Systems~
"What is most original in a man's nature is often that which is most desperate. Thus new systems are forced on the world by men who simply cannot bear the pain of living with what is. Creators care nothing for their systems except that they be unique. If Hitler had been born in Nazi Germany he wouldn't have been content to enjoy the atmosphere."
- Leonard Cohen
Was the change ever necessary? What was the impedance for change? Apparently an issue about passion came across their minds. It is true that we should be let students participate in activities of their passion, and not just participate for the points so that they can retain their place in hall. Sounds good, and a little too idealistic in my honest opinion. Just take a look at the outcome. My roomie got rejected for a place in hall. Hall 2's rookie sportswoman of the year didn't get a place. And according to Huishan, 3 Hall presidents didn't get a place in their own hall either. WHAT A JOKE. People that I know who are getting rejected are people who are contributing alot to the hall culture, one which will become less vibrant with this system in place, due to the fact that it doesn't honor those who participate in alot of school activities, all of which could be his/her passion, but honors those who sits on main committees. This is true to a certain extent. Since the the cut off point for stage 1 is 14, a Hall president might not even get to stay in Hall if he happens to stay in Jurong, assuming he doesn't have those extra points that u can get from like the willingness to share a room with a foreign student, or the fact that one just came back from exchange.
What i feel the hall system should be is to honor those who participate in alot of activities(LPPL right?), one might argue that it defeats the whole purpose of passion and all that bullshit cos people just join for the sake of participating in the activities. I'll say that's bullshit you shithead. Without the crowd, there is no atmosphere. Take the IHG for example. Seniors have commented that the 06/07 IHG has lesser participation rate than the 05/06 one. This might just spell trouble for future IHGs to come. Moreover, people who joins more activities shows the amount of time they are willing to commit to the activities. Shouldn't the system reward those according to the amount of time they give to the school? In the new system, only the highest weightage activity is considered. One could be slacking on a main comm position for Leisure and Hobbies Club (No offence whatsoever to anyone) and successfully get a place in hall, or one could be participating actively in various sub comms and helping out in hall activities but gets rejected by SAO. Life's not fair, but not that unfair.
Why was there a need to change the system in the first place? Sometimes for personal benefit and achievement, sometimes because there is a genuine need to do so. In this case, someone's just so free and in the hokkien saying:" Jia4 ba4 bo3 tai3 ji3 zo3". Stage one is over, let's just see how many of those who got rejected in stage 1 gets accepted in stage two. The system may not be as screwed up as it seems, and it better well not be.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Sunday, May 27, 2007
The Remains of Guangzhou~
I already miss Guangzhou. Sitting on the cab back from the airport felt painful seeing the meter jump so fast. Damm, can't divide the cab fare by 5 anymore. Mutarbak at Casuarina today was 6 bucks. Damm, in Guangzhou it would have been 1.20 Sing. For the remaining days at Guanzhou sinced my last entry, we played Guangzhou Sports University, and an Engineering University(the name which im still quite puzzled abt), which i lost 18-21 9-21 and won 21-23 23-21 21-9 respectively. Went clubbing in Guangzhou and got wasted. Still sober, but the most saa i've ever got. We went to this club called Babyface, apparently the most happening club in Guangzhou, like the Zouk of Singapore, but uncomparable comparatively in size. Guorong puked big time, and it will be talked abt for the rest of the year man...haha quite farnie how he puked outside our hostel room. I was just laughing at him while Kenneth just took a photo. Anyway, hope the badminton team of Jinan uni comes over next year, so we can show them the good hospitality that Singaporeans give our guests, and also hoping to go back to Guangzhou 2 years from now. Sheesh im not writing coherently. It was a tiring but fufiling week. Moving on to another chapter of the holidays....
I already miss Guangzhou. Sitting on the cab back from the airport felt painful seeing the meter jump so fast. Damm, can't divide the cab fare by 5 anymore. Mutarbak at Casuarina today was 6 bucks. Damm, in Guangzhou it would have been 1.20 Sing. For the remaining days at Guanzhou sinced my last entry, we played Guangzhou Sports University, and an Engineering University(the name which im still quite puzzled abt), which i lost 18-21 9-21 and won 21-23 23-21 21-9 respectively. Went clubbing in Guangzhou and got wasted. Still sober, but the most saa i've ever got. We went to this club called Babyface, apparently the most happening club in Guangzhou, like the Zouk of Singapore, but uncomparable comparatively in size. Guorong puked big time, and it will be talked abt for the rest of the year man...haha quite farnie how he puked outside our hostel room. I was just laughing at him while Kenneth just took a photo. Anyway, hope the badminton team of Jinan uni comes over next year, so we can show them the good hospitality that Singaporeans give our guests, and also hoping to go back to Guangzhou 2 years from now. Sheesh im not writing coherently. It was a tiring but fufiling week. Moving on to another chapter of the holidays....
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
With Love from Guangzhou~
My hostel room has no mirror. I can shower and shit at the same time. Everyone can see u brushing teeth. The door of my hostel room is a rusty metal plate. You can get locked in ur own room by a prankster from the outside. Lights out strictly at 2330 hours. Hot water only comes on from 1730 to 2330. There is no bloody f***ing mirror in the room. My block is sanwiched between 2 girls block. Overall, experience 10/10. Comfort 1/10. Bring back army memories 8/10. Hostel view 5/10.
Besides the fact that accomodation is pretty, shall we say unexpected, so far ive enjoyed my time in Guangzhou. The shopping, the cheap cheap food (down here when u attend formal dinners at least 10 dishes will appear), the university (tomorrow i'm gonna crash some lectures) and the amount of practice that i get with my chinese. Pple here say we speak pretty good pu tong hua. Just played with Jin nan university badminton team today. We lost 1-4 overall. But i managed to win my match!! Pretty shack man...almost died in there. Score was 21-18, 23-21. Tomorrow we are gonna play with the Sports School, and they are so gonna woop our ass. So that's why im hanging out in wang3 ba1(internet cafe) and not resting and preparing for tomorrow's match. haha.
My hostel room has no mirror. I can shower and shit at the same time. Everyone can see u brushing teeth. The door of my hostel room is a rusty metal plate. You can get locked in ur own room by a prankster from the outside. Lights out strictly at 2330 hours. Hot water only comes on from 1730 to 2330. There is no bloody f***ing mirror in the room. My block is sanwiched between 2 girls block. Overall, experience 10/10. Comfort 1/10. Bring back army memories 8/10. Hostel view 5/10.
Besides the fact that accomodation is pretty, shall we say unexpected, so far ive enjoyed my time in Guangzhou. The shopping, the cheap cheap food (down here when u attend formal dinners at least 10 dishes will appear), the university (tomorrow i'm gonna crash some lectures) and the amount of practice that i get with my chinese. Pple here say we speak pretty good pu tong hua. Just played with Jin nan university badminton team today. We lost 1-4 overall. But i managed to win my match!! Pretty shack man...almost died in there. Score was 21-18, 23-21. Tomorrow we are gonna play with the Sports School, and they are so gonna woop our ass. So that's why im hanging out in wang3 ba1(internet cafe) and not resting and preparing for tomorrow's match. haha.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Leaving on a Jetplane~
Leaving on a jetplane in 6 hours. Leaving my event partner behind, leaving my cousin's wedding preps behind, leaving Sunday's worship team behind.
Akashi is a damm gd japanese restaurant. Just go there and eat their spider maki, you wouldn't wanna eat any other spider maki elsewhere. I'm leaving that behind too. When i get back from Guangzhou, im so going to Koshimbo with Glenn.
Leaving on a jetplane in 6 hours. Leaving my event partner behind, leaving my cousin's wedding preps behind, leaving Sunday's worship team behind.
Akashi is a damm gd japanese restaurant. Just go there and eat their spider maki, you wouldn't wanna eat any other spider maki elsewhere. I'm leaving that behind too. When i get back from Guangzhou, im so going to Koshimbo with Glenn.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Summer Palace~
I went to watch Summer palace today with Sarah, and she's one of the few if not the only one whom i feel comfortable watching the show with. The ticket guy made my day. He nervously asked me to show him my IC after i assured him that I'm 21, and Sarah was 21 also. At this point of life, when someone actually doubts that you are 21, it actually feels kinda good. I'm sure we are all too familiar with the days when we just couldn't wait to grow up and wanted to be more mature, more adult like. Now, we just wanna be young again. Anyway, when they mean sexual content, they really mean sexual content. Lou Ye really didn't hold back the flood gates when it came to the love scenes. There were at least 10 of 'em. Wouldn't be surprised why the Chinese media banned the film on local soil with the taboo issue of the Tian An Men square being featured in the film as well. Well the main take home points of the film that was discussed over dinner was that no one could ever forget the first real love, even after breaking up. Subsequent relationships were just there to fill the emptiness inside, but the heart longs for that first real love. Also, it is only human nature to tend to wander, to explore, and to seek different experiences. Sarah pointed out a very good point in that we choose to wander because we feel that we do not have any direction in life, and maybe because God is not in our lives. With that in mind, one might wonder whether marriage is just something practical, a contract that is signed between two people, and not an affirmation of true, real love, a couple that is willing to go through thick and thin for the rest of their lives.
Anyway, this song has touched me recently.Wish to share it with all. Enjoy:)
Hosanna - United Hillsong.wma
I went to watch Summer palace today with Sarah, and she's one of the few if not the only one whom i feel comfortable watching the show with. The ticket guy made my day. He nervously asked me to show him my IC after i assured him that I'm 21, and Sarah was 21 also. At this point of life, when someone actually doubts that you are 21, it actually feels kinda good. I'm sure we are all too familiar with the days when we just couldn't wait to grow up and wanted to be more mature, more adult like. Now, we just wanna be young again. Anyway, when they mean sexual content, they really mean sexual content. Lou Ye really didn't hold back the flood gates when it came to the love scenes. There were at least 10 of 'em. Wouldn't be surprised why the Chinese media banned the film on local soil with the taboo issue of the Tian An Men square being featured in the film as well. Well the main take home points of the film that was discussed over dinner was that no one could ever forget the first real love, even after breaking up. Subsequent relationships were just there to fill the emptiness inside, but the heart longs for that first real love. Also, it is only human nature to tend to wander, to explore, and to seek different experiences. Sarah pointed out a very good point in that we choose to wander because we feel that we do not have any direction in life, and maybe because God is not in our lives. With that in mind, one might wonder whether marriage is just something practical, a contract that is signed between two people, and not an affirmation of true, real love, a couple that is willing to go through thick and thin for the rest of their lives.
Anyway, this song has touched me recently.Wish to share it with all. Enjoy:)
Hosanna - United Hillsong.wma
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
The Baby Conundrum~
"Eh the Singapore Birthrate has fallen to 1.2 births per woman man. How?? We are only 0.1 births away from the world's lowest fertility rate owned by South Korea."
"No problem one, if we cannot reproduce, we will import our babies from other countries. Like that, we can have lots and lots of babies and Singapore can become a baby hub!"
"But how abt giving maternity and child benefits to parents, just like what the french has succeeded in doing, look at where their birthrate stands now, 2 births per woman!"
"No no no, Singapore is a competitive country eh...we wanna stay efficient and have that competitive edge, just import can already, like that can diversify also, then got a more vibrant culture eh? Then maybe can become cultural hub eh? Tio bo?"
"Eh the Singapore Birthrate has fallen to 1.2 births per woman man. How?? We are only 0.1 births away from the world's lowest fertility rate owned by South Korea."
"No problem one, if we cannot reproduce, we will import our babies from other countries. Like that, we can have lots and lots of babies and Singapore can become a baby hub!"
"But how abt giving maternity and child benefits to parents, just like what the french has succeeded in doing, look at where their birthrate stands now, 2 births per woman!"
"No no no, Singapore is a competitive country eh...we wanna stay efficient and have that competitive edge, just import can already, like that can diversify also, then got a more vibrant culture eh? Then maybe can become cultural hub eh? Tio bo?"
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Bus Drivers and Tea~
I felt so cheated when i asked the bus driver "Uncle this bus goes to holland village?" when i saw the bus sign say Holland Road and he said yes, but the bus made a turn to queensway instead of going straight. TMD. Uncle, don't bluff me lah. Don't think just cos u heard the word Holland can ignore the village that followed behind lah. I braved the slight drizzle and got my slippers all wet and dirty to walk all the way to Holland Village, uneccesarily.
Not my first time paying $3.50 for a satchet of teabag at starbucks. These coffee and tea at starbucks are exorbitantly overpriced. I had to buy it cos im using their facility now to blog this entry. Someday someone should bring the same standard of coffee and tea with style to the masses at a lower price. So much for all that franchising premiums.
I felt so cheated when i asked the bus driver "Uncle this bus goes to holland village?" when i saw the bus sign say Holland Road and he said yes, but the bus made a turn to queensway instead of going straight. TMD. Uncle, don't bluff me lah. Don't think just cos u heard the word Holland can ignore the village that followed behind lah. I braved the slight drizzle and got my slippers all wet and dirty to walk all the way to Holland Village, uneccesarily.
Not my first time paying $3.50 for a satchet of teabag at starbucks. These coffee and tea at starbucks are exorbitantly overpriced. I had to buy it cos im using their facility now to blog this entry. Someday someone should bring the same standard of coffee and tea with style to the masses at a lower price. So much for all that franchising premiums.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
The Week of Public Tpt~
It's not that I don't take public transport at all, its that i happen to take it rather frequently this week, due to my going back to work at DSO to cover for Xinping since he's in Bangkok sipping singha beer and watching tiger shows. So the morning starts with a train ride, from Kovan Mrt to Outram, then change to the Eastwest line to Buona Vista, where we will take a bus to DSO. Then after work, vice versa. I think the amount of public transport i take this week is more than the amount of public transport i take in 1 month studying in NTU.
Today, someone made my heart beat faster just by looking at her. She represents the perfect female in my eyes. Long hair, fair skin, big eyes, pure lookin, and before you noe it, she whips out a bible and starts reading it on the train. She was reading 1 Kings. I think i was totally mesmorised by her that i was flipping my Today paper without even reading it. Man.... I should take public transport more often.
Meanwhile, busy working, busy training for the China trip, busy meeting up with pple, busy practicing and playing guitar for church, busy settling stuff for Sports Unlimited 14, and busy running all over the place. Still trying to organize class gathering for my jc class, trying to contact the old ri boys of my batch for a friendly in RI on the 19th May, and trying to prioritize and put things into perspective. Trying real hard.
It's not that I don't take public transport at all, its that i happen to take it rather frequently this week, due to my going back to work at DSO to cover for Xinping since he's in Bangkok sipping singha beer and watching tiger shows. So the morning starts with a train ride, from Kovan Mrt to Outram, then change to the Eastwest line to Buona Vista, where we will take a bus to DSO. Then after work, vice versa. I think the amount of public transport i take this week is more than the amount of public transport i take in 1 month studying in NTU.
Today, someone made my heart beat faster just by looking at her. She represents the perfect female in my eyes. Long hair, fair skin, big eyes, pure lookin, and before you noe it, she whips out a bible and starts reading it on the train. She was reading 1 Kings. I think i was totally mesmorised by her that i was flipping my Today paper without even reading it. Man.... I should take public transport more often.
Meanwhile, busy working, busy training for the China trip, busy meeting up with pple, busy practicing and playing guitar for church, busy settling stuff for Sports Unlimited 14, and busy running all over the place. Still trying to organize class gathering for my jc class, trying to contact the old ri boys of my batch for a friendly in RI on the 19th May, and trying to prioritize and put things into perspective. Trying real hard.
Monday, May 07, 2007
Tioman~
I almost swore when I realised i never bought travel insurance when the van driver that took us to Mersing drove as if he was in an F1 race. I totally enjoy playing beach soccer although i suck at it. I think that bathing with candle light in the dark is so romantic. I think that Michael is a serial blanket stealer(haha!!). I so got sea sick when snorkelling in choppy waters. I think i suck at charades. I think Man United is so going to win the title after defeating Man City 1-0. I felt the pain when my phone dropped while playing silent heart attack in the resort room. I am certain that Bekky's cake thingy was one of the funniest sleeping antic i've ever seen in my whole life. I'm so sure that getting sea sick for 3 hours is no fun at all. I felt so good after eating such cheap seafood at Taman Sri Tebrau. I am such a ganster for jumping the taxi queue and in return tio a gangster taxi driver who tot that kenneth jona and i wanted to look for prostitutes when we asked the most "zui pian yi" route to take.
Tioman was a great experience. Thanks all programmers for making it a wonderful trip!
I almost swore when I realised i never bought travel insurance when the van driver that took us to Mersing drove as if he was in an F1 race. I totally enjoy playing beach soccer although i suck at it. I think that bathing with candle light in the dark is so romantic. I think that Michael is a serial blanket stealer(haha!!). I so got sea sick when snorkelling in choppy waters. I think i suck at charades. I think Man United is so going to win the title after defeating Man City 1-0. I felt the pain when my phone dropped while playing silent heart attack in the resort room. I am certain that Bekky's cake thingy was one of the funniest sleeping antic i've ever seen in my whole life. I'm so sure that getting sea sick for 3 hours is no fun at all. I felt so good after eating such cheap seafood at Taman Sri Tebrau. I am such a ganster for jumping the taxi queue and in return tio a gangster taxi driver who tot that kenneth jona and i wanted to look for prostitutes when we asked the most "zui pian yi" route to take.
Tioman was a great experience. Thanks all programmers for making it a wonderful trip!
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Aviva Open~
Had the honour to lines judge Lin dan's match today. For those badminton non junkies Lin Dan is the current World Number 1 in badminton. Luckily for me, i didn't get myself into those situations where either the player complains against me, or the crowd ruthlessly hurl cruel insults and abuses at me. Had some close calls cos Mr Lin always smashes down the sideline sometimes with pinpoint accuracy and sometimes just missing it by a hair. It takes great concentration to tell the difference b/w the 2. So that was why after linesmanning about 7 matches, glenn and i came out with teary eyes and niggling headaches. But it was a great feast of world class quality badminton action.
Ronald wooped his opponent in 2 sets there
Our "team" umpires
Glenn, Aaron the man and Me
Had the honour to lines judge Lin dan's match today. For those badminton non junkies Lin Dan is the current World Number 1 in badminton. Luckily for me, i didn't get myself into those situations where either the player complains against me, or the crowd ruthlessly hurl cruel insults and abuses at me. Had some close calls cos Mr Lin always smashes down the sideline sometimes with pinpoint accuracy and sometimes just missing it by a hair. It takes great concentration to tell the difference b/w the 2. So that was why after linesmanning about 7 matches, glenn and i came out with teary eyes and niggling headaches. But it was a great feast of world class quality badminton action.
Ronald wooped his opponent in 2 sets there
Our "team" umpires Glenn, Aaron the man and Me If you have the time try to go down and watch the tournament. Its definitely worthwhile to go down to have a look and you will not regret going down. Its on from the 1st to 6th May. And this is not an advertisement.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
The Other side of the Story~
Not that I'm an avid supporter of Dr Chee Soon Juan and the Singapore Democratic Party.But we cannot just debunk what he has to say with such tenacity and determination. And we also cannot just swallow whatever the PAP gives us without questioning or verification. The wonders of youtube and the internet brings us footage that we will not be able to witness 10 years ago. These videos are definitely worth a watch if you are a true red Singaporean. Bonne Regardez~
CSJ Speaks in a banned conference
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Not that I'm an avid supporter of Dr Chee Soon Juan and the Singapore Democratic Party.But we cannot just debunk what he has to say with such tenacity and determination. And we also cannot just swallow whatever the PAP gives us without questioning or verification. The wonders of youtube and the internet brings us footage that we will not be able to witness 10 years ago. These videos are definitely worth a watch if you are a true red Singaporean. Bonne Regardez~
CSJ Speaks in a banned conference
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
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