Center for Inquiry Calls Vatican's Position on Biomedical Technology Deplorable and Scientifically Insupportable

Amherst, New York (December 12, 2008)—In a move designed to firm up faith-based opposition to embryonic stem cell research and other cutting-edge biomedical technologies, the Vatican has released a 32-page document titled “Dignitas Personae” – meaning “the dignity of a person.” The document condemns a host of procedures considered “immoral” by the Catholic Church, such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), the freezing of unfertilized eggs, embryonic stem cell research, and the testing of embryos to help identify those with defects. The Center for Inquiry, a think tank headquartered in Amherst, New York that supports research on bioethical questions, deplores the Vatican’s pronouncement. The Vatican’s position has no justification other than religious doctrine, according to the Center for Inquiry, and may have a serious adverse effect on scientific research and the development of medical therapies.

“I regret the renewed effort by the Vatican to censor—indeed prohibit—research in reproductive science,” said Paul Kurtz, chairman and founder of the Center for Inquiry. “Do we have to wage the Galileo battle again? The Vatican claims that their objections are “moral,” but they are based on a theological doctrine that a formless fertilized egg is a full human being, a position which most scientists reject.” Kurtz says there is a need to defend freedom of scientific research and the positive good that can ensue for countless numbers of infertile couples. “The effort to curtail stem cell research is especially disturbing in the view of the possible beneficent results for improving human health,” he said.

The Vatican has focused on commonplace scientific technologies used in the United States and elsewhere, which the Church believes demean human “dignity,” and bring humans perilously close to “playing God.” The Church continues to hold steadfast to its key theological proclamation that “life begins at conception,” thereby rendering as “illicit” the use of embryos or fertilized eggs in research or otherwise, including IVF for married Catholic couples wishing to conceive.

Dr. Ronald A. Lindsay, president and CEO of the Center for Inquiry (and author of the book Future Bioethics: Overcoming Taboos, Myths, and Dogmas) said that “the Vatican has once again manifested its regrettable preference for religious doctrine over science. Until roughly fourteen days after conception, one cannot even meaningfully refer to the embryo as an individual, let alone the equivalent of an adult human, since both twinning and fusion are possible until that point.” Lindsay added that the Vatican’s rejection of IVF on the ground that it results in the discarding of embryos is especially ironic since from 60 to 80 percent of embryos conceived “naturally” are spontaneously aborted. “If the Vatican wants to prevent embryos from ‘dying,’ then they will have to instruct couples to avoid sex completely.”

“The bottom line,” says Lindsay, “is that the Vatican is telling those who need medical assistance to seek help from theology, not therapy.”

The Center for Inquiry/Transnational is a nonprofit, educational, advocacy, and scientific-research think tank based in Amherst, New York. Their research and educational projects focus on three broad areas: religion, ethics, and society; paranormal and fringe-science claims; and medicine and health. The Center's Web site is www.centerforinquiry.net .

December...

Some complain queen sms me and asked me why my blog is pic-less. Argh. Ok so here goes some pictures which I took with my phone for the month of December. To start things off... KYLIE's IN SINGAPORE! Here'sa video I found on youtube. I obviously didn't take it cos I'm not that type that will waste my concert hours holding a mobile phone busy filming. I'm just not that kinda guy.




I was back in NTU for some course and couldnt help it but visit my former dorm. Hall 16 03-36A. MY roomie and I were the first occupants of the room cos the dorm was newly built and we went through quite a bit of trouble just to get the room cos we didn't want the older dirtier blocks (ie. Hall 1, 2...yucks).


The corridor leading to the room from the main gate.


Welcome to hall 16!


Hall 16's golden spoon cafe. Serves over-priced horfun and the likes. Has a very friendly chicken rice aunty.


Was at the World Aids Day Concert @ Fort Canning Green. Of course partly to see my favourite Sun Yan Zi!




This year's theme was about Anti-Discrimination. And rightfully so. Singapore despite being one of the riches nations in the world, is a few million years backwards in terms of social acceptance. It's high time we stop all these discrimination. I rememeber very well my biomed professors saying that the only way to curb the spread of any epidemics is to treat it like any other epidemics. Discrimination and other non-scientific opinions will only impede the progress of any successful public health programs.





OH AND THERE WAS A THEME PARTY THAT WE WENT TO!!!

It was really rare for us to get together especially after our uni days. Joel, Waye, Tristan were my best buddies since JC days. Joel's been flying around so much that I hardly know if he's in Singapore. Waye just changed jobs to work in the prestigious Amex Centurion. Tristan missed the party cos he was in LA and NY. So, there's only the 3 of us.


and the theme is... "SHADES!!!!"


I love theme parties. The last one we had was "Labels or Love", obviously based on the SATC movie. And was organised by yours truly. The idea was simple, either you come with a Label, or you come with your Love! So people brought their gfs and bfs and we had a swell time at one of the suites in Naumi Hotel. Was a pretty good get-together for old friends.




Hey i remember seeing this popular pose among the girls from the hills so I got the guys to do it as well.

Why I refuse to celebrate christmas.

I made up my mind never ever to celebrate christmas for a very simple reason: I will not celebrate a festival just for the sake of celebrating it. And for that matter, Christmas has grown to be so overtly commercialise that it's almost disgusting. It is only in the business interests of the media and retailers to continue hyping on how christmas is a time of buying and giving. With the economic downturn, businesses are bent to make as much as they can. Afterall, with the year-end bonuses paid, most people have pretty fat wallets for the time being.

Many people think that Christmas is the day where we celebrate the birth of jesus. Let me tell you now that it's is WRONG. Christmas originated from a very different much scorned religion called Paganism.

I was looking for a shorter version for the origins of christmas and here it is:


No one knows what day Jesus Christ was born on. From the biblical description, most historians believe that his birth probably occurred in September, approximately six months after Passover. One thing they agree on is that it is very unlikely that Jesus was born in December, since the bible records shepherds tending their sheep in the fields on that night. This is quite unlikely to have happened during a cold Judean winter. So why do we celebrate Christ’s birthday as Christmas, on December the 25th?

The answer lies in the pagan origins of Christmas. In ancient Babylon, the feast of the Son of Isis (Goddess of Nature) was celebrated on December 25. Raucous partying, gluttonous eating and drinking, and gift-giving were traditions of this feast.

In Rome, the Winter Solstice was celebrated many years before the birth of Christ. The Romans called their winter holiday Saturnalia, honoring Saturn, the God of Agriculture. In January, they observed the Kalends of January, which represented the triumph of life over death. This whole season was called Dies Natalis Invicti Solis, the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun. The festival season was marked by much merrymaking. It is in ancient Rome that the tradition of the Mummers was born. The Mummers were groups of costumed singers and dancers who traveled from house to house entertaining their neighbors. From this, the Christmas tradition of caroling was born.

In northern Europe, many other traditions that we now consider part of Christian worship were begun long before the participants had ever heard of Christ. The pagans of northern Europe celebrated the their own winter solstice, known as Yule. Yule was symbolic of the pagan Sun God, Mithras, being born, and was observed on the shortest day of the year. As the Sun God grew and matured, the days became longer and warmer. It was customary to light a candle to encourage Mithras, and the sun, to reappear next year.

Huge Yule logs were burned in honor of the sun. The word Yule itself means “wheel,” the wheel being a pagan symbol for the sun. Mistletoe was considered a sacred plant, and the custom of kissing under the mistletoe began as a fertility ritual. Hollyberries were thought to be a food of the gods.

The tree is the one symbol that unites almost all the northern European winter solstices. Live evergreen trees were often brought into homes during the harsh winters as a reminder to inhabitants that soon their crops would grow again. Evergreen boughs were sometimes carried as totems of good luck and were often present at weddings, representing fertility. The Druids used the tree as a religious symbol, holding their sacred ceremonies while surrounding and worshipping huge trees.

In 350, Pope Julius I declared that Christ’s birth would be celebrated on December 25. There is little doubt that he was trying to make it as painless as possible for pagan Romans (who remained a majority at that time) to convert to Christianity. The new religion went down a bit easier, knowing that their feasts would not be taken away from them.

Christmas (Christ-Mass) as we know it today, most historians agree, began in Germany, though Catholics and Lutherans still disagree about which church celebrated it first. The earliest record of an evergreen being decorated in a Christian celebration was in 1521 in the Alsace region of Germany. A prominent Lutheran minister of the day cried blasphemy: “Better that they should look to the true tree of life, Christ.”


So, rather than saying Merry Christmas, I'd rather say "Happy Holidays".

Death

Bobby is a rabbit with brown silky fur given to my mum when dad's friend's daughter didn't want it anymore. He was meant to replace another rabbit that died after we cared for it many years after we rescued it from the streets.

Bobby is a feisty rabbit. I've always thought that he's a rabbit in serious identity crisis. A rabbit who thinks he is a dog. As he is not caged, he basically runs around the whole house on his own. Going to the balcony to sleep in the day time, and then returning home in the kitchen at night. In between that, he'll chase me around the house when I'm busy or watch TV with mum.

Just this morning at 5am+, he was jumping around me while I made my cereal. Then later in the morning around 10+, he refused to come out from behind the bicycle. We carried him out and it seems like his whole body went limp. I kept him company till mum came back from morning marketing. Brought him to Mt Pleasant hospital and while waiting in the ER, he yelped. Once, twice, trice. I told the nurse he's probably dying. I need to see the vet immediately. The kind nurse brought us to the room at the back and listened to his heartbeat which was very weak by then. The doc came in a minute and by that time, his heart had stopped beating.

This is the first time I saw the process of dying happening right before my eyes. Slowly, life was lost from Bobby. Just like that and its taken away. I just hope in his rabbit world, he didn't suffered too much before dying. I went away from the hospital red-eyed and had a deeper understanding of what is Life. Bobby and the silly things he did as a rabbit will forever be missed by our family.

Today Singaporeans will mourn the death of Ms Lo Hwei Yen. She was one of the innocent people held hostage by the terrorists that laid seige to Mumbai.

Ms Lo Hwei Yen was probably a person who liked the same things as us. Grew up knowing the same places as us. Probably liked laksa. Probably enjoyed movies with friends at GV. She probably had friends, family members whom she loves. And she definately had dreams and ambitions.

She's only 28 this year. Just one year older than me. I still have so many dreams and aspirations unfulfilled. I'm sure she has too. I just felt so sad that her life had to be ended prematurely. I cannot imagine what the final moments of her life was. The fear. The helplessness. The injustice. And how ruthless her murderers were.

While I never believe that Singaporeans are immuned to terrorist attacks, this incident still drowned my mind with utter disbelief.

บทเพลง "ส่งนางฟ้ากลับสวรรค์"

This is a video I found on YouTube that pays tribute to the late Princess Galayani Wattana. The royal family of Thailand is one of its kind. The King, Queen and Princesses devote almost their entire lives to the improvement of the lives of their poor people. And what is interesting and admirable is that they live and dress in very simple clothes.

ส่งนางฟ้ากลับสวรรค์ (soong naang faa glap sawaan) is the title of the song. If my lousy thai serves me well, it means sending the goddess back to paradise. Thais believe that the royal family members are actually descended from heaven to help them and when they pass on, they are only returning to heaven to be with the rest of the gods.

Aotearoa

I know there are many fans out there reading my blog and wondering why the heck have I not put up the fabulous pictures of NZ. Well, I've been very with work and also catching up with sleep. So anyways, here goes.


3 gals that I got to know on the plane. The one on the left is from Japan. The second one is from Singapore. The third one is from the Kingdom of Thailand.


I dunno why but my fellow passengers in the bus to OPC are all girls. I think they are there on a day trip or something.


Apparently Rihanna was in da bus. She felt that her fingers were freezing and the bus driver turned on the heater for her fingers. After that, she did my favourite number: Umbrella. In my opinion, in the presence of the other passengers, she should have sung Disturbia instead. Still, I enjoyed the bus ride. :)


Arrived at OPC and met another gal from Japan. Turns out, she's the identical twin of the same gal i met on the plane. Such a coincidence.


First day at OPC and I was very fortunate to be eating with some vibrante school girls. I dunno their names yet so i'll call them The Cuties group.


They were very nice. They prepared the breakfast and lunch for us.


After breakfast, something strange happened. Someone's shoelace entangled everyone. I was lucky that I ran away fast enough not to be entangled.


Later in the afternoon. The responsible gals decided that they wanna climb a tree. So we climbed a tree.


The gals woke up early to make breakfast and lunch again. So nice of them. I know! NZ must be the place where girls become nice! I think we need to send more Singaporean girls here.


After breakfast, we received a distress call from Frodo. He couldn't locate Mount Doom so we lead a team out to help him.


Suffered snow-blindness that day. My retina and cornea were badly damaged. Now I have tiny eyes.


We got lost and thankfully I met a long lost friend. His name is Snowman.


And he directed us to.. Mt Doom. I called Frodo and MMS-ed him the picture.


Then there was an earthquake and we had no choice but to make our escape via the water route. Thankfully there were a few boat people and they helped to row me to safety.


The natives of NZ welcomed me to safety and they did a little dance to thank the mountains.


Back to civilisation, i had a very hearty meal.


Then I was given this packet of sugar. ..?? What the heck is it trying to tell me? Is it a sign?


All's well that ends well. So, my little mis-adventure ended with a very nice morning breakfast/dessert. End of story .

yes here i go again...

Someone commented the other day that the only time i post is when I have something to complain. I think this person is damn right. So here goes:

Singaporeans have problems saying "Thank you", "Sorry", "It's ok"...blah blah blah

Case study #1:
Auntie at coffee shop brings my drink. "Thank you auntie". Auntie pretends she never hear. "Thanks ah ..auntie". Auntie gives me the change and walks away. I wonder if I have a third eye on my forehead or what.

Case study #2:
After gym, I went to pick up my blueberry mobile. Just as I was about to drive out, a car stopped in front of me. A whole family boarded the car. The driver looked at me while the family was boarding and I didn't give him any dirty look or what but waited patiently. After the family finished boarding and putting all the rubbish they bought in the boot, he drove off. Just like that. Not a word of thanks. Geez. I should have just blared my horns and high beam him with my lights.

We are about 1.5675 million light years away from being a gracious society.

Center for Inquiry

The intelligent and rational revolution is finally here. Center for Inquiry produces the most thought-provoking podcasts that I LOVE to listen to. What is the CFI about?

"The Center for Inquiry is a daring new concept. Although modern world civilization is based upon the achievements of science and technology, until this time there has been no authoritative and credible voice defending the scientific outlook in examining religion, human values, and the borderlands of science. If the naturalistic outlook is to supplant the ancient mythological narratives of the past, it needs a new institution devoted to its articulation and dramatization to the public. The Center for Inquiry is that institution."

Website: http://www.centerforinquiry.net

frustration

Today's gotta be the worst day of the year. There were so many things to be done, to be made sure etc. I was really up to my max today. Coupled with the fact that I'll be off in a couple of days and there are still so many things left hanging on my mind, i just feel more stressed.

Then, as if things were not bad enough, another unexpected event cropped up and made me feel even worse. I felt extremely demoralised by the the lack of self-love and dignity of some people. On the other hand, I questioned myself if I had done enough to, maybe, help the person?

Ha. Who do I think i am. Trying to help. Maybe I think too highly of myself that I'll be of help.

On a separate note, there was at least one good news today that made me beam. UJJ goes back to school next year.

Sun's out Surf's up! *YAY*

At 150 sharp yesterday, UJJ took off in his blueberry mobile to the next nearest island: Sentosa!


Still feeling sick from the ulcer in his throat, he hoped the UV rays would kill the naughty virus. Argh! (*disclaimer* it doesn't work that way...)



The sky was clear and the sun was good. Not much screaming kids over this side of the island though I did see lots of school kids on the Siloso side. I guess exams are over for them and they're all out in full force. Bless those peeps at siloso. Ha.


Called Alvin, who's my uni roomie and he came pretty quickly. Roderick came along as well and we had a pretty swell time. Sun's out surf's up! Yay! :P




Ended the evening at PS Cafe, Dempsey. Tristan knocked off from work and came straight down to Old School where we picked Jeffrey up. Dinner was so so, big portions, but we were rushing a little cos we had a movie to catch.


Ribs... like i said, portions were huge. Not a ribs person though. Think Ted would love it though. :)


Roasted Chicken and Penne. Felt pretty stuffed after that. That's my kind of meal. Binge and binge...


Tris had this friend seabass thing. The curry tasted exotic. A little orange-y kinda taste.

The day I hit a meteorite

Last Sunday, when Singapore Grand Prix came to an end, I was having my mini F1 along the road. Not the speedy F1 you must be thinking about....it's the F1 with the crashes.

Along the road on my way home, Blueberry Mobile saw a huge rock on the road. Unable to avoid it, BM ran right over it. The damage: burst left front tyre and a dented rim.

I cant believe I actually had to change the tyres so late at night. Argh...


The culprit


The damage

Taiwan braces for typhoon

freak weather! HKG went through 2 major typhoons in just barely 3 months. Then now...just one week after HKG's 2nd typhoon, Taiwan braces herself.

The Apple iPod's White Screen of Death

I got a rude shock when Alphie showed a white screen. We're all too familiar with Window's infamous blue screen of death but Ipod's white screen was just freaky. No matter how I try to on and off him, the white screen just stayed put.

So thankfully, there's google. Googled and realised that it's not that quite uncommon. Pressed and held MENU for 6 secs, nothing. Centre button 6 secs, nothing. In a last ditch attempt to resuscitate him, i pressed MENU and centre button TOGETHER for 6 secs. The apple logo popped out. PHEW!

My life is complete again. :D

The Day MM Lee Censored Him

SINGAPORE: Few, if any, would dispute that the most dramatic of the 43 annual National Day Rally speeches was the one in 1971. It was the first one telecast live. Even more extraordinarily, it went on air without prior notice.

The previous five rallies were closed-door sessions. Then, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew wanted to talk candidly to political, business and grassroot leaders without having to pull his punches. Many of the things he needed to tell his people were highly-sensitive matters in those troubled times.

Our neighbours, particularly Malaysia — from which Singapore was expelled in 1965 — could have been upset with varying degrees of justification.

Mr Lee did not want to exercise self-censorship at National Day Rallies.

Because of the presence of some content that was potentially offensive or explosive, Singapore media could not report what was said until days later, when edited versions of transcripts were issued for publication.

Why, then, the apparently sudden decision by Mr Lee to go live at the National Day Rally on Aug 15, 1971? Even his closest Cabinet colleagues did not know of the totally unexpected departure from established practice.

How the producer lived to tell the tale

Mr Ananda Perera, 69, a retired senior executive of the then-Singapore Broadcasting Corporation, tells an enthralling inside story about that night:

After I read Peter Lim's deja vu recall of 'the night it first went live ...' (Weekend TODAY, Aug 23-24), I felt I should share my experience.

I was the producer of the live telecast of that historic National Day Rally speech. The usual 'drill' for such occasions was as follows:

PM is met on arrival at the car porch of the National Theatre (now demolished, at the foot of Fort Canning Hill). The producer follows PM to the make-up room for any last-minute instructions.

On that historic evening, I was asked by PM Lee Kuan Yew what was on local channels from 7.30 pm onwards. I told him. Then he asked me an unexpected question: What is on RTM channels? (RTM was Radio and Television Malaysia.)

Fortunately, having worked with him on many such productions, I was prepared. I told him what was on RTM 1 and 2. Then he reached into his pocket and took out a cutting of the TV programme listings for the day to counter-check!

This is how prepared you must be when you deal with Mr Lee Kuan Yew. He asked me whether we can go live. I said yes.

He instructed me to make multi-lingual announcements on both radio and TV by fading all programmes on air to blank. He also told me to ensure that we make Malay, Tamil, Mandarin and English announcements to ensure that the audience at the National Theatre was kept informed.

We did so.

I immediately rushed to the OB (outside broadcast) van in the car park to call my director, the late Mrs Wong-Lee Siok Tin. This is what I told her: "Please don’t ask any questions. PM has instructed that we fade all radio and TV programmes on air (and make) the announcement that we are going to live telecast/broadcast PM’s National Day Rally speech at the National Theatre."

There was a gasp at the other end of the line. I told Mrs Wong to just go ahead as I had a number of things to do, given that we hardly had 10 minutes to airtime!

Just 10 minutes into the live broadcast, Cabinet Secretary, Wong Chooi Sen tapped on our OB van door to ask me: "Hey, Ananda, Dr Goh Keng Swee (then the Defence Minister) wants to know whether you are absolutely certain that PM instructed you to broadcast live!"

Though I died a thousand deaths at that moment, I shouted a firm YES and told him not to disturb me.

After the broadcast I rushed back to meet PM at the make-up room. He asked me whether the broadcast went live without technical hitches. I said it went flawlessly. He said 'good' and I lived to tell the tale!

Why did he have the sensation of dying a thousand deaths?

"We had only four cameras set up; that's really not enough," Mr Perera recalls. "And we had no script!" The veteran TV executive explains one of live telecasts' trade secrets. With a script, the TV producer seated at his console will know what the speaker is about to say and whether there will be a comment on or acknowledgement of someone's presence in the audience.

The producer can then decide whether and when to pan one or more of the cameras to bring the person on screen.

Without a script, the producer has to rely on flair, experience and instinctive judgment to direct the camera crew and decide what to show on screen at any and every moment of the telecast.

"Supposing I have on screen a close-up of a Cabinet minister or some other VVIP and the PM says at that exact moment something disparaging or highly critical ...!" Mr Perera does not finish that sentence. With the shock and awe in his voice, there is no need to.

Why PM Lee did it in 1971

Weekend Xtra asked Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew why he decided to go live with the 1971 National Day Rally speech.

"I had been thinking of reaching beyond the grassroots leaders when candidly discussing the problems of the time,” Mr Lee says. “Since I could leave out the ultra-sensitive parts to avoid annoying our neighbours, I decided to go live."

Why was the live telecast put out in such an urgent fashion that even Dr Goh reportedly did not know in advance?

"I decided it late, but had been mulling it over for some time."

Were you still weighing the pros and cons as you were being driven to the National Theatre?

"It was not a life-and-death decision because all it meant was deleting a few subjects from my notes."

Mr Lee has packed so much into those succinct answers.

The problems of the time were many and seemingly intractable. Just six years earlier, as Mr Lee says in volume two of his memoirs From Third World To First, "we were given no choice but to leave" Malaysia.

"The years after 1965 were hectic and filled with anxiety, as we struggled to find our feet," he says in the book. "We were relieved when we found in 1971 that we had created enough jobs to avoid heavy unemployment even though the British withdrew their forces from Singapore."

But Mr Lee and his Cabinet colleagues were not yet "confident that we could make it on our own".

During the 1969 Malaysian election campaign, the governing "Alliance leaders made wild and groundless allegations that Singapore leaders had interfered in their politics", according to Mr Lee in his book.

Deadly race riots broke out in Kuala Lumpur on May 13, three days after the 1969 polls. A bit of the racial violence spilt over to Singapore, necessitating fast and firm counter-measures by government.

"The Utusan Melayu (a Malay-language newspaper based in Malaysia and which also circulated in Singapore then) became even more pro-Malay and openly hostile towards the Singapore government, belittling our efforts to help Singapore Malays," Mr Lee says in the book.

According to Mr Lee in the book, there was only one Malaysian government leader who was not prejudiced against Singapore. He was Deputy Prime Minister Tun Dr Ismail, who visited Singapore in April 1971 and "we had a good talk".

That held out hopes if not expectations of an improvement in cross-Causeway relations.

But it was early days yet when NDR came around four months later. Relations between the two countries were still tense and tender. A wrong word or phrase from either side could inflame passions of the negative kind.

Hence, Dr Goh must have been horrified when he heard from his seat at the National Theatre that the PM's speech was going on air live. For Mr Lee was and is not known as one who minces his words.

Mr Lee now reveals that he exercised self-censorship, excising from his notes — there was no prepared text — things that he needed to tell Singaporeans yet would be ultra-sensitive should our neighbours get to hear of them.

It was a momentous decision! Singapore's first Prime Minister censored himself, or edited himself, and launched one of the high points of the Singaporean political year: The annual National Day Rally live telecast.

So what did then PM Lee say in 1971?

Mr Lee Kuan Yew's off-the-cuff speech to his audience of about 3,500 people started with a brief explanation of his decision to go on air live: "We cannot go on doing the things we are doing unless not only you but a lot of other people outside know the raison d’etre, the background, the reasons, the problems..."

Then he touched on the progress Singapore had made and thought aloud about leadership transition. He elaborated on the need for long-term planning; Singapore’s security and sovereignty; US President Richard Nixon's forthcoming ceremonial visit to China and the lesson from it — expect the unexpected; the Vietnam war; the Commonwealth Five comprising Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore.

"Being a small country in a strategic position ... we should try and avoid being sacrificed as pawns," Mr Lee said.

He outlined Singapore's economic need to "go on from physical servicing to brain servicing"; the inevitability of letting in foreign workers; and "supposing the worst happens — sometimes I get glimpses of what may go wrong".

So the government prepared for worst-case scenarios. "And that's what we are trying to do and never mind what the newspapers tell you," Mr Lee said. "If they know as much as we do, they should be running Singapore, isn't it? Particularly those who (have) just come up from the university."

Mr Lee ended his speech by saying "we will see this place safe and secure ... make use of the time, be it five years, be it six, be it 10".

Does that strike you as a less-than-confident Lee Kuan Yew 37 years ago? Well, that was 1971 and those were uncertain times. Minister Mentor Lee is now much more confident about Singapore's future.


Peter H L Lim is a writer and media consultant.


- TODAY/so

Bangkok Crisis

PAD is really gone too far this time. Although it has been reported that PAD supporters are mainly Bangkok residents, none of the residents (elites and non-elites) whom I had spoken to over the past few days support PAD. Instead, they are firm supporters of Mr Thaksin who brought universal healthcare to the rural. The poor of Thailand are really living in misery compared to the rich. People seemed to have forgotten that Mr Thaksin was the only PM that had the will power to bring about reform and brought to completion an airport that was never completed by many many PM before him. He brought the economy up and the thais were generally better off.

PAD intends to roll 'Thailand backwards into the dark ages', dismantaling years of democracy progression. In my opinion, PAD has polarised the Thai population so much that a national reconciliation seems so difficult now.

Eric Miyashiro and Kosei!

Was searching through youtube looking for Spitfire by James Barnes but instead found this gem! Eric Miyashiro and Tokyo Kosei playing..... TURANDOT!! Gosh... what a combi! Gerald, BEAT THAT !!! :P

doing the tango

I had a bad day. What was supposed to be a happy occassion turned out ugly due to the selfishness of individuals. Throughout the rest of the day i just kept brooding over it. I know some people don't care and can still laugh and smile. Maybe the others cared too much. Maybe it mattered to me too much . But then again the behaviour of these individuals is not at all tolerable. The beginning of the year was tough and just last week i thought everyone got their act together and we could finally start to achieve. Then this happened. Two steps forwards, three steps backwards. This is just to unfair for those who really cared and had to bear with my temper. I'm looking forward to the break.

the triplet codon...

I meant to post these pictures for the longest time but kept forgetting to as they were taken by my phone. So here they are!


It was in this pub in cambridge that Watson and Crick came up with the model for the structure of DNA!


This is the lecture room in Cambridge. Goes to show that you don't need superb multimedia etc... to learn properly. This puts our Singaporean students to shame.

and so we went!

E, J and I have been talking about eating dim sum at Red Star for the longest time. So last weekend, we made up our minds to try to go on Sat and Sun morning! We reckoned that if you aim only for a day, we'll miss it altogether so it's better to aim for two days! Dragged our sorry asses out of the bed at 10am and we made it on Sat! :D binged so much that i think i had enough of dim sum for a long time.

:(

Been under the weather this week... I hate falling sick. Dug up some of my old books, this one's one of my fav. By Robert Frost, no less.

A boundless moment

He halted in the wind, and--what was that
Far in the maples, pale, but not a ghost?
He stood there bringing March against his thought,
And yet too ready to believe the most.

'Oh, that's the Paradise-in-bloom,' I said;
And truly it was fair enough for flowers
had we but in us to assume in march
Such white luxuriance of May for ours.

We stood a moment so in a strange world,
Myself as one his own pretense deceives;
And then I said the truth (and we moved on).
A young beech clinging to its last year's leaves.

A380 Takeoff (London Heathrow - Singapore)

The engine was so quiet for such a big jet. And also check out the flaps! :) *I so need a holiday*

blah!

I really dislike this part of the year. Everything's moving so fast, too little time to make sure that everything I do is up to my own satisfaction. And I have little time of my own to do the things I want. Then there are important decisions to make. Should I go on and further my studies or should I just wait one more year? What if i lose steam and become complacent. Or just contented with where I am now... What if I lose the drive. Grr... decisions... I so need todo the PMI right now but I don't even have time to do it!!! ARGH!

One man lost is one man too many.

Adrian has passed away. I find it wierd to speak of him in the past tense. Just a year ago I bumped into him at Bugis again. One of the few occasions that we met after I graduated. Back in uni, he would turn up to support his classmates during the sports events. My only anger is that he had a hard life. Played by the system that we have here in Singapore. Trapped by the very own people that were supposed to protect us. He finally became a doctor but just had to succumb to a lung infection at a mere age of 29. Life is just so unfair.

HOLA! (Barcelona, Sitges Spain)