The Missing Present

Long time!

2010-02-03T10:35:00.002+08:00

It's been a long time since I last blogged but today I suddenly felt the URGE to blog. :P

Had a very interesting lesson yesterday on GIS and I'm having ideas on how to use it for my thesis that's if I maintain my GPA! *fingers crossed* Gotta download the program later and sorta play around with it. We also need to submit a literature review on it. 1000 words. Gonna find some interesting paper to read. Reading papers is a sure cure for insomnia I tell you... :)

Anne's pretty good this year.Everything's nice and organised. The folks do their part and I'm very impressed. But somehow, I still miss Clare. Afterall, they are an interesting lot.

BLAH

2009-07-10T19:36:00.002+08:00

I think my attention span for this blog has run out. Gonna shut it down very very soon.

A victorious day for all civil societies in Singapore

2009-05-03T14:35:00.003+08:00

The AWARE saga has brought to our attention how we should always respect each other's beliefs and also to question our own prejudices. I had thought that the Old Guards were gonna lose because at the last count, we were standing at 600 against 1000. I'm very glad Singaporeans had good sense and many came to vote. Usually whichever camp I suppose, they'll always lose. (damn suay right??). But this time, it was a sweet victory.

I must also say that Josei Lau took quite a lot from everyone and she deserves some appreciation too. However, her exco and herself need to realise that they should not allow their religious prejudices to encroach into secular spaces. Some say that the majority of Singaporeans are conservative. I doubt it. It's usually the conservative minority that makes the most noise. Most Singaporeans are tolerant, if not accepting of each other's differences and celebrate diversity. I'm very proud I'm part of this nation that has come so far and time and again, we did not allow religion and race to divide us. Yes there are still lots of prejudices and social injustices out there. It's up to us as individuals to open up and examine our prejudices. To quote Jamiroquai... Don't give hate a chance! :)

Leaning Tower of STC!

2009-04-21T23:52:00.003+08:00

S bought a cup of milo today and guess what? It turned out to be the leaning tower of STC! We had a good laugh over it and I couldn't help but to hijack his tower to take this fabulous picture. (Btw... i think styrofoam is uber-environmentally unfriendly.)

Anyway, term's over for me! I've been so stressed thinking about my assignments. Now finally I can go back to concentrating on work. Whee! A

Broken strings

2009-04-06T16:06:00.001+08:00

Heard this song on the radio while driving to work the other day. Love it.

Gratitude and Giving Thanks

2009-01-23T13:45:00.003+08:00

I looked out of the window and wonder how many people walked through those gates without realising or reflecting on the effort, time and sacrifices others had put in for them. Many people are happy being mediocre, getting by and just passing. (I'm not. And I believe no one should be contented with just getting by.) And when you nudge them on, they bite you. And they bite you hard.

Hey but some nice pple came back today. I got two nice cards! Thinking about them now makes me feel better. Focusing on these good events will help me go a long way. I really have to do this to prevent a burnout. And hey I really have to say that clare's so much nicer and lovable these days and I'm not the only one to say that.

So here I am thinking and pondering with kosei playing in the background.

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

2008-12-13T13:10:00.001+08:00

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...

2008-12-11T18:23:00.006+08:00

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.

2008-12-11T18:02:00.002+08:00

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

2008-12-08T13:09:00.003+08:00

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.

2008-11-29T02:06:00.004+08:00

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"

2008-11-20T18:58:00.003+08:00

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

2008-11-19T15:22:00.023+08:00

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...

2008-11-15T18:34:00.002+08:00

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

2008-11-07T15:47:00.004+08:00

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

2008-10-22T17:55:00.002+08:00

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

2008-10-11T13:47:00.007+08:00

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

2008-10-02T11:54:00.005+08:00

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

2008-09-28T21:44:00.001+08:00

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

2008-09-09T23:56:00.002+08:00

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

2008-09-06T11:25:00.002+08:00

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

2008-09-04T19:59:00.000+08:00

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!

2008-08-27T19:36:00.001+08:00

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

2008-08-27T00:26:00.001+08:00

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...

2008-08-22T19:12:00.004+08:00

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!

2008-08-19T00:03:00.003+08:00

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.

:(

2008-07-31T21:27:00.004+08:00

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)

2008-07-15T22:46:00.002+08:00

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

blah!

2008-07-13T17:29:00.004+08:00

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.

2008-06-26T20:17:00.001+08:00

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)

2008-06-17T03:43:00.006+08:00

top of the world (edinburgh castle)

2008-06-13T00:17:00.002+08:00

Castles, witches and regalia...

2008-06-11T17:21:00.008+08:00

And so we arrived in Edinburgh's Waverly Bridge

As we walked to our hotel, we passed by University of Edinburgh

And we arrived at our hotel. Ten Hill Place, a hotel managed by the Royal Surgeons' next door.

The Royal Mile, the cobber-stoned road that leads up to the Edinburgh Castle on one end and the Queen's Palace on the other.

Exterior of a Cathedral.

Across the moat and into the castle.

Statue on one side of the bridge across the moot.

War memorial within the Castle.

Cemetry for the little Royal Doggies.

The castle overlooks the entire Old Town of Edinburgh.

The fireplace of Queen Mary's chamber.

Queen Mary staring at us...

This is linked to the next picture.

Monument of Scotland....

Cambridge --> Edinburgh

2008-06-11T16:29:00.005+08:00

Nice sunny afternoon at Trinity College, Cambridge again. Very much like Harry Potter, which was filmed partly at Oxford, sister university to Cambrige.

Stansted Airport has pretty good shopping too.

Flight delayed for 1 hours plus due to strike by French air-traffic controllers.

Welcome to Edinburgh!

wake up london...

2008-06-09T17:28:00.008+08:00

I drifted in and out of sleep throughout the entire flight. Only managed to fall asleep 4am sg time. Even so, sleep wasn't good. 4 hours before landing, I was already feeling grouchy and annoyed from the lack of sleep.

My first A380. I didn't managed to catch the registration number though.

This is the "Get out of jail free" card equivalent. Heathrow's immigration is notoriously known for its long queue. This card enables me to breeze through the customs using the Fast-Tracked Lane. There was no one at the fast tracked lane and I virtually cleared the customs within a minute. :)

Finally, after 3 hours of bus ride from Heathrow, CAMBRIDGE! Quaint quiet little place. The city centre has become more exciting since I visited 2 years ago. Now, there's a big mall smacked right in the middle of it. It's hard to imagine that this place is a university town. The concept of the NUS town according to Ted, is gonna follow the same one that Cambridge has.

So this is where i'll be putting up in cambridge. Nice little loft units.

Sunday market! Sea sponges. I've heard about them but this is the first time I'm seeing them. All natural sea sponges!

Superjumbo a380!

2008-06-09T16:45:00.008+08:00

Finally after more than a year of waiting, UJJ boards the superjumbo A380.

His boarding pass.... 48D! Hah! The cattle class seat with the most leg-room sans those emergency exit seats.

Like most major airports in the world, T3 is configured such that each waiting lounge caters for more than 2 boarding gates.

As the plane is a superjumbo, boarding is done by rows. Flight is full, presumably cos the A380 craze is far from over. The B747 was very much dwarfed by this giant at the apron.

Sitting on 48D, the leg room is amazing. Not that I need it but still, for long haul flight I get a little grouchy sometimes.

As there are no economy seats in the A380, all economy class seats are classed Executive Economy. The seats are generally wider, more leg room and bigger LCD screen. The plane is equipped with LED lights that very gently changes colour to colour. This is very much different from the usual planes were the lights can jolt you out of sleep when they come on. Takeoff was exceptionally quiet for such a huge plane. Throughout the flight, the engine was very quiet. The B777-200 or A320 by comparison were very very much noisier.

And so it will be!

2008-06-07T11:23:00.003+08:00

Finally this evening, UJJ goes on the A380 en route London Heathrow. I had chosen the most spacious seat in the economy section of A380, 48D. The missing seat in row 47 is due the presence of an escape hatch in the lower deck. So SQ322, 48D it will be! :)

I'll update with more pics onboard to show you guys when I arrive in Cambridge! :)

Myanmar hit by Cyclone Nargis

2008-05-08T19:41:00.003+08:00

When last weekend's weather was unbearable and the air was not moving with the skies clear and almost cloudless most of the days, we should have known that in the region, a cyclone's gonna hit.

Now, the tropical cyclone has left more than 100 000 dead and many more missing. Myanmar, already one of the poorest nations in the world, has yet lost another generation of progress. As I watch the news unfold, I can't help but feel very sad for the them. These are the people who are so poor that they have nothing to fend for themselves. And the military government that seized power decades ago is just not willing to allow help in freely. As I blog, lives are lost. Fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers all dead or missing. Possibly never to be found. Whole communities wiped out. Corpses lie rotting in the tropical heat. 100 000 is a frightening number. With sewage washed up during the storm, water-borne diseases will become a problem. Poor poor Burmese.

Here in Singapore, everything's normal. Students are still skipping classes, refuse to hand in homework, talk non-stop in class, refuse to study for exams. Think education is not important.

Life is just so unfair.

keep sports and politics separate. please.

2008-04-20T11:40:00.004+08:00

The western media has for the past weeks portrayed a very biased report on the China, Tibet issue. The eurpoean leg of the Olympic torch relay has been fraught with much protests. With the media giving a very biased report, I wonder how many people actually knew that some protesters even attacked the wheelchair-bound torchbearer pushed by a blind athlete?

candycane, freedom. . .

2008-04-20T11:06:00.002+08:00

The funfair came and left yesterday. Within a few hours, the hills were transformed into the fairground. Most of the day went off pretty quickly, with so many things to do and take note of. Driving home gives me the chance to be in deep thoughts.

Most of the things went on pretty well today. Although the buzzer died towards the evening, I was quite pleased with the creativity of clare to improvise and still make the best of the situation. I was equally pleased to see some whom I least expected to see. However, I flared up towards the end of the day when I saw how this generation so ever willingly accept free stuff but when these things are dirtied slightly, they just discard the entire product away. Maybe everything had been given to them on a silver-platter that they do not realise the value of things. It's not just the monetary value of things that i'm talking about. I'm talking about the larger value of things which I find hard to explain. Carpark's been pretty goos today and everyone's been very helpful and understanding.

I only realised how tired I was when I lay on my bed. Woke up this morning to the tune of Freedom etched in my mind. Freedom is a song written by Joyce Loke and performed by her band twice on the hills. Nice, catchy chord progression... I like it! Very talented group of people. Most importantly, these are the people who have a clear sense of direction in life. Talking about responsibilities, I was very glad that some 5MMers chipped in and helped with the picking of litter. Others, just walked by me pretending nothing is happening. I'm not sure about these people but I would feel very uncomfortable and guilty to see my teacher picking up MY rubbish in front of me. Was pretty disturbed by this but i decided to focus only on the good things that happened.

All in all, the candycaners, 5MMers etc... had made the day really memorable.

Yipee!

2008-04-09T19:40:00.004+08:00

I'm so glad the silly donut craze is O-V-E-R. Saw this sign yesterday at Raffles City. Had a good laugh with...

New record!!!

Never too small to make a big difference...

2008-04-08T19:44:00.002+08:00

Saw this funny looking caterpillar last weekend. It's got fungus looking stuff growing on its sides. From far, it looks like a face.

El Nina

2008-03-22T11:17:00.001+08:00

El Nina
Originally uploaded by urbanjunglejuice

Spider lilies are blooming all over the island. Just two weeks ago, polly went around and cut them all off. On thursday, i saw them in full bloom again. Along the roads, the situation is the same. This month, singapore experienced an unusually high rainfall for march. The global climate is changing. With temperature fluctuations and rainfall so erratic, flowering patterns will change, as will the pollination season. Have we already gone past the point of no return? 6 degrees could change the world!

this is even funnier!!!

2008-02-25T23:18:00.000+08:00

A380 Tail strike!

2008-02-24T20:29:00.002+08:00

Deliberate tail strike of A380 to test minimum take off velocity. This machine is amazing! :D

omg omg this is soooooo funny!

2008-02-21T20:06:00.001+08:00

paper cuts, dog ear etc... you book vandals better watch out!

We did it again! :D

2008-02-20T23:22:00.002+08:00

Strong showing by NUS in THES-QS World University Rankings 2007

NUS was ranked 33rd in the world and 4th in Asia in the Times Higher Education Supplement-Quacquarelli Symonds (THES-QS) University Rankings 2007. NUS continued to fare well in the major disciplines. It is top in Asia for Life Sciences & Biomedicine and Social Sciences, taking the 12th and 20th spots respectively in the world ranking for these disciplines. NUS also emerged second among Asian universities for Technology and Arts & Humanities while ranked 10th and 21st in the world respectively. The University remained within the world’s top 25 for Natural Sciences.

But erm... we're even better than UCLA and NYU? :S

A wave of nostalgia just swept over me. I feel like studying again. I really do miss school and all those carefree days. The intellectual discussions, the open exchange of ideas, the research, the lab work, the breaks in the canteen while waiting for the lab results to be generated by the computer, the mugging of exams in the LT till the wee hours in the morning. Gosh. I really do miss studying. I will go back to studying. Soon.

Another record!

2008-02-19T21:57:00.001+08:00

Another record!
Originally uploaded by urbanjunglejuice

725.6km on this tank! Whee!

blabberings...

2008-02-19T20:23:00.004+08:00

I'm almost up to my neck at work but i'm lovin' it. Presents are coming in this wed and i'm quite sure I can do them within the week. Then one more week and i'm off with fab peeps to Taman. I just can't wait. :)

Met up with Eunice and Jac and binged. I guess we're all pretty stressed at work. I could really do with more regular meals. Gonna top up the milo at my desk and maybe replace it with cereal. Gosh I miss the cereal days while staying in hall. :)

CNY came and it's almost over. Yet another year.

oh btw...Mary J Blige has a new song!

What's with the fire thing in the beginning of the MTV? Don't really like it. The middle of the MTV's pretty nice but towards the end... eh.. didn't kylie already wore that similar cape thing in her MTV almost 10 years ago? Anyways, MJB still rawks.

700km plus!

2008-02-06T06:34:00.001+08:00

700km plus!
Originally uploaded by urbanjunglejuice

This tank of fuel reached 700km! Whoo hoo! So efficient. I was already expecting it to be able to go over 650 but never did expect it to be over 700.wondering if it's due to the colder temperature of the weather these few days.

Perils of studying biology.

2008-02-03T10:20:00.001+08:00

Perils of studying biology.
Originally uploaded by urbanjunglejuice

Stamen, anthers, stigma, style, stamen, anthers, stigma, style... Pollen, petals. Where are the roots? Xylem phloem etc. Ah!

Lunch!

2008-02-02T12:43:00.001+08:00

Lunch!
Originally uploaded by urbanjunglejuice

Lunch at Recess again. Recess is a quaint place at the old MGS on Mt Sophia. Food here's pretty ok but prices are a bit on the steep side. The ambience is fab. Good ol' canteen by the school field kinda feeling, minus the sweaty smelly school kids.

Some people lead. Others choose to be lead. What's your choice?

2008-01-31T19:15:00.001+08:00

Some people lead. Others choose to be lead. What's your choice?
Originally uploaded by urbanjunglejuice

This month has been very hectic yet fulfilling. Can't wait for chinese new year to be here. :) On a more serious note, i feel we all need a nudge in the right direction sometimes. But some people just refuse to budge. Preferring to remain in their comfort zone, they do themselves in by limiting their horizons. Forever they'll be locked down by the shackles of ignorance and will perhaps, never breathe the liberating air of knowledge and experience.

Supper

2008-01-27T00:55:00.001+08:00

Supper
Originally uploaded by urbanjunglejuice

Sun 27/01/2008 00:51 27012008041 Just watched The Mist. Pretty good movie. Dark as usual, typical of Stephen King.

Off to camp!

2008-01-26T10:19:00.001+08:00

Off to camp!, originally uploaded by urbanjunglejuice.

Sat 26/01/2008 10:00 26012008038 Still trying at blogging on the go with my new phone. Woke up early this morning for a mobilization briefing.

What i'm listening to now...

2008-01-13T16:13:00.001+08:00

Queen Elizabeth - The Christmas Broadcast 1957

2007-12-26T11:32:00.001+08:00

1 Dec World AIDS Day - Keep the Promise

2007-12-02T14:06:00.000+08:00

It's World AIDS Day so don't be surprise to see people going around wearing the red ribbon. =) It's time we stop the stigmatisation of this disease and combat HIV/AIDS the way we do with any other diseases: through education and prevention.

Stardust

2007-11-20T16:50:00.000+08:00

For some of you who have yet to watch the movie Stardust, GO WATCH IT NOW !!! If you like lots of magick, spells and a bit of fairy tale, this is a MUST watch! UJJ gives this movie a 9/10!

Oh...check out the offical site for hilarious games and many many more! http://www.stardustmovie.com/

OCIP... R&R.

2007-11-20T13:52:00.000+08:00

Lao is a predominantly Buddhist country. Most of her people follows the Theraveda Buddhism, similar to countries like Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar in the region.

In this temple lies one of the 3 legendary Buddha statues. One of the trio is none other than the Jade Buddha in Bangkok for whom the King of Thailand changes clothes for every season with much pomp. The final of the trio is lost beneath the Mekong River during the war. The legend goes that the 3 statues together will bring great prosperity to the country that owns them. For the longest time, many countries have been trying to lay their hands on them. I wonder if modern technology will actually help locate the missing statue under the murky waters of the Mekong River. According to the tour guide, this statue was made entirely of gold!

Statues...

Erm.. statue too.

Painting on the wall of a temple depicting the life of the Buddha. Reminds me of the Sistine Chaple in Vatican City.

More beautiful paintings.

Along Mekong River.

Here we arrive at a cave along the Mekong River where the locals kept their precious Buddhist artefacts during the war.

Giant flower!

Our fabulous host in Lao. This is Daniel, he is from Nagaland. Nagaland is by right part of India but if you look it up on the map, it's actually very far from the Indian Peninsula. According to Daniel, it's only recently that India included Nagaland to be under the adminstration of the Department of Internal Affairs. A sign that shows that the Indian government is trying to exert political control over that region. Before this, I never knew Nagaland existed. So ignorant!

A beautiful sight on our last morning there. These monks set off every morning around 4-5am to collect alms and along the roads, you'll see locals sitting crosslegged on the roadside, offering alms to the monks. The monks here eat meat because they are not suppose to be choosy of what people have to offer them. I think I've read this somewhere before.

Home sweet home!

Through the eyes of the Blueberry Mobil

2007-11-19T20:11:00.001+08:00

Caught this while waiting at the lights the other day. Dark, gloomy and depressing. Got me into a thinking mood (again). :S

OCIP... (The days after day 2...)

2007-11-19T19:41:00.000+08:00

I got tired of editing the hundreds of pics from the OCIP...so I've decided to post one more time about the 'service' part of the trip. After this, I'll be posting some of the pics from the R&R. :D

Having converted some of the service funds into KIP, the local currency, I turned into a millionaire suddenly! You can imagine my shock when Emily passed me the stack of money. :o

Dinner @ 'next door'. Throughout our stay there, we had numerous meals at this little shop beside the guesthouse. The owners were all women and were very nice to us. They gave in to the demands of our little singaporean princesses without any grumble. Thankfully, some of the princesses turned out to be gems and offered help to them on some days.

Houserules. Need I say more? I so need to have one of these in my lab next year. My favourite rule is rule #7: NO SCREAMING! The design group really did a good job in drawing this on the spot. We pasted this on the wall of the hall of the guesthouse.

Also done by the design group. The other groups were very enthusiastic when signing for their duties. We were all very heartened by this!

Sporty peeps!

Lunch @ Santhiphap!

Lunch came together with some performance put together by both schools. Here, our students taught their students how to play recorder! There were other performances like cultural dance etc. I was particularly impressed by how willing their students were to come out to show their talents. I'm sure those who were there will remember the guy who volunteered to play the keyboard and sang along with it. He went on singing even as we left for ARDA.

Our fabulous painters! They really did a fine job with the place and working till very late. By the time we walked back to the guesthouse, it was already pretty dark.

This is the place where they served endless springrolls. Scary.

Trying very hard to smile after eating so many springrolls.

OCIP Lao (29th Oct - 5th Nov) Day 2

2007-11-12T23:06:00.001+08:00

Day 2 started off with everyone getting excited. Although we've been told that we'll be entering the classroom to teach the students basic English, we really didn't know what to expect. So, off we walked to Santhiphap High School from our guesthouse. The walk was a short ten minutes but the entire convoy attracted quite a bit of attention. Whether unwanted or not, I can't tell for sure. Along the way, we saw many streetside hawkers selling roasted BANANAS!!

We met up with the Principal of the school thatvery morning and almost immediately, the girls set off to work! As this was the first day, many of them looked inadequate in the classrooms. And to make matters worse, quite a fair bit of the classes had students who could speak pretty good English already. It was heartening to see how the girls fumbled but eventually managed to modify their lessons accordingly.

Towards the end of the day, everyone was looking pretty drained from the excitment of the day. We walked back from the school back to the guesthouse. Along the way, many things were running through my mind. I wonder what were the thoughts on these young minds. I wondered if they felt like giving up and yearn to return to the comforts of Singapore. I wondered if this trip would makea difference to their minds. How about those students we met today, are we going to make a difference in their lives? What is our purpose here in Lao? While these thoughts whizzed about in my head, we had dinner and had our debrief. I went to bed tired but still thinking...

To Be Continued...

OCIP Lao (29th Oct - 5th Nov)

2007-11-06T16:21:00.001+08:00

Just came back from Lao last night. Very tired but I have to say that it's been an unforgettable experience. We arrive in Lao via Bangkok on Lao Aviation. It's my first time on a propeller jet. The airport is small even by Rockhampton standards and the air is fresh. Numerous hills loomed over the horizon, surrounding the airport completely.

We dumped our stuff at the guesthouse and immediately set out to orientate ourselves to service site. So we went to the school first. The sun was setting and the temperature was dropping. We were told that temperature could drop below 18 degrees and it did!

The classrooms were small, full of graffiti (see this is what happens when people damage public property!!), dusty without any lights nor fans.

To be continued... :D

"ASEAN cannot remain silent over Myanmar unrest: PM Lee"

2007-09-29T10:09:00.001+08:00

And indeed. ASEAN issued a statement. Only a statement. I can't help but feel extremely frustrated with the incompetency of ASEAN. Several years ago, someone journalist referred to ASEAN as the "talk-shop", its policy of non-interference of member states has always been the main obstacle in turning this organisation into one that is productive and beneficial to the region.

Aung Sung Suu Kyi's party won the elections more than 17 years ago but was never given the chance to rule the country. Instead, she came under house arrest by the military who voided the elections. And for 17 years (even though Myanmar only joined ASEAN later), ASEAN did nothing. The current unrest is probably the best chance the country can see some form of reform. However,the situation seems to be spiraling out of control. Just two days ago a Japanese journalist was shot dead at close range, (ie. possibly intentionally).

Let's face it, how many military governments actually managed to rule the country properly? Most of them are only interested in building up their power and wealth. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. This is one of the things I learnt in my political science lectures. As long as there is not enough checks and balances in any system, corruption is bound to happen. Singapore included.

Was just discussing with Dominic the other day that I cannot fathom the idea of a soldier killing another countryman. If I'm ordered to kill an innocent civilian Singaporean, I don't think I have the heart to do it.

There appears to be no good way out of the situation for the junta of Myanmar. Already the global pressure on them is mounting. Perhaps what they really need now is for someone to offer them a good way out of this awkward position. An exit plan of sort. One good way would be to release Aung Sung Suu Kyi and reform the military to be one that will help in the new government. That's probably the best exit plan they can have. Any other moves to forcibly contain the protests will only result in a bigger reaction from the people.

All over the world and SEA, people are angry and upset over this apparently injustice. Here in Singapore, nothing at all. Kyaw Kyaw Min, Education Committee, National League for Democracy, says: "We want ASEAN to take action on Myanmar. ASEAN is so weak...they are responsible because Myanmar is one of ASEAN countries. European Union also gives pressures, US also gives pressure, UN security council also...only ASEAN is so weak." Sigh...

Blogger launches Blogger Play!

2007-09-16T12:21:00.000+08:00

"Shortly after Blogger launched photo uploading two years ago, one of our engineers whipped up a web page that would show us the pictures that were being uploaded in real time. The result was fun, often beautiful, but above all, compelling. We couldn’t stop watching."

I saw this when i logged into blogger this morning. Wondering what this new toy is, i clicked the link. I was wow-ed and amazed by the pictures that I see. It made me feel so small yet unique in this world that we live in.

We're all born different. No one better than the other. Perhaps better or well adapted to live in certain environment, but never completely better. This is the basis of evolution and effects of genetic variation. What we perceive as correct or norms are merely social constructs. Boundaries that societies set so that we can make sense of this complex world that we live in.

For example, many religions today claim that there is only one true god. Their god. But this belief system is very dependent on the cultural background of the person. In other words, what god I believe in actually depends on what culture and religion i am born into. The development of the human brain as we make sense of the world depends very much on our prior knowledge. In other words, what we both call green colour, may actually be different colours because our experiences and understanding with the colour green, were all different.

Interestingly, NGC is playing "In the womb" again. And I'm just so awed by the ever so diversified world that we live in. If the world is big, the universe is even bigger. But if our minds are small and narrow, humankind will never make progress. Geneticist Richard Dawkins wrote that biology raises the human consciousness and opens up the mind. It really does.

Don't give hate a chance.

2007-09-13T08:42:00.000+08:00

Recently I've come across a lot of incidences personally and also on the news about hate crimes and discrimination. Be it racial, religion, body weight, looks, whatever...Discrimination comes from ignorance and ignorance breeds hate. Nobody likes the feeling of injustice so here I am doing my part by telling everyone, don't give hate a chance. :)

New toy!

2007-09-03T23:16:00.001+08:00

As some of you may have noticed, I had a new toy last week! The hill bought in a couple of new tablet PC (T4220) from Fujitsu. Having used Fujitsu's tablet PC since my uni days, I was more than happy to be one of the few to try the gadget out and see how it can fit into our daily work. Already i found a bug in the system and also found the way to overcome the problem. Compared to "anti-codon" (that's the name of my own tablet PC which is a T3010), this new machine is faster. Anti-codon comes with only 2 USB ports which can be realy annoying but the new one comes with 3. In addition, this machine comes with a hot-swappable DVD rom whereas anti-codon has an external one. Overall i'll rate the new machine 4/5. I'm still at wits end as to what to do with anti-codon since i've just gotten a new desktop at home and i'm too sentimental to get rid of it. Afterall, that was the machine that accompanied me throughout my university years. My days in the hostels and all over the world. I think i'll clean up the machine to remove the unwanted programs so that it'll run faster. Then I can use it at home when I leave the hill's laptop at work.

Meet Anti-codon (left) and his new friend Mendel (right).

Reflection...

2007-09-01T11:14:00.001+08:00

The celebs in the hills are fun fun fun yesterday. Although our joint performance item was short, I totally enjoyed it. I miss the days as a band member. Marching in the sun, doing formation display, painting banners, planning for concerts etc. Life as a student was just so fun.

4MM held a good munchies session for us too. The cake was oh-so-yummy! Thanks 4MM for making the day memorable. Looking back, that was the third time I had this sort of experience. First in FTPSS, then second year in SAS and third year, in STC.

The dinner was fun too. So much laughter in a day. I woke up this morning in deep thought. Reading the notes the hillers wrote for me. Sometimes we do wonder if we've chosen the right path. This job requires all 24 hours of our time that we sometimes neglect our families and the ones we love. One colleague lamented that he has not played with his daughter for a long time because everytime he is home, he is just so tired that he needs to sleep. Then there's the 'difficult-to-reach-out-to' hillers. They are quick to point fingers, to blame and the accuse. However, we understand and do not retaliate. This takes a lot of understanding, patience and heartaches on our part. Thankfully these incidences are still a minority. Dropped my teachers a few sms wishes. I'm sure they are busy now as well. The notes from the hillers were very encouraging. Am I in the right path? I'm not so sure at times but it's a decision I've made and I'll think i'll stick on to it.

Off to breakfast and then....SET PAPERS AGAIN!

PS: N Levels students please close the BROWSER NOW!

PPS: Yes... i said stop surfing and go study NOW!!!!!!! :)

WIDT

2007-08-26T15:26:00.000+08:00

Woke up at 9am and couldn't sleep anymore (again). Still reeling from the joy of my latest purchase. A denis wick mouthpiece model SM3M crafted by the best British euphonium player Steven Mead. What a beauuuuuuuuuuty! MUACKS!

I think I'll debut this mouthpiece during the T-day concert if i'm playing the eupho. Else... i'll debut it another day. Gee!

Got lots of stuff to do today. Set SA2 papers, buy hearts for tomorrow's dissection. Only managed to get 3 of them. Guess i'll get the class to share while i demo on the visualizer. It's gonna be a fun fun fun week ahead! Less stressful (i hope). :)

Ranting...

2007-08-18T09:17:00.000+08:00

I slept at 2am last night thinking that I'll be able to have a long day in bed today but here I am at 0918 blogging. I woke up at 0600, 0630, 0800, 0830....tossed and turned and decided that my biological clock shall claim victory today against the strong minded.

Since 0830, I've packed my room, cleared out most of the unwanted stuff, cleaned my working table and coffee table and now my room is nice and neat (for a short while) again. My next victim shall be my bookshelves with all the books I've had since pri - university days. Sigh... I've always felt this inertia to pack this shelf becos I don't want to throw away a lot of those things with sentimental value. As a result, I hoard, hoard, hoard and hoard and...the shelf is one long lifestory of myself. Perhaps it's time to let logic rule. I keep telling myself that if I have never searched the shelf in the past 2 years for things, then, I do not need any of the things there. But...but... what if? Yeah it's always the what ifs, should've, would've, could've that has been the main sources of the inertia. I need to get out of this mental model. Arghh..........

Things on the hill got pretty quiet this week becos the hillers are having the exams and CA. This was the peace before the storm. Now, the storm has arrived. Sitting in my room, staring at me screaming for attention. And there's no sun today... how to play beach vball without sun?

1 bday, 2 crashes

2007-07-22T11:33:00.001+08:00

Yesterday was mum's birthday and we went out for our usual birthday dinner. This year, we went to Jumbo at East Coast Seafood restaurant. Food was pretty good and but the crab was only so-so. As we were eating, we were treated to endless rounds of Apache helicopters turning within yards from the our table as the NDP rehearsals proceeded.

Now, the bad news. My desktop hard drive crashed. It started off with clicking sounds and then after a while, it died. That's the 2nd HD crash i had in two weeks. All my data I had since my JC days are all GONE. I'm gonna drop by sim lim sometime this week and see if anyone can recover the data inside. It's a physical disk failure so it's more difficult to recover the data. Need someone with that special talent and skill to bring my disk back! Sigh... :(

Talking about talents, here someone with a talent and managed to hide it for so many years. Paul Pott sings Nessun Dorma from Turandot.

zonked

2007-07-18T17:15:00.000+08:00

Yeah, I know I haven't been blogging for a long time and day in day out, i'm reminded by the pple on the hills that I haven't been blogging. The past 2 weeks had been pretty busy. No. Busy is an understatement. It's been pretty mad. Deadlines are all drawing closer but thankfully as of now I've been keeping to the deadlines. Phew...

Even though I was very tired last night, i woke up at 9pm for my favourite show on NGC. :P

Need to go back to work somemore... work work work... :S

SYF Opening Ceremony

2007-06-30T11:42:00.000+08:00

Had an extremely long but fruitful first week up on the hills. Yesterday was the 'finale'. I finished lessons at 2, immediately had to rush for the IJ-board induction for newbies then at 5pm had to bring my band babies to the SYF opening. Initially I thought that I will immediately zonk out the moment I reach Indoor Stadium but I didn't. Instead, i was dazzled by the items presented at the ceremony. Of course, our fabulous dance girls were there!! Was happy to see our girls cheering for their school mates. There were many band performances including 1 from St John's Institution from KL. The one that left an impression in me was the combined primary school performance. Those kids were so cute and wore flowers on the bells of their instruments. That made me recall me primary school band days. How we prepared for the SYF competition. I can still remember the pieces we played. I can even remember the solo parts and how it should be played, even after more than 15 years.

Then of course, there's my secondary school. In order to recruit members, we'll plan outdoor band displays for the sec 1s and it's always the most difficult and tiring activity but we all enjoyed it when the product was ready. Then there was JC, NS and then university. Gee...seems just like yesterday.

So what did I accomplish was a youth? Academica achievements aside, I think I had a hell lot of fun. Isn't that what being youthful is all about? I'd like to believe i'm still a youth and will spend this youth day holiday doing something youthful. Haha...

Dug through a whole lot of old pics but could only find some of them. So..this is me, when I was slightly more youthful. I'm youthful. Still. :P

This picture was taken for our year book. A decade ago. I'm seated first row, 6th from the right, beside the band major.

In JC, we made banners for EVERYTHING. This giant one spans 3 storeys and was hung on the rooftop. See how small the stone table looks compared to it. We didn't set out to do one that was so big but because I made a mistake in calculations, we ended up with a cloth that was so big.

Recruitment banner. We had so much fun planning and painting it.

There were only so 'many' guys in my JC class.

We call ourselves the crap-family. Cos we're always so crappy. We all came into JC and into the same class, doing the same triple science combi cos we wanted to be doctors. As fate would have it, only 1 of us made it. The rest of us are, however, happy where we are and doing our share for the community. Let's see, from the left (seated): pharmacist, teacher, business-woman, business-woman, radiologist, doctor (OMG i still cannot believe this crazy woman is a doctor now! :P) Standing: physiotherapist, physiotherapist, pharmacist, nurse.

NEOPRINTS! Haven't seen these guys for almost a year. Must have a class outing soon again! Arghh....

JC life was such a daze. It came and went very quickly and before we know it, we're in NS! OMG....

dead beat

2007-06-26T22:43:00.000+08:00

Last night, I blogged while lying on my bed using my Atom. Unfortunately, after I'm done with the entire post, i accidentally tapped the 'back' button and the post was gone. Forever. Was too upset to make another post and I just went to bed hoping to wake up 2 hours later to do some work. I didn't wake up till 6am today.

Yesterday was quite an emotionally sapping day. The mobile phone event triggered off everything and I spent almost an entire period blasting. Still not the kind of blasting I did in another place but enough to make so want to give up. This generation is unfortunate enough to be born into a world of so much distractions. Only the ones who can prioritise will survive. Nothing is more important that getting an education. Up on the hills, people are too sheltered. They do not know that they are competing with everyone else in singapore. They do not know that they have an excellent environment for maximum growth and development, away from the daily fights and frequent disruptions. The only disruptions they have are self-created. Their incessant talking drives me crazy. Their indifference drives me mad. Perhaps I just care too much.

This morn, found out that 2 of them deliberately skipped afternoon lessons "because they dun feel like coming". This time round, I was more composed. I even smiled and replied that I will treat it as a truancy case. They are not the malicious kind, just very playful. I really wish I had a way to make them see that they should really grow up now and be responsible for their own future. Yeah, grow up. Just two days and I'm actually quite drained. Physically and emotionally. Thankfully I've still got plenty of focused and motivated ones whom I don't mind a bit to stay behind after work to help. Sigh...

Kids...

2007-06-24T12:04:00.000+08:00

The unthinkable happened again yesterday. Mum's friends were in the house again! Ahhh... They're actually pretty nice people but really, it's the monsters they bring along that annoyed me. Thankfully for these monsters, they've been here often enough to know that my room is out of bounds. Even the area outside my door is out of bounds else this teacher will probably grill and eat them. Somehow these kids have a certain fear in them the moment they know i'm a teacher. Perhaps it's the amount of books plastered all over the walls that scare them. Perhaps it's my killer stare...perhaps perhaps. Whatever it is, I'm safe within the confines of walls of my room. The noise however was most annoying. Nowadays mum has taken to saying "Hey you all better lower your volume ah.....else the teacher will scold!" When I first heard it I was like "What?!" Since when did I become the "karang guni man" or the "policeman" who will catch little kids if they misbehave? These kids will probably grow up with twisted childhood who thinks that teachers are well.... monsters.

Too much blabbering. Anyway, i left the house before it was officially declared a war zone so that I will be spared of the psychological trauma. Lots of things to prepare today cos... school opens tomorrow! Wheee..... :D

Hooked!

2007-06-23T13:06:00.000+08:00

Just like Kimberly, I've taken a fancy to chinese songs recently esp to the song below. I first heard it a couple of days back in a cab and since then I've been playing it 10 million times annoying everyone. I'm like that. When I like a song, I play it until i'm sick of it. :P

你那么爱她 by 李圣杰林隆璇

直到爱消失你才懂得
去珍惜身边每个每好风景
只是她早已离去

直到你相逢他早已经
不在对你留恋
最后的你开始了一段挣扎

你那么爱她
为什么不把她留下
为什么不说心里话
你深爱她
这是每个人都知道啊
你那么爱她
为什么不把她留下
是不是你有深爱的两个她
所以你不想再让自己无法自拔

直到爱消失你才懂得
去珍惜身边每个每好风景
只是她早已离去
直到你相逢她早已经
不在对你留恋
最后的你开始了一段挣扎

你那么爱她
为什么不把她留下
为什么不说心里话
你深爱她
这是每个人都知道啊
你那么爱她
为什么不把她留下
是不是你有深爱的两个她
所以你不想再让自己无法自拔

你那么爱她
为什么不把她留下
为什么不说心里话
你深爱她
这是每个人都知道啊
你那么爱她
为什么不把她留下
是不是你有深爱的两个她
所以你不想再让自己无法自拔

And here's a fake MTV I found on Youtube. Quite funny!

In the Womb (Twins, Triplets and Quads)

2007-06-22T00:22:00.000+08:00

Nat Geo: 24 - 29th June! All those with cable must SEEEEEEEE!!!

WITD

2007-06-22T00:06:00.000+08:00

Woke up at 1000 and got an sms from a K. We're meeting somewhere in town to discuss the upcoming exams. Since I've been longing to pay the Singapore MINT Toy Museum, i suggested that we meet at the cafe for the discussion. I arrived there at 1145. Still in my dazed post sleep mood, I crossed the street talking to myself. Then I realised, K was already there waiting for me and caught me in my 'talking-to-invisible-friend' mode. Haha....so embarassing.

Anyway, we discussed and finished up quite a bit of stuff before starting to talk rubbish again. Then at 3pm I realised that I'm late for tea with D! Damn...so we quickly packed and left. Thankfully I was only meeting D in the next street. Phew! So we hung out till late and missed my gym. Argh! Nvm.. will gym and swim tomorrow instead. Today I'll take things easy.

School's gonna reopen again! Gosh...so fast! I'm so excited... :P

This is so (tragically) funny!

2007-06-21T01:12:00.000+08:00

The guy actually pointed up and said that "that's the boyfriend! OMG...he will fall for sure...Nooooooo....." So FUNNY!

Mon and Tue: WIDT

2007-06-20T13:38:00.000+08:00

On Monday, we participated in an IJ learning journey to discover for ourselves the IJ mission and what "being persons for others" actually mean.

And so we all went and had fun! Wheee....

First stop: Boat Quay! Though we don't know where exactly is the landing site of the IJ sisters, we do know that they landed somewhere here.

And then we followed the footsteps of the IJ sisters who went to the church beside CHIJMES. Yes, we WALKED from Boat Quay to that church. Thank goodness the weather was very good for walking. :) Frankly we chatted and walked so it didn't feel far at all.

At the church we learnt the history of the place. Next stop, CHIJMES, which is just next door.

Through the Gates of Hope. Apparently people had abandoned their babies here to the cared for by the nuns. What really amazed me was that within a few days after the sisters were given the Caldwell House to stay, with only scarce resources including just 1 frying pan for the whole group, they took in more than 10 fee paying students and even more orphans. Even though odds were against them, they did what they thought was right. How many of us can say for sure that we are able to do the same thing under the same circumstances? That really got me into a reflective mode.

The corridors of CHIJMES. How many had passed through their doors I can't say for sure. I think IJ students are really fortunate to belong to a school of such rich history and heritage. Unfortunately, I don't see the kind of school spirit I saw in other schools like St Andrews. The boys there sing their school anthem loud like a war cry that frightens enemies off. I've seen them fight in inter-school competitions, singing their anthem and cheering throughout the entire event. I'm not sure about IJ schools because I've never been to any such sports events as yet but I really hope such strong school heritage do not go to waste. Perhaps it's because I came from a school with very rich heritage too that made me feel so strongly about school spirit. Gan Eng Seng School (NOT Gan Eng Seng Secondary School PLEASE!) was established in 1885 for 'boys who were poor'. During my time, spirit was at an all time high. Now, I think the GESSian spirit is lost. No more pride. Just take a look at the way they wear their school uniform. Shirts tucked out, smoking etc. *FUMING MAD* NOT fit to wear the badge at all. ARGH! Ok too much ranting... IJ should never let their school spirit become like that of GESS.

We had lunch at BK of Cineleisure. So much junk food! I can't stand it! Haha...

And then we played our very own version of Amazing Race in Cineleisure! It's quite a good change considering we had a pretty emo morning with everyone getting into a reflective mode. So we did all sorts of funny things, DDR, Para-Para, Pool, Neo prints etc. Seems like my JC days are back again! I wanna take neo-prints with my best friends soooooon!! :D

We ended the day with some of the us going to Ding Tai Feng, Singapore Toy Museum or Eu Yang Sang. Apparently the Toy Museum group had the most fun. I wanna visit that too on my own next time! I was with the DTF group and we went to Paragon's Breadtalk and DTF to find out what made the company so successful. Just last month, I went to DTF 3 days in a row just to eat the same thing. My fav dish is the chicken soup with noodles thingie!! We had dinner at Fort Canning Lodge and though everyone was very tired, we did went back with quite a lot to think and reflect upon.

For me, I think what I remembered most strongly about that day was about the IJ sister's journey to Singapore and how they persevered against all odds. Human spirit, when pushed to the limit, can work miracles. Are we pushing ourselves enough? In today's comfortable world, are we getting too soft? Is Singapore turning into a nation of softies?

HKG and a wedding

2007-06-20T12:37:00.000+08:00

Been back since last sunday but been very busy since I got off the plane. Immediately, I went home and just zonked out waking up for Shi Sheng's meeting. Yeah, if you remember, Shisheng is the brother of the Huang Shi Yu who took part in the Star Search some time back. Here's the link:

http://ch8.mediacorptv.com/around8/interviews/view/240/1/.html

However, Shiyu wasn't the star that night of course. The groom, Shi Sheng was my friend in NUSWS and turns out that, the bride is my primary school friend! So that wedding dinner turned out to be very interesting for me. Not only were there tables for my NUS friends there was also a table full of my primary school friends! I was most surprised to find Jia Miao because, Jia Miao is also my kindergarten friend!

Here's the bride and groom.

Bride and groom again in their 2nd change of clothes. Sometimes I wonder why the hassle? Just let the two poor pple have their wedding dinner in peace man...

And Jiali was there too! She's my JC classmate, one of the members of our clique. Also the counsel president of my year. Gosh...we've all grown so much. JC seems to be yesterday but it's been almost 10 years.

And of course how can any post be complete without me and Ad? :P

This is Jia Miao, my kindergarten and primary school friend. She's the only friend i can remember from my kindergarten days cos our families were quiet close. Oh...she cousin is Zhang Si Li. The ex- Miss Singapore and brother is Teo Say Luck, MP of some constituency.

Wennie, Gerald and Me! Always so FOS in band....sigh.. i really miss playing my instrument.

WIDT

2007-06-14T16:37:00.000+08:00

First thing after meeting with the rest of at the hotel, we went to..... POPULAR BOOKSHOP! Gosh.... and we had so much fun buying all the HKCEE bio guidebooks and looking at all the creative questions inside. HKCEE is like our O levels except that their questions are a lot more creative and our syllabus are almost the same. Hehe...

Finally

2007-06-13T19:25:00.000+08:00

Finally it's alive! Haha...after tweaking with so many things. I've finally got this thing to work. Somehow I've forgotten how I managed to put my picture up in the personal profile section. I've included the url but somehow whenever I click save, the URL is not there anymore! Compared it with my other blog but I don't see anything amiss. Perhaps someone can give some pointers?

Didnt get to travel much this holiday cos too much work to do so i'm just gonna share a pic of me on my way to visit Hogwarts last year! :P

Alright, gonna fly off to HKG with some friends in a couple of hours and I hope the 4MM and 4P babies have done their homework. If you still dunno what homework, please ask around ok? It's due when school reopens.

Ok, i'll update this as I go along in HKG. :)

PS: And I need links for "JJ's Fab List"!!!!! Else people will think I'm a LOSER with no FRIENDS!! So please gimme your links here. Thanks!

The Missing Present

Long time!

BLAH

A victorious day for all civil societies in Singapore

Leaning Tower of STC!

Broken strings

Gratitude and Giving Thanks

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

December...

Why I refuse to celebrate christmas.

Death

บทเพลง "ส่งนางฟ้ากลับสวรรค์"

Aotearoa

yes here i go again...

Center for Inquiry

frustration

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

The day I hit a meteorite

Taiwan braces for typhoon

The Apple iPod's White Screen of Death

The Day MM Lee Censored Him

Bangkok Crisis

Eric Miyashiro and Kosei!

doing the tango

the triplet codon...

and so we went!

:(

A380 Takeoff (London Heathrow - Singapore)

blah!

One man lost is one man too many.

HOLA! (Barcelona, Sitges Spain)

top of the world (edinburgh castle)

Castles, witches and regalia...

Cambridge --> Edinburgh

wake up london...

Superjumbo a380!

And so it will be!

Myanmar hit by Cyclone Nargis

keep sports and politics separate. please.

candycane, freedom. . .

Yipee!

Never too small to make a big difference...

El Nina

this is even funnier!!!

A380 Tail strike!

omg omg this is soooooo funny!

We did it again! :D

Another record!

blabberings...

700km plus!

Perils of studying biology.

Lunch!

Some people lead. Others choose to be lead. What's your choice?

Supper

Off to camp!

What i'm listening to now...

Queen Elizabeth - The Christmas Broadcast 1957

1 Dec World AIDS Day - Keep the Promise

Stardust

OCIP... R&R.

Through the eyes of the Blueberry Mobil

OCIP... (The days after day 2...)

OCIP Lao (29th Oct - 5th Nov) Day 2

OCIP Lao (29th Oct - 5th Nov)

"ASEAN cannot remain silent over Myanmar unrest: PM Lee"

Blogger launches Blogger Play!

Don't give hate a chance.

New toy!

Reflection...

WIDT

Ranting...

1 bday, 2 crashes

*zonked*

SYF Opening Ceremony

dead beat

Kids...

Hooked!

In the Womb (Twins, Triplets and Quads)

WITD

This is so (tragically) funny!

Sun's out Surf's up! YAY

zonked