-Normaltitude-

A simple mail from HER

2011-07-04T14:56:00.001+08:00

"i can feel our daughter growing stronger. her turns, punches and kicks are so forceful .... they make feel like I am having stitches sometimes"

The feeling - indescribable. A million bubbles bursting in anxiety, hope and pride.

I love YOU. And you.

The perennial excitement

2011-06-28T16:59:00.003+08:00

The typical question du jour in the company of close friends is the same:

“Are you guys excited?”

It really got me thinking. Excited? We definitely are. However, my excitement is tempered with a tinge of worry. I’m worried that I’m not ~~good responsible mature~~ enough a father. Worried too about the vagaries in life, and that if anything untoward were to happen to me, these two loves of my life would not have someone to fall back on. Despite securing relative financial stability and adequate insurance coverage, I have always taken it upon myself to be the rock that Sonia (and in future, Erica) required.

When I learnt that Sonia was expecting, my first reaction was that of unbridled happiness. I was happy that my beloved maternal grandmother was a tai-po and my parents both could join the fabled ranks of the 50-ish grandparents. I was happy that the next stage in our lives could come so early, and that Sonia and I were at an age whereby we still remembered what it was like to be young.

And then came the first questions from well-meaning friends and colleagues –

“Wah, so young ar!”
“So fast! Are you all ready?”
“But you just started out in your career leh.”

Each question sowed a seed of doubt in my faith that we were ready. Was I really ready? Were we ready to nurse, inculcate and educate another individual totally dependent on our support and guidance? I pride myself as being a logical, level-headed and mature person, but dealing with matters of emotion, I am frequently at a loss.

~~Are we~~… Was I ready?

All I wish is for Erica to tell us, 28 years down the road that indeed you both were, dearest Mum and Dad.

A Fun Stag Night does not a sober groom make

2010-09-11T04:08:00.004+08:00

Today was the stag night that my brothers had planned for me...
I had a little can of beer and nothing else, which didn't really play to my brothers' plans.
Gout was my main concern, and to have an attack so near my wedding date could possibly wreck our carefully-laid plans.

Had to wear a red sequinned bowtie and a pair of GROOM shades whilst completing the tasks that the brothers had set out in a deck of tasks that were ostensibly for a bachelorette party. Tried very hard to be a sport but approaching girls and chatting them up was not a natural thing to me.

Felt as though I'd let everyone down as everyone was looking very bored by the time we shifted to the second area within Butter. I appreciate their efforts but this wasn't what I had in mind for a stag night.

Sorry to my bros.

A very long hiatus...

2010-05-21T19:28:00.003+08:00

It's almost two years since my last post, and plenty (both good and bad) have happened in the interim. The following timeline is a brief summary of my life since the much-cherished Shanghai trip...

Started work at PwC on 7 July 2008
Graduated from SMU in 13 July 2008
Met a whole bunch of new people (Amin, Chee, Zee, WZ [who is now Ou Weiming's girlfriend], Raymond [Mr 3%], Ee Wah, Daniel, Rex and LKL)
Saw Audrey May May get married in September 2008 (She's now the proud mother of one)
Grew very much closer to Koof, Ra, Jing, Huimin, Janice, Gina, Hailing and to a much lesser extent before he quit the H-monster, Zhong
Proposed to my beloved (26 December 2008) at Crowne Plaza Hotel with the invaluable assistance of the people above
Celebrated the graduation of my batch (one year after my own) at Peach Garden OCBC Centre on 9 July 2009
Attended my first (and last) PwC Fiesta in October 2009
Tendered my resignation in the very same month (after seeing Wilson get his Maggie Mee)
Left PwC on 6 November 2010 - it was the SPA away day as well
Joined G** on 16 November 2010
Went for my first overseas trip - Phuket with HER in January 2010
Lost a loved one (Ah Ba on 19 March 2010 - exactly 8 years to the day after Ah Ma passed away) - a very painful and sudden bereavement... the gratitude I feel for his care in my formative years spurs me to do the same for his daughter
Went for my 2nd trip to Bintan with HER in April 2010
Went for our wedding photoshoot on 20 May 2010
Bought our matrimonial bed and sofa set from Sealy and a local retailer on 21 May 2010

This has been a turbulent 2 years for me, and the only constant has been HER steadfast support, as has always been through these 9-plus years. For that, I will have no one else but HER as my wife. I'm looking forward to our photos and 18 September 2010, the day that we will be legally man and wife.

Pictures are available on Facebook, and I know that these memories, however painful, will be an indelible part of my journey through life.

Shanghai Day 6

2008-07-13T15:12:00.002+08:00

Day 6 was better - we resolved to forget the disappointments of the previous day and set out afresh for Qipu Road and breakfast. It's always well and good to have something to fall back on in a land of foreign food - the ever-trusty Macdonalds and their ubiquitous items on the menu.

Qipu was relatively less crowded at 10am, and we took 4 leisurely hours to stroll through the 2 main malls and select our purchases. I got a pair of "Teva" sandals for 80 RMB, which was a relative steal considering that the other shops were unwilling to let it go for anything less than 100RMB. It's my current favorite.

We went to Ajisen's for lunch and chanced upon a gem of a poster.

After depositing our purchases at our hotel, we took the metro to the French Concession, where the Lyceum Theatre was sited in order to catch the evening version of the Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe's performance. It was yet another disappointment, as they had cancelled the performance.

We then walked along Huaihai Road to check out the Zara sales at the 2 outlets lining the road.

We ended the trip off with a meal at a mall along the road and some Portuguese fare - if you consider Cafe de Coral to be anything like that.

Shanghai Days 4 & 5

2008-07-13T14:46:00.003+08:00

Day 4 was a day of meeting with people - we met with Zhong's Dragonboat teammate and Celest's Jun.

We visited the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum - well, we sort of viewed it from the outside - our main motive was to pay a visit to the various dodgy retailers at the basement of the metro station.

That was where Meng found his first retail love - a pair of Lacoste shoes that he did not end up buying. We spent much of the day haggling about prices with the vendors and did not do very much at all.

Ditto day 5. Which was a horrible day with rain and a fruitless search for the elusive Factory Outlet that had us running all over suburban Shanghai. Wet socks and a truncated Qipu Road best summarizes that forgettable day.

Shanghai Day 3

2008-07-03T15:59:00.008+08:00

Day 3
Having not booked a ticket to Hangzhou the night before and waking at 5.30am having slept just 3 hours the night before, the Chinese could have forgiven themselves for having seen wasted zombies scurrying around a) People's Square (人民广场), b) the 80,000 People Stadium and c) the Shanghai Indoor Stadium. All for the sake of catching the bus that left at 7am.

We ran around like idiots looking for a semblance of a bus terminus (or any other congregation of the said motor vehicle, which, unfortunately included most traffic junctions) for the first 2 locations. I have not run so much ~~since BMT~~ before. In any case, we were despairing at the negative replies (and misdirections) given by locals strolling in the calm of the morning. It must have been pretty funny to see touristy Chinese who couldn't speak proper Mandarin running off in the wrong directions.

We got to the Shanghai Indoor Stadium at about 720am, and having thought that the bus had already left, we were a dejected lot. In fact, the lady at the counter told us that the bus would be leaving at 845am, and that there were just 3 seats left. That was our very first stroke of luck on the trip. We promptly paid the 248RMB - which was a ripoff, sadly.

The Hangzhou tour, and Hangzhou itself was a letdown. We rushed from place to place, and although the highlight of the tour was the Xi Hu (西湖) boatride, we never really got close enough to view the 7 scenic locations up close. Not even enough for photography, barring something like Weisheng's DSLR and his humongous lens. Which wouldn't have worked anyway, given that the boat was rocking about and mist obscured pretty much everything from afar.

My main grouses center about the fact that we spent too little time at the 2 locations of interest - Xi Hu and the Ling Yin Temple (灵隐寺) and too much at the commercial silk factory and the place with the tea leaves. We passed by the Yue Wang Temple (岳王庙) without going in to spit on the statue of Qin Kuai (秦桧) for whom the phrase 遗臭万年was coined. And really fulfill the our inner Chinese self - secretly we admired the Chinese ability to hark up a gob of spit and deposit it on the next available tile.

At the Ling Yin Temple, Meng did not go in with us and I suppose I was the only one marvelling at the splendor of the place given that Zhong was very much the freethinker sort. At least he saw fit to dedicate merits to his mother, who was a devout Buddhist. We had the good karma to witness the recital of the afternoon prayers and toured the hall of the 300 arahants, all of whom were unique and intricately carved. The gold Buddha statue in the 大雄宝殿was a sight to behold, and given that it was rude to take photos inside the confines of the 大殿, I managed to just catch the exterior of the hall itself.

We boarded the bus back to Shanghai next, and I was very much dissatisfied with the events of the day. A filling meal at our destination made up for part of the disappointment though. Meng and Zhong must have eaten 3 full-sized frogs between them.

Shanghai Day 2

2008-06-30T20:53:00.007+08:00

DAY 2
We woke up to a bright morning and cloudy skies. The incessant drizzle the day before had seemingly disappeared. Meng and Zhong led me in search of their favorite eatery near Zhao'an Hotel where they had also stayed in their trip 4 years ago. To no avail though, as it had closed down and in its place was a suspicious restaurant ("we have no electricity, would you like some porridge?). The street also housed our first street hawker du jour. Who was selling the dough fritters that we so desperately craved, but being the sanitized Singaporeans that we were, we were did not try the stall in fear of a premature end to our culinary exploits.

We headed for the Shanghai Tailor and Fabric Market (or some name to that effect) on the recommendation of Wenshan to have our suits tailored. His resident tailor (Jackson Xue, not TAI) was not in for the day and the lady assistant took our measurements and promised to have them ready in a tailoring feat of 4 days. The ties here were of quality and sold at 10RMB. Needless to say, I bought 3 of them in expectation of my daily requirements at PwC.

We headed across the street on the recommendation of the lady assistant for some lunch, and it was a 130RMB well-spent (considering that we blew 110RMB on the crap dinner the day before).

On a belly filled with good food, we headed for the Yu Gardens and the Cheng Huang Temple located in the historic heart of Shanghai, named (what else) Old Shanghai Street.

Walking into the street, we came across many shops selling the ubiquitous tourist trinkets and tea, and Meng popped into one such store for the first of his purchases - he bought some LongJing Tea for his parents. The XiangPian Tea was appealing, but being the miser that I was, I did not want to buy the tea as yet.

When we reached the doors of the Temple I found out that it was not the Buddhist one that I was expecting (there is a difference) and was quite reluctant to buy the 10RMB admission ticket. Given that Meng was waiting outside, we chose not to enter the compound and miss out on the Yu Garden as well. Remember what I said about being miserly?

We then headed off to Miser Heaven - Qipu Road. Given that its predecessor, Xiangyang Road had been raided by the relevant authorities not long ago, Qipu Road succeeded the former as a bustling haven for pirates and imitation goods.

The streets were extremely crowded even for a Tuesday, and given the number of locals present, it was obvious that this was a market that catered to native Chinese. We trudged through the crowded malls (particularly the basement levels selling shoes and bags) in search of the ultimate bargain.

One notable fact was that the street hawkers here sold pretty much the same fare - Mutton or squid on giant bamboo sticks (that could potentially qualify as a lethal weapon in Singapore) and large slices of melons that looked fantastically sweet. All these without proper storage and hygiene! Imagine squid and fruits being kept at 23deg throughout the day , staying exposed to the elements and the smog that pervaded Shanghai.

We chanced upon many imitation goods, but the most memorable purchase was Meng's Gongtai shoes, which was the subject of Celest's post. Also, Zhong took the chance to whore himself for the camera, and did the classic Chinese squat which he repeated throughout the trip. Oh, and Meng succeeded in purchasing the pair of shoes at 40RMB, which translates to a mind-boggling 8 buckaroos here in Singapore.

We eyed several other purchases, and were keen to come back nearer the date of our departure. We walked about 2.5 squares (on Koof's map) back to our hotel - which took an agonizing 1 and a half hours. To further complicate matters, Zhong was having a bad stomach, which explains his constipated look as evidenced below:-

Zhong headed back to the hotel in search of a much-needed release and supplemented his diet with a bottle of Po Chai pills from the well-stocked 百宝袋 of Meng's. The two of us had dinner at a restaurant near the hotel and we encountered our most disgusting find just yet - a whole fried turtle that cost 24RMB. We had the pleasure of seeing people spit in the upper-class restaurant, and Meng witnessed firsthand a group of locals eating the turtles and I saw a lady munching on the shell of the aforementioned delicacy. GROSS.

We headed to BarVue at Hyatt on the Bund to meet Claire and Weizheng, and the view from the top was much better than that from the Bund the night before. Meng ordered a 60RMB Hennessy VSOP and we were chuckling at the volume of alcohol within the big wine glass.

In the 2 hours that we spent at the bar, we saw the smog obscure the Pearl Tower twice. which was really quite amazing given the strobe lights flashing from the pearl on top of the tower. It was some dense shit indeed.

Zhong's choice of a raw-ish salad-looking alcoholic concoction did not help his gut much, and we concluded the evening with a group shot.

Shanghai Prologue and Day 1

2008-06-30T20:04:00.005+08:00

The Shanghai trip started off with a bombshell from Koof - not the feminine kind that one would usually associate Koof with but the news that he'd injured his eye (again) in a freak ricochet of the ball whilst playing cage.

The 3 of us (Me, Zhong & Meng) trooped to the airport knowing that we had to make the most of what was left of the initial gang - with Jing backing out after deciding on Shanghai as the trip location (in consideration of a potential rendezvous with Renee) and the freak accident with Koof.

Before the plane had even gotten off the ground, I had spent a total of 103 bucks buying some 7 cosmetic articles for HER mom. And Meng spent half that amount on a nice-ish Braun Buffel wallet going at a discount after my spree. We got on the relatively empty China Eastern flight MU546 which eventually proved to be a blessing in disguise, as my ample bulk was given sufficient space in which to maneuver.

On bored (sic) the plane, Zhong and Meng amused themselves with the Pro Evolution Soccer on Koof's PSP and mine, whilst I amused myself with my digital camera taking photos that looked like this:

Which was essentially crap.

Anyhow, our arrival in Shanghai was a reflection of our luck (or so we thought at first). Our plane was rerouted from its original destination at Pudong airport to Hongqiao Airport which was further away from the coast. However, I was convinced on the necessity of the move after seeing the fog sweep in from the coastal areas. In addition, the cab fare from Hongqiao to our hotel in Hengtong Road was a measly 60RMB, in comparison with the 160RMB fare that me and Meng would later incur on our way to Pudong Airport on the return leg.

DAY 1
Our first day in Shanghai saw us make a beeline for the tourist district of Nanjing East Road immediately after we'd dumped our belongings in the hotel room, which was very comfortable given the incredibly low price of 300RMB that we were paying per night. The entrance to the metro (Hanzhong Road) was right beside the hotel, and it took a short 15 minutes for the journey to the East (Nanjing Road). Nanjing Road is the likeness of Orchard Road, with prices to match for the similarity as well.

We found a dark alley behind Nanjing Road and ate our first meal of the trip. I had earlier rejected Zhong's suggestion that we eat at CoCo Curry in consideration of the "watery curry" and Meng not seemingly interested (he was at the next junction looking out for more eateries). We found a dingy little shophouse that served authentic Shanghainese fare (or so they claimed). We ordered a plate of unknown meat (and possibly tripe), a plate of unknown greens, a plate of mutton (which turned out to be 20% raw) and 杂浆面 for me and Zhong. After pushing about the noodles in our bowl and flipping around looking for the less-rare portions of mutton, we decided to give up on the meal and head for the Bund.

The Bund was filled with people even on a Monday evening, with peddlers, touts and ice-cream sellers having a field day selling their wares to the crowd. Even though the view from the Bund could not rival that of Hongkong back when I visited it in '05, the skyscrapers and illuminated buildings signified China's progress as a capitalistic member of the global society. And with that, our day ended with a walk back to the metro from the Bund.

At the airport

2008-06-23T07:57:00.003+08:00

Over a cup of tea, my bleary eyes struggle to keep themselves open. Pulling an all-nighter watching a drab match of anti-football played out by the world champions Italy was a testing experience. Waiting for the arrival of Koof and co, upon which his presence/absence at a later time in Shanghai would decide the nature of me and Meng's activities from Friday to Sunday.

Didn't get to see HER for the past day, but received HER enthusiastic call early in the morning and after learning about my departure timing (at 10.15am, no less) she marveled at my incredible waste of time and promptly hung up.

Am looking forward to my Shanghai noons.

:)

Sometimes.

2008-04-21T02:49:00.004+08:00

There's school tomorrow. Plenty of papers to be marked.

It's 3am and I've not gotten to sleep after an hour of trying.

Something just bugs me. The uncertainty that plagues just about everything in my life.

I'm a creature of continuity. I take to uncertainty like how SHE takes to all things electronic.

The uncertainty that surrounds my choice of career, my grades and my finances.

Why do I always feel that I've underachieved after all these years?

I know the feeling all too well.

Too often, it hits me like a speeding MRT train.

The feeling of inadequacy. Of being a misfit. An outcast.

Resignation has replaced optimism a long time ago. 13 years ago, to be exact.

Achievements have always preceded a fall.

I'm weary from picking myself up all the time.

I am supposed to have it all.

A doting girlfriend, a bunch of brothers that have stood by me these years.

Why do I always feel a need to prove my capability?

But right now, I'm standing on the edge of gainful employment.

What once seemed infinitely possible, there now exists just one choice.

And so ends another chapter of my life

2008-03-17T21:34:00.004+08:00

And gingerly, I clicked on the green button.

Yet another one bites the dust...

Dear Mr Eric Choon

2008-01-20T02:50:00.000+08:00

Life, caught between two extremes.

Just as SHE went to her colleague's wedding, I was at Mandai Columbarium with Zhong, Ra and Koof's family for his Dad's urn to be placed in the niche.

Mr Eric Choon.

He was a man of few words. Saw him only intermittently on my first few visits to Koof's place in the first few years of our acquaintance.

And then came along the 2 Food & Hotel Asia exhibitions. QB Food. Johnsonville Sausages. I Serve US Beef and Pork. The arduous, back-breaking work that preceded and ended each stint with them.

The words of advice, softly and sagely dispensed. Never a word spoken in rage. The wit behind the conversations at lunch. The oft-too-generous gifts that was 'payment' for 3 days of feasting, play and getting to know people.

That life would just be kind
To such a gentle mind

Remember him this way.

The pain of such a loss is heartfelt. And bro, such a pain is best shared. Mutual support helps level the rocky road to recovery, and never shall this apply to our circle of trust - It's your problem, deal with it.

My foot. It's yours as much as ours.

____________________________

Being self-reflective and having a conscience are two very underrated virtues indeed.

There's one person in his life, and one person only.

~~There's a quicker way out of his personal hell, and you slammed the door in his face.~~

Sorry. You made the situation a whole lot worse.

You could have 雪中送炭。 Instead, you chose to 雪上加霜。

You know, carrots have their expiry dates too.

Sorry to mix this sad post with vehemence, but such is the intensity of feeling.

10 months too late - A tribute to Ms Chan Bee Bee

2008-01-08T23:45:00.000+08:00

Chan Bee Bee

Maths teacher of the unruly group that dared to call themselves Sec 4K, DHS 1999.

She passed away in March 2007.

Kind and patient to a fault, she was never one to give up on students.

This post came 10 months too late, but her legacy lies in her 天下桃李。

I'll remember you and the kind mercies you bestowed upon our ragtag bunch.

Defying conformity - yet shunning the limelight.

And I was not alone in thinking so...

Jose Revisited

2007-12-25T18:04:00.000+08:00

The 154th-ranked media...

2007-12-23T10:41:00.000+08:00

When I read the letter to the Forum that was published, I was disgusted by the unabashedly apologist tone that this Agung seemed to portray. After reading this article below, I realized that he was very much the victim of ~~misrepresentation~~ editorial failure as well.

From Kaffein-nated

_______________________________________

Quite shocking actually at how much the original letter was changed. I need to verify the original contents from the author though.

But just look at how the contents were twisted! I nearly went into convulsions. And to think ST dared to put the writer's name (Agung Santoso Ongko) at the end of it!

Pay rise for top civil servants timely (ST published forum letter)

I READ with great relief the article about ministers and top civil servants getting a 4-21 per cent pay rise next month (ST, Dec 14).

We can now be assured that only the most competent people will serve the country. With the rise in their remuneration, we have secured their steadfast service, as well as their continued fervour and dedication to fight for our cause. It could not be more timely. When inflation is soaring and some Singaporeans 'can barely stay afloat' (The Sunday Times, Dec 2), we need, more than ever, the best possible team of civil servants to lead us through the difficulties.

We cannot afford to lose them to the private sector, and have to retain them at all costs. This is especially so as these senior civil servants have been in the public sector for so long that they are likely to seek fresh experience in the private sector.

With the festive season coming, I hope that they will not forget to share the joy of receiving with the less fortunate. Therefore, I appeal to them to follow Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's lead in giving to the poor and spreading the blessings.

Writer's clarification:
I'm so glad somebody finally smelt a hint of my original intention for this Forum entry. Honestly, I read with GREAT HORROR the published version of my own e-mail on ST Forum 18/12/2007. Whatever was published on the Forum page on 18/12/2007 may be similar to what I had originally written, but the omissions made by the editors have actually changed its intended meaning altogether. I have reproduced below my original article as I had sent it to the ST editors:

"
I read with great relief the ST article “Ministers, top civil servants to get 4% to 21% pay rise in Jan” published on 13 December 2007. We can now rest doubly assured that only the most competent people will serve the country. With the rise in their remuneration, we have successfully secured their most steadfast service, as well as their continued fervour and dedication in fighting for our cause. Certainly, it cannot be timelier. At this point, when inflation is soaring and some Singaporeans “can barely stay afloat” (The Sunday Times 02 December 2007), we are in dire need, more than ever, for the best possible team of civil servants to lead us through all these difficulties. We cannot afford to lose them to the private sector, and have to fight to retain them at all costs. This is especially so, as these senior civil servants have been dwelling in the public sector for such a long time that they are more likely indeed to seek a fresh experience in the private sector.

With the festive season coming, though, I sincerely hope that they will not forget to share the joy of receiving with the less fortunate in our midst, for the total annual increment that every senior civil servant is set to receive can actually support approximately 1,000 other Singaporeans. Therefore, I appeal to our senior civil servants to follow PM Lee's lead in giving back to the poor and spreading the blessings. What that increase means to you means infinitely more to them.
"

If it has not become apparent to you by now, I had meant this piece to be satirical. And I admit that I may have failed miserably. I admit that it may be my own incompetent, ambiguous writing that has resulted in the gross misunderstanding. It is indeed possible that my vagueness has led to the editors misreading my intentions and viewing all the hyperboles and superlatives as redundant emphasis on my support for the pay rise. I shall, however, leave it to you readers to decide for yourself.

I hope I have made my position clear, though: that I am strongly opposed to the unwise timing of the ministerial pay rise, and that if it happens anyway, I call for those benefiting from it to share with those among us who live on $290 a month, and are saving every single cent just to continue surviving.

- Agung Santoso Ongko

Quite shocking actually at how much the orginal letter was changed. I need to verify the original contents from the author though.

But just look at how the contents were twisted! I nearly went into convulsions. And to think ST dared to put the writer's name (Agung Santoso Ongko) at the end of it!

Pay rise for top civil servants timely (ST published forum letter)

I READ with great relief the article about ministers and top civil servants getting a 4-21 per cent pay rise next month (ST, Dec 14).

We can now be assured that only the most competent people will serve the country. With the rise in their remuneration, we have secured their steadfast service, as well as their continued fervour and dedication to fight for our cause. It could not be more timely. When inflation is soaring and some Singaporeans 'can barely stay afloat' (The Sunday Times, Dec 2), we need, more than ever, the best possible team of civil servants to lead us through the difficulties.

We cannot afford to lose them to the private sector, and have to retain them at all costs. This is especially so as these senior civil servants have been in the public sector for so long that they are likely to seek fresh experience in the private sector.

With the festive season coming, I hope that they will not forget to share the joy of receiving with the less fortunate. Therefore, I appeal to them to follow Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's lead in giving to the poor and spreading the blessings.

Writer's clarification:
I'm so glad somebody finally smelt a hint of my original intention for this Forum entry. Honestly, I read with GREAT HORROR the published version of my own e-mail on ST Forum 18/12/2007. Whatever was published on the Forum page on 18/12/2007 may be similar to what I had originally written, but the omissions made by the editors have actually changed its intended meaning altogether. I have reproduced below my original article as I had sent it to the ST editors:

"
I read with great relief the ST article “Ministers, top civil servants to get 4% to 21% pay rise in Jan” published on 13 December 2007. We can now rest doubly assured that only the most competent people will serve the country. With the rise in their remuneration, we have successfully secured their most steadfast service, as well as their continued fervour and dedication in fighting for our cause. Certainly, it cannot be timelier. At this point, when inflation is soaring and some Singaporeans “can barely stay afloat” (The Sunday Times 02 December 2007), we are in dire need, more than ever, for the best possible team of civil servants to lead us through all these difficulties. We cannot afford to lose them to the private sector, and have to fight to retain them at all costs. This is especially so, as these senior civil servants have been dwelling in the public sector for such a long time that they are more likely indeed to seek a fresh experience in the private sector.

With the festive season coming, though, I sincerely hope that they will not forget to share the joy of receiving with the less fortunate in our midst, for the total annual increment that every senior civil servant is set to receive can actually support approximately 1,000 other Singaporeans. Therefore, I appeal to our senior civil servants to follow PM Lee's lead in giving back to the poor and spreading the blessings. What that increase means to you means infinitely more to them.
"

If it has not become apparent to you by now, I had meant this piece to be satirical. And I admit that I may have failed miserably. I admit that it may be my own incompetent, ambiguous writing that has resulted in the gross misunderstanding. It is indeed possible that my vagueness has led to the editors misreading my intentions and viewing all the hyperboles and superlatives as redundant emphasis on my support for the pay rise. I shall, however, leave it to you readers to decide for yourself.

I hope I have made my position clear, though: that I am strongly opposed to the unwise timing of the ministerial pay rise, and that if it happens anyway, I call for those benefiting from it to share with those among us who live on $290 a month, and are saving every single cent just to continue surviving.

- Agung Santoso Ongko

Vesak @ Orchard 2006

2007-11-27T04:10:00.000+08:00

I Miss These Guys.

你把我灌醉...

2007-11-16T16:25:00.000+08:00

This video is damn off. Zzzzzzzzzzzz

FRS 39 and 1.49 AM

2007-10-31T01:48:00.000+08:00

The title says it all. Reading the rambling FRS 39 is like trying to save Mark's 'spasmed' handball shots. Catch no ball.

Anyway some quick updates this late on in Week 13. I'm always grumbling about how each term seems more and more hectic, but thankfully this term has proven to be the exception to the norm. I feel pressed for time, stressed and think I have a fair bit of catching up to do (what's new). BUT! There's time for some meaningful reading and projects are creaking along fine. With the notable exception of ONE.

It's AMA-geddon I tell you. And this had made me cherish good group mates all the more. Defended Meng on some issues in a pretty measured tone - considering that I was extremely exasperated/irritated, THAT in itself was a measured response. Didn't expect a reply but still got one. And she persisted with her view of things. I guess it's the usual 'The Men Just Don't Get It' for her. Ah wells. Mediation failed. Negotiation failed. Isolation next?

On the brighter side, my search for a job has almost come full circle. I hope to get something nailed down soon. Like tomorrow. Really hate the pretense of an evaluation that they call interviews. This time though, I spoke my mind, and for the love of this country, I hope they understand what I'm getting at and my position on certain matters.
____________________________

Koof's in London and sleeping like a vagrant. If any Briton comes across some unwashed tramp of a SMU student at the local airport/rail station/cybercafe be sure to treat him nicely yea?

Hey there Delilah

2007-10-06T10:27:00.000+08:00

First up, the original version...

And a warning to all you swingers out there...

欠我十块 - 千里之外改装版

2007-09-23T14:00:00.000+08:00

The Search is ON!

2007-09-09T23:36:00.000+08:00

And in another term-and-a-half, I'd be officially a graduate.

And I'm still undecided on the choice of the career. It's just the small matter of having to choose between dreary hours/measly pay or a combination of both. I suppose as an Accountancy graduate-to-be, I have it easier than most. I can always count on the Big 4 and the numerous second-tier firms for employment. And some firms seem to offer better prospects than most (Boon Kiat would ask me to define better). That anal ass *LOL*.

There's Liling to offer her perspective on consulting, there's Jing to give a balanced view of what IB encompasses, there's Zhong to offer the other (radical) IB perspective, there's HER to moan about EY tax and ah-Pam on AABS, and finally, RA on EY IT Audit and Weiming on PWC's version.

Oh, and I slipped HER sis an application form for EY. She's gotten her degree! Many congratulations! And boy was I shocked when she opened the letter from RELC in her room. Sobs emanated from her room, and I was extremely concerned when they seemed to be sobs of agony. She'd actually passed subjects that she thought were bound to fail, and I felt nothing short of silly at panicking enough to ask HER to check on her own sis.

Dumbass me.

Oh well, it's back to mugging AFA, in which I am hopelessly lost at this point at the start of Week 4.

This is crap.

The price of citizenship - we've bitten the bullet one time too many.

2007-08-22T10:00:00.000+08:00

This is ridiculous. Have Singaporeans all lost their voices?
Put this up for a referendum - at the very least.
What happened to our CPF reserves? As a responsible citizen, I demand the right to know.
If the effective taxation masquerading as CPF has failed as a scheme to cover our retirement, it's high time to come clean.

**********************************

CPF Special, Medisave accounts' interest rates to be modified next year

SINGAPORE : Interest rates for the CPF Special, Medisave and Retirement Accounts will be re-pegged to an appropriate long-term bond rate.

Manpower Minister Ng Eng Hen said more details on this will be worked out and announced next month.

He said the new rates will be lower initially than the current rate of 4 percent but it should do better than 4 percent over time.

But as the rates will be pegged to the market, fluctuations can be expected.

Dr Ng was speaking at a news conference to explain the initiatives announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the National Day Rally.

Giving more details on the compulsory annuities, Dr Ng said only part of the minimum sum from the CPF will be set aside for it.

A major portion of the minimum sum will still be for the members to withdraw when they reach the draw-down age.

Dr Ng said this is to ensure that members are covered even after the age of 85.

He said the aim is to achieve a subsistence payout first - of possibly between S$250 and S$300 per month.

Private sector economists said the rates could be pegged to government-issued bonds.

"If we peg it to a SGS bond, it will definitely be below the target 4 percent rate. Our thoughts are that, they might be looking at a bond issued by say, Temasek, which has typically in previous years averaged returns more than 4 percent. So we can probably enjoy higher returns in that way," said Alvin Liew, economist at UOB Treasury Research.

Singapore Government Bonds are currently yielding between a modest 3 percent and 4 percent, prompting some analysts to suggest a benchmark that included a guaranteed portion.

Some economists suggested that the government could provide a fixed 1-2 percent base, plus a variable component tied to the Singapore Government Bond yield.

As the rates would be pegged to the market, fluctuations in returns could be expected.

"It is conceivable that CPF members can expect, in the long term, maybe more than 4 percent per annum. On the risk side, if these new rates are variable and it falls below 4 percent, that is a worry for CPF members," said Roy Varghese, Director of Financial Planning, IPAC.

The changes to the CPF interest rates will be effective in 2008.

They will cost the government S$700 million a year, initially.

Meanwhile, the government also wants to provide an "extreme longevity protection" for citizens by making annuities compulsory for those below 50 years old.

Said Dr Ng: "We are basically looking at compulsory annuities to protect members from outliving their retirement savings. Let me first say that we'll consult widely. We do not intend to, when we start this scheme, to put the major proportion of your minimum sum into annuities. That's the first thing that needs to be said.

"In fact, a smaller proportion of your minimum sum will be put into annuities, so the major portion of your minimum sum will still be drawn out, drawn down by members at the draw-down age."

An example of this annuity is that the CPF member pays a basic premium of X dollars which goes into a pool.

That money will be paid out from age 85 - for life.

But if the member doesn't live till 85 years old, the money will then be used to support others in the pool, who are still alive.

It's not determined if the CPF Board or private companies will administer the compulsory annuities scheme.

The Manpower Minister stressed that the basic idea of the compulsory annuities is to insure members for the latter part of their lives, that is after 85 years old.

The aim is to provide a subsistence payout amount first, of possibly between $250 and $300 monthly.

Dr Ng said more details on this scheme will be announced next month.

On the additional one percentage point interest for the first $60,000 in CPF members' combined accounts, Dr Ng said this will be placed in the Special Account and not the Ordinary Account.

He said: "These changes will help Singaporeans work longer, save more, and help give them a peace of mind for their golden years. It will significantly strengthen our economic and social system to better address the ageing population... These new tools, new aspects can be effective, it will give us a lot of hope and optimism as we move forward, even as we age."

Dr Ng said this will give Singapore a more responsive and robust system to address changes as the workforce ages.

The Manpower Minister said the extra one percentage bonus interest will not affect CPF members who are already investing their funds.

He added that "tens of billions" are still available for investing.

The government is not preventing members from investing their CPF funds. - CNA /ls

Man City might be a GLC...

2007-08-20T00:59:00.000+08:00

First things first - Manchester City was bought by Thaksin Shinawatra from funds obtained via the sale of his majority stake in Shin Corp - and the blue half of Manchester went on to win against a superior United side against the run of play.

And so since the Thai junta has deemed Thaksin's tax-free sale of Shin Corp illegal and ~~sought~~ is seeking to void the agreement, Manchester City is technically ours!

And the Singapore Government knows it I tell you.

The successful prosecution of Thaksin might cause a reversal of the Shin Corp deal on a technicality (Kularb Kaew was deemed to be an investment vehicle of Temasek Holdings, thereby violating the rule on foreign ownership) . And in return for our investment, could we please have the satellite arm of Shin Corp (for some affordable cable TV competition - you can save your military secrets for yourself) and his Man City please?

After all, they're on top of the Premier League.

Perhaps the following would facilitate the transaction....

********************************************

Sonthi gets military award from Singapore

Singapore (dpa) - The commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Army, Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin, received on Friday a prestigious military award from Singapore Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean.

The Meritorious Service Medal was awarded to Gen Sonthi in recognition of his contributions toward enhancing the strong ties between the Singapore and Thai armies, the defence ministry said in a statement.

"The two armies engage in a wide spectrum of activities," ranging from bilateral exercises to regular professional exchanges and attendance at each other's courses, boosting the comradeship between the officers and men, it added.

Gen Sonthi led a coup on September 19, 2006, overthrowing the elected government of then prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Gen Sonthi, who was scheduled to call on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong later Friday, has met with Teo and other military officials during his visit which started on Thursday.

Bangkok Post

HAHA!

The green green glass of smoo.

2007-08-13T02:24:00.000+08:00

Been trying to reconcile myself with the fact that school is starting in something like a week. And miserably failing. Gone will be the 4am sleep timings, the luxury of lazing in bed and knowing that there's plenty of NOTHING to do for the whole day.

The not-so-eternal struggle of books against evil will recommence with a vengeance. The evil being my absolute nua-ness. And yet, I'm strangely looking forward to school - though I'll always eat my words come Week 10-ish. The camaraderie of beating project deadlines, of struggling to complete our readings/quiz preps/homework and the mutual whining (wah I can't stand Prof XXX he so dam bloody gay/wah sian u thrash me in DoTA ur SK so dam bloody gay) and the block booking of our various GSRs of choice.

To arms, my brothers!

******************************

Just got back from the annual small-group chalet with HER. Had a great BBQ with the usual amount (read: alot) of leftovers. As per the routine, 终极密码 was the order of the day. Made KC eat a duck drumstick the size of Sisters' Island for his absolute confidence in not kena-ing. Oh, and I threatened a tao pok on just about everyone for the slightest deemed infraction.

Then went up to the chalet for a series of murderer/doctor/detective games which NEVER failed to end in my death/exit/discovery the very first round. Grrrr. Didn't realize that I had so many enemies. Dark is their malice.

And sadly, I had to cut the wonderful evening short as SHE had a headache and longed for the comforts of HER bed. Ah wells. After having been quiet the whole time, SHE told me (quietly) that she had a great time on our way back. OMG. Hehe. Trust HER to always be so reserved in her mannerisms. SJ/LAURA YOU ALL COME BACK THAT TIME WE BOOK CHALET AGAIN.
And SHE'S ~~snoring~~ snoozing away whilst I'm typing out this entry, at the ungodly hour of 3am. Woohooo! I'm longing to be somewhere in Downtown East, though.

Of Spartan Teletubbies

2007-08-05T01:50:00.001+08:00

Freaking hilarious I tell ya

Teletubbies - Sparta

Return of the Meng and the Flight of the Koof

2007-08-01T23:06:00.000+08:00

Ah wells - Meng is back but Koof will be flying off in less than 8 hours.

Take care, my bro - in the land of sauerkraut, beer, sausages and Oktoberfest.

I wanna go!

YouTube - One of the best Chinese voices

2007-07-30T02:56:00.000+08:00

Scroll to about 13.50 minutes left - OMG one of the best rendition's of Minnie Riperton's insane Lovin' You...

YouTube - One of the best Chinese voices

The full clip is as follows:

Yet Another Superhero - Spider Pig

2007-07-29T03:05:00.001+08:00

From the creators of the 'Anything' and 'Whatever' ads.

2007-07-27T11:17:00.000+08:00

Brilliant, absolutely hilarious.

Haha!

2007-07-26T00:06:00.000+08:00

To all those feeling down - like those peeps not having internet connection at the hostel in France, the one whose luggage is in Barca but his physical self in Brussels - Here's something either to a) cheer u up; or b) spite you.

Weiming's Graduation

2007-07-25T03:16:00.000+08:00

Went to WM's graduation ceremony at NTU. The ceremony was almost identical to HER's, although the pro-chancellor did not fall asleep this time around *LOL*

Met some other people there, a throwback to the past.

Some friends, like Yuan Ho (Deloitte), Marcus (AHS+Wanjun - HER buddy), Lionel, Kee Yong, Chris AKA Kie Sing, Ryan Koh, 小白白 AKA Lim Yizhong AKA 1st class hons, Chee Kian and Bang Hui.

Saw some others there that I chose not to acknowledge - neither did they, and so much for the better.

And then there were the photo taking sessions - most of them with guys, since I did not know any of the 小妹妹s there.

Congrats to those who've officially left the paper chase (at least for the time being) and joined the rat race. It's office politics now for y'all.

After that, we headed down to Island Creamery for some dessert - Horlicks and Nutella were a fantastic combo!

***********************

Am listening to this now:-

Ah wells he looks like Adrian Pang trying to act serious - and miserably failing. For those who are less Mandopop-inclined, this guy is none other than Gary 曹格.

And I'm counting down the days to the two happiest (academic) events of the year ahead. And no, its not BOSS 1B nor the recommencement of school.

*Chuckle*

Western Bar

2007-07-21T11:41:00.000+08:00

Please Click Here For

a game in black and white
mono sound
lousy graphics
HOURS OF FUN!

OMG ITS WESTERN BARRRRRR!

OMG I have a famous friend!!!

2007-07-20T02:04:00.001+08:00

(Other than Koofy)

And Shaowei is a rich guy living in an exclusive private estate (Compassvale Walk - how atas is that), having his own driverless transport (the NEL) and a huge ego to boot.

Also, his room has a great view (of the neighbour's bathroom) and girls wanting to see the scenery can apply to me for screening.

I think I will die. He lives just 8 floors below me.

L'essence d'amour...

2007-07-20T00:58:00.000+08:00

Life's a soap opera.

And love is an integral part of it.

You revel and bask in the affection of your beloved.

But you plumb the depths of despair when love is lost.

And you grasp at straws to salvage the unravelling pieces.

**************************

You partake in the game of courtship.

And the constant second-guessing drives you nuts.

**************************

It's a cruel game, too.

It all seems so perfect - save for the fact that both have very different ideals.

And that distance, ever the factor in every relationship (and I'm not talking about Jurong and Tampines here), would separate the two of you, both literally and figuratively.

**************************

I sure hope it works out for all 3 of you, my dear brothers.

I will follow you into the dark...

2007-07-18T00:45:00.000+08:00

An emo song for an emo day...

The end of the first...

2007-07-14T00:48:00.000+08:00

I stepped out of the building with a sense of liberation.

Everyone said that I was polite. I was, I suppose.

Might have been a bit too courteous for the internship as compared to my usual (brash and bellicose) self.

Anyway, I am usually polite to those whom I'm not particularly sure of.

Insecurity, perhaps. This uncertainty plagued my internship, as there were too many things that I was unsure of, and I lacked the critical finesse needed in asking questions of people. And the confidence that I usually carry myself with was nowhere to be found. I guess it's always well and good to have someone whom you can trust, to rely on and to consult in times of (duress/dire need). And sad to say, I have never really got past the barrier even after 12 weeks, although the people along my row were a different case altogether. Elyza was never too busy to rib me, Yuanho with his heartfelt thoughts and guidance (and me in turn with my heartfelt thanks - its always nice to see a familiar face); Teng Whye (the cute boy - as per my row) with the numerous tea-breaks - our teabreaks were really just that - making tea; and Richard with his sense of humor and his keen expounding of tax lore.

Would've loved the place had I been given more to learn - maybe I was too eager - but then again, maybe not.

I am a loudmouth, and I shoot from the hip. Just that this didn't work out the way I wanted it to, and I withdrew into the shell that was so often too tight for me. I'm sure that I can't match the productivity of a certain intern - not that I want to, but I suppose I can learn the ropes without doing 12 hours (or more) shifts just as well as he could.

Those were the days...

2007-06-20T02:31:00.000+08:00

With Ah Kong in hospital, I've realized that time is fast catching up with me... Young no more, I can only reminisce about the times of yore.

Remember playing these in primary school - no, they were never mine, but I was all the more happier with just having them to play for a few minutes each time.

The kids now have their PSPs and NDSLs, but my time of carefree innocence, the Henry Lees and Glenn Batchelors who gave me that much needed dose of confidence and the headstart in life, the unending maths assessments that had me laboring over are now things of the past.

I loved my primary school days. Though I am sorry I was such a pompous ass back then. Maybe bringing Melvin to the principal's cane was part of the thrill! Haha Mel. NOT!!!

St Gabriel's boys, here on this day united.
With one true heart, let us all sing and cheer!
The stately home, where our boyhood is guided,
Learning to live, and through right paths to steer.
In cheery blue, and spotless white apparel *LOL*
A cheerful band, St Gabriel's boys unite!

All white and blue, all bent to reap the laurels,
Hold and defend alma mater's glory with strength and might.

St Gabriel's school dear, here willing hearts behold,
When duty's call rings clear, mid-sorrows as through joy.
For Singapore and God, for justice to uphold,
Let us live and hold dear, St Gabriel's boys!

An ASoc BBQ - And loads of Warcraft

2007-04-18T03:49:00.000+08:00

Who says that accountants are straitlaced boring people? Just look at Honghan - he's a straitlaced boring drunkard - that's all. I foresee my Deloitte internship being a booze-fuelled frenzy of number crunching. HH would say - 'Meh'.

:p

Anyway yesterday saw the better part of the forgotten Accountancy people I know turn up, with Mr Teo HH gracing us with his numerous Yam Sengs and the many rounds of drinking. As usual, I had to restrain a certain Mr Teo BK from whacking himself silly with too much Kahlua on the rocks. (Are all Teos big drinkers?)

It was quite meaningful in the Hamachi sense - my network of keyboard warriors significantly increased after the party. And we've gone through rounds of Gem TD, some weird Chinese map and a Survival from the Past just today.

Too bad SM and BK weren't online. And Wei Loong! Install your bloody WC la! Succumbbbbbb...

The Price of Freedom!!

2007-04-14T22:30:00.000+08:00

The weary warrior trudged through the heaps of corpses - the glorious dead. The royal knights stood on the escarpment, bellowing their valor at the banishment of the demons. Their squires waited patiently in attendance for their battle-weary masters.

The warrior was just another foot soldier. The dirt and grime was just another aspect of a grunt's life. "Noble blood ne'er did flow in these veins of peasant descent," muttering a curse at his distinctly ordinary heritage. He admonished himself for having thoughts that was not befitting of his person.

"For the kindness of the dukes, and their magnanimosity, I should be grateful."

"Thank the lords for the small mercies that have come my way."

And the fiery skies in the horizon was an ominous signal - the battle had been won, but the war was far from over.

This battle was just the fourth in a short span of 2 years. His duty was to serve - such mindless drivel would be of no purpose.

And that, in truth, was the price of his freedom.

Abel Sim - In Memoriam

2007-04-11T15:03:00.000+08:00

He was the diminutive striker always waiting to pounce on loose balls.

To fire them past me with his clinical finishing.

So much so that every time he got the ball, I went 'f*** you Abel' over and over again.

Or waiting for my long throws, scuffling with defenders just to get to the ball.

His good-natured ribbing livened up the Cage on Sundays.

He was a fantastic student.

He had a bright future.

He passed away on Tuesday.

It was my privilege to have known you.

Rest in peace.

Caught in the rain...

2007-04-10T23:57:00.000+08:00

Someone wanted to head over to City Hall MRT from school. We accompanied him. And upon exiting CityLink, we were promptly greeted by a torrential downpour.

Boon Kiat's quite gay face says "Song Boh????"

Anyway you've gotta see BK's TWC video to really understand this fella's zany nature. Incredibly done and in good sport. Can't say so about the taste, though. LOL.

AsiaOne's Faux Pas - A Picture Speaks 1.94 million words.

2007-04-09T21:29:00.000+08:00

Before amendment to website

After amendment

Forget it. The damage has already been done. And backdated.

Our women as maids.

2007-04-09T19:08:00.000+08:00

"To build a country, you need passion. If you just do your sums - plus, minuses, credit, debit - you are a washout." - Lee Kuan Yew, Straits Times, 21 Aug 89

"If you are going to quarrel about S$46 million – up or down another S$10 to S$20 million – I say you don't have a sense of proportion." - Lee Kuan Yew, Channel NewsAsia, 4 Apr 07
___________________________________________

He said tat it was an 'absurdity' for people to quarrel over whether ministers collectively should be paid $10 million or $20 million more when there is so much at stake.

'the cure to all this talk is really a good dose of incompetent government. ' 'you get tat alternative and you'll never put Singapore together again.' MM LEE said.

___________________________________________

Singapore's GDP is a mere US$116,775m, whereas US's GDP is US$12,455,825m. So should US president be paid 107 times more than him because he's a custodian of a trillion dollars worth of assets?

Food for thought. Think carefully. For the next 5 LONG years

Poor Soldier.

2007-04-04T17:20:00.000+08:00

Courtesy of the folks from a certain local portal. And a pretty notorious one at that.

ESPNsoccernet - Global - Chinese told milk and beef key to beating Westerns

2007-04-04T00:48:00.000+08:00

ESPNsoccernet - Global - Chinese told milk and beef key to beating Westerns
Wat the... No wonder I've been so big since young. Bovril and Dumex do wonders, apparently.

Surprise, surprise.

2007-04-04T00:33:00.000+08:00

A classic faux pas by the bro.
Koofius' self-pwned unveiled.
_____________________________________________
<insert gf's email here>
Hello Everyone!

As you may, or may not know .. Hilda's 21st birthday is around the corner, the 7th of April to be exact. Hence, i would like to organise a surprise celebration for her after the exams, and all of you are invited! I'm sorry I haven't been the most observant of boyfriends to know her social circle well, so i may have left out a few names. For those who are out of the loop, please do forward this email to them! (and let me know so i can make the appropriate arrangements)

Anyway, here are the details of the party ..

Date: XXth April (Insert date here)

Venue: Chalet XXX, YYY Resort (no place fancy la.. it's jus the new funky name for the dowdy SOMEWHERE chalet. For those going for Volar, think it should be fairly convenient then!)

Time: 7pm (I'll be watching the matinee of the Phantom of the Opera that day with the girl, so apologies there, will need some time to get there and make the necessary preparations first.)

The party will only be complete with your presence, so I would (and i'm sure the birthday girl too!) greatly appreciate you coming down to chill. It's after the exams, no reason to say no!! =)

I'll be making the food arrangements soon, so I would appreciate an RSVP by this Thursday, April XXth, at NOON. Nil replies by then, i'll assume you're coming!

Looking forward to see all of you then, and till then, all the best for the exams!!!

Cheers

Kelvin

MSN: iamasuperhothunk@hotmail.com

HP: 8198XXXX (email me for details)

P.S. : Hush Hush about the party k? It's a SURPRISE!!!
__________________________

Happy birthday, I say. And give my bro a slap on the back.
Model boyfriend, indeed.

Analytical Skills 101 - Twisting statements to your own warped agenda

2007-03-29T10:26:00.000+08:00

Aussies Will Make S'pore Fail, Says Lee Kuan Yew

MELBOURNE, March 28 (Bernama) -- Singapore would hit rock bottom if it was run by Australians, former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew said on Wednesday.

Lee, 83, in Australia to receive an honorary doctorate from the Australian National University in Canberra, made the comments to reporters after the ceremony.

A handful of protesters waved placards outside the award ceremony, saying Lee was an opponent of democracy and the rule of law, the Australian Associated Press said in a report from Canberra.

Lee said he was accustomed to hostile receptions on overseas visits.

"It's not going to change me and I'm not going to change you," he said.

Lee said both Australia and Singapore prospered under their own style of government but Australia's method would fail in Singapore.

"We're going to prosper, you're going to prosper, if I allow you to run my country, it will spiral downwards and hit rock bottom," he told reporters.

Lee also defended the comments he made years ago in which he described Australians as "the poor white trash of Asia."

He said he made the comments in the heat of an argument but said at that time they were probably warranted.

"Perhaps, at that time it was warranted," he added.

-- BERNAMA

_____________________________________

Compare the crap above to this more objective article...

Hostile welcome for Lee Kuan Yew

Craig Skehan
March 28, 2007

Protesters and a fiery exchange with reporters marred a ceremony honouring Singapore's founding prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, at the Australian University in Canberra today.

The university stirred up controversy by bestowing an honorary law doctorate on Mr Lee, who governed the tiny city state for decades with an iron hand, delivering prosperity but restricting civil liberities.

Mr Lee led Singapore to independence and served as its first prime minister, being regularly re-elected until 1990.

About 150 protesters chanted anti-Lee slogans and waved placards that described him as a "dictator''.

A group of law students said they had also briefed a senior barrister to mount a court challenge against the awarding of the doctorate on the ground that the ANU's own procedures weren't followed.

During the cermony inside ANU's University House, Mr Lee was praised for bringing financial success and stability to Singapore.

However, many seats in the auditorium were vacant because of a boycott by some university staff.

Wearing an academic cap and red gown, Mr Lee, 83, delivered a speech in which he declared that Australia and Singapore shared a common strategic outlook.

Later, Mr Lee had a hostile encounter with waiting reporters.

"If I allowed you to run my country, we would spiral down to rock bottom,'' a defiant Mr Lee told the journalists.

Many years ago Mr Lee once warned Australians that they were risk of becoming "white trash'' in Asia.

Questioned about this today he said he had made the comment at different time in Australia's history.

"Now you have changed,'' he said pointing to Australia's former discriminatory immigration policies which were still in place in the 1960s.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer this week acknowledged there had been international concern about human rights issues in Singapore but he praised Mr Lee as a "great regional leader".

"The fact is in the overall sense, Singapore has been a spectacular success," Mr Downer said.

The Sydney Morning Herald

____________________________

For a more pro-Singapore stance, one can always read Today (which I consider a better expression of independent journalistic opinion as compared to the Staid Times)

SMUggers are caffeine addicts.

2007-03-27T18:07:00.000+08:00

A picture speaks a thousand words.

Pillar of Salt

2007-03-12T03:28:00.000+08:00

There's gonna be one last hurrah left for me.

ONE more year. Let me get thru this. Anyway today was the SMU Open House. Spoke to a whole crowd of eager faces after Prof Tan Teck Meng, and I certainly could see myself back then when I was... equally confused. Let's just hope that the load of them won't make the wrong choice that I had back then.

Working really hard on Corp, a bit less so for Strat and then some for FIIM. Doesn't help that all the deadlines are in Week 10, and that Strat is just plodding along. The rest of the projects are doing fine, with fantastic groupmates to boot. However, I've a nagging feeling that this term would not be like any of the past 3.

It has 'mediocre' written all over it.

I've been offered the DT internship, but this part of me longs for EY, where SHE still resides in as an A2. Dammit. Even MayMay is leaving that place soon. Really wonder what might happen to me if I reject the DT internship even after acceptance. Owells.

A Mother's Love

2006-12-02T02:52:00.001+08:00

All you accountants-to-be...

2006-11-27T21:35:00.000+08:00

Some info I got off a forum...

PwC - Hardest to get in.
Major advantage:
1. Not a lot of OT to do.
2. Gentle learning curve. Way too gentle sometimes. Good for slow and steady people who are not in a hurry to learn.
3. Will pay for CPA Australia exam fees

Major disadvantage -
1. laptops are not the most up-to-date models and
2. not much OT to clock.
3. the hardest of the big 4 to get in. There are mini-EY, DT, KPMG clubs there. i.e. most of other Big 3 people wants to get into PWC.
4. cold culture where its difficult to know many friends. In other Big 3, the cultures are "warmer" and you can have many friends.
5. seniors have no portfolio and still need to do field work.
6. if its raining, most prob will be wet cos you are expose to the weather for quite a bit when you walk from the MRT station to office.

Other issues:
Dental benefit $200 per year.
Heard pay adjustment is coming in Jan 2007

KPMG
Major advantage -
1. has the most number of bank clients.
2. the only big 4 to have a community day where you spend one whole day doing meaningful community work.
3. the only big 4 to give the assistants a trolley bag to carry the audit files
4. the only big 4 to be awarded the Worklife Balance Award given by MOM
5. the only big 4 to give free country club memberships to senior and above

Major disadvantage -
1. The only big 4 with cap on maximum amount of OT hours clockable per year. Cap at 260 hrs
2. Can only take taxi home after 11.30pm All other Big 3 timing is 8.30pm

Other issues:
$100 per year dental
Their office is in Hong Leong Building, the oldest building used by the Big 4.

EY
Major advantage:
1. highest salary for assistant to senior level. $100 more per level
2. biggest audit firm in Singapore
3. 15 days of annual leave for fresh grad
4. shifting to new office at brandnew 1st Raffles Quay soon.

Major disadvantage:
1. Lots of SMEs

Other issues:
1. Dental is $200 per year

DT
Major advantage:
1. Lots of Japanese clients
2. Has the biggest Singapore-listed job - Singtel
3. Cheapest access to gym. Pay $2 per month only.

Major disadvantage:
1. limited subsidiary on medical visits

Other issues:
$100 per year dental
Recently recruited 20 seniors from PwC. Interesting development.
==================

Disclaimer: The above information may not be fully updated. It is for discussion purpose only. Use the above information at your own risk.

Channel 8 News

2006-11-25T13:26:00.000+08:00

146th media. Can't fault 'em.

Dam cute Maplestory spoof

2006-11-16T23:56:00.000+08:00

Courtesy of ahwei

The Republic of Potong Pasir

2006-11-15T15:50:00.000+08:00

Wait longer for upgrading funds

'Naive' Opposition MPs 'misheard' PAP's message

Loh Chee Kong
cheekong@mediacorp.com.sg

IT'S been more than six months since the General Election but Opposition MP Chiam See Tong has not forgotten the multi-million-dollar carrot offered by the People's Action Party (PAP).

Yesterday, the Potong Pasir MP tabled a question in Parliament asking if the Government was willing to release 45 per cent of the $80 million it had promised for the upgrading of Housing Board estates in his constituency, since PAP candidate Sitoh Yih Pin had won 45 per cent of the vote.

However, even with the help of fellow Opposition MP Low Thia Khiang, Mr Chiam got nowhere with his request.

Saying that she was "puzzled" by his request, Minister of State for National Development Grace Fu asked: "Does it mean that he should share his chair with Mr Sitoh, 55 per cent to 45 per cent, in this Parliament? And if we take the logic further, does it mean that he should also share his MP allowance with Mr Sitoh?"

Since residents in Potong Pasir did not elect Mr Sitoh, "they should not stand to benefit from any surpluses that are generated", she said.

But who approved such requests from PAP candidates, Mr Chiam asked.

Mr Low, Hougang MP and Workers' Party chief, then leapt to Mr Chiam's support.

"The surpluses are generated by the PAP and the people have no part in it?" he asked. "And don't forget, the people in Potong Pasir and Hougang also pay taxes and the Goods and Services Tax. Your justification's logic is selfish and partisan."

Mr Low said his Town Council had submitted a $140-million upgrading proposal to the Ministry of National Development (MND) and he was still waiting for a reply.

Hearing this, Mr Mah criticised Mr Chiam and Mr Low for their "selective hearing". He said it was made clear during the elections that the upgrading packages would be implemented only if the PAP candidates in the two Opposition wards were elected.

The two Opposition MPs were "very naive" for "only going for the good parts", he added.

"If you go on the Workers' Party's platform, you are not going to have enough money for upgrading, education, healthcare, and so on. When you vote for the PAP, you are not just voting for the goodies, for the package. You are also voting for all the parts of the package that comes together," he said.

http://www.todayonline.com/articles/154695.asp

We, the citizens of Singapore
pledge ourselves as one united people,
regardless of race, language or religion,
to build a democratic society,
based on justice and equality,
so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and
progress for our nation.
__________________________________________

Selective democracy, I say.

Econs 101

2006-11-13T22:45:00.000+08:00

I remember a time in JC when Miss Leong taught us that the Value-Added Tax, or GST as it is known here, was a regressive tax.

A regressive tax places proportionately more of a burden on those with lower incomes. Regressive taxes, as opposed to progressive taxes, are more burdensome on lower-income individuals than on higher-income individuals and corporations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regressive_tax

And that a Government is of the people, by the people, FOR THE PEOPLE.

Dear Sirs, please do reconsider this act. Stop telling us that the GST here is one of the lowest in the world. Ditto transport fees.

Les Chansons De Notre Dame

2006-11-10T03:24:00.000+08:00

As introduced by Celest.

Notre Dame - The Musical

"Quasimodo (Garou)"

Belle
C'est un mot qu'on dirait inventé pour elle
Quand elle danse et qu'elle met son corps à jour, tel
Un oiseau qui étend ses ailes pour s'envoler
Alors je sens l'enfer s'ouvrir sous mes pieds

J'ai posé mes yeux sous sa robe de gitane
À quoi me sert encore de prier Notre-Dame
Quel
Est celui qui lui jettera la première pierre
Celui-là ne mérite pas d'être sur terre

Ô Lucifer !
Oh ! Laisse-moi rien qu'une fois
Glisser mes doigts dans les cheveux d'Esmeralda

"Frollo (Daniel Lavoie)"

Belle
Est-ce le diable qui s'est incarné en elle
Pour détourner mes yeux du Dieu éternel
Qui a mis dans mon être ce désir charnel
Pour m'empêcher de regarder vers le Ciel

Elle porte en elle le péché originel
La désirer fait-il de moi un criminel
Celle
Qu'on prenait pour une fille de joie une fille de rien
Semble soudain porter la croix du genre humain

Ô Notre-Dame!
Oh ! Laisse-moi rien qu'une fois
Pousser la porte du jardin d'Esmeralda

"Phoebus (Patrick Fiori)"

Belle
Malgré ses grands yeux noirs qui vous ensorcellent
La demoiselle serait-elle encore pucelle ?
Quand ses mouvements me font voir monts et merveilles
Sous son jupon aux couleurs de l'arc-en-ciel

Ma dulcinée laissez-moi vous êtes infidèle
Avant de vous avoir menée jusqu'à l'hotel
Quel
Est l'homme qui détournerait son regard d'elle
Sous peine d'être changé en statue de sel

Ô Fleur-de-Lys,
Je ne suis pas homme de foi
J'irai cueillir la fleur d'amour d'Esmeralda

"Quasimodo, Frollo, Phoebus"

J'ai posé mes yeux sous sa robe de gitane
À quoi me sert encore de prier Notre-Dame
Quel
Est celui qui lui jettera la première pierre
Celui-là ne mérite pas d'être sur terre

Ô Lucifer !
Oh ! Laisse-moi rien qu'une fois
Glisser mes doigts dans les cheveux d'Esmeralda

Esmeralda.
_________________________________

Oh how much I love French.
Although I'm unable to speak it comprehensibly.
Shaowei can, though.

More on WSM

2006-11-06T14:39:00.000+08:00

Read this blog... Where I've gotten these extracts from.

Rafflesians' response to WSM:

i was a top student from RJC. just graduated a few years ago. most pple that i know in RJC were just too full of themselves. they thought that since they are from RJC, they are the smartest in Singapore. unfortunately, many of my RJC frens have low EQ and common sense. most only know how to memorise and practise questions, and possess very weak critical thinking skills.

To follow up on what fellow Rafflesian, Gene, said above, I would like to emphasise that the majority of us from RJC are not like Shu Min. In fact, few of us sympathise with her current “plight” (not that she is taking it badly, she was in fact laughing and mocking at the responses on various websites). What had happened also did not surprise us because she is well known in school to have an inflated sense of superiority and low tolerance of the pedestrian and the uncultured. But please remember that one WSM does not make RJC. The rest of us from RJC should not be impeached because of her.

I'm a classmate of SM in RGS and RJC. Many of us don't know her well because she does move around in her own exclusive circle of the smart and well-connected. And yes, she is conceited, overbearing and thinks that she and her clique own the world. But, I do think some of the comments here are excessive, even unreasonable. You can fault her character and her worldview, but is there a need to descend to vulgarity?

As a Rafflesian, I am saddened that our good name has been smeared by the poison pen of one elistist female. The saddest part of this episode is that she reminds me of the remark made by newbie Michael Palmer, "Before I joined the grassroots organisation, I never knew there were poor people in developed countries". Where does the PAP find such freaks? They are no better than the Hitler Youth, and our country can only be the worse because of them.

___________________________

And her dad's (MP Wee's) response?

To summarize: I should not have said what I did about people's inability to take the brutal truth and strong language.

His full 'apology' can be found here.

___________________________

Life in black and white.

From opposite sides of this divide.

Guess who's the new face of SMU?

2006-11-04T18:47:00.000+08:00

Meng looking every bit the studious SMU undergrad.
And he's the new face of SMU Vista! Haha...

瓦囊丝米待机。。。

2006-10-29T22:40:00.000+08:00

Elitism

2006-10-29T01:49:00.000+08:00

An economist(to-be)'s view.

Logos.

2006-10-27T01:32:00.000+08:00

It's amazing how many logos have spanned my SMU life thus far
Presenting....

QM

FA

LTB

Comms

MA

MPW

Finance

AIS

And finally, TWC

Behold the future.

2006-10-21T03:04:00.000+08:00

Some of us have read the commentary, Future of Singapore, by Derek Wee, a 35 year old Singaporean. The commentary has made its rounds in cyberspace and is reproduced below for those who might not have come across it yet.

The purpose of this thread is to highlight a response to Derek Wee's commentary from a very bright RJC girl. The response is taken from her blog. She shares the same surname as Derek. Her academic achievements are impressive. She was from the elite gifted program at RGS who went on to top Singapore in the GCE 'O'-levels in 2004. She also won the Prime Minister's Book Prize for purportedly being effectively bilingual in Chinese and English (even though she often expresses her disdain for the Chinese language). And she is fluent in French. Her dad is one of the men-in-white. Naturally, hers is a highly affluent and privileged background. And without doubt too, hers is the perfect pedigree for joining the ranks of the highest echelons of the government.

Reproduced below are firstly, Ms Wee's response to Derek Wee's commentary and secondly, the original commentary by Derek Wee.

*************************
From Ms Wee's blog:

http://www.suchvividnothing.blogspot.com/

Thursday, October 19, 2006

mom's friend sent her some blog post by some bleeding stupid 40-year old singaporean called derek wee (WHY do all the idiots have my surname why?!) whining about how singapore is such an insecure place, how old ppl (ie, 40 and above) fear for their jobs, how the pool of foreign "talent" (dismissively chucked between inverted commas) is really a tsunami that will consume us all (no actually he didn't say that, he probably said Fouren Talern Bery Bad.), how the reason why no one wants kids is that they're a liability in this world of fragile ricebowls, how the government really needs to save us from inevitable doom but they aren't because they are stick-shoved-up-ass elites who have no idea how the world works, yadayadayadayada.

i am inclined - too much, perhaps - to dismiss such people as crackpots. stupid crackpots. the sadder class. too often singaporeans - both the neighborhood poor and the red-taloned socialites - kid themselves into believing that our society, like most others, is compartmentalized by breeding. ridiculous. we are a tyranny of the capable and the clever, and the only other class is the complement.

sad derek attracted more than 50 comments praising him for his poignant views, joining him in a chorus of complaints that climax at the accusation of lack of press freedom because his all-too-true views had been rejected by the straits times forum. while i tend to gripe about how we only have one functioning newspaper too, i think the main reason for its lack of publication was that his incensed diatribe was written in pathetic little scraps that passed off as sentences, with poor spelling and no grammar.

derek, derek, derek darling, how can you expect to have an iron ricebowl or a solid future if you cannot spell?

if you're not good enough, life will kick you in the balls. that's just how things go. there's no point in lambasting the government for making our society one that is, i quote, "far too survival of fittest". it's the same everywhere. yes discrimination exists, and it is sad, but most of the time if people would prefer hiring other people over you, it's because they're better. it's so sad when people like old derek lament the kind of world that singapore will be if we make it so uncertain. go be friggin communist, if uncertainty of success offends you so much - you will certainly be poor and miserable. unless you are an arm-twisting commie bully, which, given your whiny middle-class undereducated penchant, i doubt.

then again, it's easy for me to say. my future isn't certain but i guess right now it's a lot brighter than most people's. derek will read this and brand me as an 18-year old elite, one of the sinners who will inherit the country and run his stock to the gutter. go ahead. the world is about winners and losers. it's only sad when people who could be winners are marginalised and oppressed. is dear derek starving? has dear derek been denied an education? has dear derek been forced into child prostitution? has dear derek had his clan massacred by the government?

i should think not. dear derek is one of many wretched, undermotivated, overassuming leeches in our country, and in this world. one of those who would prefer to be unemployed and wax lyrical about how his myriad talents are being abandoned for the foreigner's, instead of earning a decent, stable living as a sales assistant. it's not even about being a road sweeper. these ****bags don't want anything without "manager" and a name card.

please, get out of my elite uncaring face.

posted at 12:08 PM

*******************************

Derek Wee's original commentary which prompted Ms Wee's response above.

By Derek Wee
Oct 12, 2006

When I read the Straits Times article (dated 24 Sep) on PM Lee calling the young to be committed and make a difference to Singapore, I have so much thought about the issue.

I am 35 years old, graduated from University and gainfully employed in a multinational company. But I cannot help but feel insecure over the future of Singapore. Lets face it, it's not uncommon to hear, "when you are above 40, you are over the hill".

The government has been stressing on re-training, skills upgrading and re-adapt. The fact is, no matter how well qualified or adaptable one is, once you hit the magical 40, employers will say, "you are simply too old".

We have been focusing our resources and problem solving on low unskilled labour. But in reality, our managerial positions and skilled labour force are actually fast losing its competitiveness.

I travel around the region frequently for the past 10 years. It didn't take me long to realise how far our neighbours have come over the past decade.

They have quality skilled workers, and are less expensive. When I work with them, their analytical skills are equally good, if not better than us.

It's not new anymore. Taxi drivers are fast becoming "too early to retire, too old to work" segment of the society. I like to talk to taxi drivers whenever I am heading for the airport.

There was this driver. Eloquent and well read. He was an export manager for 12 years with an MNC. Retrenched at 40 years old. He had been searching for a job since his retrenchment.

Although he was willing to lower his pay expectations, employers were not willing to lower their prejudice. He was deemed too old. I wouldn't be surprised if we have another No. 1; having the most highly educated taxi drivers in the world.

On PM Lee calling the young to be committed and make a difference. Look around us. How dedicated can we be to Singapore when we can visualise what's in store for us after we turned 40? Then again, how committed are employers to us? But we can't blame them. They have bottom lines & shareholders' gain to answer to.

Onus is really on the government to revamp the society. A society that is not a pressure cooker. A society that does not mirror so perfectly, what survival of the fittest is.

But a society, where it's people can be committed, do their best and not having to fear whether they will still wake up employed tomorrow. Sadly, Singapore does not offer such luxuries and security anymore.

On the issue of babies. The government encourages us to pro-create. The next generation is essential in sustaining our competitive edge. Then again, the current market condition is such that our future has become uncertain. There is no more joy in having babies anymore; they have become more of a liability. It's really a chicken and egg issue.

Many of my peers, bright and well educated have packed up and left. It's what MM Goh called "quitters". It's sad but true, Singapore no longer is a place where one can hope to work hard their lives and retire graciously. It's really the push factor.

A future is something we sweat it out, build and call our own. Unfortunately, people like me, mid 30's going on 40's, staying put by choice or otherwise, we can't help but feel what lies ahead is really a gamble.

To PM Lee and the Ministers, we are on a different platform. Until you truly understand our insecurity, the future of Singapore to me remains a question mark.

Projects and more

2006-09-17T22:29:00.000+08:00

On the topic of carbon dating, viz TWC...

Lianne: (whispers)

Dating is hard, you know...

You never know whether they are contaminated...
_______________________________

Where can we

a) have a LAN game of Counterstrike?
b) watch the match between Chel$ea and Pool?
~~c) do our coy law project?~~

Answer: SoA SR1.1

Meaning?

2006-09-10T18:21:00.000+08:00

The talk by Ven. Mahinda was a thought-provoking one.

Lottery tickets
Smaller coffins
Expressing gratitude
Seeking forgiveness
Addressing concerns
Letting go

Anyway, cheers to SMUBS members who turned up at Tai Pei in full force.
Well, sorta.

And congrats to SBMY for once again organizing another event that was strongly taken to by the local Buddhist community. The tingling sensation of recognition was there when Ven. Mahinda chanted. I WILL BE BACK SOON
_______________________________________

AIS was a whole load of bull. COSO, COBIT and the ERM framework.
Spent the better part of the day just reading through the slides given on the webby.
Is this what Audit is all about?

If so, tax looks so much more appealing.

Was helping YYM with his QM stuff just now.
Was remembering how I used to LOVE coming up with working models that read this:

Anyway, should I have taken Operations Mgmt?

Let go, but do not let go too easily.
The middle path is the way to go.
Neither in excess, nor with deprivation.

好东西值得分享。。。

2006-09-04T14:12:00.000+08:00

Print this out and off you go!

For YOU on YOUR anniversary

2006-09-02T01:14:00.001+08:00

Well, not quite, cos our anniversary's quite some time back, or away, depending on how we see it.

Anyway, a nice surprise (*burp*) from HER, and a much-belated card to match.

However wrong the wordings might be.

Here's to ~~you~~ US
The world's impressed!
Togetherness
is what ~~you~~ WE do best.

Guess what it ended off with?

Merry congratulations.

Indeed. *smirk*

And I love you, too.

TGIF!

2006-09-01T23:13:00.000+08:00

First Coy Law meeting.
Samy and Son Pte. Ltd.
Samy's Wholesale.
Maria Liza and Leonadovich.
Piercing the corporate veil.
Corny names, corny cases.

Jiawei's voluminous book says it all:
I wanna get out of here!
And with TWC looming just over the horizon (i.e. tomorrow), sightings of the endangered (enfeebled?) yushengis orangutanus will be at an all-time low.

And IMF is overhyped. All sparks and no content. Songjie, Rash and Amanda can vouch for the scrappy way it is being conducted.

We were young.

2006-08-30T03:10:00.000+08:00

Anyone can name all the vids in this compilation?
OMG how I miss those days of yore...

The Visionaries: Fired my imagination.

Ever wondered why old men wear their singlets inside their biz shirts? Ask the Centurions.

M.A.S.K.

Starcom!

Finally, Voltron... With the corny "Form feet and legs... Form arms and torso... Now form THE HEAD.. Roar... Roar... Roar... Rawwwwwwwrrrrrrrr...."

And I realize that I had loads of toys from this era. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Project Groupies

2006-08-25T02:35:00.000+08:00

And so school has started.

Circle Evo. Check.
Vivacé. 5 more hours.
IMF. I'm gonna miss 12 days of school.

Sure hope my sacrifices are worth it.

Je veux un peu de paix.

Accounting Information Systems
Sis
SM
YYF
WAH 'Zai' Wei

Income Tax and GST
BK SM

Coy Law
BK SM
WAH 'Zai' as in ‘华仔’

Finance
Lianne the Chao Ang Mor
Jayme
Jeremy
WAH 'Zai'

TWC
Lianne
Wanzhen

Looks like I'm gonna Brokeback with SM this sem.
LOL.

A Flying Dragon.

2006-08-20T01:47:00.000+08:00

Loong's gonna fly.
Off to the land of the American Dream.
And American babes.
And Krispy Kremes (this piece of knowledge largely accruing to Celest's endless praise of the cholesterol-laden delight).
They go hand-in-hand. Hopefully, in Loong's hands as well.
American babe on the left, Krispy Kremes on the right.

He might not be back.
As an SMU student, at least.
This makes it all the more meaningful.
Lets see.

ASoc OG
Was it like Grp 2?

FA Group (less him)

BGS Group
Did the course suck? Or did the prof? LOL!

Biz Law!
Remember how we circumvented the problem of consideration by using some quirk of Phang's law? And WWY accepted! WOOT!

And MA!
Leong's amiable personality, our masterpiece of an Excel sheet and the numerous 'are we doing ABC or job costing?' discussions... And that very fruitful 6-hour MSN group meeting.

And lastly, cheers to you, Loong.

An OG mate.
A project mate.
A classmate.

And, most importantly,

a friend.

Bon voyage!

It's all over!

2006-08-17T10:04:00.000+08:00

The freshies at Circle run 3 were a privileged lot. They had the logs team cheering them on. Me and Nyan joined Bobbs' group for the 3-way tug-of-war component as well, and with the able direction of Jinghao, we won!

Then came the leaking barrel game, and we from Charlie Bravo Recon Squad had great fun in egging them on. ("Use your tongue! The secret is to use your tongue!!!!")

Leaking barrels, freshies and their tongues.

The flag of the 1st Log Battalion was officially unveiled by RSM MWO Nuhahahahaha on the 2nd day of Circle Evolution Run 3.

The entire logs team, with our sai kang equipment, which were later used to sweep up soap suds and all the fallout from the Soap Opera event.

Logs@Simpang Bedok-after a backbreaking trip to school at 10pm to return logistics to the room beside OCBC. If you heard weird sounds coming from the depths of the Concourse (X-man ar X-Man, Nyan's infamous "Neh-Neh Man ar Neh-Neh Man"), that was us.

We from Section L OG.

Our smelly, stinky and perpetually messy Logs retreat.
Guess which one my bed is?
Those two red packages you see are actually our comatose head and her sidekick.

Post-event celebration, KFC@ PS.

Thanks loads, guys.

Prepping for Run 3

2006-08-13T23:08:00.000+08:00

It's almost over. ALMOST.

Run 3's coming up like in 10 hours' time.

Have. Got. To. Psyche. Myself. Up.

A very hyper Don with the Soap Opera set in the background. Detergent, flour bombs and freshies make a good mix!

And Yilin did up a fantastic art piece. With a minimalist moniker. Her teacher gave it a B, though. What a bummer. She sucks man. Talk about stifling creativity.

Presenting 'Le Poisson'. (French by me. She calls it the fish.)
\

Zhong hurt himself badly in cage today. Needed someone who hasn't driven in months(read: me) to drive him back. He's currently recuperating from post-traumatic shock on top of his ankle problem. Haha. Anyway it's swollen to the size of an egg.

And Koof's back! Like, finally?

Circle Evolution '06 - Run 1 Updates

2006-08-08T22:17:00.000+08:00

Having been assigned to the Logistics team (as usual), it was a whole host of alien faces that greeted me *chuckle*. Rash, Nurha, Bee Lian, Jasmine, Gee Yong, Aaron and Minghui. Never seen these guys before , but yea they certainly made my stay at Circle 'o6 an enjoyable one. And who says that girls can't do hard work? ~~They certainly work hard at making the guys do the dirty work.~~

And yea, no matter where we go and what we do, its always the people that make the experience either for the better or for the worse. Thanks Log folks!

The gang hard at work. Brinjal, celery, bittergourd and tau kuah juice, anyone?

Anyone notice the irony here?

Seeing the freshies trudging about their given tasks certainly evoked fond memories of FOCs gone by - Circle '05, especially. But we were a much more inspired lot, that I would like to believe.

A leaf has fallen...

2006-08-06T23:13:00.000+08:00

Chow Guan Ren - 1984-2006

T'was a merry soul.

Rest in peace.

Class-ified

2006-08-04T01:16:00.000+08:00

Was out buying BBQ stuff for Sat with two of my 22/00 classmates. Zhihong and Weiming.
I've never really had a class that got along well. 6A in SGPS was incredibly competitive and diverse; 2H was too busy condemning me and I was too aloof and unsporting to mix around in 4K.

22/00 brought about a chance- a chance for me to make a difference. Especially with a supportive form tutor and links to the 3-5 cliques that defined class relations. Alas, the fundamental differences proved too wide to bridge, but relations were at least cordial.

And so, 5th August sees a reunion of the boys and girls- now men and women of 22/00, and i sure hope that contact at least can be maintained. Guys, remember the Physics lessons with 矮仔 Lim, Cheng and his leg-opening routine, P.E. lessons with 沈生, Maths remedial (where I was an ever-present fixture) with Mr Low and Econs with Ms Leong.

Remember it all, for despite the sadness/happiness that marked our days in TJC, within and without, it remains our common, indelible past.

Illusions 101

2006-08-03T01:12:00.000+08:00

Cyril Takayama. Illusionist extraordinaire.

Card through Glass

Mobile Phone

Burger magic

Passing objects through glass table

Shadow Magic

Dear Keith

2006-08-01T21:09:00.001+08:00

Someone likes your food at ASoc Camp.

Some updates...

2006-07-30T21:46:00.000+08:00

I've procrastinated long enough, and now it's time to update my blog before I head off to CIRCLE '06....

Absolut U was a rocker, at least for us organizers. There sure was alot of interaction amongst the Welfare branch, and at least some conversation between the various arms of the committee. Met Joseph, my primary school junior and caught up with Jiancheng, my sec school junior. And yea, it was a lesson in coordination and events planning.

As usual, meals prepped by the ever-dependable Keith was fantastic. It read like a who's who of the catering industry.
Day 1: Subway for lunch, Pastamania for dinner.
Day 2: Killiney's nasi lemak for breakfast, Food Haven catering for both meals thereafter.
Day 3: Mac for breakfast...

Keith was sabo-ed in the Hair Station, and had his (rather sparse) hair fluffed up by a gigantic ball of mousse and a dollop of gel. More gel, more friends! Hahaha...

And the very next day at Sentosa's Palawan beach, Keith got dunked, not once, but thrice. Firstly was the customary dunk-thy-head ceremony. Next, Keith suggested getting hold of Nick for a dunk. Alas, his voice was a wee bit too loud, and ended up on the receiving end instead. Next up, Chongmin knew it was his turn, and played his part to perfection. He struggled violently against our half-hearted grabs, and right up to the shoreline, Keith had no idea that yet again, it would be him ending up in the water. Keith, you're our bestest buddy dude!

And my salute to the logs team, who worked their socks off as well. Kudos for an event well-done by the entire comm!
______________________________________________

And Sunday saw me at Far East Shopping Centre, at Angel Bookstore with which I got acquainted with some time back. Like in '97. And so, I said hi to my dearest friends. It's time to get to know each other once again! And so, my haul consisted of Levitt's Freakanomics and Crichton's State of Fear, all for a manageable credit of $20.50 to my cash account.

Crabby me...

2006-07-24T03:38:00.000+08:00

And yet another trip down to Blk 232 @ AMK Ave 3... It's the location of the famous Mellben Crab Kopitiam. Where else do you need to QUEUE for tables and WAIT for 1.5 hours to savour crab dishes? And so it was with Lianne, Loong and the two Changs that saw us devour two crabs (one buttered and one chilli-ed) that were not too long ago happily twitching their flippers in the basket.

Here's a picture for reference's sake.

Yeaps Lola, Siu, SJ and SQ. I hear your stomachs agree in unison.

How perfectly barbaric.
Still, the scene of crabs having their top shell being prised open by the chefs can't beat the frog-killing routine that I witnessed at a frog farm at LCK some time back.

Still, the crabs were good. And we were there to see Lianne stick her spoon in the slightly spicy 铁板 tofu and wince at her irritated tastebuds. SHE IS A CHAO ANG MOR. ANG is pronounced in the same way as the ANG in ANGst, as Kechang would more than gladly demonstrate to you.

Had a good laugh at what's past, shared a few whines at what's coming and all rolled eyes at Changjie's raging hormones. He tried to hit on the auntie who served us! And got ignored. LOL!

JB trip's up next for this group. And KC organize please! 10K u.

Camps Ahoy

2006-07-22T01:18:00.000+08:00

And the next few weeks will see me bogged down with loads of activities. First up: FA Group outing 23rd July with the soon-departing Wei Loong and gang. Then comes ASoc Camp 27-28th July... the 29th is an especially joyous occasion, and it marks a significant reduction in my pecuniary worries.

And then the weeks after will be spent prepping for 22/00 class BBQ on the 5th, 3 runs of CIRCLE Orientation on the 7-18th of August, with the ASoc ceremony on the 11th in between...

So there, this spells the end of my holidays, and I sure hope that it is a rejuvenated me that takes on the ~~modules~~ courses (we are different) that come my way.

And so yea, bring it on!

Truly touching?

2006-07-19T01:03:00.000+08:00

祸不单行...

2006-07-09T02:43:00.000+08:00

This post is to indulge the geek in me. Technophobes back off!

Firstly, I BROKE MY TOE!
And I'm a blessed fool NOT to have broken it clean off.
With all the walking around.

Spent 4 days fixing up a particularly thorny new system.
Specs are as follows:

AMD 64 AM2 3500+
MSI K9N Neo
Kingston DDR2-667 1GB SDRAM (underclocked to 266@ 4-4-4-12-15)
160GB Hitachi SATA2 HDD
MSI 7600GT TD256E
Coolermaster ExtremePower 430W
Coolermaster Centurion 5 Casing
Samsung 740N

Had loads of BSODs, some of which I have never seen before...
Like this particularly memorable one:

PFN LIST CORRUPT!! WOOT!!
And there's more... The usual IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL, or the 人见人爱 PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA....

Was tearing my hair out in frustration. It was a piece of Kingston RAM, for god's sake.
Never mind that it was the mass-market ValueRAM...
And so yea, with 14+ hours of research, I underclocked the piece of bloody RAM and... VOILA!
It booted fine.
Never am I going to be a guinea pig for cutting-edge technology again. It cuts till we BLEED!
So much for being at the forefront of technology.

And one more thing had to come forth.
I've spoilt HER computer by constantly rearranging the cables to fix the new one. For her uncle. The graphics card's gone. One long beep, two short ones.
KAPUT. The static fried her ancient Geforce MX4200 I suppose.

And thus Meng's Dell comes into good use. As a source of techno-cannibalism.

And that just makes my day.

Work Work....

2006-07-05T01:07:00.000+08:00

This blog has been dormant for long enough. Been working the past few days. First at D** issuing IPO prospectuses (prospectii??) to the general public. I mean GENERAL public. The cleaner uncle, the office ladies and a man on a bike. But then again, my experience at Central Singapore CDC told me not to judge a person's wealth by their outward image.

_____________________________________

There was this dishevelled old man that hobbled into the CDC for financial and job assistance. He was something like 78, and stick-thin. The poor old man kept staring at the box of cream crackers on the Suzie's shelf, and his trembling fingers accepted the mug of steaming milo with gratitude. We gave him a stack. And yes i mean a stack of crackers. Something like 10. He gobbled it down.
And we gave him 10 more. And yeaps it went down too. We were astounded at his seemingly insatiable appetite. Later on, Sharon went to buy some noodles for him.

And soon after, Doreen arrived with the old man's biodata, as well as bank details.

He had $16,000 in his account. SIXTEEN FREAKING K CRISP SGD. And his answer to our queries was poetic.

"为了养老。。。"

Doreen was aghast.

"Uncle, 你现在不老几时才算老？"

Needless to say, he did not get the grant. Means testing, revisited.
___________________________________

The D** job saw me meet up with incredibly full-of-themselves people.
So did my next job. One with Meng.

Its a wonder how such people survive in the working world.

When is the World Cup gonna end?

2006-06-28T04:23:00.000+08:00

After some 4 weeks of enforced late nights, punctuated by sporadic bouts of sleep, it was to my surprise that I was yawning throughout the Brazil-Ghana match. I figured that it was for the better. I'd a DBS-IPO job (of designation yet unknown) the very next day. And so I went to sleep. Or so I thought.

I dreamt the stuff of dreams. Or whatever goalkeepers dream about. The perfect diving save, the arcing of the human silhouette, the fingertips pushing the ball away and the barely audible 'ooooo' that undoubtedly accompanies such a save of the highest quality. My mind, even in its state of reclusion, was still dwelling on the sujet-du-jour -- Soccer.

And alas, my period of shut-eye was short-lived. And when a bleary-eyed me awoke to a dark night sky, the luminous digits on my clock sang a sweet song. The IBM laptop beckoned. And so I succumbed, yet again, to the lure of French melodrama and Spanish exuberance. And all in all, my yet-to-be extinguished flame of hope, that Les Bleus of yesteryear prove themselves once again.

Did I have something to do the next MORNING?
Owells, there's a default answer for this.

THE WORLD CUP COMES ALONG ONLY ONCE EVERY 4 YEARS.
though there's a yearly EPL, Champions League and the European Cup in between.

But yeah, as usual, I digress.

A cringe-worthy ad...

2006-06-26T03:18:00.000+08:00

It's someone's birthday, and SMUBS!

2006-06-24T01:45:00.000+08:00

Happy birthday boy!
__________________________________

And this logo, comments anyone?

There's something strange, in the Network Neighbourhood...

2006-06-22T03:32:00.000+08:00

As you can see the above picture is just a ordinary chair.
Now right click and save image as and copy to your harddisk.
Go to the download directory afterwards and view as thumbnails and you will see a....
.
..
...
....
.....
......
.......
........
.........
..........

robot woman sitting down instead of the chair. How do u explain this?

As quoted from Sonikbyte's blog

Dell Support...

2006-06-21T02:33:00.000+08:00

Dear Dell Support

My computer (Dell DIMENSION 4400), which has been out of warranty since '05, is unable to boot (no POST screen, no display etc), with the power LED orange and the A, B, C LEDs green with the D one amber. I've tried hotswapping power supply units, RAM sticks and HDDs to no avail.

Please advise on the necessary course of action.

Regards
Ryan
______________________________________

mailfrom: <>
mailto: <>

RE: Faulty Dimension 4400

Dear Ryan

Please download our diagnostic program from this link.
Kindly send the results in an email to support@ap.dell.com

Dell Tech Support Representative
______________________________________

Or so said the mail. Something to that effect.
Which part of NO DISPLAY do they not get?

Beware the massage chair...

2006-06-20T15:36:00.000+08:00

Osim, anyone?

Soccer and mad.... These two words are meant for each other...

2006-06-20T13:18:00.000+08:00

Ghana apolgise for Paintsil's flag celebration

Ghana Football Association officials have apologised after Hapoel Tel Aviv defender John Paintsil waved an Israeli flag to celebrate the World Cup win over the Czech Republic.

Spokesman Randy Abbey said Paintsil wanted to thank the people who had travelled to support him.

Abbey added: 'He is unaware of international politics. We apologise to anybody who was offended.

'We promise that it will never happen again.

'He did not act out of malice for the Arab people or in support of Israel. He was naive...we don't need to punish him.

'We are not in support or against Israel or the Arab nations. We are here to do football, we are not here to do politics.'

Soccernet

Keeping the flame of Asian hope alive...

2006-06-19T14:12:00.000+08:00

Proudly presenting... Korea/Corea/Dae Han Gook...

(s)Pain for Ukraine...

2006-06-16T01:07:00.001+08:00

Shev's retribution for joining Chelski...

A shout out to those I haven't seen in a while...

2006-06-14T03:29:00.000+08:00

Sharon:
How are things heading along?
Is he the one?
Bidding starts July 1.
How 'bout a few classes together?

Celest:
You miss him terribly.
Hoping the sun's shining brighter for you these few days.
The old adage -
Absence, heart and fonder.
His, yours and all together now...

Koofius:
Anyone seen this brudder of mine?
Really hope you're having fun in the States.
And yes.
We miss you.
However ghey that might sound.
Though our abilities are nemeses.
Your stinging shots.
My (safe) pair of gloves.
NOT!

Meng:
Sorry for pangseh-ing Cage.
Hope the turmoil is over.
For all you know, ICT might just be the salve.
Out of sight.
But as you and I know,
It ain't out of mind.

Lianne:
Suppose you're working now.
WOW?
Succinctly put.

Loong:
How are the babes over there?
WOW for you too?
Take care bro.
Hope the projects ain't a dampener on your having fun.

Wanzhen:
Busy like a bumble bee.
Busier even.
You're becoming a Yeesh (read: facillus shortus) yourself.
Minus the short.
Don't tire yourself out.

Lacy:
Mei, ur blogposts are sounding less and less gothic nowadays.
Almost reads like a romance novel.
'Cept that there's loads more activity in such sappy novels.
Tu es heureuse.

Yeesh:
Yo! Dead of overwork yet?
Arrowed to death yet?
You noe how Zhuge Liang siam arrow?
HE PUT STRAW MEN ON SHIPS.
And later used them against the same people who shot 'em in the first place.
Take care, facillus shortus.

______________________________________

If there's a solution to the problem,
Why worry?

If there's no solution to it,
Why worry?

May you all be well and happy.

South Korea-Togo Highlights...

2006-06-13T23:29:00.000+08:00

NDP Spoof...

2006-06-13T14:02:00.000+08:00

Something for all your WC2006-weary eyes...

SCTV Rox!

2006-06-12T03:55:00.000+08:00

To Starhub: Suck it.

And boy oh boy oh boy... My body clock is royally screwed. Why leh? There are World Cup matches at 9, 12 and 3 am respectively. Spent the past two days at HER place watching the match with Darren and HER parents, dreading the inevitable return to a WC-less home... and the chores to do... LoL

Inspiration struck, though when I reached back...

Even though my Leadtek PVR1000 TV card has ceased operations (read: fried), the trusty wired antenna that had been so scoffed at at first has now been put to good use. And so, it's now me, my lappy and my TV.

Oh yes, MIA I will be for quite some time. Anything important, call me. I won't be at home too often, especially in the afternoons.

The little things in life...

2006-06-09T14:52:00.000+08:00

These two wonderful people don't know each other.

But their nicks are so... complementary?

The inanities of life. And the coincidences. Guffaw...

Bye LOLA FOO!

2006-06-07T03:20:00.000+08:00

Enjoy yourself there!

The Stop Sign

2006-06-04T03:19:00.000+08:00

Stop, it says.

The sign.

Should I stop?

Or carry on?

Turn left?
What's left?

Or right?
What's right?

The guiding light of truth.

Of considerable consideration.

Curtain call, anyone?