's no one fighting with me over the computer right now as i type this.

with so many "what-ifs" and "could-have-beens", it's no surprise that we tend to overlook what we already have.

being able to watch liverpool vs arsenal on a sunday night on the living room couch, without needing to report to camp tomorrow, is quite a good deal too i guess (:

2010-08-06T23:10:00.000+08:00

i'm addicted to running again (:

and the latest chapter of naruto rocks. haha. it just keeps getting better~

幸福就是现在

2010-07-14T22:27:00.001+08:00

i think i've posted it before, but it's been awhile and it's really good so i want to post it again:

一青年来是埋怨自己时运不济，生活不幸，终日愁眉不展。
这一天，走过一个须发俱白的老人，问：“年轻人，干嘛不高兴？”
“我不明白我为什么老是这么穷？”
“穷？我看你很富有嘛！”老人由衷地说。
“这从何说起？”年轻人问。
老人没有正面回答，反问道：“假如今天我折断你的一根手指头，给你1000元，你干不干？”
“不干。”年轻人回答。
“假如斩断你的一只手，给你1万元，你干不干？”
“不干。”
“假如让你马上变成80岁的老头，给你100万元你干不干？”
“不干。”
“假如让你马上死掉，给你1000万元，你干不干？”
“不干。”
“这就对了，你身上的钱已经超过了1000万元呀？”老人说完笑吟吟地走了。看来，感叹自己不幸的人，并不是由于幸福之神从来未光临过他们，而是因为他们心灵的空间挤满了物欲，无法因自己的拥有感到幸福。

从前，一个富人和一个穷人在谈论什么是幸福。
穷人说：“幸福就是现在。”
富人望着穷人的茅舍，破旧的穿着，轻视地说：“这怎么叫幸福呢？我的幸福可是百间豪宅，千名奴仆--”
一把大火把富人的百间豪宅烧得片瓦不留，千名奴仆各奔东西。一夜之间，富人变成乞丐。盛夏酷暑。汗流浃背的乞丐路过穷人的茅舍，想讨口水喝。穷人端来一大碗清凉凉的水，问他：“你现在认为什么是幸福？”
乞丐眼巴巴地说：“幸福就是此时你手中这碗水。”
其实幸福本来就是现在。只有一个个现在串成的幸福，才有一生一世的幸福。所谓幸福，其实是一种观念的东西，是一种心理上的感觉。人之幸福，全在于心之幸福。人们可以帮助你摆脱贫困，可以帮助你富裕，但无法帮助你幸福，因为，幸福需要你自己去发现，去体验。那些总是抱怨自己不幸的人，不要用沉重的欲望迷惑自己，不要总是看到你还不曾拥有的东西，而要静下心来，放下心灵负担，自己仔细品味你自己已拥有的一切，你就不难发现，自己竟会有那么值得别人羡慕的地方，幸福之神已在向你频频招手。

2010-07-11T21:36:00.000+08:00

lost count of the number of times i've bitched about the ugly incident at st andrews road since yesterday, but at least mgs primary really made my day. and my class was a enthusiastic bunch. sure, one would expect to have an easy time bringing a top girls school to ndp at padang, but the school still impressed me alot. and i'm sure joon wee felt the same.

they were loud and hyper on the bus, yet orderly and well-behaved when necessary. the same set of instructions never had to be passed down to them twice (it was the teachers who gave the instructions anyway. i barely had to do anything. haha). compared to some of the other schools i saw, with students running around everywhere, sitting on the stairways, blocking people etcetc. and anyway, try finding me another ALP (that's us. army liaison personnel) who had students playing word games on the bus and asking him whether umbrella birds exist. they do, by the way, but i had to get someone to help me google it before i knew.

but the best part was still the journey back to school. kids being kids, they were still very much in the mood to sing despite their long day. they sang kesha's tik tok and justin bieber's baby, but i was totally caught by surprise when someone suddnely shouted "who's gonna win the world cup?" and the whole class started chanting SPAIN! SPAIN! SPAIN! in unison.

primary 5 girls watch the world cup?

well, at least they have good taste.

viva espana, and viva mgs! haha (:

2010-05-30T19:35:00.000+08:00

man, slurping down a hot bowl of bak kut teh for lunch after an early morning run is damn satisfying.

2010-05-28T22:21:00.000+08:00

as planned, i've signed up for this year's standard chartered 10km. it's time to train more (but only after the world cup. haha).

2010-05-14T22:25:00.001+08:00

"Being hurt inevitably breeds hatred towards your attacker. But when we hurt others, we have to deal with their hatred for us, and our own feelings of guilt. But knowing what it feels like to be hurt is exactly why we try to be kind to others. That's what makes us human." ~ Jiraiya in Naruto

2010-05-09T09:46:00.000+08:00

instead of posting quote-of-the-week for this week, i have a excerpt from the ST review section:

"Rather than plump for the impossible, our national endeavour should aim at cultivating a strong and lasting Singaporean sports culture, one that helps to promote nation building.

Success derived from primarily naturalising foreign athletes will not become a potent force in defining and sustaining the Singaporean identity.

We should focus on building a strong foundation by expanding and strengthening our base of local talent, even if this means success will come only many years down the road."

~ ST reader Michael Ang

how true.

2010-04-29T20:19:00.001+08:00

idealism vs pragmatism.

overheard this conversation yesterday about how it is impossible to pursue your interest when one has his bills to pay and family to feed. and this person (no need to name him lah arh) said something like "interest is something that only appeals to kids. when you grow old, you'll find that money is what drives you".

sad but true uh?

to be able to find a career where you are able to do what you like, and make good money at the same time, it really ain't easy at all.

it's kinda like in football. the objective is to win, and of course if given a choice, everyone would want to play good football and win beautifully. but that's not always the case, is it? everyone wants to play like barcelona, but attemtping to play like barcelona is exactly what got some weaker teams relegated over the years. and hey, even barca themselves got knocked out by an ultra-defensive inter this morning.

as an aquarius, i've always been quite the idealist. but as the days go by, i find that im increasingly being swayed that pragtism is the way to go. haha. i guess i'll just have to find a balance.

2010-04-13T21:56:00.000+08:00

during the downpour just now, i saw this lady sheltering an elderly couple up the bus with her umbrella. feels good to know that nice people still exist in this world. haha.

2010-04-10T21:52:00.000+08:00

happened to find this email from peicheng in my inbox yesterday, and i think it's kinda quite cute. haha. shld've kept more old emails. chain emails were the 'in' thing when we were in pri sch/lower sec, weren't they?

Sent: 16 August 2003 23: 52PM
To: chin_hong_hui@hotmail.com

Fill this out about me (then send it back to me)*BUT FIRST* Send a
Blank Copy To All Of Your Friends (So They Can Fill It Out About You! Got It?? BE HONEST

1. My name: Chin Hong Hui

2. Where did we meet?: School

3. Take a stab at my middle name: hmm.. you don't have wat

4. How long have you known me?: four years?

5. How well do you know me (a lot, not so much, nothing)?: enough

6. Do I smoke?: duh no rite?

7. What’s my favourite colour?: Blue

8. When you first saw me what was your first impression? Clever

9. My age?: 13

10. My birthday?:

11. Color Hair?: Black

12. Color eyes?: Brown?

13. Have you ever had a crush on me? eeeeeewwwww

14. Have you ever been jealous of me? yes.. so clever

15. Whats one of my fav things to do indoors?: sleep?

16. Do you remember the first things I said to you when we first met? nope

17. What’s my fav type of music?: dunno..

18.What’s one of my fav things to do outdoors?: basketball

19. Am I shy or outgoing? both.. depends when

20.Would you say I’m funny HAHA or funny (sarcastic)?: HAHA

21. Am I a rebel or do I follow the rules?: follow the rules.. good

22. Would you consider me a friend?: duH!

23. Would you call me preppy, slutty, average, sporty, punk, hippie, glam, snobby, or something else?: dunno

24. Have you ever seen me cry?: nope..

25. If there were one good nickname for me, what would it be? ??

26. Are my parents still together?: yes

27. Do I have a nice butt?: sigh.. same answer as wat you gave me

I dont think i actually want you to answer that!

28. If I had broccoli stuck on my teeth, would you tell me? yes

29. Do you love me?: ...

AM I………. ?!?!?!?

31. Quiet or loud? depends on who you are with

31. Short or Tall: middle.. to the tall side

32.Weird or original: original

33. Smart or stupid? DUH! SMART!

34. Boring or Fun? Fun

35. Attractive or Unattractive? Attractive (everybody is)

DO YOU THINK I'M... (yes or no, if u wanna say something extra say it)

36.A psycho? no

38.Athlethic? quite

39. A nerd? nope

40. A slut? haha

41. Ghetto? ???

42. A *itch? nope

43. Two-faced? nope

44. Obnoxious? dunno

45. Immature? no

46. Mature? yes

JUST A FEW MORE QUESTIONS

47. What do you think I’ll be when I grow up? depends on wat you want

48. A) Do you think I’ll get married? yes!

B) If you do…Who do you think I’ll marry? dunno

50. Who are my best friends? haha.. many

51. What song(if any)reminds you of me? ?

52. Do I remind you of any characters on TV? ?

53. If you could rename me, what would my name be? no change.. you are special with your name

54. Have you ever had a dream about me? no

55. A feature that you like about me: haha.. hmm.. dunno

56. If you could give me anything, what would it be? (apart from a kick up the butt!) friendship

57. Algo que me caracterice? huh?

Anyone know the translation of this??

58. Am I physically ugly, average, decent, good-looking, beautiful, hot? dunno

59. Would you ever kiss me? eeeeeewwwww

60. Would you ever consider being my girlfriend/boyfriend? Oh come on girls, i know you totally want me!nope

61.Do you ever think about me off-line? hmm.. at school lor

62. If we spent a day together…..where would we go and what would we do? dunno

63. If you could describe me in one word, what would it be?

64. What word do I say all the time? dunno

THANKS!!! DON’T FORGET TO SEND IT BACK TO ME!!! If there are a few numbers missing it is because i deleted a few.

2010-04-04T04:35:00.000+08:00

amazingly, i managed to drag myself out of bed at 7am today to go run. perhaps it's due to my guilt for not running yesterday (i thought it would rain, so i chose to nap instead -_-), or because my running schedule for next week has been screwed up by cancellation of block leave. or it may even be that manutd is playing chelsea tonight, and i feel extra motivated for everything.

but it doesn't matter, coz right after the fun, i remembered that i was supposed to run anyway lol- if not for my ps' help i would've been in camp doing some stupid fun run before being forced to watch their armour road relay.

and here's one for the chelsea fans who only stsrted supporting them after abramovich's arrival:

Hollow, Hollow, Hollow,
Chelsea's success is fucking hollow,
All the money they took,
From that big Russian crook,
And you'll never win three in a row.

2010-04-01T21:20:00.001+08:00

so, the verdict is out. unsurprisingly, romanian diplomat silviu ionescu is found to be guilty. knocking down 3 pedestrains, killing 1 of them, stopping his car to hurl insults at a passer-by who tried to stop his car, abandoning his car at sungei kadut and making a false police report that his car was stolen. and running back to romania just days after the incident - some people just dont have a conscience, do they? with over 50 witnesses and evidence in abundance, he still dares to say that our court findings is 'bullshit'?

look, romania, if you guys have the sligthest understanding of the word 'justice', then you should just hand over the asshole to us and let him bear the consequences of his crimes.

quote of the week

2010-03-30T22:32:00.001+08:00

if you happen to be reading my blog, do check out the 'quote of the week' section that i've created at the side of the page. as far as possible, i'll update it weekly and put up quotes that are interesting, or inspiring to me. i hope you like them too. good things are meant to be shared, aren't they? (:

how to train your dragon

2010-03-28T19:40:00.001+08:00

been wanting to watch how to train your dragon ever since i saw the trailer last year. somehow, the story of a viking boy who decides to go against his tribe's tradition of killing dragons (because he realises that dragons aren't evil) appealed to me.

managed to catch the movie yesterday, and it certainly didn't disappoint. an engaging plot, witty dialogue, awesome soundtrack, and cute characters that will endear to both children and adults = it's a definite must-watch. you can save the money on 3D though. the flying scenes will probably look great in 3D, but i watched it in 2D and it was just as satisfying.

go watch it if you haven't! you'll regret if you miss out on a movie as good as this one.

2010-03-25T20:53:00.000+08:00

finally stepped down from my 16-day COS tour lol. doing cookhouse duty consecutively for so many days in a row had made me more zombie-like than ever. and probably more short-tempered as well. so i'm damn glad that the coy is back. now i have more people to talk cock with, more real work to do, and i can work with people who won't shirk responsibilties and just hide in bunk doing illegal stuff which i shan't expose here.

anyway, i've decied to focus more on blogging about positive experiences from now on. i figured that since everyone already has enough problems of their own to deal with, and not to forget that we all have to listen to other people's rantings, it'll be good if there's more joy to share around. haha.

for a start, i would like to compliment this PRC driver of 975. it was monday night and i was on my way back to camp. knowing that we were all going to camp, the driver deliberately stopped the bus further down the road, instead of at the bus stop. at least it saved us abit of walking distance. and trust me, no one likes the long walk into my camp. i gave him an appreciative nod/smile and he looked quite happy. haha. as much as lack of proficiency in english(i've seen them speaking in thickly-accented mandarin to banglahs -_- ) and their lack of knowledge in bus routes (a driver told my friends and i that he didn't know where was marine parade, when his bus was going to pass by there), i guess there're still drivers who are kind-hearted and willing to go the extra mile. like those who like to open the back doors of buses and let passengers board for free when the buses are full and the people at the back refuse to move in.

yeaa. nice ppl ftw (:

2010-03-20T16:35:00.000+08:00

humans are fundamentally selfish. i am too, of course. but the extent of some people's selfishness just disgusts me. argh. whatever. i'll do what i can to help, but sometimes i really wonder if certain people are worth helping.

on a more positive note, i should have no weekend duties for the next few weeks (or even months). haha. and there're plenty of stuff to look forward to in the coming weekends- manutd vs liverpool tomorrow, good friday long weekend, manutd vs chelsea, and i wanna watch how to train your dragon and clash of the titans.

2010-03-18T19:47:00.000+08:00

hmm. i really ought to swim more often.

2010-03-16T19:52:00.000+08:00

there's plenty of political news in the papers recently:

1. red shirts stage mass protest in thailand (again -_-)
2. aung san su kyi is banned from the upcoming burma elections, and her party has to expel her if they want to take part. so much for promising to have democracy.
3. diplomatic row between US and israel ovet the israeli settlement policy.
4. google looks all set to pull out from china as it refuses to follow the censorship laws that are enforced on it.

what a messy world we live in.

and in sports, david beckham will definitely miss out on world cup 2010. sigh. to think that he has been working so hard for the past few years to earn a place in capello's world cup squad. fate can be really cruel at times. but then again, since when has beckham not been working hard. as a youngster at manchester united, he used to stay back after training for extra free-kick practice, taking shot after shot at a tyre which he would hang from the crossbar. he was never a natural football talent, but whatever he lacked, he made up for it with sheer hard work. this also explains why he's only good at passing and set-pieces, the stuff that are developed from practice. lol.

anyway my parents are watching this ch 8 show now and they're totally niaoing jack neo. haha. it's not that i like to goad, but he totally deserves all the criticism that he's getting.

2010-03-14T15:44:00.001+08:00

the rain feels so refreshing.

2010-03-07T13:27:00.000+08:00

first there was 老牛吃嫩草。then out came tiger woods, john terry and ashely cole. extramarital affairs are nothing new, but the media reports on them just keep getting increasingly intense. now even jack neo's part of it? his face is splashed all over the headlines in today's papers. this time it seems abit too dramatic though- mistress shows up outside his house to create a scene, all 3 parties then go down to some restaurant at t3 for a 'negotiation'. reporters take photos of jack neo with a depressed look in the restaurant, and not forgetting that the mistress is someone who's acting in his latest movie. hmm... maybe it's just a staged prank and he'll announce on april fools next month that we all fell for it. lol. just my coffeshop theory.

whatever it is, i just have one comment- a man who can't even be faithful to his woman is not fit to be a man. whether the wife is willing to grant forgiveness is one thing, but us men should just stop finding excuses for straying. so what if you're a millionaire and endless women throw themselves at you. if you can't control yourself, it's your own fault for being weak.

2010-02-28T22:24:00.001+08:00

haha cool. so sir alex wasn't playing mind games - rooney really isn't in the starting line-up for the carling cup final. hmm...owen and berbatov. on paper that's not quite a bad partnership actually. hope it works out today.

come on united! let's bring home some silverware. oh and my cousin's gonna watch the game in finland while i watch from my living room. haha manutd fans ftw (:

2010-02-27T19:20:00.000+08:00

haha i'm having writer's block. was penning some kind of reflection here but kept getting stuck so i decided to post something else instead.

i read this article on the iraq war in thursday's straits times, and there's this quote i really like:

"The central conservative truth is that it is culture, not politics, that determines the success of a society. The central liberal truth is that politics can change a culture and save it from itself."
~Daniel Patrick Moynihan

ok i don't think it makes much sense to just randomly dump that quote here. if you're free, you can read the full article at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/24/opinion/24friedman.html it's a really good article.

2010-02-20T10:45:00.000+08:00

just bought the last copy of today's new paper from the mama shop downstairs. but here comes the dilemma. should i remain in the comfort of my living room tonight to watch everton vs manutd, or should i be at the airport to send monkey off. of course, based on my principles, football can never be more important than friends, but when there's hardly anyone from the class who's going down tonight, it becomes harder to decide.

ah it's ok. finally my sms is replied. lol bugger, take so long to reply still dare to kaobeh. so it's set. send off monkey, and still make it back home in time to watch the 2nd half. sounds good to me (:

2010-02-18T13:40:00.000+08:00

the swimming pool at hometeamNS this morning was surprisingly crowded. guilty for indulging in cny goodies, perhaps?

2010-02-16T20:50:00.000+08:00

family picnic (mum's side) at macritchie yesterday was great (:

i quite like the new layout at macritchie. the last time i went there was probably during hwachong cross country in '08. now there's a huge carpark, plenty of shower facilities, and vending machines which sell fruit juice and accept notes.

walking into the female toilet with my 2 (male)cousins wasn't great though. for some reason we missed the sign and went in. my younger cousin immediately asked, "where're the urinals?" to which my older cousin replied, "dao lah. just pee 1st." with that they went into their cubicles, and i was left wondering whether we were in the right place. so it was no surprise then that i saw a auntie staring at me when i came out from my cubicle. auntie lucy would've been proud of me (so embarrassing~) -_- i found out from my dad later that he went to the wrong toilet too. haha wth. something is wrong with the design of the place? seems like we all saw the big female sign, thought that the other side would be the male toilet, and went in. the actual male toilet was on the other side of the building. zzz.

oh anyway i realise it's good to have cousins of different ages. and it's really a wide range. from 5-30 years old haha. followed my oldest cousin for fishing and got to hold a fishing rod for the 1st time in my life haha. and he managed to catch quite a big fish too. after that i played football with my cousins who were still in primary school. to think that i myself used to go for these family picnics at macritchie as a primary school kid. haha.

chinese new year ain't about the (junk) food, or the angbaos. it's about family (:

2010-02-13T16:31:00.000+08:00

我不得不认老了。

for the 3rd time in slightly more than 2 years, i've been addressed as UNCLE. here's a summary of the 3 incidents:

1) i was swimming at bt batok when a boy ran towards me from the side of the pool, shouting "uncle, uncle". when i turned my head he said something like "oops, wrong uncle" and ran off.

2) i was manning the kiddy rides booth during cip and after i helped a boy off the animal ride, his dad told him to "say thank you to uncle".

3) today, i was resting in the pool after my 5th lap and this boy swam/floated towards me with his swim board. he looked at me, i looked back, and before i knew it he said "uncle, excuse". ok at least he was polite, so i said okay and made way for him.

ah. whatever. tommorrow's the 20th year that i will be collecting angbaos. from christmas to hc orientation to my birthday and now cny, celebrating just about almost anything recently makes me feel old haha.

ok this uncle has to go for reunion dinner now. here's wishing everyone a HAPPY CNY! may you have a good tiger year~

haha sorry to drag you into this, jinyu.

2010-02-11T20:12:00.000+08:00

杨丞琳- 折叠式爱情

一起在海边吹风忽然有流星划过
滚烫的手降落肩头
很强烈感觉胸口的震动

偶尔温柔的熟络还有暗示的幽默
你想什么我不太懂
只晓得期待越多越难过

你带着可以折叠式爱情
我在等不会变形的真心
被抱在你怀里却要提防你
爱要多聪明才能逃得过哭泣

走走停停的时钟深深浅浅的互动
你没有说一句爱我
却把我拢在爱的氛围中

你那种可以折叠式爱情
带给我夹着开心的伤心
有时侯挣扎着陷落在泥泞
有时又忘了一切的飞行

这是幸福的等候或心酸的前奏
要放下太多的疑惑才能专心去快乐

面对你可以折叠式爱情
该要有什么样子的表情
为什么不能问不能更透明
想要保护自尊的爱藏着孤寂

nice song (:

2010-02-06T22:44:00.001+08:00

was at subway for lunch this afternoon and couldn't help but overhear the boy (probably in pri 6 or sec 1) in front of me choose his veggies- "can i have more lettuce, more cucumber, and the thing that's beside the cucumber?"

they're called onions, dude.

anyway hwachong campfire yesterday night was pretty good. as expected, it was nostalgic. i mean, how long ago was it that we formed human trains and ran around central plaza. all the youthfulness from the j1s really made me feel old haha. oh and since when were j1s (or maybe j2s) so enthu that the human trains actually went up from 1st floor to 4th floor. uber siao.

well i think yesterday was the first time i went back to school and my class wasn't there. it was old friends aplenty though. yongwei ian wangshu zhiyong danny borui. i've known them for at least 7 years. some even 11 years haha. they say that change is the only constant. but to me, maybe, ageing friendship can be a constant as well.

2010-01-30T17:31:00.000+08:00

神木与瞳-守护者

風不吹雲怎麼跟隨只落下酸的眼淚
累不累付出的輪迴像樹海化成灰

妳愛的那一位掏空妳為所欲為
開心地浪費妳眼瞳裡清澈溪水

像妳遺忘了飛讓他把妳又染黑
越追越下墜即使最初妳有多美

請當我的守護者
把我抱著
陪我再靜靜找回愛原來的顏色
拒絕他揮霍著
重蹈覆轍
世界充斥著多少惡果

你是我的守護者
珍惜著我
讓心像原野安穩地為了你收割
我們是守護者
讓愛復活
這一刻天空又亮了

2010-01-26T20:34:00.000+08:00

it's kinda ironic when you're doing cookhouse duty and the music being played at the cookhouse is "what a wonderful world" lol. not that the world isn't wonderful, but duty certainly isn't. it's just plain boring. oh well.

and it was published in yesterday's papers that mr teo ser luck declared football as singapore's "national sport", as it's the only sport in the country that can fill a 55000 seater stadium. if that's the case, then may i ask why the government deems organising the YOG to be more important than rebuilding the national stadium for our national sport, which will then make us singaporeans have more national pride? if the recession is the reason why we have to wait for construction costs to be lower before beginning works on the new stadium, shouldn't we use the same reason to scrape the YOG too? if we have the money to spend, why not spend it on improving the local sports scene first?

anyway, SM goh says that we shouldn't get excited over the next elections. now there's even a "cool-down" day between the last day of campaigning and elections day itself. nice move, i say. maybe they should extend it to 1 week. the thought that there's a chance of reducing PAP's authoritarian rule is probably enough to keep me excited for months.

2010-01-24T14:34:00.000+08:00

"Is destiny like a cloud that floats in a predetermined current? or is it able to get on the current that it chooses for itself?" - Neji Hyūga in Naruto

2010-01-22T22:03:00.000+08:00

there are only 2 types of successful people - geniuses who work hard, and ordinary folks who work even harder.

2010-01-16T21:04:00.000+08:00

"You have a choice. You can throw in the towel, or you can use it to wipe the sweat off of your face."

-Gatorade ad

i don't drink gatorade, so i'm not trying to promote them or anything. but i find this quote kinda cool. haha.

2010-01-15T20:30:00.000+08:00

nice song, nice video (:

2010-01-08T22:51:00.000+08:00

so, all evdidence points to romanian diplomat Silviu Ionescu being the culprit for the hit-and-run case. witnesses have seen his face; a taxi driver has picked him up from the site where the car was abandoned. but now he's in romania and has announced that he's not coming back (what else can we expect from a liar when he said last week that he'll be back in singapore this month?)

and now all our minister of foreign affairs can do is to comment that this incident is "very bad". the exact quote:

“What happened was very bad. A man was killed. People were injured. The police are pursuing the matter very thoroughly but investigations are still ongoing and I shall not be commenting on them.”

i'll tell you what's bad. it's how lightly the government sees the loss of a human life, and their their reluctance to seek justice that's a disgrace.

pui4.

2010-01-03T15:17:00.000+08:00

seeing my grandmother today just made me realise even more that sometimes as people grow old, they become increasingly like babies, having to rely on others for everything. it's cruelly weird that the last stage of one's life bears so much resemblance to how it's like as an infant. it's like what morrie said in tuesdays in morrie, that he dreaded the day when he could no longer "wipe his own arse".

but then again, that's if you get to live to such an old age. life's really too unpredictable yea. even without diseases and natural disasters we have lunatics hiding explosives in their underwear.

dementia, alzhiemer's, senility. hopefully someone really will find a cure one day, and all grandparents will still be able to recognise their grandchildren.

2010-01-01T19:29:00.000+08:00

1st post of the new year.

i don't have the habit of making new year resolutions, but there's one that i just have to make this year:

Training Schedule for 2010

Sun- Run
Mon- Rest
Tues- Swim
Wed- Run
Thurs- Rest
Fri- Swim/Run
Sat- Gym/Run

Happy New Year (:

2009-12-29T15:18:00.000+08:00

Below is an excerpt from an article in The Temasek Review. You can view the full article @ http://www.temasekreview.com/2009/12/29/from-pap-to-singaporeans-you-die-your-business/

A netizen, Tracy Tan shared this heart-wrenching story on the Vote PAP out facebook:

“I know of a lady who has kidney problems, heart ailment and is half blind. She can’t work because of her health problems. She is 40yrs+, a single parent with a Sec 3 daughter. She is poor, sick and helpless. She approached Family Service Centre for help. FSC saw her need and helped her to pay her HDB rental, utility bill and conservancy charges. In addition, she received $300 per month and $250 school pocket fund for her daughter for meals at school. After helping her for two years, FSC recently told her that it can’t help her with the $300 per month and her daughter’s school pocket fund although her situation remains the same. She was referred to Jayakumar’s MPS. They wrote her a letter to SE CDC to support her case. The reply from the CDC was that “she had been helped for two years already and they can’t help her anymore”. She went back to her MP and he said that he can’t help her anymore as he had already written to CDC for her.”

The above story is not an isolated case, but one which we can easily identify with in our everyday life and it can well happen to you or me one day.

The PAP does provide temporary forms of financial assistance to the needy in the form of NTUC vouchers, utility bill rebates and waival of conservancy charges, but these are stop-gap measures which address only the symptoms of the disease and not its underlying cause.

If this lady is unable to find or hold a long-term job, then it is the duty of the government to step in to help family for as long it is necessary till her daughter complete her studies and start working.

There are many needy Singaporeans who are in dire straits and yet not able to qualify for state support due to its stringent criteria: one must be certified either permanently unfit to work forever by a medical specialist or completely destitute meaning that one has no living relatives left before one can apply for Public Assistance (PA) and even then, it is granted only on a case by case basis.

Another real life story: a 73 year old lady has to pick used cardboards for a living in Toa Payoh Lorong 7. She has a fifty year old son who is mentally challenged and therefore unable to hold on a permanent job. She could not qualify for PA because she still has a son, never mind the fact that nobody wants to employ him!

The PA scheme which is run by the Ministry of Community, Youth and Sports, offers only $330 monthly to its recipients which is surely insufficient to maintain a decent standard of living fit for a human being in Singapore.

A few years ago, the amount is only $290 and when PAP MP Dr Lily Neo asked MCYS Minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan to increase the sum so that PA recipients can have three meals a day as an entitlement, he shot back: “How much do you want? Do you want three meals in a hawker centre, food court or restaurant?”

It is not as if MCYS is so cash-strapped that it is unable to provide more to the PA recipients. Dr Vivian just unveiled a $10-million dollar Community Integration Fund to make new citizens and PRs feel “welcomed” in Singapore. Why not spend it to help Singaporeans who have contributed to the nation in one way or another?

The primary role of the elected government of the day is to take care of its citizens who voted for it, not to compete with other nations in terms of some obscure economic indicator, flaunt one’s wealth to the world by saving distressed foreign banks or jet around the globe at the expense of taxpayers to lecture other leaders on how to run their countries.

2009-12-27T12:53:00.000+08:00

hit-and-run cases aren't exactly common in singapore, but just two weeks ago one took place right here at bukit panjang, at the traffic light which i used to cross on a daily basis, killing one and severely injuring two others.

somehow, the fact that the victims were eating at the coffeeshop where i buy my food from, and crossing the road which i always use to get to the market, makes this incident much more real than just another newspaper report.

i wonder if the driver of the stolen black audi feels even the slightest tinge of remorse that he has killed a 30-year-old who was just married 3 weeks before that fateful night. but i highly doubt so, seeing that he continued speeding and knocked down another guy at the next junction even after he had run into the pair of colleagues.

rest in peace, mr tong. may the driver be found and arrested soon.

2009-12-13T13:35:00.000+08:00

haha crap. set my alarm clock at 1am so that i could wake up in time for the manutd-villa game, but ended up falling asleep within 5min of switching off the alarm. when i next woke up it was already 6.10am. checked teletext only to find that chelsea had surprisingly been held to a draw by everton, but MANUTD LOST?! $#%^$%& ohwells. just one of those days where a seemingly good chance goes begging.

at least i got to watch the last 30min of valencia-real madrid. and that, even though it's only 1.40pm now, will probably be the highlight of my entire sunday.

haha. what a life. i can understand why people like to complain that they're bored, but sometimes it does feel good to have nothing to do (:

2009-12-06T21:56:00.000+08:00

1 year to ord seems like a long time, but it's already been 1 year since jc prom, and that doesn't seem like so long ago.

moral of the story: time will still pass no mattter what, so just try to enjoy with whatever you have.

2009-12-05T20:50:00.000+08:00

there's this report in the new paper recently. it's about an indian woman who had some strange bacteria in her, causing her to lose the twins she was pregnant with, both ler legs, and most of the fingers on her hands. if this had happened to anyone else i'm quite sure the person would have gone crazy or attempted suicide. but not her. she's still determined to live with whatever she has left, and she's even looking for work now.

people say that new paper is full of crap, but i think amidst its tabloids and gossips are social stories that all of us should get to know.

2009-11-28T16:55:00.000+08:00

sometimes i wonder why people can be cruel enough to keep birds as pets. looking at the birds flapping their wings in an attempt to get out of captivity, only to bump into their cages, is really quite a pitiful sight. i can accept that we humans rear animals for food, but depriving birds of their freedom because we think it's nice to hear them 'sing'? i think that's just screwed up. for all we know, what we interpret as the birds singing might be them cursing and swearing at their owners.

makes me wonder what those old fools at my void deck are thinking when they sit there with their bird cages hanging above them.

2009-11-17T21:22:00.000+08:00

there was a article in the new paper on jose mourinho yesterday. i've never liked him from his time at porto and chelsea, but i have to admit that some of the stuff that he said makes alot of sense:

JOSE Mourinho has told The Times newspaper in the United Kingdom that Manchester United's Red Devils would be his ideal team for a return to English football.

The Portuguese has won the Italian Serie A title with Inter-Milan already and in his second season with them now.

He won the English Premier League twice with Chelsea when he first managed in England in 2005 and 2006.

Before that, he led Porto to domestic, Uefa and Champions League triumph eventually, in 2004.

He even dubbed himself the Special One when he first arrived in England.

Now, he sees his long-term future in England, at a club like Manchester United, that supports a long-term vision, in the same way it has stuck with legend Sir Alex Ferguson.

Mourinho, 46, said: 'I am thinking about the future in terms of youth development and the age structure of my first team (here at Inter).'

'But Italy is not the country for this.

'England is the country. And my football is English football.

'Clearly it is unrealistic to expect to stay at a club as long as Sir Alex, but I am ready for the next phase of my career. I want to work with a different perspective.

'At Porto, my objective was to win to earn the right to go abroad.

'At Chelsea, my ambition was to create a bit of history (the club had not won the title for half a century till he arrived). But I always knew Chelsea lacked the normal English culture of stability.

'I was never under any illusions. I understood the personality of (Chelsea owner) Roman (Abramovich) and the culture of the people around him and knew it was not a job for 10 years.

'In Italy, I was coming to the motherland of tactics, the country of catenaccio and defensive football. The objective was to win not only in a third different league but also at a place where they say foreign coaches have had little success. But the time will come for stability.'His prime target is the United job.

He was asked twice last season, if he would be prepared to replace Mark Hughes as the manager at Manchester City instead, but declined both times.

Mourinho developed a strong personal relationship with Ferguson and has been given reason to believe the Scot will play a significant role in appointing his successor.

The Sunday Mirror though, reported yesterday that the rise of Bordeaux in the French Ligue 1 is said to have made their coach and ex-United player Laurent Blanc a serious contender ahead of Mourinho and Ferguson's former assistant and Portugal boss Carlos Queiroz.

No firm date

While Ferguson, 67, has set no firm date for his departure, there have been indications that he will go after winning one more European Cup.

He has said he will not be doing the job at the age of 70.

But after the interview was published on Saturday, Mourinho later reassured Inter on their website that some of his words were used in a different way.

He did deny using the words though.

He told Inter's website: 'I am very sorry a sincere tribute to Sir Alex Ferguson has been used in bits in a media outlet and in a different way from which my input was requested and above all with totally different aims.

'As you can read from a correct translation of some of my quotes, I explained I love Inter, that I am happy at Inter and that I am building for Inter. Indeed this is the reality and will be so until the end of my contract.'

Mourinho's contract with Inter ends in 2012. By then, Ferguson will be 71 after his expected final season with United in May.

Wire Services

2009-11-15T12:53:00.000+08:00

wanted to blog more on last night's game at kallang, but on second thoughts, it's a night i would rather forget.

so i'm posting the list of already-qualified teams for world cup 2010 instead:

host:
1)south africa

from africa:
2)ghana
3)ivory coast
4)cameroon
5)nigeria

from asia:
6)australia (don't ask me what they're doing in our qualifying zone and not oceania)
7)japan
8)south korea
9)north korea

from europe:
10)denmark
11)germany
12)netherlands
13)slovakia
14)switzerland
15)england
16)italy
17)spain
18)serbia

from concacaf:
19)honduras (waste of world cup slot, in my opinion)
20)usa
21)mexico

oceania:
22)new zealand

south america:
23)brazil
24)chile
25)argentina
26)paraguay

only 6 slots left. and the 6 teams will be known by the end of next week.

i'm already looking forward to the draw on 4th december in cape town. can't wait for the next Group of Death (:

2009-11-15T00:03:00.000+08:00

absolute rubbish. we played like a bunch of amateurs tonight.

2009-11-14T10:26:00.000+08:00

people always ask me, why bother supporting a team that relies on foreign imports (not as much as table tennis does), plays unattractive football and is so inconsistent?

the answer is always the same- i'm a football fan, and i'm singaporean. if these aren't strong enough reasons for me to root for our national team, then i really don't know what is.

to me, manchester united is like my wife- it's something that i chose for myself. the national team is like my mum- i am obliged to support it. sure, there's nothing wrong with loving your wife more than you love your mum. but if you send your mum to the old folks home because you find it a chore to look after her, and you think that other people will do a better job in doing so, then you're quite a bastard. so stop thinking that the lions are not worth your time, and that there will be others at the stadium to cheer them on. why shouldn't you be there yourself? either you're a fake football fan, or you have no pride as a singaporean. if both of these statements aren't true, and you have nothing else on tonight, i'll see you at kallang.

let's go lions, and make some tom yam soup out of the thais.

2009-11-12T22:30:00.000+08:00

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2009/nov/11/robert-enke-death-shadow-german-football

flip open the sports pages of any newspaper and the last thing you would expect to see is someone's death, but that's what i saw today. anyway i'm highlighting this not because i'm a fan of him or the german team, but because it shows that depression is a very real problem. no one can imagine why the no.1 goalkeeper for a top european footballing nation would choose to end his own life just months before the world cup. it's quite scary really, the way people can see suicide as a more feasible option and decide to leave their loved ones behind- in enke's case a wife and a adopted daughter.

hopefully one day, better ways to deal with depression can be found.

rest in peace, robert enke.

ORD

2009-11-08T19:20:00.000+08:00

came across this video on facebook. a must-watch for all NSFs:

2009-11-05T22:33:00.000+08:00

spine brace - $5564

stopping my scoliosis' progression without surgery- priceless.

i won't believe in orthopedists anymore. if they had recommended chiropractic treatment when i was still in secondary school, i would probably be a chiong suah soldier now. tough life, but i'd rather be pes A than C, thank you very much. instead, they just let me kept waiting for my curve to worsen and laughed it off (actually it was more of sniggering than laughing)when i told them i wanted to try out chiropractic adjustments, dismissing it like i was some dumb fool. well, i am a dumb fool. i was stupid to trust them. if i had sought treatment earlier, a 20plus degree curve would've been easily corrected. but then again, life's full of too many 'what if-s'.

perhaps this is my last hope, but it's also a new hope.

wish me luck.

2009-10-16T20:12:00.000+08:00

still waiting for this meaningless slavery (ok maybe cheap labour would be a better description) to end.

2009-10-11T16:17:00.000+08:00

earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, typhoons, and even typhoons that somehow make their way back even when we thought they were gone. it's a pretty crazy world out there, isn't it? such is the fragility of life, and it's during times like this that all the more we should remember how being alive is very much a miracle.

James 4:14 "whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. for what is your life? it is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."

2009-10-01T22:38:00.001+08:00

beautiful song. enjoy (:

2009-09-27T21:38:00.000+08:00

went to check out the newly-opened dairy farm nature park today and ohman it's really huge. never thought that my house would be just a 15minute walk away from a park of this size. it's even linked all the way to the top of bt timah hill (but then again, zhenghua park was already linked to bt timah hill anyway lol). maybe i'll bring along my camera and take some photos next time.

arsenal sucks

2009-09-15T22:37:00.000+08:00

i just had to post this.

an arsenal fan was criticising manutd on soccernet with his bullshit and here's how one of our guys replied him:

'as a manchester united fan, it's funny to see how deluded Arsenal fans really are. Let's see how deluded and predictable you are, ok?
- Bought a bunch of teenagers -Check
- Sold all the quality players and players who want higher wage- Check
- Started the season brilliantly -> Fans screaming for a treble - Check
- Some "real" fans are worried of the squad depth - Check
- Wenger says his squad has lot of depth, ready to win the treble , no worries- Check
- Players got injured -> Fans screaming that life is not fair - Check
- Wenger stresses that the youngsters can fill the big shoes, no worries - Check
- It turned out the youngsters CAN'T fill the big shoes - Check
- Losing a couple of important games - Check
- Wenger blames the referee, stadium temperature, hot fans not wearing bras, life is not fair in general etc. - Check
- Wenger reassures that he believes that this squad can still win trophies, no worries - Check
- Losing and drawing another 5 to 7 important games and out of the race after Xmas - Check
- Fans screaming for Wenger's head, asking why he didn't buy - Check
- Some "real" fans try to reason: we are POOR; that's why we lost - Check
- Make a good run and end the season in top 4 - Check
- Everything is now rosy, Wenger is our one and only GOD - Check
- General consensus: we WILL win everything next season - Check
.... -Buy a couple teenagers.... YOU GOT THE POINT, RIGHT? '

nike human race

2009-09-10T22:35:00.001+08:00

argh. so close to registering for nike human race but now there aren't enough t-shirt sizes left. forget it, i shall start running again simply because i love running.

2009-09-09T21:31:00.001+08:00

a new lease of life.

and for that, i can't be any more grateful.

2009-09-05T23:27:00.000+08:00

i meant to post this a long time ago:

"故天将降大任于斯人也，必先苦其心志，劳其筋骨，饿其体肤，空乏其身行，行拂乱其所为，所以动心忍性，曾益其所不能"

which, translated into english, means:

"before a great mission of historical significance is bestowed to a man, the Heavens will first put his ambition and determination to the utmost grueling test. They will exhuast and starve him till they have shaken and wrung every bit of engery from within his body. whatever he does will be interrupted and challenged. this is nature's way of rattling his will in order to make him stronger, and to equip him with the abilitites and power that he did not have before."

i guess this applies to me in multiple aspects (none of which are historically significant, of course). my will has been tested, and yes, there have been times where i've failed. but i am going to pick myself up again. either that, or i will be sinking even lower. i think i'm done complaining and neglecting what i had set out to acheive.

success awaits those who get up one more time than they fall, i'm glad i still remember this quote. (in case you're wondering where it came from, i actually got it from a NBA commercial. lol)

body and mind. it's time to get both back in shape.

for now, it's time for a good sleep so that i can wake up in time for argentina vs brazil (:

2009-08-17T15:51:00.000+08:00

a beautiful, rainy day.

if i were in school, i probably would've jio-ed zhiyong and adrian to eat tom yum yong tau foo at the canteen.

haha. random thoughts.

2009-08-11T15:19:00.001+08:00

in case you haven't heard of this one before:

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson went on a camping trip. After a good meal and a bottle of wine, they lay down for the night, and went to sleep. Some hours later, Holmes awoke and nudged his faithful friend. "Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see." Watson replied, "I see millions and millions of stars." "What does that tell you?" Holmes asked. Watson pondered for a minute. "Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo. Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, I can see that God is all-powerful and that we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What does it tell you?" Holmes was silent for a minute, then spoke. "Watson, you idiot. Somebody has stolen our tent!"

a father's love

2009-06-20T20:55:00.000+08:00

I was at Woodlands for a swim 2 days ago and I saw this father trying to teach his son how to swim. Nothing unusual, until I realised that the boy was blind and he couldn't speak.

The boy was initially reluctant to enter the water, and he seemed lost when he did. But the father was constantly reassuring the boy and guiding him around. One could easily sense the boy's trust in his father. After much difficulties, the boy started to let go of his fears and even seemed to be enjoying himself.

With my limited vocabulary (and not to mention loss of touch with writing), I can't find the proper words to praise the father for his patience, and neither do I know what kind of encouragement I can give to the boy. Luckily I found this story instead, something which most of us should have heard of before:

---

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled children, the father of one of the school's students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended.

After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question.

"Everything God does is done with perfection. Yet, my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as the children do. Where is God's plan reflected in my son?"

The audience was stilled by the query. The father continued.

"I believe," the father answered, "that when God brings a child like Shay into the world, an opportunity to realize the Divine Plan presents itself. And it comes in the way people treat that child."

Then, he told the following story:

Shay and I walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, "Do you think they will let me play?"

Shay's father knew that most boys would not want him on their team. But the father understood that if his son were allowed to play it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging.

Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance from his teammates.

Getting none, he took matters into his own hands and said, "We are losing by six runs, and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him up to bat in the ninth inning.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but as still behind by three. At the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the outfield.

Although no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base. Shay was scheduled to be the next at bat.

Would the team actually let Shay bat at this juncture and give away their chance to win the game?

Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball. However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher moved a few steps closer to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least be able to make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly toward Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball to the pitcher.

The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could easily have thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have ended the game. Instead, the pitcher took the ball and threw it on a high arc to right field, far beyond reach of the first baseman.

Everyone started yelling, "Shay, run to first. Run to first." Never in his life had Shay ever made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.

Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second!" By the time Shay was rounding first base, the right fielder had the ball. He could have thrown the ball to the second baseman for a tag. But the right fielder understood what the pitcher's intentions had been, so he threw the ball high and far over the third baseman's head.

Shay ran towards second base as the runners ahead of him deliriously circled the bases towards home. As Shay reached second base, the opposing shortstop ran to him, turned him in the direction of third base, and shouted, "Run to third!" As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams were screaming, "Shay! Run home!" Shay ran home, stepped on the plate and was cheered as the hero, for hitting a "grand slam" and winning the game for the team.

"That day," said the father softly, with tears now rolling down his face, "the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of the Divine Plan into this world."

"Simple Man" by Shinedown

2009-06-17T14:30:00.000+08:00

Came across these beautiful lyrics today.

"Simple Man" by Shinedown

Well mama told me, when I was young
Said sit beside me, my only son
And listen closely to what I say
And if you do this, it'll help you some sunny day

Ahhh
Yeah it will

Or take your time don't live to fast
Troubles will come and they will pass
You'll find a woman and you'll find love
And don't forget that there's is a someone up above

[Chorus]
Be a simple kind of man
Be a something you love and understand
Baby be a simple kind of man
Oh won't you do this for me son if you can
(if you can)

Forget your lust for the rich man's gold
All that you need now is in your soul
And you can do this(oh baby)if you try
All that I want from you my son is to be satisfied

[Chorus]
And be a simple kind of man
Be a something that you love and understand
Baby be a simple kind of man
Oh won't you do this for me son if you can
(if you can)

Oh don't you worry
You'll find yourself
Follow your heart
And nothing else
And you can do this(oh baby)if you try
All that I want from you my son is to be satisfied

[Chorus]
And be a simple kind of man
Oh won't you do this for me son if you can
So baby be a simple be a simple man
Oh won't you do this for me son if you can