[Part 1] Rain or Shine, we shall be remembering Mr Lee Kuan Yew: Paying Respect to the Founding Father.

Dear all who lives under the crescent moon and 5 stars and everyone else,

We have had the longest depressing week for Singapore. Since the day (23 March 2015) Singapore was told that their founding father, Mr Lee Kuan Yew has passed on in the wee hours of the morning, the whole island woke up in shock. Other countries were also aware of what had happened to a this tiny red dot. I received kind words from a Bahrani and Korean brother.

The atmosphere was very solemn, it was almost as if every Singaporean had lost a family member. It is not wrong to say so knowing how Singapore was transformed through his visionary efforts and his group of "Kingsmen". He is and will always be remembered as a father to us; our founding father.

Citizens could say that within this short week, their eyes have been filled with tears as the great work that he had done was reminisced on Television, Radio and discussions on the streets. It was almost as if we were all attending history lessons of Singapore for the past 50 years and learnt about how we have come so far together. One will now understand why the older generation placed their faith in him and say “跟着李光耀走不会死的” (if you follow Mr Lee Kuan Yew, you will survive).

Of all that had happened, the most significant event was the paying of last respect to Mr Lee Kuan Yew at the Parliament house. The queue stretched for hours as many people turned up wanting to pay their last respect to the founding father of Singapore. It would make Hello Kitty so jealous that he/she/it would join the queue too and pay respect to him. (Google: Hello Kitty queue Singapore to understand the reference)

Singapore experiences only 2 types of season, hot summer and hot summer with rain. Majority of the time the people in the queue experience tremendous heatwave and with the long trail and huge crowd, it can get quite stuffy along the way. Just when one may be feeling low, a force greater than good was brewing, the authentic "Kampung Spirit" (spirit of togetherness) was at work. Reports of good people (out of their own pockets) were distributing food, water, umbrellas; reaching out to our fellow men. 

Joined the queue with a few good lads on Friday (27 March 2015) morning to pay our respect to Mr Lee Kuan Yew. The heat was minimised by the tents that were built by the army and umbrellas distributed by the volunteers. I saw a friend who is a sign-on officer with the army helping out with the ushering and reminding everyone to hydrate themselves. Water and biscuits were distributed and people were queuing in an orderly fashion. It drizzled for a short while but that did not stop people from coming and people offered to shelter each other with the umbrellas they got.

Together we queued for 4.5 hours till we reach the Parliament House and you can really feel the whole atmosphere turning very deep in solemn. It was an emotional period where you could see the sadness in the eyes of each other. We paid our respects to the man who gave his best to the country, Stories of insensitive penises shall not be shared today and as this was an important moment for our country and myself, I have decided to take time to blog and document it, please lend me your support, readership and comments.

Thank you and let us have a great week ahead to create a better united Singapore.

Majulah Singapura!

-Max

PS: Part 2 shall be up soon.

Panadol is what Panadol is not

Definitely not an avid blogger but I think it is about time I start to write and keep track of my thoughts rather than to battle it out in my own head.

I used to hate what I was doing and then I started not to mind it because of some people I met in my life. Well, I am not overly-ambitious and I thought everything was fine and I could live day by day and just be fine for the moment.

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FAQ:
Qn: Why am I not ambitious for someone my age you ask?
Ans: Let's just say that I am a complicated individual with alot of skeletons dug in my closet that is kept 6 feet under and I got a bunch of commitments that is enough to fill my plate. This makes me go in an infinite loop of depression because most of the problems will not be solved until end of 2013.

Qn: What kind of problems?
Ans: Chasing a degree while working, paying bills and always end up living on the edge or with a tight leash.

Qn: So why don't you find another job or do sales?
Ans: I need the stability and to help out with family finances too.

Qn: Will you moonlight?
Ans: Of course if possible.
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More often than not, I try to be positive, be a pillar of strength for others and not be a party pooper around but deep down I think I am more complicated than a puzzle or a pretzel when left to my own mechanics.

Recently, I have met someone whom I hold close feelings for and to me, having someone that you can relate to and talk to, etc etc is as much as panadol is to fever. At least there is something to look forward to. However, life is not as rosy nor cherry-filled as all good things come to an end and I don't know why it did.

So ran out of panadol, all these "nightmares" and worries are getting back to haunt me. I don't know how long more I can stay human as I do not know what I am doing and what I am fighting for. Crazy sounding right? I know.

Some wise old man told me "sometimes solution are found at the bottom of a pint". Damn for sure sounds like panadol to me.

But for now... a song I stumbled on after watching a video "ABUDEN", the credits rolled and this song was being played. Part of the lyrics struck me and I started searching and found the full song.

Probably I relate to it because I feel that I might need to change and not stay as who I am and at the same time I wish someone would catch me if I fall but that is just plain selfish of me to ask of.

And since most people have been asking for lyrics, here it is, as much as the ear can hear.

" No one is ever gonna know for sure

If we never try to make it clear

So I take time to explain

Transfer me out of here

Still messing with the same old fears

Black eyes won't fight to absorb the truths of life

But if I don’t stay if I don’t stay

I got my conscience screaming where do we go from here

But if I don’t stay if I don’t stay

I know your sky will catch me if I…. fall

We tripping over everyday

All we ever know is what to say

Defend our right to be right

Come on now the end is near but we’re

Still messing with the same old fears

Let’s try and fight to absorb the truths of life

But if I don’t stay if I don’t stay

I got my conscience screaming where do we go from here

If I don’t stay if I don’t stay

I got my people screaming what do we do and feel

If I don’t stay if I don’t stay

I got my conscience screaming where do we go from here

If I don’t stay if I don’t stay

I know your sky will catch me if I….

(Bridge)
If I don’t stay…

Don’t say there’s nothing left to know apart from all you know now

Don’t say its over till we make it somehow

Don’t say there’s nothing left to know apart from all you know now

Don’t say its over……"

ps: never wish it was over except for all things bad.

Friday the 13th.. So? but Saturday's a 14th!

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End of General Elections 2011

This has by far been one of the most hotly contested elections (contested 82 out of 87 seats) of our lifetime be it our grandparents, parents or us. We have seen new and old faces getting out of their comfort zone to contest in unknown areas to partake in the elections with hopes of becoming elected to help the people, etc. We now have a better feel of all the candidates and are able to size them up should we see them again in the next election. Respect to every single individual out there from both sides. Also good to know that quite a number of us are quite active in this General Elections, going to rallies and discussing about it.

Now I know that the results are not as satisfying as some of you had in mind. Thus being not very happy and fussing over it like TPL being elected. I have to say that I am also disappointed with the results especially for Mr Chiam See Tong and Mr George Yeo but I also felt that Mr Low Thia Khiang did his best to win. If only a different area was contested. However, for some of us, it is not in our control as we are not in their GRC while for the others, you have voted and you did your best. No more regrets and let us move on.

My message here is that remember because of this 2011 General Elections, someone made a promise to start listening/engaging the citizens, our voices. What shall we do then? Make it count. Be vocal. Let us speak. STOP being apathetic to things happening around you and let us see if Democracy really exist. Let us be heard as we progress and improve together, for the best is yet to be. Majulah Singapura.

"A battle won , A battle lost.
Who will know our future cost.
They said our voices will be heard,
Let it be true and not be hurt." - 万孔明

The Best Is Yet To Be.
(cool pic huh?)

In Pokemon the cartoon series, Pikachu is the strongest pokemon!

Well, some areas are definitely no fight for the ruling party. If only we were allowed to mix and match our MPs for a GRC or something.

Then we can be able to vote for those that we really like and support! Making an All-Star team but too bad reality isn't as such...

Hopefully everyone does not have any regrets when you vote. I made my choice very carefully. Have you?

Have you voted yet?

First time voting at this General Election. Hotly contested with 82 out of 87 seats. Which also explains the super hot weather on this exciting Saturday.

My voting area is at Temasek Junior College and upon reaching there, the whole process just doesn't look cool or awesome at all.. It is more like Q-ing and registering for membership or something. People use paper and pen to mark on the large A4/A5 register. Come on! In this modern era still use paper and pen?

Then once you collected the slip, you move on to a partition that looks like "X" but the partition is only the top half thats covered and blocked. At anytime 4 people can vote but you're standing up.

I always thought when they say voting booths would be like those individual photo booths whereby you can go in have some privacy and take a minute or so to compose yourself and vote accordingly. Totally uncool and reminded me of going to Singapore Pools to shade 4D, Toto or soccer while standing up and the pen/pencils are also attached by a string. Uncanny resemblance man...

Oh well.. All is done and wonder how will the results be tonight! :)

If you read Xiaxue's blog, this was my comment for her GE 2 posts!

Could have commented more at Xiaxue's blog but I think I have touched quite a bit and it was very late in the wee hours and I hope it brings a fresh perspective to you Pro-PAP and Pro-Oppo people. Let's get back to basics alright. (At last check, got 30+ people liking it! So I hope that I made some sense)

"Hello! I came upon your blog by people sharing on fb. I would like to say you have made some good points weighing out the credentials of the parties and being realistic in your political views in your last 2 posts. Very straightforward and shows enough of who you are rooting for.

However, do not write off all the Singaporeans whom some of you here claim as whiny, complaining and not doing anything about their situation and that they expect the government to do something for them. Pretty much those of you who are saying this about Singaporeans are either 1) living a comfortable life by fate 2) Pro-PAP 3) if not you are mature enough to man-up the hardship, figure out the goals in your life and working towards it (i have respect for the 3rd category of people but some of you would thus probably despise others who aren't following in your footsteps "since you can do it, why can't they?")

I know people who are complaining and wants a change and don't worry, they still respect MM LKY for his past contributions but they are more concerned about the future. What they want is for the governement to listen and start putting themselves in their shoes to start having policies that will help the people. Afterall, a Democratic society and progress for the nation is only possible when the Government and the people are aligned. The things that are being complained are not within our (the people) control.

- GST (could go up to 10%) and many of you who "are not complaining" would probably think "meehh.. 3% only.. small sum.." but how about calculating in the long run and sparing a thought for lower income individuals? if our economy has been doing well and our Temasek/GIC investment funds are pretty much back to pre-crisis level, would the reserves not be sufficient enough to cut us some slack and reduce the GST to maybe 5%?

- Foreign Talent. who are the ones who control the access to citizenship, etc? The People or the Government? Would it not be better if the government had walked the ground and see what the situation is like (people's willingness to do odd jobs, etc) before allowing the sudden influx of foreigners which has led to other problems like housing shortages, "loss of jobs" and crowded transportation. -point to ponder, transportation has been filled to the brim with record number of passengers and so SMRT/SBS how to lose money or operate at a loss? why would they still want to increase fares?-

- Housing. HDB was initially created to ensure all of us can own a flat at affordable prices and land is afterall state owned which is again controlled by the government. Wouldn't prices be within their control especially if the above influx of foreigners have been controlled? I think there are a number of us who would not be able to own a HDB anytime soon and I know some of you are probably laughing behind your monitor screens saying "AH HA! LOSER!"

Now, you say Singaporeans need to help themselves but how? Local unis are not enough for everyone and private unis are not recognized enough. I know people who are good at everything except studying but because of the system, they are denied better jobs over better qualified and possibly cheaper alternatives from overseas. Then taking up courses for some is not viable as there are those who have jobs that does not allow them to upgrade themselves as it is not flexible enough for them to do so neither can they take a break to upgrade themselves as they need the job/income for their family. How?

If you guys reading this are those who are doing well and are for Singaporeans to start picking themselves up and improving, please step forward and help them. Change their mentality too. Afterall, we are all Singaporeans aren't we? Shouldn't we be helping our fellow brothers and sisters to get out of the pit of self-pity rather than criticizing them? Help them see the light or create opportunities for them if you cannot, don't criticize and start a war. No point fighting over it.

All I want is for people to understand that people complain for a reason. Opposition stirred the people and connected with the issues close to their hearts and now you see the government can feel the pressure which can be seen from PM Lee who has now apologized and wants to hear more about what people have to say. If the people did not come together to complain and show Opposition support, what do you think the outcome would be like in the next 5 years? Go figure.


FYI: At this point, I have not decided who to vote but I feel that policies can be improved and things can be done and PAP definitely has a good record but Opposition gives good outreach for the people.
Another thing is that I fall under "the process of category 3" the I know I need to improve myself to get out of "poverty" but it is very expensive for a private degree and I need to support my parents too. Thus it is very tough but I know one day I'll be okay. Thus I am looking at the party who is listening and able to help me reach that "day". "

East Coast GRC Rally - PAP and WP (Part 2)

01st May, Sunday, East Coast GRC, PAP's rally was held at Bedok Stadium. One day after Worker's Party's Rally. I managed to find a friend who had a friend with him to go down to the rally and no, they are not of age to vote. Just checking out the rally to embrace the GE atmosphere. Pictures below will show you what I saw, felt and heard.

This was where I was seated. Comparing to the WP's rally, I had no space to sit.

Just to show you the view of the spectator stands.

As I move to the front, you can see how was the crowd like and the turnout for the rally.

I wanted to go earlier but since my friend went with his other friend to the rally earlier than me, I asked him how was it, he told me it was pretty much expected and boring. Better to go slightly later to wait for the more prominent speakers. Reached there at about 845pm and Mr Jayakumar made a guest appearance to tell the supporters who had given him their support during his time and to continue to do so for the current party.

After Mr Jayakumar, Mr Raymond Lim (or was it Mr Lim Swee Say) also spoke and told people about everything from choosing the party with a good track record and see how East Coast has been maintained/improved over the years and about him having met at least 10,000+ residents during his walkabout, etc plus he repeated it in 2 other languages. Something that caught my attention Mr Lim kept thanking part of the turnout standing near the stage who were from Labour Movement and the people from Buona Vista (cannot remember Buona Vista what) and he emphasized that they had supported him the whole day and without having their meals. Was that really necessary?

One thing I like is that at the very least, he said he would not follow and be like the WP in their rally who talks down his party at their rally yesterday and I guess that deserves respect though I got to say that WP did not talk about Mr Lim as far as I was there from about 8+ till 10 during their rally.

You might think that from the turnout that many people are not supporting the PAP but the truth is, their rally, the gist of their message can be seen in the everyday news or Straits Time so I guess people did not bother to turn up as much as WP's rally. Will the people rise up to the occasion on voting day?

We will know the results this coming Saturday and this marks the cover of my own personal experience at my GRC's rallies. Let me know how was your participation in your GRC's rallies and such if you'd like to share. Very exciting as there has been alot of development over the past few days and PM Lee has done quite a feat. Will cover in the next post!

More Important First - Spoiling Your Vote

To all who are eligible for voting but unsure of which party to vote for and so you consider to do the coolest thing by voiding your vote a.k.a. spoiling your vote, please do it with care.

A single cross (X) in either box for the political party you support will do the trick if you have decided. If not, the best way to void your vote is to leave it completely blank and submit it. Any marks or you're trying to be funny and decide to spit on one box, leaving your green colour phlegm in either box, they might still count the vote as valid.

When you draw a big big cross on the entire slip, becareful of where the center of the cross lies as where it lends, the vote will still be given to the other party. If you plan to draw a stick man, a house, flowers and rainbows, make sure it appears identically on both boxes. Any one with an additional drawing or if the stickman has longer limbs than the other, it might insinuate that you would like to vote for the other party. (this is a joke, you wouldn't want to hog the voting booth for an hour would you?)

Besides leaving it blank, you can put a cross in both boxes or as mentioned above, draw the same pictures in both boxes. As long as it does not have a chance to insinuate your choice for a particular party (just to play it safe)

Anyway, why would you want to spoil your vote? Your vote when void, will increase the % of the total votes remaining. E.g. 100 people but 97 people void it, left 3, each vote now carries 33.33% so if 2 vote for Ban Party and the other 1 vote for Max Party, the results are pretty straightforward.

Everyone who can vote is an adult. All of us are 21 and above. Be responsible, take this time to decide and vote for a particular party instead of leaving it in the hands of the others to select the outcome for you. Would you be happy when that happens? Your next 5 years of your life are at stake here. Go think about it! ;)

East Coast GRC Rally - PAP and WP (Part 1)

On 30th April, Saturday, the GE rallies for East Coast GRC were held at Bedok Stadium. What other better ways to immerse yourself but to go down to the scene of it all and listen to what the parties have to say. I got to admit that it was pretty hard to find friends who are interested about the GE to join me to check out the rallies. Worker's Party Rally was held first on Saturday and I went alone.

As blogger refuses to upload my 30MB video, I have no choice but to use pictures to let you see what I saw and felt and heard on that day.

This was what I saw as I entered the middle entrance of Bedok Stadium. You'll wonder if this was a New Year's Eve Countdown Party in May...

I looked around me and all I saw was 人山人海 (a sea of people) covering the entire stadium and no way have you ever seen a neighbourhood stadium like Bedok being so packed like tuna or sardines. No epic S League match (SAF vs Tamp) nor events (YOG, etc) has filled the stadium beyond sitting capacity.

If you notice, you can even notice people standing outside their houses along the corridor to see how the Opposition's rally is going and what they have to say.

The arrival of "Thor's (a.k.a. Low's) Hammer" making its way through the crowd and you can hear the people clap clap and "rah rah" over it. Got to say that it is quite an innovative mascot and pretty easy to recognise.

Moving on, the message which WP was touching on (from the time I was there at about 830pm) was mainly about the key issues we all know and hold close to heart. Influx of foreigners, jobs, cost of living, ministerial pay, co-driver analogy, how come WP do not have outreach programmes, etc. There were no concrete plans about how they will develop our neighbourhood nor national policies to improve our lives but just promises to improve on the whole.

However, being able to talk about and grind on topics that you and I feel closely to, they should definitely be able to connect to the average crowd like us as it will seem like WP knows our everyday troubles/worries. At the same time, they also had the opportunity to clear up about how they were unable to do their outreach during the 5-year hiatus after every election. They say that whenever they propose, it gets rejected so now you are likely to think twice that when PAP uses this point to say the Opposition are not there for the people. Wouldn't know if it is true but it does make you think whether Singapore Politics is a fair game or not.

They used an analogy, (as accurate as I can) "it is like a soccer game where PAP's goal post is smaller than the ball."

WP also talked about voting secrecy, one of the fear mongering rumours that talks about our votes are being tracked and watched and should we vote wrongly, we will suffer based on what we voted. This was what they said (as accurate as I can and not word for word) "Being there for a few elections, we know the voting process. Votes are kept confidential. Until the last voter casts his/her vote, the box is sealed in front of all the involved parties then brought to another place to be counted in front of them. When it is done, the votes are all put together back into the box, sealed infront of all the involved parties and brought to be incinerated together with all your other rubbish." I do not know how true is that but at least we now know how out votes are processed and what happens to them.

Basically, this was a summary of what I have seen, heard and felt. Just my couple of cents worth and hope you had a good read. The WP rally had a pretty good rally atmosphere and I have to say if crowd numbers were an indicator for votes, WP stands a pretty good chance this 7th May.


Next, will be my experience at PAP's rally. Coming soon later today.

The Pre-Election Story

I am sure most of you by now would hear some if not all of the promises and pitches by the various parties, from free health-care and free education to a voice for the youths to a party who is capable of improving our lives for the next 5 years.

Just a story to warn you in advance about campaigning. :)

Pre-Election Campaign Story

While walking down the street one day a MP is tragically hit by a truck driven by one of the many talents.

The MP's soul arrives in heaven and is met by St Peter at the gates of heaven.

"Welcome to heaven," says St. Peter. "However, we have a problem. Being few of you, we seldom receive such a high official around and so we're not sure of what to do with you."

"No problem, just let me in," says the practical MP.
St Peter says, "Well, I'd like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we'll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity."
"Really? but I've made up my mind. I want to be in heaven," says the MP.
"I'm sorry, but we have our rules here", replies St Peter.

And with that, St Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him before.

Everyone is very happy and dresses up in their Sunday's best. They gather to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had when they were ruling the country.
They play a friendly game of golf and then for dinner, they dine on fresh seafood, crabs, lobster, caviar, oysters and champagne.
Also present at the table was the Devil, who really is a very friendly guy who had a good time dancing and telling jokes. They were having such a great time that before he realizes it, his 24 hours in hell was up.
Everyone gave him a hearty farewell and waved while the elevator rises up to the gates of Heaven.

The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens in heaven where St Peter was waiting for him.

"Now it's time to visit heaven," St Peter says.
So, 24 hours passed with the MP joining a group of contented peaceful souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They had a good time and the 24 hours in heaven passes by. St Peter meets the MP.
"Well, you've spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now which will you choose for your eternity?" St Peter asks.

The MP reflects for a minute, then he answered, "Well, I never would have thought that I needed to think this through before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be happier and better off... in hell."

So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell.

Now the doors of the elevator open and he's in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage.

He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls from above.

The Devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulder.
"I don't understand," the MP stammers. "Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and a beautiful clubhouse, and we ate crabs, lobster, caviar and oysters, drank expensive champagne, danced and had a great time. Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable. What happened?"

The Devil looks at him, smiles and says, "Yesterday we were campaigning..

Today .. you voted. :)"
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Make the right informed choice so you will not regret for the next 5 years of your life on earth in Singapore. Countdown, 5 more days to go.

General Elections - Your Life In 5 Years

This year's Labour Day falls along the stretch leading towards the General Elections.

It has given us time off to visit the various rallies to see which party has to say and offer to the people. One thing I know is that this is my first election and I can say that I feel very excited about it. What saddens me is that I got friends who are a pathetic towards the political happenings which will determine the next 5 years of our lives which in essence can be said as one of the best time of our lives. Most of us during this 5 years would have finished studying and started working already and the right political party could make our lives better or even worse. So to you reading it, is this General Election not an important process?

Take some time off and watch the rallies be it online or at one of those rallies held in your area. Read articles and feel it for yourself to know if any of the politicians has made a good point which you can understand and relate to. (yes, feel it though seeing is believing but you cannot see change till after the elected are in place and able to deliver their promises) Times are changing and I know more people are more involved in this round of elections. I am encouraged to see more people taking an active approach to find out more about various political parties which includes myself too.

Whether our next 5 years be a better one or a worse one, it is made up of all our choices. Do not regret when it happens as you are able to control the outcome.

Will be updating more tomorrow as it has 2+ years since I last blogged and I shall try to maintain it as much as I can.

Where have all my Posts gone?

-Definitely not into Hershey's Cookies and Cream-

Anyway.. been wanting to blog for a long time already... bored and the need to put the Queen's English into writing...

This used to be a super cool blog that discuss deep and thoughtful issues but now that they are gone... =.="

Got to come up with new interesting topics again.

The first one will be up soon! :)

Religion

16/07/07

Religion... a question which no one has a definite answer to what is the correct and proper way to go... which and what to believe....

In my humble opinion i believe in Christianity... base on the fact i've felt the Spirit or should i say i've been touched by it... also being in a Methodist school for 10 years...

The only confusion i would be having is which division of Christianity and which church to go to... a friend of mine talked to me bout his division of Christianity which is Baptist... he talks about it being the more traditional followin closely to the bible and stuff.. its really cool... he tells me that other churches are more modern(smth like that) trying to accomodate to the likes and ways of this world by having more up to beat music and preaching only what people want to hear... it made sense to me, to my coconut which i call my head...

I'll come up with examples later but not now at this time...

Questions which bothers me:
1) Is there a division of Christianity which is ever the right one?
2) What about false prophets?
3) tongues... are they meant for everyone or chosen few only and if spoken there should be an interpreter right?

next part is about which church to go to... to begin...
4) how should a church be?
5) what do you mean by the place is filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit?
6) if the church does not have that then is that a bad place?

ah.. let me draw the line first... to begin with i am not thinking too much but i am curious... looking and searching for right answers...

7) do people that comes from a church reflects what a church teaches them?
i've seen people who goes to church only to show F-ed up attitude... got alot of things to say but never mind...
8) shouldn't people be practicing what they believe? 9) lets say there is this person A goes to church but sins outside of church and do not display good character and sins while person B does not go to church but is a believer in Christianity and displays good character and tries to be a better person... when both dies... what happens?

for now i have only such questions that need reasoning and answers... ah...

10) what do u feel about a church being so big?

a big church is good... but it loses this close-knit community kind of thing... u get what i mean? i hope u do... i found out that people who goes to the same church did not realise they were in the same church until i came along... haha.. funny...

anyone has answers? feel free to tag n contact me... i mean no harm... peace out...
oh.. u can add in anything bout any religion and stuff too... =)

Just The Way You Are

13/09/06

Years, weeks and days
Passes by as you gaze
Your life changes in every way
Sad, mad, maybe gay.
What matters then
When all else fades,
But you and I,
We're here to stay.


rawr! a go at poetry... yea... well.. i still need to know how to jio girls...

(update: wow.. I guess I had a hit song title before Bruno Mars seeing how long ago I came up with this title)

Smarts? Elite? Creative?

29/06/06

I have not blogged coming to 1 month plus due to tests, projects, time constraint, commitment to CCAs, activities and blahblah. Well, one thing was I did not have the time and I did not know what to write in this blog since I want it to be a bloggerum. Guess what? I have thought of something to say.

Smarts, Elite, Creative (SEC). What happens if you do not have the smarts, you are not an elite and you are not creative? Will one be able to survive living in this country?

I for one really do not have the smarts since I was the only one who failed my test. I shall credit that to my disinterest in that module though nonetheless, I need to buck up and bring up my average. I did not expect to fail it.

In reality, SEC people are treated much better than normal average or below average students. One can definitely tell as SEC people are being sponsored, usually groomed to go to the university and their career path are all laid out in front of them. One fine example was I heard that the top student has a personal consultant in school. I am not really bothered by that but rather bothered by the fact that sometimes lecturers or teachers do give attention to them rather than the rest of the cohort. I get bothered by the fact that lecturers give attention to their own students rather than the whole lecture theatre. It gives one the feeling of "I'm talking to you but I'm facing someone else."

Wouldn't the idea of grooming other students to achieve better results too be more feasible rather than being bias? What ever happened to base on justice and equality? Special treatment outside normal school time is fine because its anyone's free time to do whatever they want.

So what happens to us normal people apart from SEC? Well, basically we need to work harder and improve ourselves. Being normal is fine (isn't it?) though to attain success we would then have to work doubly hard on our own. Also if you are ever treated like SEC people, I would say that one should make use of this opportunity to be on the road that is laid out to success and not stray away from it. If the elite society is a place where you feel you don't belong then how bout changing yourself to get with the society? It would definitely be a waste if one gets away from it as the elites are usually having incentives. (Yes, even though there is nothing wrong with average and normal.) I would not be surprised if Singapore would be an overly pro elitist society. The Public Display of Favouritsm (PDF) is seen all around. How bout equality?

(Sorry for the late entry k)

Go figure?

28/03/06

it's been awhile since i really really post...

right now this new blog which i created will be used more for discussions and topics which are serious matters to talk about...

i have to mature.. no more being childish and stupid... no nonsense... grow up...

on a sat afternoon after service... walking towards the mrt we saw a booth with a dude who is wheelchair bound.. he was approaching people to buy those charity tickets... Kim asked me... are those charity people just playing with our feelings to just get us to pity and sympathise to buy from them those draw tickets? (draw tickets as in lottery that months later there'll be a draw blah blah with prizes etc) and at the end of the day not everything we donate is gone into the funds for them...

her question to me made me think and it reminded me of something... its... i wanted to do a post about this during the time of NKF when everything was exposed...

my reply was i don't think they are playing with our feelings and that yes not everything we donate go into the funds but think about it... who would do something out of voluntary and not earn any money in helping charity for the rest of his life... how will he/she survive? or another way who will be willing to fork out his/her time to help whereby you get no incentives? will you?

this reminded me of a time when i was in my sec sch.. i had a job selling charity tickets too... some middle aged working career woman, i approached her asked her if she could purchase 1 which cost $2... she asked me if i was earning anything out of it... i told her yea i am... i earned like $0.40 per ticket sold... i was being frank about everything... the moment she heard yea i am... she brushed me off and walked off just like that... (i wonder how she felt when she heard NKF and does she remember brushing me off when i did tell her the truth) i think $1 out of $2 goes to the organisation to help the need or was if $0.50...

as an office worker, my guess is that she would be earning at least 2k a month... all i am asking was for a donation of $2 and i tell you the truth unlike others who lied saying no... at the end of the day a fraction still goes to the organisation... if you do not donate at all... nothing is put to help the organisation and have you pledged donations to other organisations? if you did i do not mind you brushing me off like that but can you confirm that those organisations do not pocket the money too?

years down the road.. NKF got exposed... i bet everyone from that time hearing that people like us earn money per ticket sold would shun away from us like a plague and would donate to NKF but then NKF got exposed how did everyone feel... hmm... i feel like i've been wronged? they earned millions... a donation of $5 plus the surcharge per call is much more than a miserable $2...

my question i have is..

1)will you give up your job being paid at least $2k per month or participate heavily in voluntary work to raise funds with zero incentives?
2)will you purchase a charity ticket with no lottery draws? donate money just like that?

another thing is... when you did community service in secondary school.. whatever you did was it really out of heart or for the sake of doing or for community service hours? do not lie to yourself but just be frank... i know many people just did not give a damn... so is it wrong to earn a little incentive for work? if they earn too much then that is seriously bad but just a little to get helpers would it be ok?

my opinion is that at the end of the day if people do earn abit out of raising funds for organisations do not be so petty about it will you be willing to do what they do for free?

please feel free to comment on anything...