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Happy new year!
It is 2010 and according to Time magazine, the past decade has been one of the most disastrous one of all time. We were plagued by depression, terrorism, war, pandemic(s) all in the same short span of these 10 years.
Regardless, it has been a great 10 years for myself. I guess some, if not all of the best things in my life happened between 2000 and now. As the sun rise on this special day when we wave goodbye to the 00s (as people may refer to in future), let's welcome the new decade with new friends, new excitments, new hopes and dreams.
Cheers!
Regardless, it has been a great 10 years for myself. I guess some, if not all of the best things in my life happened between 2000 and now. As the sun rise on this special day when we wave goodbye to the 00s (as people may refer to in future), let's welcome the new decade with new friends, new excitments, new hopes and dreams.
Cheers!
Rhetorics aside, I admit that I kinda enjoy factoring in this minute uncertainty in daily life. Though it can be really unrealistic and foolish, I secretly wish for the improbable to happen everyday, be it good or bad.
All too often we tell ourselves "that is quite impossible" but once things happen otherwise, we'd just quietly analyse the causation and realise how inevitable some things can be. Whilst we live our life thinking that we have complete control over decisions and outcomes, the path we thread may just lead to a place we least expect ourselves to be.
This post goes to all IPTO colleagues who say "today is my last day" every single day and returns to work 830 sharp the next. =)
The problem, in the world i live in, is that all too often we do not get to hear the things which we ought to.
;)
"Why?"
"Do you know that they are people in poorer countries who are dying because they do not have enough to eat?"
"uh huh."
"Yea, and here you are wasting your food, it cld have been used to feed them!"
Too often we hear a conversation of this sort, I was never an advocate of the first speaker and interestingly, i met someone who is. A brief account of the discussion over a meal which would probably change the way I have my lunch.
----------------------------
During lunch today i ordered a plate of vegetarian beehoon and failed to finish the entire serving. A colleague (hereafter referred to with the female pronoun) who was sitting with me told me that I shouldn't waste food because there are people in developing countries who have not enough to eat. This comment has been passed too casually too often and I decided to put forth my strongest conviction against the validity of it. I said that the biggest cause of hunger is not the lack of food but the misallocation of them. I firmly believed that no matter how much food is consumed efficiently here, it will have completely no effect on the people who are suffering from the lack of it.
The logic is very simple. It has never been proven that the collective production of food from across the globe is insufficient to feed he entire population. However, there are still many people dying of hunger each day. The reason is simple that food is not reaching them! The cost of producing food is much lesser than the cost of transporting them. This give rise to the contention that rich people who waste food lead to such consequences. My argument is that wastage is caused by misallocation, hence it is because of all the barriers (most imptly the cost of transport) that is the wall between food and people who really need more of them.
On her side, she believed that there is a direct link between wastage at a personal level and the supply of food to needy people in needy countries. Our draggy debate spontaneously commenced, irritating my 2 other colleagues sharing the table.
She and I eventually turned to a step by step approach to exemplify the stages of influence: how, food which have not been wasted at my table today could have reached people in developing countries.
1) If a person cannot finish the food on his/her plate, he/she should have notified the hawker earlier for a reduction in the portion.
This is agreed on by the both of us, it is the first necessary step to effect a change.
2) The hawker can hence produce more food with the same amount of ingredients, there will be an increase in supply.
Her: Since the hawker has extra, it does not need to buy so much ingredients from the suppliers, hence supply of food will drop.
My: The amt of food a hawker choose to produce is always at a maximum. With the addition ingredients left, the hawker will just sell more plates because it will increase their revenue. The only limiting factor for output is the amount they can cook, demand is expected to be way higher than supply
Conclusion: A compromise is made, yes the hawker will sell more plates but there still may be excess, hence for the sake of argument there is assumed to be excess in surplus and hence a hawker will order lesser from its supplier.
3) On a larger scale, if we are food-efficient, the country as a whole can cut back on the supply of food due to the lack of wasteage.
Agreed by the both of us, this may be affected by a whole array of other factors but given its logic we assume that it is true.
4) When the developed countries becomes efficient, less food is required by them and hence the excess that is created in the supply can reach poorer countries inhabited by people with problems securing enough sustenance.
My: The increase in the possible supply of food for poorer countries is irrelevant because there isnt a shortage to begin with. The biggest problem is how these food can ever reach them. Even though food can become cheaper in the process, they are still too poor to transport this food from the point of distribution to them. The cost is just to steep and hence they cannot secure a physical supply of food with the amount of wealth they pocess. Their government will not spend extra on either purchasing food or transporting them as shown by our current reality. Should they be willing to divert more funds in feeding the people, much of this hunger problem would have already been solved.
Her: When the developed countries buy less food, the price of food will drop. Therefore regardless of whether the developing countries choose to increase their expenditure on relevant imports, for the same amount of money they will be able to secure more supply ( cost takes into account transportation cost and all others).
Conclusion: this is not exactly how she argued but how i interpreted. I have omitted other irrelevant points which were contended along the way. (for example how 10 plates of beehoon can become 15 plates if all 10 ppl who bought it asked for lesser beehoon). I finally gave in despite the numerous assumptions associated to this train of thoughts because in a remote way the assumptions are plausible. My side of the term is to prove that there is no absolute way in which efficiency in consumption of food can lead to better resource allocation and for her she just had to find a narrow path for it to be possible. I guess she's right, in a way.
Other important details that we have omitted are for example
a) corrupted administration in the respective countries (which is actually a very significant cause)
b) disparity in income ( which accounts for misallocation even in a domestic context)
c) the flux in the production of food due to factors other than demand
d) circumstantial differences between people living in the coastal areas and those living inland. (usually associated with rich and poor respectively) and how it affects distribution
e) the amount of supply of food as based on predictions and expectations instead of accurate market studies (ie we either produce too much or too little because we will never know)
Details that WERE discussed but ultimately left out in my illustration
a) whether developing countries, being the producers of food, are retaining enough for themselves
b) whether there is a geographical pattern in the distribution of wealth across the world (whether poor countries tend to be side by side)
c) whether the existing excess of food affects the theory given that it is based on further addition to that excess (essentially it is about price)
d) whether hawkers are essentially efficient in producing the right amount of food
Actually, at the end of the conversation (which is about the end of lunch time), though i am still highly skeptical that the sequence of events in the "success" scenario will ever occur, she has successfully proved to me that by a minute chance, without a breakdown of logic, that yes it is possible.
I guess its time i start telling the hawkers to give me fewer portions when I am not feeling that hungry for the day.
Jia you bah.
p.s. it was a fun and engaging exchange. And it gave me a reason to make some small changes to the way i live.
- At:home
- Listening to:The little things give you away - Linkin Park
2009
900 - Mcdonalds restaurant opened, 350, Mcdonalds restaurants closed
200,000,000 -people who joined facebook
13505 - average number of emails received per person
3,038,461- amount of money spent on finding each gallon of water on the moon
47,000,000 - number of swine flu cases in the U.S.
1 in 7 - germans who want to restore the berlin wall
2,500 - world languages in danger of extinction
1 - companies no longer working with tiger woods
Transformers 2 - top grossing fim, 402,111,870 usd.
boom boom pow- most downloaded song
7006 - square kilometers of brazilian rain forest cut down
This list is incomplete so check out the mag for the complete list! (dont sue me Time, i am advertising here too alright?)
2010
4th Jan - the tallest skyscraper in the world will open in Dubai
9th Apr - global population expected to reach 7 billion
31st Aug - last us combat troops scheduled to withdraw from iraq
19th Nov, First film of the two-part Harry Potter Finale hits theatres
Lets see how many of these really happens on the dates eventually!
Christmas is a time for you to meet your loved ones and I'm really glad that my primary school bunch still choose to spend it at my place (Eve that is). Though as we grow older, we become more distinct from one another. When I just graduated from peiying, I thought I would never ever be able to find a circle of friends more similar to me than them. If you have to ask me now, sometimes I feel that the similarities can almost be numbered. Then again we always talk about personas; about reverting to a state of mind where we are still in our tens, reminding us of the little memories that holds us so strongly together. They are a great bunch and I still hope to see them coming to my place for xmas for one more 7 years, two more 7 years and so on.
Christmas proper has been a much more peaceful affair. I am not a christian so my family does not celebrate the ocassion. However, I am kinda lucky this year because there's a lot of leftovers from the eve party. I munched away more choc and waffers instead of having proper meal, well, once a year is alright I guess? (laughs)
At moments when history is written, I tend to ponder about many things. I always thought 2009 is the second last year of the decaded but then I realised the countdown to 2000 was way bigger (and more dreaded) than the countdown to 2001. I guess in a few days time we have to wave goodbye to the first decade of the millenium. So, what have you done? Are you where you thought you'd be 10 years ago? Have you accomplished what you set out to do?
Time for a resolution for the next decade.
I like those movie scenes where the director zooms across the globe and shows what people are doing at different parts of the world at the same time, during a distinguished moment (asteroid hitting earth, moon landing, something that is just common for our entire population) And I did a mini one in my mind for christmas. Here we are on the bridge at clarke quay, watching people spray foams with a disgusting smell at one another, there are probably,
fathers watching the moment their first child sees the first light
people rushing their work in offices
long lost friends who meet up for the first time in, 10 years?
politicians making the one decision that will affect an entire nation, and his/her own career
rock stars bringing tears to millions of concert goers
someone who takes the last breathe and dies alone
soldiers training in a remote jungle on a remote island, missing loved ones
soldiers fighting in a remote desert in a remote country, desperately keeping his life
No matter who you are, where you are, what you are doing or going through, just remember that it is almost 2010 and we are still here.
so, everything is working out just fine i guess? It's not the end of the world yet!
Jia you bah
( Human population is expected to hit 7 billion by the middle of 2010, viva la vida!)
First of all, many apologies to Chris for leaving the prev post hanging. I have decided to leave all my qualms about NS back in my camp as I step out of it as an NSF for the last time. I guess at some point of time we should all take a step back, heave a sigh of relief and tell ourselves that there are things in this world that just happened to be as such. It is not that we cannot do anything about it but because there are much more complications involved. I've decided to walk out of this 2-year period keeping the good things I've learnt and ignoring the lousy people I've met.
From this point on it'll be a factual account of the things that happened since the last post. Not necessarily exciting but just for the record.
The weekend which I left the service happened to be the Standard Chartered Marathon which I signed up for. I dragged myself through the hours of the race with shouhao and we emerged finishers. To date I have never told anyone about this but when i saw the sign that said "42 km" I felt a bit of moisture in my eyes. It was definitely one of the most torturous moment my legs have ever endured (sorry legs) and the longest run in my entire life too. Something nice that happened was meeting yihui at water point @26 km. It was very coincidental indeed because there were so many water points, so many volunteers (and i wasnt wearing my glasses) but i managed to spot her. In the end I did not take the 100plus that she offered because there was just a 100plus waterpoint a little ahead.
I stayed at home for about a week after which I started working last week. I have made a considerable number of applications and I would say about 20 to 30% reverted back to me since. I am currently working at a gov agency and the work is fairly idiot proof. I would say it is not to challenging judging the pay that is given. I really hope to be given more demanding work though.
Met up with the ops room guys for the farewell lunch as well as the outing that followed. Instead of an outing, it is more like crashing dave's house for mahjong. Alex and I belong to the non-mahjong categorisation of the population so we were naturally ostrasized. Dave's maid bought really nice frozen instant snacks though. Anyways the rest of the night was spent at holland V. We chanced upon this bar where the waitress was trying to drag customers in. Alex, sayhow and roger were totally bought over by her frenliness (and average looks) that they wanted to go in and enjoy their happy hour 1 for 1 beer promotion. I am the only one who resisted such unappealing temptations and said no to the average looking yet frenly girl. We ventured just a little further ahead and realised that there was a much less crowded, cleaner pub where their middle aged male waitress told us that all drinks except cocktails were 1 for 1. I agreed to have a table there and i turned back to see alex waving at the average looking girl signalling that it was not up to him to decided where we were drinking. ( To date I do not understand why they feel so obliged to her, just because she gave that average disappointed look). The rest of the night, as we have agreed, will remain secret for as long as we .... stll drink alcohol.
This week was the first week of my work coupled with a very uneventful weekend. I did take a extended shopping trip which to some people may be the highest form of enjoyment but more of a route march exercise to me. Surprisingly, carrying 30kg of load and shopping with a plastic bag makes me equally tired after a few hours. Anyways, numerous discoveries with regards to fashion but unsuitable for this blog. I spent the day reconfiguring my room today. It has since become more spacious and more mature. Just to sound a bit more masculine, i drilled a couple of holes on the wall and installed some things, half naked. I guess its still not a full fledged 20yearold room but for now it'll suffice. Besides, it is really a lot neater now.
Looking forward to this thursday.
Meanwhile, happy hols everyone!
Jia you bah
- At:home
- Feeling:calm
Ironically, conscription is a concept never popular with the people of my nation. 40 years of it, yet children still dread it, voters still try to shorten the length of it through democratic means. If it is the right decisions, shouldn't we have become aware of its crucial role and stand by it by now? Or is it still too early to judge? Supporters may suggest that we will appreciate our sacrifices made when the time comes for the services to be activated. However, I see that as a grossly inaccurate and sweeping statement. Here is what's wrong with these 2 years of my life.
(To be continued)
1) Please eat healthier food and exercise more. You may think it is not all that important but one day you'll be the one who suffer. It is true that everyone is saying the same thing but it is also true that they are right. You just don't understand yet.
2) Dad can be a little harsh on you when it comes to television time but he meant well. One day you'll find out that the tube isn't that fascinating an object afterall. Dad will be nicer when you grow up, promise.
3) Study hard. People may say that getting good results in school isn't all that matters. They lied. It is true that you do not need to excel in school to excel in life, but being good opens more doors and opportunities. Only people with ability are rewarded with choices.
4) Find something that you like to do and excel in it. It can be musical instruments or sports. Just start early and devote all your energy in it. Anything is fine as long as you don't give up. They may never earn you your bread and butter but you'll make friends and discoveries along the way.
5) Dream about the future, think about what you want to be. As cliche as it sounds, it IS never too early. Life will often keep you occupied and when the time comes for you to make that decision, you'll realise how you should have spent more time considering. Don't forget to dream big.
6) When your parents tell you that there are things which you may not understand. They are lying. Of course you will understand. The real reason is that you will probably not be interested anyways. Moreover, knowing the truth can be daunting at times. They rather you grow up happy and carefree.
7) Possessions are not the most important things in the world, relationships are. Small toys which you have learned to treasure are not worth fighting over. They may be important now but a couple of years later they are worthless. However, friendship is different, it matures and values with time.
8) It is not necessary to envy others for what they have or being who they are. Build on who you are and who you can be. The road ahead of you is long and no one knows what one can achieve. Don't aim to be as cool or as popular because you can aim higher. Be the one who gathers those envy eyes.
9) Keep a diary, the 20-year-old you would like to read about how he used to think. The same 20-year-old is doing this now so that the 30,40,50,60-year-olds can read this someday. Memories are the most valuable things in the world. Humans live a finite amount of time and when that time is up they live in our memories.
10) Please ignore this letter. Life has proven to be as such and there is nothing which could have made it any better for me. You'll grow up fine and healthy, you'll be blessed with family and friends. You may face a couple of setbacks at times but you'll do just fine.
Trust me, I've been through all those.
The common interpretation for such phenomenon is one of over-exertion, not-knowing-one's-limits, over-confidence, negligence. So in other words, there lies a fine line between pushing one's limits and well, self torture. I wonder where that line is.
This entry is more of a factual account of what i have been doing recently,
As preparation for stanchart, i have been conducting my own conditioning regime.
Since it is quite difficult to measure the distance of roads, I use time as an indication of distance.
I do 40min-1h runs regularly,completed 2-hour-run twice, and a 2.5-hour run.
Common, expected effects: fatigue, muscle ache, muscle cramp, thirst
Other unexpected effects: Loss of appetite, high body temperature, feverish, severe headache, prolonged perspiration and nausea ocassionally
I started long-dist swimming by doing a 10-lap, adding 10 laps in each subsequent swim. When i last swam i did 50
Common, expected effects: fatigue,
Other unexpected effects: dizziness, unbalanced, inability to walk straight immediately after leaving the pool, feeling extra drag on the lower limbs
I will continue this regime and do a 3h, 3.5h and 4h run prior to stanchart. I wonder if I should ignore these symptoms and carry on training. Is it really all in the mind or am I just physically incapable of completing the race at this point of my life?
jia you bah
...ahh...i'll finish this entry later...
Everyone hates snobbish people. They talk through their noses and laugh at the misfortune of those whom they perceive as lesser beings. Maybe it is not as extreme as my description but unpleasant sentiments towards such snobbish people can be felt in the general public. Take the example of the saga which involved the daughter of an MP who posted an entry condemning the complains of a middle aged, middle class citizen. Both the emotive blog post and the uproar that follows have been rich sources of entertainment ( and of course learning pointers). How is it that the society has breed such a group of people who think that they are so high and mighty? Is it the education system? Or is it just something which every society has to cope with, like racism and other forms of discrimination?
I believe that elitism is a by-product of meritocracy (yes i can hear that you are saying no). It is very simple, meritocracy aims to reward those with true ability and such rewards call for a distinction between those who make the cut from those otherwise. Streaming, gifted education, integrated programme and even school rankings are means of seperating those who are identified to be well....elites. In a developed education system which promote meritocracy, our generation is hence classified into labelled groups. We do not delude ourselves and say that such classifications by no means devalue a person because in a way it does. The press acknowledges it, simple articles about the success story of a student who progressed from a stream-catered-for-the-not-so-able to a major stream reflects the sentiments of our society -- if you belong to a certain group, you may have a bleaker future than the rest. Likewise, the minority who got ahead in the rat race and squeezed into the top streams have many reasons to rejoice. These people are rewarded with better opportunities, more government funds and the best resources the country can offer. That, is the central idea and motive of having groups in meritocracy.
It is in our nature, human nature, to love the idea of belonging to a group. We have our own race, our own religion and our own gender. Being part of a group makes us feel strong, feel belonged and powerful. Sadly, it is also human to have a sense of pride. It is a invisible psychological drug that we feed on. Other than those who are completely devasted about who they are, most of us are pretty much satisfied with ourselves and our environment; we love to believe that we are lucky. We are proud to be a citizen of whichever country, we are proud to belong to whichever religion and we are proud to be a member of whichever arbitrary classifications that ever exist. Pride is not measure upon an objective rule. To feel proud subtly shows a preference over another possibility. For example, I am proud to be a citizen of this country because THAT country has worse living conditions and lower standard of education. To put the idea in context, "I am proud to be a student in A stream/school/programme over B stream/school/programme because my abilities are recognised, in other words, i am smarter'. This is NOT elitism.
As confusing as it may seem, elitism is not reflected in mere comparison or preference. Our society is very bothered by 'elite' students who look down on others such that we do not acknowledge the similar occurences at every social strata. Say in a population there are 20 schools, ranked accordingly. School 1 is 'suffering' from elitism because students in it look down on the rest of the population. Did anyone mention that school 10 is also being elitist because it looks down on school 11 to 20? How about school 19, where students are so glad that they made it to 19 and the really unfortunate people have no choice and drag their feet into school 20? Elitism? Where do we draw the line to that?
Discrimation is inevitable when there is diversity. Pride is a part of human nature which i consider a double edged sword (like confidence). If I have to conjure a reason for the existence of elitism, I would say that it is a term coined by the people jealous of those who had a bigger share of the pie than they have had. The mere impossibility to draw a line as to where elitism ends and general discrimnation begins suggests the inexistence of such an idea. If I do not know how long a meter is, how can i ever say which or if any of the strings I have is over a meter? They are merely this long (raises my hands to illustrate the length), this long and so forth.
I find value in such an explanation because I see myself caught in both sides of elitism (assuming that it exists). I belong to one of the top schools which some of my acquaintances disliked for the array of snobbish students which it produces. On the other hand, I do not belong to a special programme where a top percentile of the students belong to after passing an entrance exam. The programme is notorious for being accused of breeding elitism (if, again, it exists). So why are we so bothered by it? Will it make you any happier if i tell you as long as you do not need to beg on the street for money, you belong to the elites? Will that solve the problem? Or is it more important for us to realise our role in the society and understand how different levels contribute differently? We DO need the smartest and brightest to be leaders in politics, we DO need the cleverest to be our surgeons and doctors. (Yes, those who you complain about for being elitist happens to be your family doctor). We also NEED construction workers, waiters, janitors or any other occupations which require a lower level of education. It just so happens that our society functions that way.
To be honest, if I had to worry, it will definitely be the idea of being mediocre. It will be a disaster if you find yourself average, cluelss, ambition-less yet still thinking that you are so bright and smart that you deserve better. Time to strive harder.
Jia you bah.
This is not just the case for David and Barrack, but also other characters (fictitious and real) like Dr Watson and Sherlock, Mitch Albom and Morrie. It is interesting how we sometimes appear much more 'real' when presented by a person whom we are closely related to as compared to ourselves. On the other hand, it is also perfectly logical for a third party to give a most accurate account of ourselves; we can be biased, delusional, egoistic or maybe just oblivious about our own behavior and conduct.
I wonder if it is best for someone to know more about me from myself or a friend.
Which will be actually a more accurate reflection of who i really am?
ps. Audacity to Win appeared, from the chapters i've read, to be a worthy purchase.
I knew that there was a MINDS school in my neighbourhood because I have seen kids going home from there. I couldn't help but notice their speech and behaviour whenever they board the same public transport as I. Most of them look physically different from a 'normal' person. Some of them have their forehead flat and curved inwards, others have eyes that are protruding, some also have difficulties closing their mouth. Most of them kept quiet, but a few (like any other children, fortunately) did make noise on the bus. Their speech was generally coherent, but there was something subtle that one may observe. The way they talked revealed that they are mildly unintelligent, I cannot cite a specific example but I did feel it.
Today, as I observed that gentleman, I wondered if he, with those inquisitive eyes, observed the rest of us as well. I wondered if he knew he was different, or at least knew that he was treated differently. Speaking on behalf of those of us who do not suffer from the same ailment, we look at them with sympathy sometimes, or for some people indifference. I am curious about how they look at us. Do they hate us for sympathising them? Or do they wish to be treated differently? A thousand other questions surfaced but I could only speculate. However, there is only one thing I am certain of -- they need our help, they need our protection. For someone up there has not been as generous them as to the rest of us. For life is cruel to let some people born with a golden spoon in their mouth, and others with a rusty one.
Help and protection take various forms but they come from normal beings like us. We may not be exceptionally powerful or rich but at least we can make our own choices, take care of ourselves. The fact that some people are not sufficiently capable of keeping themselves alive means that the rest of us should be responsible for them. This responsibility should eve be a obligation, because it is not their decision to be disabled, neither is it ours to be normal. For better or for worse we just happen to be. It is our privilege and our curse.
Someone up there has given most of us many gifts. Some of us are born to be intelligent, some of us are talented in an art and some of us can connect with people and lead. While we feel blessed and grateful to be so special and outstanding, I think it is important to remember our unspoken duty to those otherwise. Because we can understand why they are less fortunate, but they cannot understand why we are more. It is a flawed argument really, but one can hardly deny it. I may not be doing anything that contributes to their well being at the moment but I believe that someday it'll be my turn, actually it'll be everybody's turn at some point of time maybe. If you are reading my blog now, remember that as hard as it may be, we still have to reach out and do our part. Because it is our curse to be healthy and well, our misfortune to be fed, clothed and loved; it is not fair that we are as such.
Jia you bah.
I have always been a free thinker. Some people consider this group that i belong to indecisive, while others just acknowledge that we are not ready to devote to one. As far as I am concerned, I have been pretty happy as a free thinker. My parents are Buddhists and I have been to Sunday services in a Church so it is not entire accurate to say that I have been underexposed to religion. As of now, I just feel that I am not mature enough to really believe wholeheartedly in something. It is part of being young and hence, being sceptical, or as my former tutor puts it 'questioning intelligence'. The reason for the lack of maturity sprouts from my attittude. It is not difficult, in my opinion, to believe in something. However, at the point of time when a single phenomenon can disprove something which i firmly believed in, things will start to fall apart. I am not mature enough to say "nah, thats all rubbish, i am still right under any circumstances."
I have to say that this idea came to me on the train again. Perhaps my brains are most active in our fabulous underground transport system. Anyways, I have mentioned in the past that i have decided to study law. I'll assume that all goes well and i graduate. I'll also venture to make a further, less definite assumption that i will become a lawyer, pledging myself to perform duties conscientiously to the courts and judiciary. A conflict arises.
Free thinkers, people who advocate free thought, fall under the category of Irreligion. I am not a subject matter expert but Irreligion does cover atheism and agnosticism (together with deism, ignosticism, antireligion etc). As a person who refuses to commit to a certain faith, I am effectively irreligious. This, prima facie, is in conflict with the idea of law. Law, prior to its present form, began as a hard tool which regulates conduct, in accordance with moral values, ethics and justice. Whilst we do seperate religious courts practising relgious law from those otherwise, most, if not all, secular states do adopt the rules of law as an important component of secular governance. We conveniently overlooked the fact that moral values and ethics are essentially products of religious teachings. I understand that i make reference to all religions collectively and that this is a pitfall in my idea. Ignoring that, let's assume that moral values and ethics are products of a single entity called religion. Therefore, upholding law is as good as upholding faith, upholding the teachings. My biggest question, how can a person who doubts the existence of such faith and teachings involves himself/herself in the workings of law? Think of an atheist teaching kids that the almighty is the creator, or a pastor teaching darwin. Am I being too particular about small details or is it true that our modern society does not require or pay attention to such distinctions anymore? I'm curious.
Food for thought.
If i may, daringly, probe further, is it appropriate for me to say that irreligion is just an illusion, a perceived freedom of thoughts? Since I classify law as a result of religion and that I can prove that no one is truly above the law. If we have no absolute freedom in our actions and thoughts (btw religious practices which harm the well-being of society is unlawful) because we are to abide by law, aren't we, as a result, subconsciously forced into adopting faith too?
In retrospect, the smile in the photographs conceals the unfavorable memories generated at that point of time in our lives. You look happy in the photo, your friends and family look happy in the photo; it had been an enjoyable episode as far as the picture tells you. When you lay all your pictures out and look at all of them, you'll likely convince yourself that, well, my life has been pretty good thus far.
We capture the happiness of departure, not the sadness of parting.
We capture the joy of returning home, not the pain endured throughout the trip.
We capture the glamour and smiles on the stage, not the sweat and tears shed behind the curtains.
and so on.
It just occurred to me that, we arent that happy all the time, as much as we really want to be.
----------------------------------------
I think i'd prefer to be less shy. I just hate those moments when I just fumble because I am afraid of embarrasement or awkward moments. I think i need to learn to be more thick skinned (sorry those who think that my skin is alr thick enough). Regardless, what's the big deal about being embarrased anyways?
The one above will not laugh at us.
jia you bah
say hi to monday blues! =D
The thought of running the full marathon in 3 mths time has haunted me time and again.
Hence i desperately need a long-dist-running training program. It doesn't seem too hard to just take a piece of paper and write the date and mileage for the 3 mths but in actual fact
1) Running continuously for more than an hour is extremely boring
2) On a good day I'll probably just clock 10 km within that time
3) After a long run, half the day is usually thrown out the window, provided that you do not feel tired
4) If you do, unfortunately, the other half will wave goodbye too.
Point 3 and 4 can be solved with....a few cans of redbull after the run.
As for point 1 and 2, I gathered my experience observing fellow runners and creative orginal thinking and *eureka*! get a ipod shuffle! (yeap, irony) Ok, fine. But i did come up with something original. After running with my old mp3 players I have realised that, probably because of my basic knowledge of music, my pace will follow that of the tempo of the track. Most rock songs can do a fair job but the problem is I sorta like soft, classical pieces.(Which just dampens the whole mood of running)
*snap fingers* Therefore, I came up with the brilliant idea of listening to LECTURES FROM ITUNES U during my runs! It will work perfectly because I downloaded those which lasts for more than an hour! I have never had the patience to sit infront of the laptop to listen to the entire lecture but if i do it while i run, it'll fit perfectly!
...
yea, what a nerd.
Jia you bah
Why is it that Erhu and Violin simply cannot harmonise?
I like this rendition nonetheless.
How many times do you get to step across that all so familiar gate at the airport knowing that your entire life is about to change?
While i always get caught up complaining about how my flights to brunei and thai are merely prelude to some grand adventures, i realise that these ppl flying overseas to study have much greater challenges awaiting them. And as i watch them cross the gate named departure, i have this strong urge to walk thru it myself someday, not for 10 or 16 days , but for 3, maybe 4 years. Its a precious opportunity to really throw yourself into the real world and very possibly, grow up.
My best wishes to andrea who will someday become an outstanding doctor in whichever field that she'll specialise in
and of course wen qi who will someday program the next big thing for all our PCs (and Macs)
to dreams!
(edit) and of course maybe the part from heathrow to edin wasnt as seamless as it is supposed to be. LOL! (/edit)
The dreams are always full of hope, and I like it that way.
Because when i wake up, it just feels as though.... nothing is really impossible...
