It doesn't matter if you don't
understand the language of the song. As long as you can
enjoy the music and the words that go with it, that is
good enough. If the music gives you good vibes or good
feelings, that is good enough.
Ting Ting told me that at present
she likes this Malay song, even though she has no clue
to the meaning of the lyrics.
The song just gives her a good
feeling down the spine. I knew exactly what she meant,
because I've come across songs that gave me that similar
feeling. One of my top favourite is the following song:
We both agreed that we could go
on listening to the songs repeatedly and still enjoy it.
That's how impactful good music is.
Bouldering @ SP
Thanks to Ting Ting's invitation,
I found myself heading down to Singapore Poly to
boulder. I've never did any bouldering there before, so
now is a good time as any to start.
One major plus point about
bouldering here is that there is a self-service music
jukebox! You can pick the tunes you want to listen to,
queue it and listen to it as you boulder when it comes
on. Yes, I agree, it's better than listening to radio
stations that play random songs and have long breaks in
between. And the music is loud enough to make you feel
like you're at a rock party! Hell yeah!
Another plus point is that there
is hot showers. Finally! Something that is similar to
Camp 5. It's good to have a nice, hot shower after a
long bouldering session. The feeling is indescribable.
Bouldering, just like any other
activities, is fun when you have good company. Will try
to take some photos next time I'm there!
'The Imaginarium Of Dr
Parnassus' opened this week and the trailers was
stunning enough that I thought I would be in for a real
treat to see it. I went to the extend of catching it at
midnight. About the show... well...
'The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus'
Synopsis
"The Imaginarium of Doctor
Parnassus" is a fantastical morality tale, set in the
present day. It tells the story of Dr Parnassus and his
extraordinary 'Imaginarium', a travelling show where
members of the audience get an irresistible opportunity
to choose between light and joy or darkness and gloom.
Blessed with the extraordinary gift of guiding the
imaginations of others, Dr Parnassus is cursed with a
dark secret - a bet with the devil, Mr Nick, in which he
won immortality. Many centuries later, on meeting his
one true love, Dr Parnassus made another deal with the
devil, trading his immortality for youth, on condition
that when his first-born reached its 16th birthday he or
she would become the property of Mr Nick. Actors Heath
Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell play a
mysterious outsider, Tony who joins the troupe to rescue
Dr Parnassus' daughter.
From the looks of the synopsis,
sounds like a simple story right?
But the reality is... well...
'The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus'
Review
If within the first 20 minutes
you don't catch the story, then it's likely you won't be
able to do so for the remaining 100 minutes. The basic
of the story is the pretty daughter of the performer is
going to belong to the devil unless someone does
something about it. In comes Heath Ledger to the rescue.
The twist of the story is in the end, and the twist
shows why Heath Ledger was 'chosen'. But it is so
abstract and softly played that you might miss it. You
might also miss the point why the performer is doing all
his 'act', or why is he so old, and so on. The saving
grace of this show is the cool visual treats. Plus it is
fun to see Heath Ledger 'transform' into Johnny Depp,
Colin Farrel and Jude Law (some say it's confusing, I
say it's fun). Somehow, you need to really, really,
really focus to understand and follow the story. Else
you would exit the theatre wondering what the hell did
you just watched.
Yesterday I received a phone-call
from a friend whom I've not seen for a very long time.
The conversation went something like this:
Him:
What are you doing tomorrow night?
Me:
Hmmm... waiting for friends to confirm a dinner plan.
What's up?
Him:
Want to go to Zhang Hui Mei concert?
Me:
Haaaa... but I won't understand what she is saying or
singing!
Him:
It's ok. I don't listen to her songs as well.
Me:
Hmmm... I can only confirm with you tomorrow morning,
when my friends let me know if the dinner is on or not.
Him:
Dean, think logically about it. Your friends are not
leaving to go any place right? Means you can meet them
for dinner on other days right? So it's not necessary to
meet them tomorrow night for dinner since you can meet
up other days. But Zhang Hui Mei doesn't come to
Singapore often, nor does she hold a concert every other
day. This could be her last concert here! So think about
it. Isn't it better to go for her concert?
Me:
Well, ok, go for her concert then. How much are the
tickets?
Him:
Free.
Well if you put it that way.
Zhang Hui Mei AMIT Concert 2010
Thus I found myself meeting up
with Chek Hyang to catch Zhang Hui Mei's concert. As he
had another spare ticket, Nicholl joined us for the
concert too, which was held at Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Now I haven't attended a concert
in a long time, and I do mean a real full-blown package
of a concert. So I found myself a little 'unprepared'
for what was going to happen. But we all learn from our
experiences. Here is what I've learnt:
Tips on Surviving An Awesome
Concert
1) Light sticks. Bring them, buy
them, borrow them or steal them. One way or another, you
got to have light sticks. For yourself and for your
friends. If there are people selling them at 3 for $10,
just buy it. There were people selling them outside the
stadium, but I was in a rush to get in and I thought I
didn't need it. Oh well...
2) It's ok to be late, especially
if the concert is at Singapore Indoor Stadium. The
artiste might need time to get ready, people need time
to find their seats, the drummer might need time to find
his drum sticks and so on. Bottom line is, the concert
won't start on time, so don't rush in. Be cool.
But if you're attending a concert
at Esplanade, be punctual or early (1 day early if you
can afford the time). Because for concerts at Esplanade,
if you're late, even by 1 minute, you will have to wait
till the intermission before you can go in. And that
means you would have missed half the concert. Which
really, really sucks.
3) Ear plugs. When you're in the
Indoor Stadium, the sound gets amplified many times
over. And if the singer has a powerful voice (Amei
does), your ears may get blasted out of your head. So
it's good to bring along ear plugs. Not to totally block
out the sound, but to make it softer.
Of course, if you're one of those
who hears nothing when you have ear plugs on, then it's
ok to not use it. It means your ears are already damaged
beyond any redemption.
4) Shades. Slightly tinted ones,
not one with 10,000 UV protection. Why? Because a
concert is not complete with the razzle and dazzle of
lights. And the spotlights facing the audience can just
come up suddenly. So you could be staring at your
favourite artiste performing and suddenly, you'll be
temporarily blind because some guy in charge of lights
decide to fully blast the 10,000kW lights that makes
night turn into day. Yes, shades.
5) Alcohol (consumed before
concert starts). Not too much to make you drunk, but
enough to get you high and more importantly, enough to
soften your senses. This is especially useful if you
don't want or cannot use ear plugs. Also known as liquid
courage, this will enable you to stand up and dance in
your seat while others sit down and watch. Hey, it's a
concert! You should be singing and dancing along to the
music!
So there you go folks. My tips on
surviving a concert. Now I can be more prepared for
future concerts! ;)
Zhang Hui Mei's style of singing
has changed. This time around she presents a repertoire
of music that is more of hard rock, with plenty of
hardcore guitar strumming and drum beats. According to
the promo ad, she is presenting a dark side of her in
her songs and performance. To me, as a person, she is
still the same entertaining Amei.
For months, there have been
rumours of Apple coming up with a 'revolutionary device'
to match, if not overtake, the use of NetBooks. I was
pretty excited about it when I first saw a concept photo
of it, which looked like this:
Unfortunately that was just a
concept. Earlier this morning the Internet became abuzz
with news of the real thing. And the real deal looks
like this:
Basically, it's just an
oversized/ magnified iPhone or iPod Touch. The iPad is
using the operating system that is the same as the
iPhone/ iTouch. The screen is bigger (9" screen) but the
functions are almost the same. Except there is no
microphone so you can't use it to make calls. There are
no ports on it too, so for anything else, it will cost
you extra in terms of accessories.
If you can't wait for the iPad to
reach Singapore, you can still experience the use of it.
You can build your own iPad! You just need some
creativity, and the self-made iPad will look like this:
Even Steve Jobs support this
idea!
Like many, I wondered why the
tablet was called iPad. After all, a well-known female
necessity has already been using that name for years.
The jokes that came up to poke fun at the iPad came fast
and furious. The next Apple 'revolutionary device' might
look like this:
There's already a video
advertisement to support the above. Check it out!
The little lamb (didn't belong to
Mary) was dead when it was born. I don't know if they
performed DNA testing to find out who the father was.
But I'm sure the villagers have an idea who he was.
*snigger*
Seriously though, it's really
sick if this lamb was the consequence of a human and
sheep 'getting down on it'. Are women really that hard
to hook up with in Turkey?
Hmmm... if I was there, I would
freak out for a moment, before bursting out into
laughter. I mean, you heard the jokes about it. So to
see it 'live', it's like delivering the ultimate
punch-line in the joke. After the laughter, then I will
think about how sick it is.
The article mentioned the
following though 'Vets said that the rare mutation
most likely occurred as a result of improper mutation
since the fodder for the lamb’s mother was abundant with
vitamin A...'
Well that got me curious. Does
human sperm have Vitamin A?
So I asked my friend Google who
pointed me to this website which answered my
question. Based on that answer, I can conclude that no
human did it with the goat.
Right... *snigger*
Even Office Has a Movie
Trust Microsoft to get creative
with the movies. Clippy!!!! Why you had to go???
Happy
Birthday Joyce! May your wishes and your dreams come
true!
Professor Fish
I was looking thru some photos
from Nicholl's recent weekend trip to Kukup when
something made me stopped the browsing and almost made
me fall off my chair.
Meet Professor Fish. Hahahahaha...
Professor Fish is currently my
msn display pic, and Facebook profile photo. Spread the
funnies. Hahaha...
Life Goes On
Can't remember who I got the
following YouTube link from, but the music is nice,
catchy and good as a 'pick me up'.
Well done. As it is said in the
National Service lingo, they finally 'wake up their
idea'.
A friend of mine went to extreme
ends just to get the Piggy Doraemon. Well, not really
very extreme. Eugene asked a friend who was heading to
Hong Kong to buy one for him, as Hong Kong was offering
it. Good move.
And who says Singaporeans have no
entrepreneur spirit? There are people who
capitalized on took note of the demand for a
product not available in Singapore. These entrepreneurs
went to Hong Kong to buy the piggy in bulk and
sold it
thru forums and E-bay.
If only McDonald's were smarter.
But hey, bad publicity is still publicity, and people
will still buy their food, no matter what. Coz they're
lovin' it.
"A woman came out of a man's
ribs, not from his feet to be walked on, not from his
head to be superior over, but from his side to be his
equal, under his arms to be protected and next to his
heart to be loved."
I believe.
Hot Day
It was a damn hot day today. So
hot, that walking for 5 minutes was enough to make me
perspire like no tomorrow. But it's good to have hot
days like today.
Good for going to the beach.
Good for playing sports.
And best of all... good for doing
the laundry! =)
Don't Friend You
Back in the younger days (around
the time when we're 5 - 6 years old), whenever someone
we know cause us pain, all we had to do was say the
three doomed words,' Don't friend you'. That was like
serving a death sentence to convict, an end of all
friend-kind and the full-stop at the end of a sentence.
That means no more ties with that person.
Of course after some times, we
will still be friends with that person. Or not.
Now someone I knew some time back
suddenly cut off all communications with me and a few
other friends. Simply because we reminded her of her ex,
who is our friend too. Without saying it, she declared
'Don't Friend You' on all of us.
Almost a year later, maybe after
she has moved on, she started to contact us. To be more
specific, just one of us. And that one of us asked me if
I want to meet up with her.
Why?
Why would I want to meet up with
a person who didn't want to be in touch in the first
place?
Logically it doesn't make sense.
Someone don't want to contact you. So you don't contact
them. That is logic.
Somehow, something feels amiss.
Something just doesn't seem right. How to find out what
that weird feeling is all about?
Meet up with that person and find
out for myself.
'Law Abiding Citizen' Synopsis
Clyde Shelton (Butler) is an
upstanding family man whose wife and daughter are
brutally murdered during a home invasion. When the
killers are caught, Nick Rice (Foxx), a hotshot young
Philadelphia prosecutor, is assigned to the case. Over
his objections, Nick is forced by his boss to offer one
of the suspects a light sentence in exchange for
testifying against his accomplice. Ten years later, the
man who got away with murder is found dead and Clyde
Shelton coolly admits his guilt. Then he issues a
warning to Nick: Either he fix the flawed justice system
that failed his family, or key players in the trial will
die.
'Law Abiding Citizen' Review
'A man who loses everything is
capable of anything.' That was the tagline found in the
trailer. You will see much of this being illustrated in
the movie. This is the first film that portrayed Gerard
Butler as the villain, and he carried out that role
superbly.
I felt his pain when the justice system failed
him, when he lost his wife and kid, when he lost
everything. I felt his desire for revenge against the
murderer who got away. And I was amazed at his
character's brilliance.
This is one show that will make
you sit up straight and ponder about the age old saying
of good triumphing over evil, whether it will hold in
these times. Definitely a good watch!
She: See
whether can cover in 1 day or takes a few days.
Me:
Hmmm... this one is 10km, can cover in 1 day.
She:
We'll talk tomorrow.
Now I've always wanted to take a
walk down the
Southern Ridges but never had the proper chance to
do it. While I could have done it alone, it would be
more fun to have someone to walk with. And so that was
how I got Julin to go along for the walk.
We started off from Kent Ridge
Park. When we started out around late noon, it was
pretty hot. But lucky for us, the beginning of the walk
was in the shade most of the time.
Searching
For Enemies
Hanging
onto the Cannon
At the end of the Canopy Walk, we
got a bit lost due to a bad information displayed on the
map. But we managed to find our way back and headed for
the next leg of the journey, the Hort Park.
There are plenty of flowers and
other greeneries to see at Hort Park. The place was so
idyllic and picturesque that we saw a model photo-shoot
there, along with families having picnics.
The next stage was the Forest
Walk, after passing Alexandra Arches. This was a series
of connecting steel bridges that are suspended high up
in the air. One of the longest place to walk, but you'll
get to breath fresh air in return. And see monkeys if
you are lucky enough. At the end of the Forest Walk, you
will find a small hill that will lead you to the peak of
Telok Blangah Park. The view there is breath-takingly
awesome.
Then it's off to the famed
Henderson Waves. Here you can catch a good view of the
sunset. There are even seats provided for you to rest
against and see the sunset. Julin said the sunset here
is not as nice as the ones in Scotland. I will have to
see it to believe it.
Sunset from
afar
Close-up of
the sunset
The last leg of the journey is
the Marang Trail. The remain half of the trail is
downhill mostly and thru the forest. Fortunately there
wasn't any mosquitoes that attacked us. Perhaps because
it was getting late and all the mosquitoes have gone
home?
By the time we took a seat at
Seah Im Hawker Centre, our legs were very much shivering
on their own. And a can of 100-plus seemed just right
then. A good way to end trekking thru the Southern
Ridges. =)
Watching Legion
Another highlight for today was
watching the newly released show, 'Legion'. At around
9pm, we tried to get tickets at Cathay AMK Hub for
9.30pm but it was already full.
Zonghao made the effort to go to
Jubilee and informed us that there were seats there. And
when we entered the theatre, lo and behold, the theatre
was only 1/4 full!
Lesson learnt: when a new theatre
is full, you can always rely on the old theatres for
good seats.
'Legion' Synopsis
In the supernatural action
thriller Legion, an out-of-the-way diner becomes the
unlikely battleground for the survival of the human
race. When God loses faith in Mankind, he sends his
legion of angels to bring on the Apocalypse. Humanity’s
only hope lies in a group of strangers trapped in a
desert diner and the Archangel Michael.
'Legion' Review
I find the show pretty decently
paced with the actions coming in at the right timing.
The meaning of the story can get lost easily but at
least is the main point of the plot is clear.
One of my gripes about the show
is that the plot development gets haphazard towards the
end and the ending was too rushed and abrupt. It's like,
you will find yourself thinking,' That's it? The End?'.
Other than that the action and
special effects make it an enjoyable show to watch.
Clearly I had forgotten when I
started on my website.
So while planning my archiving, I
came across the first version of my site and it sure
brings back memories. The amazing thing was how old it
was. I mean, I had started on my website since 2004!
Woah!
Since it will take some time to
convert it to the existing layout, I will leave it as it
is for the time being. You can check it out at
http://www.dean2x.net/dean1.
Something About Pain
Pain is inevitable. Suffering is
optional. Pain is the reaction of the body, and as long
as you have the body, some pain is inevitable. Suffering
is the contraction of the mind, and unlike pain, is
optional. Don't add suffering to pain. Relax your mind
and the suffering will pass.
Found that in someone's Facebook
page.
And from me, pain is for a while.
Glory is for ever.
Getting Over Break-ups, Step 1
The first step of getting over a
break-up is to remind the subject of how they got
together with their partner in the first place.
A journey has three parts: the
beginning, the travels and the end. The beginning of a
relationship is a wonderful, memorable moment. In
reminding the subject of the beginning, the subject will
feel a great pain and be emotional about it. The purpose
of this is to test the strength of the subject, to push
the limit of the subject's pain threshold and more
importantly, to get the subject to think about why they
got together in the first place.
While I was looking thru my
Facebook 'Live Feed', I came across a link that my
friend shared and claimed to be funny. The
link
was to a fictional blog about the life of a paikia
(gangster) and his ginnas (underlings). Very
down-to-earth, very funny. Check it out for some
laughter. The following is an excerpt from a post
entitled 'Reflection':
Ok so this
is an annoucement to those who join me in the daiji
today at geylang Road.
I am going to grade your performance for the daiji today
because it is important to know how pai kia u are in
this gang.
Ah Soon
Ah Soon today not good ah. Ask you whack his stomach why
you go and whack his head? zzz
As a pai kia u must whack those area which cannot be
easily seen if not their mother see then complain to the
school and the school will come and tio us daiji.
Always remember my golden line: Only tio small boys
daiji, school come jitao we humji.
Ah Heng
Ah Heng today also not very good ah I ask you bring
tiger bottle come so you can smash them you bring the
Tiger Can come zzzz. Pai kia always use glass bottle one
you first day work or what?? zzzzz
If next time you bring Tiger Can again I make sure I
transfer you to the Find Stead department. Don't forget
you only 5 ex hor I can discount 1 stead let you become
4 ex ok zzzz.
Xiao Beng
Xiao Beng performance best for today. I ask you whack
leg you whack leg, ask you catch him you catch him, ask
you run you run, ask you stay you stay. Very nice la if
you can bark like dog you sure 100% A1 as pai kia one.
Keep up the good work Xiao beng.
Ah Meng is sick so he never join us for the daiji today
and Pua Kua submit a parents letter to me so it is
acceptable.
What did I say? Funny!
Gold Fish
Can Be Creative Too!
Ok Gold Fish is the nickname for
Joyce, and she's gearing towards being a
photojournalist. She's started honing her photography
skills and is on a shooting spree. Check out her
creative works
here. Here's one of my fav photos:
If People Don't Lie...
Recently Weng told me about some
movies that were not shown in Singapore. These movies
weren't banned. It's just that someone decided their
content was too much for the Singapore audience to take,
so better to pass on it instead of showing it. The
decisions people make for us for our own good. Wow!
One of the movies was called 'The
Invention Of Lying'. It tells the story of a world
where people don't know how to lie. Since no one was
lying and everyone was telling the honest truth,
everyone believed what everyone else said. And then one
guy discovered how to lie. The movie then showed how the
world was changed dramatically because of all his lies,
and how he changed because of lying.
After watching the show, I
realized that a lot of times people lie because they
don't want to hurt the feelings of others. For example
if your partner did something stupid and was feeling low
about it, you would tell a white lie and say that you
don't think your partner was stupid, it was just an
honest mistake. Or if you think your boss is an idiot,
you won't tell that to your boss (unless you're
resigning). Or if a girl has nice boobs and that was
what you noticed about her first, you won't tell her
'nice boobs' but instead tell her she looks pretty in
that dress (even if she has bad fashion sense). Well,
you get the idea.
But in preventing people from
getting their feelings hurt, it makes them even more
vulnerable. To a point that even an unintended casual
and honest remark can come across as hurtful. That's how
fragile people will become with their emotions if you
lie to them to prevent them from being hurt. Some times
you need to rough them up to tough them out.
And then there are times when
people lie to make others feel good. For example,
parents might lie about finding their child's 'lost dog'
when the dog had actually passed away and they had
gotten a new dog. Or a grandson telling his grandmother
that she still has the looks to attract matured guys to
her. Or a girl telling her partner that he gave her the
best time in bed. Wait, yeah, you get the idea.
So is it a good idea to be
brutally honest with people? Can people really handle
the truth about themselves from others?
While honesty is the best policy,
it's hard to give a straight answer to vulnerable people
who are used to deceit, flattery, half-truths and lies.
But if you don't break people down, how can they become
stronger than what they are now?
Therefore throw in some honest
remarks now and then to the people around you. You'll be
doing them and yourself a wonderful favour.
My nearly two years old nephew
often stay over in the weekend. Over the many weekends
that he stayed over, he has developed this liking for
watching clips of Elmo on YouTube. And the smart little
fellow won't settle for just watching in on the family
computer or laptop, especially when I'm around. Nope. He
will look for me in the Throne Room, point to my 24" LCD
monitor and say 'Mo... Mo...'. This was his way of
saying that he wants to watch Elmo, with the best way
possible. Because the family computer has only a 17"
monitor and the laptop, only 14" screen. To him, Elmo
looks bigger on a 24", and sounds better on a 5.1 sound
system. It's like, if he wants to watch Elmo, it has to
be with style!
The cutest thing is that his
focus will stay glued to the screen. I could go out and
shut the door and he won't take notice. Except when the
clip ends. That's when he will realize he is alone and
starts to call for me, almost tearing.
It then struck me that this is
one smart fellow, who can go far. Why?
Given the options available
around him, he still went for the best option. And when
he knows what he wants, he will do what it takes to get
it. Often, the door to the Throne Room is closed. If he
knows that I'm inside, and he wants to watch Elmo, he
will call out to me in increasing volume, while
knocking, banging and kicking at my door. And since he
can't reach the door knob (yet), he will get the
assistance of others to do it for him. Like I said...
smart!
Thru my observation, I was
reminded that we all have the capacity of going for
whatever is it that we want. Even if there are obstacles
along the way, or our physical limits us, there are
others around who can help us achieve our goals. And
more importantly, never settle for anything less than
the best.
Some things we just forget as we
grow up. Time to re-learn some lessons.
They Don't Need Clothes
Since a few days ago I've been
asking via my msn if people know of where I can
donate clothes to the Haiti quake victims. Since then I
came to realize a few things:
- The victims don't really need
the clothes because it is pretty damn hot over there.
- What they need more of are
basic essentials like food, water and medicine (Joyce
pointed this out to me as well)
Still, the clothes can come in
handy like for cleaning or as fuel to a fire that can
keep them warm at night.
But I've decided I won't donate
my old clothes to them. I'll donate the clothes to other
charities instead.
In one day, two things that I
used more often died on me.
The first was my electrical hair
shaver. I use this to shave my head to maintain the
shiny top. You could say it was a bare essential. Now I
was having a bad hair week. For a bald person, a bad
hair week is when the head is not shaved and the shiny
top disappear into a sea of black crop. Not a pretty
sight. Thus I took out my trusty shaver and began to mow
the lawn of hair. Just when I was about to finish, my
hair shaver started to cough... splutter... wheeze...
and had a sudden cardiac arrest. It just stopped
working. Attempts to bring it back to life (including
knocking the shaver on the wall) proved futile. The
shaver was dead. Lucky for me I was almost done, else my
head could have ended up looking like this:
Now that would have been a real
nightmare!!!
Next to die was... *sobs*... my
favourite digital camera, Fuji F31fd. I was at Kok Hoo's
house, taking photos of the fun times that we were all
having. Esther wanted to take a photo of me so I pointed
my camera at her. I fired my camera halfway as she took
my photo with a flash. Next thing I knew, my camera
displayed all white on the screen. Even after I changed
mode and reset the camera, it remained displaying all
white. I think the sensor is damaged. Looks like I have
to head to Fuji service centre this week. Hope I can
revive my favourite camera. We've been thru a lot
together. And so far it's still the best point and shoot
camera that I've ever used.
Still, it makes me wonder, when
gadgets die, most people just dispose of them in the
bin. But the components that make up the gadgets are
actually recyclable. So isn't it better to send the
electrical gadgets to a place to get it recycled instead
of sending it to gadget heaven?
Celebration With TP Climbing
Gang
Today the TP Climbing Gang
decided to have dinner together as Kok Hoo's place. In
addition, there was a plan to have a surprise birthday
celebration for Guoli. The plan had been hatched about a
week ago, but Guoli didn't know. *Evil laughter* Hehehe...
As usual, I was the last to
arrive. Some had already finished their portion of the
dinner, but there was plenty of food left. After some
round of jokes, it was time to tuck in. The food was
really good! Hats off to the chefs!
After dinner, it was fun and
games. I'll let the photos do the talking.
"Guess who's back... back
again... Boomz is back... tell a friend..."
As you may have guessed it or
heard it by now, Ris Low is back in the media limelight.
Maximum respect to this lady who, despite all that has
happened to her, and despite all of what people say
about her (negative mostly), managed to pick herself up
and move on. No wonder she was on the list of top 25
most influential people. Good or bad, people will just
take notice of her.
This time, Ris is
known to be
going around and distributing condoms to the public in a
bid to promote safe sex. There's also a
video interview
of her giving away the 'helmets'. I must say that the
timing is good because recently it was
reported that
cases of sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise.
I'm glad that she is generating some positive impact on
the public. It may be embarrassing for many to receive a
complimentary condom in public, especially in a still
conservative society of Singapore. But hey, it's free!
And Singaporeans LOVE freebies!
I remember reading somewhere that
you're unlikely to survive 3 days without water. And yet
she was alive. She wasn't dehydrated or found in a state
close to death. Instead, she was reportedly
disorientated. But how did she survive that 8 days???
I can only imagine that she fed
on her own 'output' to sustain herself thru-out that
period of her accidental imprisonment. Or maybe she had
a bag of groceries that provided her with food and
drink. Still, she must have a strong will to survive.
A guy was trapped in a lift for
41 hours and he barely survived that. To make it worse,
he had diarrhea. To make it even worse, everything was
caught on camera. To make it extremely worst, the
footage was uploaded to YouTube. Check it out below:
Show Me The Money!!!
It seems that
people around the world just want money to help out
the Haiti quake victims. I wonder if the money is for
the victims or the people who claims to be helping the
victims. It's is known that some organizations will take
a cut of the donations to fund their operations. The
percentage varies, from 30% up to 70%. Imagine, for
every dollar that you donate, 70cents goes to the
organization's coffers while only 30cents goes to the
people that you wanted to help.
Annually, the first 15 days of
the year would be spent planning for the rest of the
year. It's all general stuffs on what I hope to achieve,
what I want to do and reflections on the year that has
passed. It would be one of the few times when I
would shy away from social events and stay behind closed
doors to plan and think, think and plan.
However this year I've yet to do
my yearly routine. I better get on it fast! So much time
ahead, but yet the time we have is limited. Have to
decide what to do with the time that is given.
Word of advice: it's more fun to
go into the year with a plan than to go about life
aimlessly.
Helping Haiti Earthquake
Victims
Condolences to the people of
Haiti on the tragedy that has befallen them.
I wanted to do my bit by donating
old clothes. But a search on Google showed the almost
non-existence of donating channels towards helping the
victims of the quake. Except for one organization - the
Red Cross. But the
Singapore Red Cross only wants cash donations. But
it doesn't says so directly. Instead, the following was
stated: "For logistical considerations, the Singapore
Red Cross says it will not be accepting any
donations-in-kind such as clothes or food." Very
practical - only money can help victims, not donations
in kind. So much for humanitarian efforts.
Hence if any of you out there
know how I can donate clothes and shoes to the victims
of the earthquake in Haiti,
drop me an email to let me know.
The Dark Kickflip
Chee Meng shared with me the
following funny pic, which was found in
this website:
Supposedly taken on the set. See,
you can always have fun while working.
The Annular Eclipse of 2010
Ok, I didn't know that there are
different types of eclipse till I read the story in a
news article about today's eclipse. I didn't know that
there was an eclipse today till I saw it on someone's
Facebook status! But I'm glad I got to know about.
My only regret was I didn't know
that there would be a viewing held at the Singapore
Science Centre. Had I
read this article sooner I would have made my way
there. After all, it would be cool to be able to see an
eclipse (even a partial one) 'live' at least once in my
life time.
There will be an eclipse in July
this year, so I look forward to watching that. Join me!
Since Tuesday I have been
involved in shooting for TV mini-film called 'Gelora'.
The filming schedule was very packed and the hours were
very long. Consequently I had little sleep over the past
two nights, my feet sore from a lot of standing and
walking around and my muscles ache from all the carrying
of equipment.
It was only today that I started
to relax more and enjoy myself. This meant I mingled
more with the people that I am working with and took
some time to snap away photos.
The Puzzled
Cameraman
The Talent
& The Make-Up Artist
Hooooo...
Caught in a bad romance...
Sit down
and be quiet please!!!
A shooting
scene
Basically you have to find ways
to enjoy yourself while working else everything will be
so mundane and tiring.
One lesson that more Singaporeans
have learnt is to get easy money by suing others for
defamation. This has been statistically proven thru
this article.
And it seems that it doesn't take
much to sue another person. In this instance, the
slightest wrong word can be costly. I wonder where did
my fellow Singaporeans learn this lesson from. Hmmm...
Troubled
Locals
We are often affected by things
that happen around us. Even if the events don't directly
affect us.
The 'Allah' controversy across the causeway raised so
much attention to religious sensitivity that in a move
to not offend Muslims locally,
McDonald's removed the pig version of it's latest
Doraemon collection. These Doraemons were each
representing an animal on the Chinese Almanac, but the
pig was replaced by a cupid. Naturally, a lot of people
were quite upset.
While McDonald's intentions were noble, their actions
were off the mark. True, the gesture was religiously
sensitive to the Muslims, but it was culturally
insensitive to the Chinese. In the previous years,
McDonald's had never replaced the pig with another
figure for it's Chinese almanac collections. So why
start now?
If it isn't broken, don't fix it. I believe the Muslims
here understood that the pig is part of the Chinese
Almanac, and are not against it being offered as a toy.
Instead of removing it totally, McDonalds could have
instead offer the cupid or other animals as an
alternative to their Muslim customers. This means they
can still offer the pig to their non-Muslim customers,
especially the Chinese.
Singapore has always strive for a
multi-racial society living in harmony. That is achieved
thru understanding and respect for each other's
differences. It is challenging to find that balance, but
not unachievable. The most important factor is that
people or organizations put in conscious and smart
efforts.
By now you would have heard or
read about the 'Allah' controversy that is affecting our
neighbours across the causeway. If you haven't, I've
summed it up for you.
Basicaly the biggest court in
Malaysia said it's ok for non-Muslims to use the word
'Allah' in their literature. This has caused a lot of
Muslim politicians (from the ruling party Umno) and
teachers to be very upset and kick up a big fuss. Their
rationale is that using the word 'Allah' can mislead
Muslims who are illiterate and poor and confuse them
into taking up other religions.
Kindly re-read the summary. And
let's take a look at it closely.
The politicians (the ones who are
usually the loudest) and the teachers are saying that
using the word 'Allah' in the literature of non-Muslims
(in this instance, Catholics) can mislead Muslims who
are illiterate and poor and confuse them into taking up
other religions.
Firstly, this meant that there is
no freedom of faith for individuals in Malaysia, and a
hard-line approach by the ruling party against other
religious faiths. In other words, if you're not a
Muslim, be prepared to be discriminated against or have
a hard time living. Now that is quite troubling. After
all, religions generally strive for good, co-existence
and peace. Yet the underlying message being given out is
that of hate, oppression and disharmony. Consequently,
tensions aroused between Malaysians. People start to
become fearful and wary of each other. Eventually this
will lead to much unrest. And all it will take is for
one event to spark a fire that will burn and hurt
everyone.
Secondly, the noise-makers claim
that the illiterate and the poor might be misled or
confused by the literatures of non-Muslims using the
word 'Allah'. If their concerns are these group of
people, shouldn't they channel their efforts towards
helping these people? Instead of going against the
ruling of the high court, they should be improving the
education policies and standard so that there will be
lesser illiterate. Instead of saying the poor would be
taken advantage of, they should be working towards
eliminating poverty, starting by donating part of their
salaries followed by improving the economy. Stop wasting
time saying that you are defending the poor and
ill-informed, and start acting on your words!
Unfortunately, the wrong kind of
actions have been taken.
Churches have been bombed. And
the worse part was these Churches weren't part of the
case that originally led to the decision of the high
court to overturn the ban on the use of 'Allah' in
publications. Criminals just acted on their own to bomb
the place of worship of another, simply to demonstrate
their intolerance. Now, I don't believe that the people
who bombed these Churches were the poor and illiterate.
They're too poor to afford a bomb and too illiterate to
know the difference between a Church and a Mosque (at
least that is the impression given by the politicians).
So the criminals have to be people who knows how to make
bombs and are just demonstrating their hate. And hate
will just generate more hate, accumulating in ferocity
until the tipping point, when anarchy breaks loose. By
then it will be too late.
Personally I feel that this
controversy was timely put to take attention away from
the real problem: corruption. The police were
investigating politicians and other officials who might
be involved in a huge case of corruption. And this was
the
case of the missing jet engines that ended up in
Argentina. What better way to stretch the police forces
thin than to stir up civil unrest? With such a big
problem on their hands, it will be hard for the police
to carry out their investigations. And it will get the
public's attention away from corruption. But I don't
believe the guilty will go away scot free. They've only
delayed the inevitable.
After a hiatus of close to two
years, my website is up yet again. How long will it
sustain this time around?
I'm going to start small and aim
for at least 3 updates per week, for up to 3 months. If
all goes well, I'll aim bigger, better and more! This
will get the creativity juice flowing and all the rusted
gears moving. That's the current long term plan.
The immediate plan is to catch up
on my write up over the past few weeks, while migrating
and archiving my old entries. There are entries as far
back as 2006, so I have quite a bit to do. That also
means plenty to read and share.
In the meantime I have to look at
how to improve this website, how to improve my writings
and how to improve the content. A work is not complete
until the artist finds nothing to improve on. Thus this
website is, in a way, a constant work in progress.
In life, one should have purpose.
This will give life directions and meaning. Similarly
this website too should have it's purpose.
The purpose of this website is to share my
views on anything that interests me, to share my ups and
downs, to share stories of my life's moments and to
spread laughter.
Seriously, laughter is still a damn good medicine.
So that's the plan. In 2009 I did
say I want to be the man with plans. Here's to one of
many.
What Do You See?
It seems like my website is not
showing up as how I planned it to be. This is how it
should look like:
Noticed that the date is in dark
blue font, and my 'about me' is in yellow.
But this is how it is showing up
on some computers:
Everything seems just so wrong!
The colour, the font type and size and even the images
use for 'Archieves' and 'Chapters'. Something is wrong
with my site and I better fix it fast! =\
Actually there are people off the
stage who helped her. Or to be more precised, helped
themselves to her. A close examination of the clip
showed that someone from the crowd reached out and
helped himself to her chest. Also, as her bikini top
became loose, many took the opportunity to snap away at
her exposed body. That was how those nearby 'helped' the
girl.
To say that the girl deserved it,
only thoughtless idiots would make such statements. It's
like saying victims asked for criminals to victimize
them. Or that people go out to look for trouble. Nobody
goes out to have a bad time. No one asked to be taken
advantage of. Sure, that girl might have gotten carried
away on her drinks. But she certainly didn't go up to
guys and said 'Hey, come and touch me, grope me, feel me
up.' Someone said that she should know what's coming if
she goes to such parties. That idiot neglect the fact
that if she knew what was coming, wouldn't go to such
parties or avoid being near those molesters!
Let's shift the focus back onto
the onlookers and bystanders who basically did nothing
to help the victim. Somehow, many Singaporeans
understand why no one helped the victim. There's a
Singaporean saying that goes 'act hero, die faster'. The
meaning of the saying is that stepping up to help
someone in distress will result in one getting into
trouble and being put in harms way. Somehow the inherent
potential risks do not justify the chivalry of the act
of saving someone. Not surprisingly, this calculative
mentality is prevalent in many. I can't help but believe
that the thoughts on the minds of those nearer to the
stage was 'There's four of them (molesters) and only one
of me. Who knows what the four will do if I interfere. I
don't want to screw up my countdown. Besides, hey,
there's a boob showing! *snap* (photo taken). The guys
are not going to believe this!!!'. And as depicted in
the video, many prefer to indulge in voyeuristical
pleasures instead of coming to the victim's aid. Their
rationale is that the girl deserved it.
So are there no heroes out there?
Are we all doomed if we were victims in an open act of
crime?
Fortunately, there are still
people who will rise up and safe those in need.
Unfortunately, these people are much fewer in numbers.
Before I end this topic, here are
some food for thought. What if the victim was your
girlfriend or your relative? How would you react?
Also, there is a rumour
circulating around that the bikini clad victim is
actually a transgender. Does that make the molesting a
lesser act of crime?
Firstly I will like to
congratulate Sezairi on winning the Singapore Idol.
Personally I did not watch the finals except when it was
time for the results. I don’t watch most of the
Singapore Idol episodes too, except the first few which
I always find to be amusing. For the finals, I must say
Gurmit’s attempt at building up anticipation lacked
substance and actually killed the anticipation itself.
Please get another host next time, if there ever is a
next time.
Now before you continue reading, I want to point out
that the content of this write-up is to highlight the
cultural differences between two different ethnic groups
and how I believe it affects all the Singapore Idol
results. This write-up isn’t meant to be discriminatory,
inflammatory or by any means used to incite hatred
amongst fellow countrymen. Read it with an open mind and
preferably think of it as a self-reflecting article.
As we all know, that girl didn’t win. An instant
reaction that flooded the online world is that people
lamented the fact that all the Singapore Idols are
Malays. ‘A Malay Idol again???’ was repeatedly echoed.
Some said that the outcome was so predictable that they
didn’t even bother to watch the finals (the number of
viewers compared to previous idols dropped). Others went
as far as to suggest that the next Singapore Idol be
moved to Suria. Generally, there’s a lot of anger,
cynicism and displeasure being expressed on the results.
While the numbers may not be great, it is still worthy
to take notice of.
True to the democratic fashion, the winner was selected
by votes casted by the audience. The ‘judges’ in the
show were merely stewards that guide the audience on the
merits and demerits of the finalists’ performances. Thus
the winner was selected by audience choice, not by the
judges’ decisions.
Looking at the demographics, the numbers were always
favorable to Sylvia. It was also helpful that she was
being marketed as the potentially first female Singapore
Idol. That should sway voters to her side. But Singapore
Idol is about talent, not about gender or race. That
being said, it is logical to conclude that the better
talent won. Yet the disgruntled voices had one common
element: the race of the winner.
Why the spotlight on the winner’s race?
Didn’t our pledge state that we are one united people,
regardless of race, language or religion?
Disturbing as it is, it is not surprising that this
issue emerged. Someone I knew said that the ethnic
minority probably felt that they have a need to prove
something and as such, gave their united support to vote
for Sezairi. I agree with him on one part of his
statement, that the ethnic minority did rally together
to support Sezairi. But it wasn’t to ‘prove something’.
It was done in the light of a strong community spirit
that is prevalent in the culture of the ethnic minority.
This strong community spirit that I’m referring to is
known as the ‘kampung spirit’.
For the ethnic minority, the ‘kampung spirit’ comes
alive whenever the need arises for the support of a good
cause. It can be in the form of helping a family that
had their house burnt down, or rebuilding a mosque, or
even as simple as helping a neighbour to move. The
recipient need not be an immediate family or kinsmen. It
can be a total stranger. Or even someone from another
ethnic group. Most important is that there is a genuine
need for support of a good cause.
Does that mean the community had blindly supported
Sezairi?
I don’t believe that is the case. No one would give
support without knowing what the support is for. For the
Singapore Idol, it would be a matter of quantity for
quality. Had Sezairi performed badly during his singing
in the finals, he would get lesser votes (maybe 5 votes
per voter on average). If he had impressed the people
supporting him, he would get more votes (maybe around 15
– 20 votes per voter on average). Thus he would still
have gotten votes from almost everyone in the community.
It’s just a matter of quantity for quality.
Does it mean that there is no community spirit in the
ethnic majority?
That is not true. There is community spirit in the
ethnic majority. The cultural difference is that for the
ethnic majority, the support would be stronger if Sylvia
is a close kinsman like a relative, a friend, an
acquaintance or someone known up to a third degree.
Stronger ties will lead to more support. Also, she would
really have to impress in the finals as there are just
too many good singers amongst the ethnic majority.
But to conclude that supporters for each finalist solely
come from their own ethnic group is wrong. It gives the
impression that the nation is divided along racial
lines. Clearly, Singaporeans are more united than it was
decades ago, and there is no distinction between races.
Else people won’t be co-existing together as they are
now. As I mentioned earlier, for Singapore Idol, the
better talent won.
Finally, good riddance to a
rather unfortunate year! The best thing about 1st
January of any year is that it symbolizes a new start, a
new beginning and a chance to start things all over
again. Everything feels brand new, or at least
refreshing. There are mixed feelings of anticipation,
excitement, wonder and awe. It's just so different.
And for others it's just another
year.
Now, what to do for this year?
The Countdown That Wasn't
I had it all planned out. Go to
the Last House Party of The Year at Julin's hotel, then
head down to New Asia Bar to start the year on a high
note at a very high place. But all that planning came to
nothing when there is no crew to go down with. =\
Thus I found myself making my
way to Zouk. No matter what, Zouk is still one of THE
places to go for countdown. And it didn't disappoint.
Met up with good friends there and danced the night
away. Despite it being the Countdown That Wasn't, I
still had fun welcoming the New Year!
The First Day of 2010
The first day of the year always
starts with recovering from a hangover or being buzzed
from a late night out or both. It usually starts late in
the afternoon or evening. Still, it's never too late to
make most of the day. And that started around 7.30pm for
Weng, Zonghao and me. Nicholl joined us later.
We headed to 313@Somerset for the
first dinner at a place called Handburger. What you can
find at this place is, well, burgers. But the burgers
are served in a unique and tastefully presentable way.
Unfortunately we were too hungry to take any photos of
our dinner. Another thing I noticed was how people in
this place eat their burgers. Most resort to using the
fork & knife to slice their burger bread and eat the
meat with it, like how you would eat a plate of chicken
chop or beef steak. Traditionally, you would eat a
burger like this:
And that was exactly how I ate my
burger. With the sauce dripping here and there. You
can't just abandon tradition some times.
We did some bits of shopping
before deciding to catch a late show, and the show was
'Did You Hear About The Morgans?'
Seriously, if you're a fan of
Sarah Jessica Parker or Hugh Grant, then this show is
for you. If you're looking for a romantic comedy of
sorts, skip this one. While there are some funny
moments, it is not good enough to cover up the thin plot
and weak storyline. Even the ending was almost too
rushed that you don't know it's over! The only thing I
enjoyed about the movie was... hmmm... oh yes, the bear
scene, which you can see it in the trailers. There's
also a bull scene, but it's nothing worth mentioning.
The first day of 2010 ended with
wine, wine and whine.
I try to live life to the
fullest while enjoying the beauty that life has to offer.
It's all about the brighter and
funnier side of life.
For everything else, you would
have to discover for yourself.
