Tuesday, May 31, 2005

21:57

Jianrong left for Germany yesterday.

Currently, no one to play mahjong with le. how?

hehe. Shar said can play with her group, cos also got missing people. Hmmm... So guys? Up for it? But then play mahjong must also play got skill a bit la hor.

On another note... I can't wait to go over to Chicago. Of course, this brings me WITHOUT question to the issue of parting gifts.

So, for all those who have not gotten me one yet, or have nothing in mind to give me (i know you all want to give me a present), here are the top 10 wants when i go over to Chicago:) Can also be 21st birthday gift.

1) Sony PSP with at least 4 games :) Can play on the plane when I go over to Chicago.
2) Laptop bag. Specifically "The Beer Back" 17-inch Laptop Bag from Crumpler.
3) Hugo Boss Suit. Best time to get it now, because a $1300 suit is down to $800.
4) Lasik Surgery. Around $6k. Haha. Thanks Dad.
5) Braun Buffel Folio Bag.
6) Creative Travelsound. Okay, make it Creative Extigy Soundcard AND Travelsound. Of course, the laptop card also can.
7) Oakley Sunglasses. Whee!

Okay I can't think of anything else liao.

Must get items:

1) Web cam. So i can talk to everyone via Webcam
2) Trenchcoat. I think i should get another one.
3) Vaude Jacket. I wuv the black one.
4) 80 litre backpack. Must get new one. Cos my old one too small.
5) Laptop Power Accessories. The $268 one that allows you to charge your laptop, phone and PDA with either Car, Airplane or DC/AC voltage.

hmmm

a lot more in mind, but i'll think of it next time

lip
ranting

Sunday, May 29, 2005

There is only one way to God.

Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism.

My search for some meaning/truth in life has taken me on a journey since I was 16.

In fact, i first went to church (Presbyterian) when I was 14. Because i was talented and i was outspoken and outgoing, I was pretty much part of the core group in the youth ministry. Also, being musically inclined had me serving in the music ministry for 3 years.

I really don't know now. But at that time, perhaps i wasn't serving that much.

Readers can switch off now if they think i am going on a christian slant. In fact, undenialbly, i have always believed in a creator. I just didn't believe in the Christian Gospel.

Who is Christ to claim he is the Son of God? Who is Christ to send people to hell? Who is God to destroy entire cities when there may be innocents living in Sodom and Gonorrhea?

And as i learnt more about other religions, about Buddhism, about Taoism, about Hinduism, about Islam. I think i tended to believe less and less in the Christian message.

Essentially, the Christian message is still the same one, as it has always been: Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. No one comes before the Father except through me.

Stinking Christians. Who is He to claim that Judaism is wrong, that Buddhism is wrong, the Islam is wrong.

As i found out more, I realised that most religions teach a "Morality". Catholicism or Christianity does not. They teach that Jesus is the Lord. And to surrender to him is to surrender your will, your everything, to him.

I didn't want to give up myself. Christianity appeals to your very idea of you being an independant soul. Everywhere else, you are the center of your soul. Buddhism teaches that you can achieve Nirvana without God. It is essentially atheistic in it's message.

Islam I must admit I do not know it that well, mainly because I cannot understand arabic. One of the tenets of Islam is that the Koran must be understood in Arabic. Mind you, even your friendly neighbourhood muslim may not understand Arabic to the degree that scholars would. It is a spoken revelation to Muhammed from Allah. And frankly, Muhammed's "miracles" were ascribed to him by others, not by himself.

Unlike Jesus who claimed to bring people back from the dead, to heal disease, to be able to offer life to all people who are "dead" already.

I used to go, who the hell are you to condemn me that i am dead before I am truly dead and buried?

I really don't know. Perhaps I have always held a moralistic view of the world precisely because of my exposure to Christianity at a young age. My most violent objections to accepting Christianity came from my intellect.

Let's explore those objections.

1) Church History is violent. Crusades, politics among popes.

2) The New Testament is a collection of Gospels and the decision to collate these Gospels were made by Constantine the Great. It was a political decision made to unite the Roman empires.

and from extension: The bible is a Human Creation. even the O.T. was written by prophets and Humans.

3) There are immoral Christians in the world today. Cardinals who engage in paedophillia, Christians who kill.

4) I can always believe in Christ after I am 70 years old, and i can lead a life of moral debuchary NOW if i want. After all, God forgives.

Sounds like good objections don't they?

God said "Seek me and ye shall find". Well, most people don't even BOTHER to seek. Perhaps I have always been seeking, but the answers to everything are still shrouded in a veil of mystery.

Perhaps I shall go theological college, just to find out more.


lip
ranting

Saturday, May 28, 2005

Chapter 1

Opponents of Theism would point to this point as being totally against the doctrines of the Church: That there is a Loving God, one who is omnipotent, omniscience, omnipresent. Also, the Christian God is all-good and inexplicably, being omnipotent and omnipresent AND all-good, evil still exists in the world.

Evil such as Hitler, such as Pol-Pot, such as *ahem* shall not say.

Then again, there are the environmental evils. Tsunamis happen, droughts happen, people die of AIDS, a terrible illness, spread in Africa not via unprotected sex, but more often, from mothers to daughters to sons.

If God is all-loving, why doesn't He do something?

Try telling "God's will" to a father who lost his family to the tsunami. He'll say "fuck God".

But God allows pain. Why?

Let's be a little cynical for a moment. Let's just say that God's a dominatrix. He thrives in pain, he loves pain.

But then again, if we take away all the pain in the world, all the suffering, take away the droughts, take away the tsunamis, take away human conquest (because it causes wars), take away the holocaust, take away everything evil.

We wouldn't have good. We wouldn't have Saint Theresa (because there'll be no one to help), we wouldn't have heroes like Schindler, we wouldn't have Michael Jackson, who plays with underpriviledge kids.

Fact is, our world would be boring. To borrow a Jedi phrase: "One must go through trials and tribulations before he is learned and before he knows himself."

If God put little bunnies into every manicured field in the world and had humans watch television all day, half the population who loved television would be happy, the other half would not.

If the programme was American Idol, those people who dislike AI would be incensed.

So God could just pre-empt all the world's problems when He created Adam and Eve. Create humans without free will. Then every thing would be nice and smooth sailing. But then, you could never call them Humans.

Bad idea. Evil exists because humans have free will.

If Eve didn't have the free will to choose to eat the apple, we would not have be cast out of the Garden of Eden (If you believe the legend).

And frankly, If God didn't exist, there would be no Moral Ambiguity. If you say that Morality is a question forged through the ages by philosophers and Saints, then where did we get out "concept" of Good from?

If procreation is Good, Why is rape bad? after all, rape is just procreation of the human species.

now to convince myself of my own arguments. perfectly logical. perfectly scientific. and perfectly FOR theism.

Next Chapter of The Book please.

lip
ranting

Friday, May 27, 2005

A Case For Faith - Lee Strobel

And So it begins.

My quest to find and regain my faith in Jesus Christ once again. Whether friends would rejoice, or whether they would say that i have taken the path for the weak-minded, it is for me to decide.

I always thought that religion was one for the weak minded, those would could not stand on their own two feet, think with their own brains, and solve problems with their own intellect.

Or perhaps religion is a way to connect to other people, to open your world, and to meet and greet new people you have never known or even dared to talk to before.

Skeptics might say:

1) He's doing this because he's desperate to get a girl.

I don't refute that. I mean, christian girls are "chio". and no harm getting to know more people. And of course, people who say that going to church is about "God" can look at the congregation and throw that thought to hell. People go to church to make friends, to have social lives.

They just call it "Fellowship". And frankly, some of my best friends today were friends i made back then when i attended church. Not to mention how many couples have hooked up via "Church". So yeah, the church is a good "SDU". Why not? And of course, the "God" part SHOULD come later.


2) I need intellectual discourse to solve my doubts about the Christian faith. The blurb of the book reads:

"Strobel turns his skills to the most persistent emotional objections to belief - the eight "heart" barriers to faiths."

These are:

1) Since Evil and Suffering Exist, A Loving God Cannot.
Very Buddha. Very Zen. I like. (In case you people don't know, Buddha believed he could TRANSCEND God. He didn't say there was no God, Siddartha just thought he could attain Nirvana - to be without God)

2) Since Miracles Contradict Science, They Cannot Be True
Hmmm can't wait to get to this chapter. Probably going to be some chapter on scientific facts for miracles.

3) Evolution Explains Life, So God Isn't Needed.
Total Bullshit. God is needed just as much as Air is needed. Simply because humans have a basic need for understanding and spiritual support. It's just a question of WHY should be accept and believe in a montheistic, vengeful God such as Yahweh. (When other alternatives existed before, such as Ba'al).

4) God Isn't Worthy of Worship If He Kills Innocent Children.
Right. Like the Cardinal Bernard Law "LOVES" children. WACKO JACKO, if you ask me. Fucking Paedophiles.

5) It's Offensive to Claim Jesus Is the Only Way to God.
Well, Jesus said so himself. Plus what other ways are there? Okay okay, muslims will go Mohammed. I get it.

6) A Loving God Would Never Torture People in Hell.
NOW NOW NOW, where did we get the idea that Hell=torture? Maybe it's just being AWAY/WITHOUT God. Of course, to Christians, that's a bad thing, but to the rest of the world, it's not such a bad thing after all. Also, Hell is a pretty solid place if you ask me, not that I've seen it before. Why spend eternity with Pope John Paul II when you can spend it with Kurt Cobain and Michael Jackson?

7) Church History is Littered with Oppression and Violence.
Now, this one hits the nail right on my head. Can't wait to see what arguments he has against this. After all, past sins are ALWAYS utilised against the present situation. You mean we must FORGIVE the Church? Uhmmm. Crusades. brother, Crusades.

8) I Still Have Doubts, So I Can't Be a Christian.
Bull. Ask any christian. They ALL HAVE DOUBTS.

So ends the 8 retorts to the barriers to faith. I shall get started on the book, and report on my findings. Christian friends, Pray for me. Non-Christian friends, I would like to meet up and discuss over a cup of coffee or Vodka:).
Then again, we could always talk about the history of Buddhism and Hinduism. I'm the religion guru. Cool man.


lip
ranting

Thursday, May 26, 2005

Liverpool. Champions League Champs. 2004/2005

Says it all doesn't it?

When you are at M.ade I.n A.nfield, the official liverpool fan club, shouting your guts out, cursing the father mother and grandparents of everyone remotely associated with Milan, drunk with lots of Carlsberg and a jug of long island tea, smoked at least 10 sticks of cigarettes, talked with a whole bunch of folks who were liverpool fans, jeered the milan fan who walked in, you FEEL the atmosphere.

When Liverpool were 3-0 down at halftime, you feel the dejection.

When Liverpool started scoring. Bang 3-1, Bang 3-2, Bang 3-3, you knew it was destiny.

When Liverpool survived a Shevchenko double shot late late late in the game, you knew we had to win it.

When Serginho Ballooned, you hoped.

When Riise Missed, you moaned.

When Dudek saved. That was it.

Liverpool 2004/2005. A season to remember.

MUCH MUCH BETTER THAN THE TREBLE.

WOAH!

lip
ranting

http://www.one.org

To those reading this blog, please take some time to click on the link above.

The ONE Campaign is a new effort to rally Americans to fight the emergency of global AIDS and extreme poverty. Each ONE of us can make a difference.
Together as ONE we can change the world.We can beat:
AIDS
Starvation
Extreme poverty


ONE billion people live on less than ONE dollar a day.ONE by ONE, we can help them help themselves.
lip
ranting

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Bored Existance...

my lack of success at finding a job lately has been the cause of much distress to my parents.

of course, said parents are not aware of the fact that i am not doing anything to get my bum moving out of the house to work for cash.

but one should always give the impression that one is looking for work, so that you instill confidence in your parents that you have the "Drive" and "Motivation" to work instead of asking them for cash.

The only "Drive" i have nowadays is the type where i drive out at 1 am to have supper with friends. Motivation is reserved for Knights of the Old Republic 2. Very fun.

For all of you calling me a bum, i do have a job.

Indeed, i am currently giving piano classes at $200 a pop. Tides me over the weekends.

You know, $200 for 6 hours of work a month is heavenly. It's barely what i call work, and teaching kids is such a joy. I need another piano student to really rock the high life. No wonder there are such people called "professional" piano teachers.

Phui. To be the best, you must learn FROM the best. and frankly, i'm doing this for fun. Because i didn't use to need the money. But now i do:)

Unemployment has never been better. Only 4 more months to go before I leave this "sunny promontory" (btw, a promontory is a island/cliff with water on 3 sides.... technically the causeway is a landlink), to go to the "Windy City" to study.

I was reading Paul Krugman's economic essays last night, and boy, SHIT i have forgotten like 150% of what i knew. I am dumber than my sister now. You never hear me admitting that.

Back to lightsabers and killing dark sided Sith lords.

*makes lightsaber sounds*


lip
ranting

Monday, May 23, 2005

01S70.blogspot.com

Guess what, to those who don't know yet, my JC class has a class blog.

I figure out that blogging is the best and easiest way to keep in touch. After all, yahoogroups is pretty much defunct, ecircles is crap, friendster is just too much work.

My class happens to have (let's see... 1, 2, 3, .... ) eleven glorious people studying overseas. (Wait, maybe 12, cos wendy's doing her attachment in Sweden. (in more ways than one. attachment to guys?)

So, having a class blog makes sense, because we get to keep in touch with one another, as well as reading about singapore stuff, and also what everyone is getting up to with their sorry little lives.

On another note, i wish to travel. again.

but i have no cash. Fuck it.

It's like, me: "Dad, can i go travelling again?"

Dad:"no."

me:"but why? reason 1: blah blah blah, reason 2, blah blah blah. reason 3 blah blah blah... "

Dad:"no."

right.

Anyway, someone said it right. I heard it during my indochina trip: When you have time to travel, you don't have money. When you have money, you have no time.

How true.

Rich kids sometimes just get all the luck. Sometimes, i wish i were filthy rich. Like swimming in cash. Fat Hope.

And frankly, i'm too lazy to do anything about it. Dad wanted me to go for an investing course in options and derivatives (can you believe i'm only 21?), and i went like... Who's money am i going to trade? YOURS?

Right.

Then again, I have Baldur's Gate 2 to keep me occupied till i fly over to Chicago for my Undergraduate studies.

Sometimes, i feel humans are loners, other times, they need support and friends.

Today, i was just feeling like a loner

So shut the fuck up and leave me alone.

and lately, i'm still online a lot, but i tend to go on Appear Offline mode, cause i don't feel like talking to anyone. sigh. Wad's wrong with me

lip
ranting

Saturday, May 21, 2005

From A Deeply Hurt Daughter

Click in the link above.

Dear Mum,I don’t know what went wrong. Sometimes I just feel that I don’t belong to this house. I don’t belong to you. As though I’m born by someone else, not by you.

I know more than a few people who have felt this way. And frankly, it's sad that people do have broken families to contend with.

Trouble is, it is our own personal responsibility to ENSURE that our children will not go through the same fate of a broken family as some of our more unfortunate friends have.

Then again, when love has died, and her flaws become apparent, is the institution of marriage strong enough to last through the remaining years? when companionship morphs into a daily grind of nags, quarrels and disagreements, would you still stick by the vows "till death do us part"?

I don't see it in today's society. And frankly, zhengyan did say something right today:

Ambition and relationships are hard to keep intact. Something has to give.

More often than not, it is our relationships.

adious people, off to the US of A i go.

Where free love and divorce are norms, and 50% of teenagers come from a single parent family.

Way to go.

lip
ranting

I am a private.

I dunno.

I think i tend to blog more about issues at the world, and not really about myself as much. Frankly, because i think if it is none of your god damned business, you shouldn't give a fuck about me.

Conversely, i am always interested in how's your day, and what's up in your life. Call me a busybody if you're negative, but i'm more likely to view it as being interested in that person and being a friend.

Of course, with all these taking of information and very little giving out, people have accused me of being cold, that they don't "know" me very well.

I like it that way just fine. I mean, why do i want so many people to know about me?

oh today, i had fried egg for lunch and rice and vegetables, and i sat down at the dining table and finished the straits times and after that i came to by computer and read forums and blogs and after that i'm meeting wenliang, shaun and yikai for mahjong at my place.

and last night, i went for supper with the guys at 1 am and because i was feeling a bit peckish i ordered stingray and kangkong (With rice) and mee goreng and kambing soup. and talked about british politics, american culture, geography and soccer.

now why would anyone in their right mind want to know that?

i know i am not forthcoming. i never have been. in fact, i like to be the observer, knowing much, but not giving up much information. that is just how i am. screw you if you think i don't consider you a friend because i don't tell you more stuff than i should.

but, i may break precepts.

lately, something disturbing has happened. ever thought about mix marriages?

i don't know. i seem to have aunts with korean boyfriends, swedish mixes, british boys and many others.

but what about ching-mat relations?

is it still accepted in traditional chinese families to have a ching-mat relationship? the couple may be in love, and there may be educational gaps and cultural differences.

but the most fervent opposition has to be from the families. whether the malay side, where the bride must marry into the religion, or the chinese side, where the parents dread "losing" a daughter they knew.

and even so, how about the grandparents?

my grandma said with a sad voice to me the other day when i was sending her for a medical checkup.

"She doesn't even eat pork anymore".

i don't know. maybe our younger generation is more open to such things, but even i am feeling the pressures of being the first grandson in a traditional chinese family.

i remember my grandmother bringing me downstairs when i was staying in laguna park, burning incense and paper "nuggets" for my ancestors. i took it up with gusto back then. folding, burning with glee. i was only 7.

and then i remember my grandfather is hospital, saved from a heart attack, the episode leaving him far weakened than ever before, and with much less mobility. he can still walk, thank god.

i don't know. why can't the younger generation make decisions entirely our own, for we have our families to answer to, and subsequently, our future wives and husbands and families to be. that we must do our best now for a better future tomorrow?

but then again, i am not one to worry about such intrigues. Que Sera Sera


Once again i have failed to blog happy post that makes people laugh, but rather a serious post that is a total counterbalance to my happy side that i prefer to show people.

how ironic. but those who know me, know that i have always been deep.


lip
ranting

Friday, May 20, 2005

Celebrity Culture

i don't know what i am going to post today.

You see, i could go the serious blogger route, and post about the straits times errant reporting, or about how legislation for overseas paedophiles will just remain that, legislation (because proving beyond the shadow of doubt for sex tourists is quite hard for the prosecution), or how the crazy horse cabaret in Singapore (Clarke Quay) is good for the arts, but i doubt it would be a serious winner. But then again, Singapore Ink is doing a good job of that.

Or i could blog entertainment news, like Kylie getting cancer (God bless ya Kylie), or how LINDA LIOW IS SO CHIO! (S'pore slang for pwetty), or how Vonzell should have stayed in AI 4 instead of Carrie (and Bo shall win it anyway).

Or should i go down the xiaxue or sillycelle route and act dumb, bimbotic (in my case, himbotic), and occassionally flame someone on my blog. Wait i've already done that.

So, there are 3 tiers of bloggers. First tier are the supreme beings of the blogosphere (even i didn't coin that world, some one put in websters please). Like mrbrown, xiaxue (i don't even know where she gets her readers from), Singapore Ink , and even Young Republic
Or even gssq.

Now, with the exception of xiaxue, the remaining powerbloggers tend to post more on media alternatives, giving comments and forum ideas that would never ever in my lifetime be seen on the straits times forum. (unless of course, you are Catherine Lim. Bless her and that article on political liberalisation)

Then there's the 2nd tiers, like miyagi, adri, lawyer wannabe etc etc who are less well known (at least by me) but i do pop by occassionally do look at their views, and because their prose is mucho better than mine. (okay, maybe not the miyagi singlish)

and 3rd tiers are my friends and the thousands of other blogs out there that live a sad existance. Even though they do post on serious and imaginative topics, (like Jesse) and even our class blog!

But then again, 3rd tiers usually post about their mundane lives that no one gives a fuck about. (today i went shopping, and i bought 7 skirts, 6 white tops, 5 pink dresses, 4 bras from victoria's secrets, 3 thongs from triumph, 2 pairs of shoes, and 1 makeup kit from SKII.) [do not ask me why i know so much about feminine products. i am strictly male]

I guess out society today is suffering from a celebrity drawback. like okay, enough about Fann Wong and Christopher ALREADY. they've been together for so fucking long, my mama gave birth to my younger brother. (yo mama)

and whatabout the papparazzi and the chasing of Diana, and all those photos of Kournikova, Sharporova, Abramovich, i-don't-give-a-fuck-ova (notice the russian link), and of course, the numerous celebrity news and gossips on MTV.

enough says the populace. So we elevate civilians to pop culture "celebrity" status with the advent of reality TV! Bring forth the Survivors, the Amazing race couples (Which incidentally, are the same in the recently concluded race which i didn't watch), the Apprentices, the next-top-models, the eyes-for-guys (or gays), and of course, our favourite idols from all over the world (Timbuktoo Idol, anyone?)

And so, Xiaxue is born. So is Taufik and Sly. Problem is, once they become celebrities, they start acting celebrity-like (you know, sunglasses add that extra cool factor, torn jeans, handsigns that say oh i am sooo cool)

Maybe i'm just sore that i'm not a celebrity

joking. So what is it with celebrities?

Do they get LAID more?
Do they EARN more?
or is it just like the dark side of the force, power begets power, and hunger for fame is innate.

I don't know. Maybe it's the universal need for acceptance by society that drives the celebrity culture (Britney anyone?)

of course, i already thought of my oh-so-cool celebrity name. Once i get into the hall of fame (whether by being extremely good, or extremely bad), my name shall officially become a hip-hop sounding one (no more lip jin for me)

I shall be known as el-Jay.

Or lan jiao.


lip
ranting

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Salsa and Confidence

Okay. I admit it, i've taken Salsa classes.

Been to jitterbugs for my 2nd lesson and boy, was it fun. I mean, why do people take Salsa lessons? To dance?

Nah. It is to pick up chicks.

There i said it.

And why do chicks do salsa classes? WHY WHY WHY? pick up guys?

I don't know.

After all, i know a few people who have taken salsa classes and after class, never ever put their dancing skills to practice.

After all, how often do you go to salsa fiestas at xenbar/jitterbugs/union square on friday nights? All you get is the mating dance of humans that is clubbing.

i.e. guy sees hot chick in salsa bar, struts towards her, offers his hand, says smugly (or terrifyingly) "may i have a dance"

gal looks away, laughs, and dimisses him with a wave of hand.

guy slinks back to buddies who are laughing.


(i did it in yellow for effect)

anyone visited those dating websites lately? YES JOSES I KNOW YOU HAVE.

shhhhhhh.. don't say so loud can.

anyway, they talk about confidence. (for the record, i must say that i do NOT visit such websites. I just have spam sent to me which i devour when i'm bored out of my pubic hair.

how to most beautiful of women just want some arrogant biatch or himbo to ignore them and treat them as though they weren't goddesses.

right.

so next time i see cindy crawford on the street, i shall go over and say:

hey, your IQ is the the same as the size of my dick.

bingo. I win. both ways. rather annoying, i am.

and that brings me back to salsa. You see, i know many guys taking salsa classes. myself, EOCC mates wenliang, des, kelvin, and william. okay not a lot, but enough to consider.

and i know 1 girl taking salsa. Just 1. and i wonder? WHO THE HELL AM I KIDDING THAT THIS SHIT THAT I AM LEARNING IS GOING TO BE THE ANTIDOTE TO MY SAD EXISTANCE?

okay. for those who wanna know? i take salsa cause i wanna go panama to dance when i get to the US. plus i heard that west coast salsa competition is in Illinois in 2006. hehe heard only ahhhh...

and frankly, i need to learn how to dance. I have 2 left feet. Cutting it down to one a half with lessons. hopefully, i'll be normal soon with 1 left foot.

or maybe none, like anakin skywalker.

Cool, Star wars is. Watch it, you must.


lip
ranting

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Morality Issues

Your Moralising Quotient of 0.17 compares to an average Moralising Quotient of 0.27. This means that as far as the events depicted in the scenarios featured in this activity are concerned you are more permissive than average.

Your Interference Factor of 0.25 compares to an average Interference Factor of 0.15. This means that as far as the events depicted in the scenarios featured in this activity are concerned you are more likely to recommend societal interference in matters of moral wrongdoing, in the form of prevention or punishment, than average.

Your Universalising Factor of 0.00 compares to an average Universalising Factor of 0.42. This means you are less likely than average to see moral wrongdoing in universal terms - that is, without regard to prevailing cultural norms and social conventions (at least as far as the events depicted in the scenarios featured in this activity are concerned).


For more analysis see link at the bottom of the page.

Go to http://www.philosophersnet.com/games/taboo.htm for the game taboo.

Interesting analysis.

Haha. My full results are here

And even Joanna has a livejournal. that's where i found it from. welcome to the blogging world.


lip
ranting

The Next Elected President of Singapore

Well well, so the presidential elections have come again.

I am still not old enough to vote (unlucky candidates), but then, the last time we voted for a president was i-can't-remember because each election was almost a walkover by the incumbent, or someone heavily backed up the PM, MPs and government.

so here are some presidential nominees that COULD make an impact on Singapore in the future...

1) Gurmit Singh
Why not, he's an icon, he has been out there for NKF charity shows year after year (fulfils the "helped society criteria -check"), and is recognisable all over the world thanks to his stint on the Amazing Race as PCK.

Let's hope he won't appear on national TV in his permed hair and yellow boots. That'll be a hoot.

2) Eunice Olsen- or some other former beauty queen. Nadya, Jaimee Ong blah blah blah
We have broken taboos (or so some say) by having beautiful NMPs (nominated members of parliament). So let's break more taboos by having a beautiful president. (she may be an airhead, but other presidents would just look at one spot when she makes her appearance.)

3) Philip Yeo
And Singapore shall go to war. I can imagine his comments on Malaysia and other neighbouring countries if he gets elected...

4) Xiaxue.
NO! Case closed. But apparently, she's Singapore's most famous blogger (puke). Some style, but less and less substance liao. Well, who needs a short president anyway?

5) Clarence's tuition teacher *again*
For those not in the know, the last time we *tried* to elect a president, his tuition teacher applied, only to be rejected because he did not have the criteria necessary to be president.

He should try again. And then get rejected, and we would have a president that would be nominated by default (because whoever he is, he is the only *qualified* nominee)

6) LKY.
He has the cabinet in his hands, he has Singapore businesses in his hands, why not make the presidential seat his as well? Cons? He's a tad too old already, should be happily enjoying his retirement.

7) Me.
Why waste the money to send myself up for election when i'm not even going to get past the first round:)? haha.

Really, do we even have a presidential candidate in the wings? Maybe Peter Ho, maybe a retired former permanant secretary. Really I don't know.

But whomever our choices, it would be better than George W. Bush, and we'll never go to war because of weapons of mass destruction.

Or maybe we could attack the Riau islands to kill all the child prostitudes so that NMP Ms. Olsen would have her wish of the gahmen (borrowed from mrbrown) doing something to stop paedophilic Singaporean men.

Quite sad actually, paedophilic Singaporean men. I hope i don't know anyone who would turn up like that (i have one person in mind). But those you tend to have a latent dislike seem to end up in your family.

P.S. check out 01s70.blogspot.com for our class blog!


lip
ranting

Saturday, May 14, 2005

Singaporean Male Scholars. Whiny?

Hello Mr. Phillip Yeo.

I happened to read this morning's edition of Sunday Times at 6 am in the morning and i was to put it mildly, incensed to read of the CHAIRMAN of A*STAR making such degoratory comments such as these.

"I rather give my scholarships to females and foreigners"

"Singapore male scholars are whiny, even after doing NS, they are still not mature" -paraphrased

Hello, I am a scholar from Singapore, occifer from OCS and served with pride in the army for 2 fucking years.

and tell you what, i am actually considering ways to get the fuck out of my bond, including going to SMU and finding my own financing for my studies.

WHY? Because the Singapore government is autocratic. and frankly, comments like these don't help. We also view the 6 years bond as something akin to NS, where there is no freedom of choice for us.

Why don't girls get it? Because they have not experienced the bureaucracy of the public service, they have not experienced the paperwork, the administration, the system.

In NS, it is ALWAYS about the DAMN SYSTEM.

Even NOW, my mum complains about the education system. It is always the system. It elevates foreign "talent", it does not provide flexibility, and certainly certain "POLICIES" cannot be bypassed because mr. so and so said so.

we guys have been through the system. Granted, it is efficient. It has worked for many years. It is a system in place set by higher ups in their "policy" decision.

Much like 2+2 years for bachelor/masters cannot, but 3+1 for the same can. WHY? (If you dunno about it, go read acidflask incident.)

policy. It is always policy.

There is NO FLEXIBILITY IN THE SYSTEM!

ladies, before you mouth off saying us guys are weak and whiney, we are not whiney. (fuck i don't even wanna bother to find out the correct spelling)

We don't whine. we know better not to whine. it never works. NS makes you a good whiner. I know, I'm a PC. (SIR... VERY LONG LA THE ROUTE MARCH, SIR.. More time for canteen break, Sir... please this please that.)

WE know we have to work the people who run the system, for the system doesn't allow for What-ifs. It's just like the no-U-turn. In Singapore, you have to ALLOW a certain action. If you can't find it in the policy book, ermm sorry, not allowed.

Other places, it's the opposite. Everything is allowed unless it is explicitly disallowed.

So tell me how to produce good, model citizens who can actually think with such a system?

Sorry Mr. Yeo, i have great respect for you, esp. biopolis and stuff. But i have to firmly and politely disagree with you on this point.

In fact, most scholars serve their bonds and fuck off. we are having the best and brightest, the critical thinkers, thinking of leaving public service after they've been there and done that.

Let's hope it will change in the future.


lip
ranting

Friday, May 13, 2005

My family has a curse

My mum's professional qualifications.

Education & Professional Organisations
B.Arch (Hons) National University of Singapore, 1979
Registered Architect with Board of Architects, Singapore, 1982
Corporate Member of Singapore Institute of Architects, 1982
Higher Education Teaching Accreditation Program, Staff Education Devpt Assoc, UK, 1999
Committee Member of Chinatown Project Committee, Singapore Tourism Board, 1999
Committee Member of IT Committee, Singapore Institute of Architects, 2000
Honorary Member of Society of Interior Designers, Singapore, 2001
Tutor, Saturday Art School, Pratt Institute, New York, 2002
Tutor, High School of Art and Design, New York, 2003
Master of Science in Art and Design Education, Pratt Institute, New York, 2003
Pratt Circle Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement, 2003
Advisory Board Member to Arts4YoUths, Singapore, 2003

My dad's are almost similar.

B.Arch NUS
Bachelor in Proj. Management
MBA.

and he still got retrenched.

Okay, so now i'm thinking. What's the use of having so much qualifications? we're still not rich. (when i define rich, i mean rich until i can drive ferrari okay)

but at least ends are met with a little extra.

Why paper chase? Hope I won't end up a paper person, as in many many paper, but little life. I want a life. To help people, to backpack the world, to have friends to chill out with, to have cool working colleagues.

at least hopefully when i'm 50, i am not like my mum, after work come home, surf net, do pottery:)

I wanna go out everyday. haha club till i'm 70 and die of liver disease. cool


lip
ranting

EVERY FUCKING ONE HAS A BLOG

This is seriously getting to me.

I mean, everyone has a God damn blog nowadays. It's like, i could just walk up to a TOTAL stranger, know how she looks like, know where she lives, know her friends, know her hp number, know her course of study in which school, and tell her about her day.

That's what blogging has made the world today.

I was blog surfing today. Yes, and then i just surfed. I went through friends of friends, friends that i had known before at one point, friends that knew me that i didn't know, and lots and lots of acquaintances.

The thing struck me.

We that are going overseas and had been to NS, we're missing out on a lot in life.

Yes. Our contacts in the future will be world wide, our networks will be global. We will not have the networking in Singapore, our home country and where out friends are.

So how can we be the priviledge in society?

I mean i went to meet up with my army friends today. Or so i thought. And out of 19 people, like 7 were from the army. The rest were friends of friends of friends who met up at one point or another and became friends, whether volleyball friends, girlfriends, boyfriends, fuck partners or whatever.

My point is, in 4 years time, who would I know in Singapore?

Would i even feel that i belong in Singapore anymore?

Who are those people whom i care about who would anchor me to Singapore? Will my friends be Singaporeans? Will i be able to meet them after work for a light chat. a drink. a game of bowling.

or will i sit at my computer, devoid of any human interaction? and type in pictures, words and emoticons to convey my feelings to another human being who might not even feel that i'm worth talking to!

Blogs are disturbingly global, and they are disturbing. Privacy VS connectivity. Which is more important to you? And why are we feeling so much more lonely nowadays, even with the massive leap in communications technology?

In improving our ways to communicate, we have lost our human ability to communicate. that's what i feel.

Suddenly i feel like running away from it all, never to come back to Singapore again.

are my friends those on MSN? or those i meet? or those who read my blog?


lip
ranting

MSN Shit


My MSN contacts list.


For those who can't zoom in, lemme explain why i find it so hilarious.

Firstly, i have two staunch christians with LONG LONG names (i.e. La douleur est juste mais un sentiment blah blah blah and Now unto Him who is able to keep you from falling and present you faultless etc etc) right on top of one another.

And both seem to expouse Jesus Christ or smth. Of course, they are Weiling and Paul.

And below them, are Seah and Jiahui. Seah with the nick "seah - love?love has left the building" and Jiahui with "what's love got to do with it?"

They don't know each other. That's why it's fucking hilarious.

lip
ranting

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

It's only illegal if she remembers.

The newest drug in dating and making couples (ok men) happy.

Roofinex!

GUARANTEED RESULTS EVERYTIME! you WILL GET A GIRL EVERYTIME. and the pick up lines are simple!

learn all about it here

http://www.compfused.com/directlink/755/

DISCLAIMER: I don't support date rape drugs.

lip
ranting

I am disturbed.. a question about morality

Does being my friend make you elevated in my judgement of a person's morality?

How do you judge morality? Is it a Godly virtue, determined by a divine power, as many believers tend to conlude?

Or is it a miasma of age old virtues and values deemed best for the survival of the human race, an evolution of thought separate from the divine?

Is morality a human issue or is it a divine issue? and does being my friend make you exempt from my principles and my view of your morality?

All these questions started with a riddle that occured when i came back involving a friend of mine. I am a person who values personality, who values virtue and believes greatly in personal discipline and your own values guiding your way in life.

This friend of mine has been short of these high targets of mine for very long. In fact, i must say that some of my friends have fallen short of targets i would judge others on, some by very far margins. Yet in being my friends, they have my trust that one day, they will repent and realise their folly. Not in a christian, buddhist or muslim sense, but in the essence of being human.

Critics who say i have no moral highground take note, I am saying this on my own personal judgement. I don't need your biase criticism. Of course, if you have constructive thoughts, please feel free to comment, but refrain from personal attacks.

I believe in the liberty of Man. Of being able to fight for your own freedom and to fight for what is right in the world. That right is determined of course, by this unknown value of conscience. The conscience that some possess in great degree, and in others, seem sorely lacking.

This is for my friend who seems to lack conscience.

Alcohol is good. It acts as a buffer for your own follies, for your own indiscretions. I say it's BULLSHIT.

Alcohol is a cover for your own underlying beliefs and principles.

If you believe in your own morals, in abstainance, in giving others the right for freedom and the respect of a human being, under the influence of alcohol, your mind is strong enough to resist all thoughts and stick close to your own principles.

I know, because I have been there. When I'm high, i tend to speak my mind, but i know i will never do anything to break my own morals and my own principles. If not, i would already have numerous chances to do so.

To you, alcohol is not an excuse. Life is not better when you are drunk.

It's sad really. To offer friends the chance of redemption. It sounds very grave, but in reality, if they were friends of mine, they would treasure friendship. I treasure my friends. I would never forget one who helped me, who has stood by me, who has given me advice and stuck by me through thick and thin.

But i give friends more chances than i give enemies or strangers. I am quick to judge enemies and strangers, one chance and your character is judged by me. To friends, i tend to believe in chances. To give many chances, to sway to my own way of thinking, to offer advice, and if all fails, to agree to disagree on certain issues on character, morality and personality.

But you are still my friend.

I am unclear on facts, but time has presented me with clues and indications to certain personalities i cannot live with. or live without. Am i a sounding board? a comfort in times when nobody understands and everyone condemns? for i am quick to forgive and give chances again and again.

or am i ruthless and unforgiving? bringing up clues and past events to destroy relationships and play politics with those i dislike?

i am what i am.

i am an enigma. but my morality holds strong. i believe in that. give me one instance where i have not done right, and i will admit my mistake.

i must say i believe i have done right in my life.

so please, free yourself from torment that you give yourself, and start living a life that is right in your eyes, in others eyes and if you believe in God, in the eyes of God, be it Allah, Yahweh or Jesus.

Be true to yourself.
lip
ranting

Tuesday, May 10, 2005


Indochina 2005

My dear friends, C'est La Vie

I'm Too Lazy To Blog My Trip

So read all about it on Jesse's blog!

Read all about how i nearly got lost and became a beggar here!

Read about the train ride here!

And frankly, I'm just to lazy to pick my memory on all the details. So i'll hitch on his blog and excerpt it:)

Excerpts:

In Bangkok, About me.
He got lost. Ohmygod! The biggest, tallest of us has been kidnapped by a Bangkok gang and had his limbs chopped off so he could become a beggar.


In Cambodia, Getting from Poipet to Siem Reap.
What added to the atmosphere were large signs (the only billboards, not much advertising in Cambodia yet) with drawings of AK-47s and other firearms, exhorting to Cambodians in what seems to be "Guns are not needed anymore."


See how generous I was!
We were hustled by many young children begging for things, some who tried pilfering stuff from our pouches and just desperate for some money... Lip gave them 2 SGD which seemed like a novelty to them, but they'd probably try to change it for money they could use.


Actually just getting them off my back.

Plight of Singaporean PR with Indon Passport and my first day miseries.
The rest of the day was ambiguous, to say the least. Lip had lost his rain cover and damaged the buckle of his backpack, thanks to some inept baggage handling. Now, I mananged to pass immigration without much difficulty, nor did I get singled out for baggage check like in Singapore



Okay you all can stop bugging me now and asking how my trip was. On another note, i think i shall go Australia this june to see a friend, maybe backpack the length of Australia just for kicks:)

lip
ranting

You Know When You Are Crazy...

When You start talking to yourself.

I have that a lot.

I am crazy.

It all started with something. You know, the lady on the bus talking a lil too loud on her handphone, your friend taking a little too long in the toilet, your sister asking to use the computer for a little while. They trigger something in me. And I start imagining hypothetical scenarios wildly contrary to the actual outcome.

Example.

Frd: "Could I borrow this VCD pls?"

Me:"Sure!"

Me (thinking): "NO you can't you bastard. Who Am i to you so that you can borrow my stuff and not return it for the next billion years you shit head. wHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR DAMN PROBLEM. Go buy your god DAMNED own SET OF VCDS! DON'T ASK ME FOR IT YOU FUCK. I'm NOT YOUR FUCKING MAID or your fucking mother who can have sex with you whenever you wanna and whenever you need to jerk off. I also know you want it because of that scene in chapter 3 around the time 40 min and 11 sec where the heroine takes off her clothes and you wanna rewind it over and over and over again and jerk off infront of your god damned tv every single fucking night.

Me:"please return it after you're done."

Frd:"Sure".

And i'll never see it again.

And you know, it's the same thing with SMS and MSN.

Frd:"Hey how are you"

Me (thinking):" I DON'T WANNA CHAT WITH YOU YOU FUCKING BITCH. LEAVE ME ALONE. I wanna chat with that girl who keeps on giving me the cold shoulder and so i'm returning the same treatment but she's probably happier than me and thus i am seething inside me and i refuse to answer your god damn loaded question which would lead me down the path of no return and i have to type and type and type and answer in the form of good will. SO FUCKING HELL GET LOST AND LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Me (typing):"Hey! I'm Fine! :) How's your day? been busy?

And the list goes one.

Or how about today in the cab.

Taxi Driver:"look at this information dial that can display colours on the screen and it helps me navigate but it's not as good as the previous version which had a little red dot and blah blah (drone on)"

Jesse:"Cool."

Me (thinking):"SHUT the fuck up. IF I WANTED TO KNOW HOW IT WORKS I WOULD HAVE ASKED YOU YOU STUPID FUCK. WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR DAMN PROBLEM. I WANT A PEACEFUL RIDE TALKING WITH MY FRIENDS AND NOT ADMIRING YOUR LATEST GADGET AFTER BEING 1 FREAKING MONTH AWAY FROM THE DAMN ISLAND THAT IS MY GOD DAMN HOME AND IT's fucking boring and i haven't been clubbing and i'm bored and i need to see some people whom i really wanna meet who just don't give a fuck about me because they are busy with some dickheads (drone on)

Me (saying): "Cool! What is that button for?"

ARGH!!!!

Case closed.

Chances are, you have to be my really good friend to catch me talking to myself in a audibly loud volume that really pisses authorities off and probably would piss you off too. Try catching me when i'm drunk or ask me out for a drink.

Yay. I love life. Now everyone knows what i'm really thinking.
Shit. I Should've shut my god damn mouth up.

lip
ranting

Monday, May 09, 2005

Hanoi

I might as well start blogging.

Well. Let's do a sort of reverse chronological blogging order, starting with the end of my trip and ending with the front. After all, i can remember the end better than i remember the start.

I must say that really, 1 month is too short a time to backpacking half of indochina. You really need like a minimum of 2 months to even get into the culture of things in vietnam, cambodia and thailand. It would be similar to spending 3 days in Singapore and saying you've seen the whole country when in fact, you have not visited Causeway Point or Lot 1 or Parkway parade but just been around Orchard Road.

You know, see the tits and the cunt but nothing much in between. It pisses the girls off. Pay more attention to the whole package.

On a side note, I actually like hair on females. Long like wavy, shiny hair. The features come in a close second, hopefully fair, and at least looking a tad better than average. No need to be too tall, and frankly, a personality is much better than 36f boobs.

SO Hanoi. My PDA reads "Hanoi was a city of cockups and scams literally oozing out of every nook and shop".

How true.

Lemme just LIST the scams

1) Taxi scam - Tried to charge us SGD 5 for a 10km ride when from the map, it was at most 2 km walk.

2) Old Darling Cafe - Lousy guesthouse with lousy manager called Davis who kept on bugging us about his TOURS and his lousy claim of having a room for 4 (we had to wait till the previous occupants checked ou before we could even enter the room). And he shouted and sweared at us after i told him we weren't taking his tour. (Ok i kinda lied to him)

3) Halong Bay - Lousy scam of the century. We paid USD 30 for "2 caves, swimming, kayaking and small group with stay on boat". We got 1 freaking tourist cave, no swimming, no kayaking, thousands of vietnamese locals (amounting to a total of 30 peeps), rigid tour guide, and false promises. In the end we were just a transport boat to and fro catba island. In true singaporean style, we complained to the agency, and got a 4 USD refund each.

Fuck we should have gotten more.

4) Taxi Scam No. 2. - WE took a taxi cos we were tired, and the meter jumped faster than it would take for barnabas to hook up and fuck a stranger. It jumped every 300 m when the guidebook (LP) said 8000 d per km. In the end, we paid SGD 4 bucks for a 2 km ride?

5) Hanoi Star Cockup - I lost my receipt. And again, bureaucracy had a huge role in preventing a peaceful resolution of the situation, resulting in my headful of hair turning golden in colour.

6) Vietnamese Visa - SHIT WE EVEN GOT SCAMMED IN SINGAPORE! Vietnam Visas cost SGD 70 bucks. 30 days. We were told we could only get 14 days when we landed in vietnam, and since we were staying longer, we got visas. Lo and behold, border guards told us we didn't need them. Wonderful.

7) 10k dong bread ($1 buck) and 20k water ($2 bucks). After some bargaining, final price 3k for bread and 4k for water. Interesting how prices can drop so much.

8) and even better. The lady who went "10k for bread!". *cue incredulous stares from jesse and proceed to walk away*. "WAIT WAIT! 10k for 2 bread!".

Wow. They sure are learning crony capitalism badly.

On the bright side, Sapa was great. Halong bay was freaking boring as hell, (but i got a nice tan), and hanoi was just freaky and stressful.

oh, and jesse fell off a cliff. Nothing serious in the end. Thank God.

And Alan fell sick. And didn't go Sapa. Looks like he picked up a lot of vietnamese girls in Vietnam (let's see, the guide in Sapa, Shar i think (HEY NO COINCIDENCE HER NAME WAS THE SAME AS MY EX), Huoung in Hoi An, and many many others whose names we did not have). Damn looks like he's a great catch for vietnamese women. (hehehe).

Well, for my next odyssey, i wanna do a tour of the central americas, hopefully with my university friends, whom i hope are nice and warm and friendly. If not i'll kick them in the balls and be a loner and digusting as hell.

Nuoc Cong Hoa Xa Hoi Chu Nghia Viet Nam Muoc Nam! (Some communist propaganda, roughly translated to "Long live vietnam")

lip
ranting

Sunday, May 08, 2005

Sheesh

I was in Vietnam, and I didn't have nowhere as interesting a time as this guy had.

Check out his sexcapades in HCMC at http://karptravel.blogspot.com/ (scroll down for he HCMC travels)

I must say Vietnamese whores look... better than Geylang's offers.

But really, why do such people even exist in society? It's sad.

lip
ranting

Saturday, May 07, 2005

Pictures 1


Halong Bay. I was bored.


Sunset in Hoi An. A beautiful place indeed


How to enter the tunnels to escape the bombs of the American Imperialists!


Entering the Cu Chi Tunnels to escape American Bombs - An overweight vietcong wannabe tries to fit


Bored me taking my own picture


Now they are but memories after the Khmer Rouge


Murder in Cambodia - Pol Pot's Regime


The Magnificent Angkor Wat. With many tourist:(


Angkor Whaaattt.... Face to face with Buddha


The Madness That is Songkran

Back Home

I'm home finally!

Thanks to all those who have been encouraging and reading up, although my lack of updates is really sad:)

Thank God for pulling us safely through the trip. Some accidents did happen that could result in deaths, but thank God the result was minimal.

And I love my bed and my room. And my laptop. I miss you all. Must start catching up with all of ya soon!

I'll post pictures and blog more in depth once my PDA is charged:). And also once I get my ass into blogging mood.

Some points to note:
1) Hanoi is FULL OF SCAMS.
2) Don't trust the price to tourist. If you can, cut it down by half. And cut it down somemore.
3) I start to believe in the power of God and mercy again.

Good luck. It's 1 am, my University is nearly confirmed (once i get my visa), and life in general is going great. haha.

Merci, and Cam En

Nuoc Cong Hoa Xa Hoi Chu Nghia Viet Nam Mouc Nam!

lip
ranting