Out with the old, In with the new~

Finally. Started the new year with a bang. Finally. Got a new handphone. Finally, got to see my relatives after a year.

Was in utter despair when i i called 1626 and the operator said that the hp rw6828 is sold out at all hello shops. Onli left the titanium version which is 200 bucks more. Tried calling other shops. Nope. Tried calling starhub. Nope. Oh man. I resigned to my fate of having to spend another 200 to get tt phone i was eyeing for like almost 2 months. Went down to the hello shop at compass point. I tried my luck. Luck stood by me. It didnt' run. It ran with me.

Seeing all my relatives is such a joy. Especially Auntie Jane from Hongkong. It's been a long time since I saw Daryl and Cheryl. They were little kids when i last saw them. Still are comparatively though. It is the first time we took an entire family photo. Nice.

Its a new year. Let it be one that will be will be looked forward to, one that will be memorable, one that will be cherished.

Happy lunar new year~

Cat & Mouse Game~

The cat, a small domesticated carnivore, Felis domestica. The mouse, a palm-sized, button-operated device that can be slid on wheels or ball bearings over a desktop to move the cursor on a monitor to any position, or slid over a drawing in order to recreate the drawing on a monitor. Cats are all around Hall 2. U see them laying on the grass basking in the sun, licking their privates, popping by pple's rooms, getting horny in the morning( their squeals wake me up), watching pple play soccer in the volleyball court, and giving u tt look, yeah tt look. My mouse is giving me so much problems...i have to keep banging it on my desk to get it working....so darn irritating ain't it. Its kinda stalling on me. Wondering wat the manufacturer of the mouse predicted the life of the mouse to be, cos its pretty ridiculous considering i only got it in Aug last year. Must go calculate the mouse's depreciation rate liao. How i wish i can delude the cats in hall 2 to think my mouse is a marsupial mouse so that they can chase my mouse to its senses so tt it will start running(pun intended)...

I love Tom and Jerry~
and Ben and Jerry's....

Valentine's Day~

It is a traditional day on which lovers express their love for each other.sending Valentine's day cards, candy, or donations to charities, often anonymously. It is very common to present flowers on Valentine's Day. The holiday is named after two men, both Christian martyrs named Valentine. The day became associated with romantic love in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.

- Wikipedia, the source for all sorts of information

I didn't noe abt the Christian martyrs named Valentine. Pple learn new things everyday. Talking abt learning, i read an interesting article about these researchers from Harvard who proved tha sleep deprivation will affect the rate of learning of an individual. Its time to start having curfews at night in hall and sleep early!! I think, in my humble opinion, that the ideal sleep hours per day is 8. 1st to 3rd hour- the full digestion and absorption of breakfast, lunch,dinner and supper into the bloodstream. 3rd to 5th hour- the regeneration of brain juices freshly squeezed from superior ginko nuts and fish oil. 5th to 7th hour- To rest the physical body, of watever sores ur muscles have. 8th hour- To purify one's mind from the lame shit Hamon throws at you.

It's 12am. Happy Valentine's Day everyone :)

Let love flourish and spread on this day, and may we all show love to one another, be it Dohim, Agav, Hesed, Ahav, Hamed, Re'a, Hasheq, Agape, Phileo,Storge, or Eros. Spread the lurve, so that an ordinary day will become special in some way~

Hall 2 Jam Band~

7% GST!!

Why does the gst keep rising?!?! Kauz.... No more money liao le.... How like that, expenditure will decrease due to lower marginal propensity to consume by consumers, then Aggregate demand will decrease, then economy will slow down.... But on the other hand, corporate taxes will decrease, more foreign direct investments will come, and I will increase. But how much will corporate taxes fall?? At least 1%(quote from straits times), then how come gst rise by 2 points?? What happens to the other 1 %?? Maybe......aiyo better don't tok here...later CID or secret service do random check then i kena arrested go DB then kena cut botak...don't want lah...my hair leave for so long liao, pay so much money to go cut abit....go db cut everything also FOC. Maybe go DB they will charge 7% gst also hor? What the shit...what am i tokin abt here. Aiya.... U noe hor, everything become so expensive, cannot spend so much money liao le. Later no money left to get married and buy HDB flat and car how? Kauz, maybe get poorer also better....govt says there is a budget to offset GST impact on lower income leh, like tt then can siam the gst hike. So quickly spend more money first, then become poor, then GST hike won't kena. Swee lah. Don't tell anyone ah...my secret plan....Ssshhh...ok lah..now gtg study for astro quiz lah...study stars and moons and planets. Maybe one day when gst gets too high...can fly to the stars and moons and planets...there no gst one....ok hor..bye bye~

Week in, Week out~

Week in--- Hectic week packed with jam band practices, jam band performances, french quiz, maths 2 quiz, effective communications quiz, one photoshoot, one prayer and praise worship session, and on top of all those, lectures, tutorials, and meetings. And i thought this sem i will be more free, since i won't have IVP and AUG commitements. I was sooo wrong.....

In a blink of an eye, 5 weeks of school has passed. I don't even feel as if i have started school. The motivation to study must come from somewhere. But i just don't noe where. The guitar seems more appealing than the pen. The sound of music more appealing than the untidy scribblings. The sense of satisfaction from mastering a song more appealing than the solving of a geometric series. Just don't know how I'm gonna maintain my grades this sem. I pray that God will help me through.

Time in university is streched so thin, that it might break. And when it does, we can always take time off and take a breather. Ok not farnie. I stretch it so thin that i also get thinner and thinner from the lack of sleep. ok not farnie again. Its prob the post 1 syndrome :) Its time to rejuvenate, and prepare for bible study tomorrow at Mel's house at 930, getting jie jie's present after tt, meeting RjBT guys at 6 at suntec, sending jj off at terminal 2 at 9, and maybe dropping by peiqi's birthday party if it ain't too late and im still breathing. Got to get enough sleep for Sunday's worship session for Chinese service, and doing tutorials on Sunday. And of course, enough rest for next week---- Week out

I hope it will be special~

IVP Team~

Re- Birth
Someone inspired me to start writing again, after almost 2 years. 2 years of my life, has been unrecorded. It has been part of history, a mystery that will endure the end of time, a period that will be lost for eternity. For these 2 years is just a minute part of the life i've had, the life i've lived, the life i will live. From now, my life will go down to the ends of cyberspace. For when you are born once, you will die twice. When you are born twice, you will die once. Now, the blog has reborn.

ok that was a whole load of nonsense up there. Pls ignore it. Thanks charlene! For giving me the inspiration to write again. Not much of a writer myself, but when the heart is willing, nothing is impossible.

Hall 2 Jam band peeps, YOU GUYS ROCK!! Loving every minute of practice and performance with u guys:)

Stay tune for more nonsense to come:)

Agnus Dei~

Halleluiah, Halleluiah
For the lord God almighty reigns
Halleluiah, Halleluiah
For the lord God almighty reigns
Halleluiah
Holy, holy are you lord God almighty
Worthy is the lamb
Worthy is the lamb
You are holy, holy
Are you lord God almighty
Worthy is the lamb
Worthy is the lamb

Amen

Welcome~

Welcome to School of Logistics. Enter the camp via the main gate into Seletar Camp, exit the roundabout on the 2nd road, pass the kingfisher club and some greens of the Seletar Golf Course, and wah lau(viola~) you've reached School of Logistics. We have nice colonial looking buildings, which only have maximum of 2 storeys, so don't worry abt climbing so many flight of stairs. Just on the east side of the compound, is Seletar Airport runway. You can frequently see private jets take off and land on the runway. Heard stars from Hollywood use this Airport instead of Changi, for more privacy. Maybe we can catch a glimpse of them. To the south is the golf course. Relax and take a chill on your office balcony and watch those golfers tee off. Just don't get hit by..... "Incoming!!". Well, that's all for scenary. We have prepared a nice room for you complete with your personal table, cabinet, wadrobe, drawers, shoe rack and personal computer. If you need any other things, feel free to drop a call to our friendly RQ, (a little thunderous though). For admin matters, you can find our pretty Docu IC. Oh you better book and appt with her though. Everytime i went to see her, she is always busy attending to other guys (ahem). If you feel like staying for the night, we are more than welcome to give you a room. Comes fully airconditioned, you have a wide variety of rooms to choose from. From the very exclusive ones which you will have your personal staircase leading up to your room, to the spooky ones. Of course, as this is only your first few days in SOL, pls feel free to look around, get to know the area well and also the people. There is only more to discover. Have a gd day!

Philosophically..

you will have to know everything, and experience everything to prove that there is no God. However, this statement is inherently contradictory as if you know everything and experience everything, you are indeed God. God is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient.

If science is truly an honest attempt to discover the truth, then it will but only bring us closer to God.

Rough Sailing~

Today was one of the roughest Monday's ever. Have u ever been into 4 meetings, 1 of which is chaired by yourself? Nama... Not only did i not get posted to G4, my posting has been delayed for 1 week, and i'll be going to school of Logistics to fufil my initial role as the Training Coordinating Officer there. At this point of of time, i'd take it man. This morning, my S1 msg me saying that she will be on MC, not noeing what will be installed for me. Later did i realise that she has 3 meetings today. And i'll have to rep her in all 3. Besides the fact that i chaired a monthly welfare meeting for her, which she failed to chair for her a little over a year stint at the unit. Plus all the problems that the branch has, which is slowly surfacing to greet me in the face. You noe, the chinese say "Shui3 luo4 shi2 chu1" Everything can see liao. If not for the happy weekend, my head would have exploded due to the pressure that is contained in it

Saturday was very fruitful, spent the whole day helping Sarah's brother move stuff as he was moving house. I realised the feeling of having someone helping you shift house. It just can't be described. Especially when the person don't really noe you, but u offer to lend a helping hand, to help out.i felt the appreciation of that when i helped him that day. It is just great ya noe. Something money can't buy.Knowing that someone actually appreciates what you do for him. Manchester won on the weekend. Seeing someone like Park play at his best really thrilled me. What i like abt him is he's hardworking man. really gd work ethics and work rate. Created all 3 of United's goals. if he doesn't start in the next match, u noe there's some racial discrimination going on somewhere down there. Sunday, went to eat "Sum lou hor fun", "ha chiong kai", "XO yu pian mi fen", "xiang gang jie lan" and "hei zhou" with James, Puang, and Karfai, my best friends in 3 dsmb. Will miss them when i go. 4 more days, and counting.

Tough times don't last, tough men do

Leaving Behind~

Many talk about the feeling of being left behind, the feeling of being lost, the feeling of isolation, feeling of not having anyone there to talk to, to confide in, to laugh with. Have you ever thought of the feeling of leaving behind someone? Either to the greener pastures, or the reddish mountains(sorry of my lack of vocab) ? That feeling, is in my opinion, as torturing, as painful as the feeling of being left behind. On Monday, i learnt that i will get posted out of my current unit, 3 DSMB next Monday, to G4 army MINDEF(still pending on the outcome of my CO and S1's persuasion with G4 to keep me). First thought in my mind: I wouldn't mind to post out actually, from the amt of work im getting(very little, and im on workaholic pls), and the amt of politics my branch has. I just can't seem to cope with that. This may be a God given posting to me, to a better place? Wouldn't know yet. Second thought: I'll be leaving behind a few good men. Although my appointment does not enable me to chiong sua and be some garang pc in the field, the kind of battle that we are fighting in the admin department is also not a stroll in the park. In fact, it might be even worse, given that the battle we fight is continuous ,without air to breathe at times. The pple that have battled for me and with me during our most difficult times. Pple like Puang (not Tuang) who is always there to provide support and always worrying, at times unecessarily, but more often than not, meant good, who single handedly gao tim the bn's PDS stuff. Not to forget James, the trustworthy right handman, having a brain of Pentium Z equivalent(coming out in the year 2040), doing things at lightning speed, making the impossible possible, and never saying no to anything. Chan, James understudy, who is not undergoin artillery fire, but taking it all like a man(although James and i get some of the repercussions). My hats off to all of them. Without them, life in my present unit would certainly be dull and monotonous. Now, i'll have to leave them behind, to move on. Unbearable, but manageable.(am i contradicting myself?). G4 army, here i come.

No man gets left behind

The Beginning of the End~

Luke 21:25-26 says,
"There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world for the heavenly bodies will be shaken."

Busy~
Life has been quite busy recently. To a certain extent, busy in a good way.At least im spending my time fruitfully, rather than wasting it away in front of the television or the computer. Not saying that watching tv or surfing the net is wasting time. But in fact i think watching television can be quite informative and eye opening. Especially with the wide variety of programs we have on cable television these days. Well, anyway just finished SAFSA training, had a feeling of what its like to slowly get back from scratch, from the 2 weeks of laying off from any physical activity after AHM( i was just exhausted from all the running). Going for a church 24 hour prayer renewal tonight, where my small group will be staying over in church until tomorrow 8pm! And then will be catching up with Sarah Pang, my fellow RJBT Captain. Well, she's one of the few gals that is in the same frequency as i am, and really feel comfortable working and talking with her. Haven't met up for some time, hence the meeting.

B-U-S-Y- Busy Under Satan's Yoke??

Learning Crisis~

Has anyone encountered a learning crisis? Learning crisis is(imo) the wanting to learn so many different things, but by one's own ability, only able to learn a certain amount during a fixed period of time. Recently i have this urge to learn/pick up a few things, namely computer hardware, C++ programming, traditional chinese medicine, furthering my guitar skills, ride a bike and roller blading. Suddenly felt very passionate abt learning all these things. I did some self relfection, and came up with a conclusion. Probably because in my whole teen life(probably childhood as well), i have only learnt 2 things. TO study and to play badminton. Devoted all my time on it, in my standards excelled in it.Moreover, having been trg in the army for almost 2 years now, with my brain rotting away, getting "haywired" Someone probably pressed the "Emergency button" to allow me to "wake my idea up" and get things going again.The "badminton" part of my brain is telling me to let it rest and ease a little Now, there seems to be a vacuum in my head that's crying to be filled up. The "other skills department" Its like the workers in that department have just woken up from a deep slumber, now just waitinng to get to work. Problem is, too many things to learn, too little time. Time is always the problem. At times i feel like there is too much time(the time inc pple keep sending me mails to subscribe to them), at times, too little. Hence, there must be a trade off somewhere. The economist in my brain , whois still in deep slumber, must draw the trade off graph and assist me to caculate the opportunity cost, for me to choose which activity to do, which activity to dump for later time slot, such that there will be learning optimization. If he can't help me do the maths and decide, i might have to call in the crisis management team. They're probably somewhere inside my brain..just need to find them. Crisis? Nah...

AHM was...

To start it off, i couldn't sleep at the planned time of 830 which i had the intention of the day before, as i had to wake up at 345 to be able to make it in time to report to Padang by 430. It was probably the fault of the chicken essence that i took before the sleep...dunno what else would have kept me tossing and turning in bed. Next, breakfast was...1 kitkat, 1 milkybar, 1 piece of chocolate wafer, two Jacob's Cream Crackers and 1 can of Shark's Energy drink. I later realised that that too, was a mistake. Got down to the Padang, ready to roar. Thinking that i'll warm up during the first 2 click, warm up was minimal. (Hint) Next thing i knew, by the 3rd click, i was battling a stomach pain/stitch, dunno which one issit exactly, the feeling of things coming up my throat, which somehow i managed to suppress, and pesevere on. Just Dong. 15km mark, calves started to cramp up. Now i had to battle both the stomach ache and the cramps. Had to slow down quite alot to prevent the cramps from climaxing which would produce deadly effects, for those who know me well enough.Somehow, i just kept going, and going and going. The determination to complete the race, under 2hrs 5min(so that i can get my 12 dollar registration fee refund) was just not dying, not burning out. You might say that i'm Kiam, but its a goal to meet. Moreover, this was what i have been training for. On my best days, i can definitely clock below 2hrs 5 min. But circumstances change. Situations change. So, mustering all my strength, and moderating my pace to ease the cramps and stitches, i slowly counted down. 16km.....17km....18km.....19km...20km..21 km...the boards slowly passed by. Finally, the finishing line came to sight and i just ran for it. Finishing by 1hr 55min. At the finishing line, the words in my mind was only "Wah kau, kam pua shack.."Well, to many pple out there, it might be just a slightly above average timing, but fer me, knowing all the difficulties i face, it's an achievement. An achievement worth smiling in my heart for.

"Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him."
-James 1:12

Asian Satellite

The feeling of going into a tournament, not being able to perform to the fullest potential, really annoys me. Not having enough preparation, knowing that hey, i can do better than this, i can stretch this guy longer, i can last longer, i can be faster, more accurate, more deadly. I have this principle that whenever i take part in any tournament or any other things, i must have enough preparation, do the best i can in the things that i do, to excel in it. If not, i will feel quite pek chek.
Singles, Kena wack by this guy called Hendry Winarto, 3-15 10-15. Doubles, 3-15 7-15 by two Malaysians. Sincerely thought that if Weipin and I had better preparation for this (he bmt I trg for AHM), we would have won this game. But nevertheless, it was a gd experience, and i really cherish it.

Smashing~

Call me wierd, call me dumb, but well, let me choose between a weekday duty and a weekend duty, i'll take the latter. On Sunday, i did my first duty as an officer, it was fantastic. Actually, i have been secretly looking forward to this duty as i miss doing duty, especially on New Year's Eve. Daniel, my pri sch classmate and ocs mate would certainly relish the time we spend together on New Year's Eve and New Year's day in camp while others were partying their hearts out. Let me give you a rough idea of how i spent the day.

0800-1200 - Xbox
1200-1230 - lunch
1230-1500 - Xbox
1500- 1730 - Surf Net
1730-1800 - Dinner
1800 - 1900 - Security Patrol
1900- 2330- TV

Smashing ain't it? Besides the fact that i had to skip church. Would love to do another weekend duty(maybe saturday instead), as i love playing the Xbox. It seems that me keeping away from games for quite a period has suddenly unleased the gaming monster in me on Sunday. Maybe should get myself one of those cool black boxes.

On top of that, morale was high in my branch for the past two days. We had BK for lunch on Monday and KFC on Tuesday. Contemplating to chiong all the fast food outlets we can get our hands on for the rest of the week to make the record. Work load was relatively low, there are more pple in the branch(1 new clerk just came in) makin in more happending.

In the TODAY paper today, an article called "Who needs marriage" caught my eye. Its about the problem abt rising divorce rates, men getting more than a woman out of marriage, ie to a man she is a free maid, cook, child bearer and sex partner. To a woman? I dunno. Men cheating on their wives and committing adultery and the answer to those, cohabitation or polygamy. Settling together with no strings attached. One thing that really caught my eye was something called the cohabitation contract. Under it, the male isn't expected to care for his offspring. Society instead should ENABLE a woman to care for herself, providing her with housing benefits, maid benefits, etc etc. such that she can take care of her child on her own. Which means that in simple terms, guy sees girl. Guy and girl make friends, Guy and girl have interest in each other. Guys and girl "connects". Guy literally F***s Off. Wah la! Child is born. If guy, he'll turn out straight. If girl, chances of her turning lesbian, high(according to science, don't ask me why) Didn't noe whether those who came up with the idea of the cohabitation contract thought of the repercussions it might cause to society. What happened to the good old principles of loyalty and trust? Honoring the comittement? To me, the most important thing in a marriage is honoring the two words "i do" to the whole load of things the pastor said like "love her till ya death, take gd care of her blahh blah blah....." . So let's say the government ask all Singaporeans to choose between the "cohabitation contract" thing, and normal marriage thing in a survey and the results will determine whether it gets implemented. Which side on it will you be?Just some food for thought:)

The Way Things Work~

In the outside world, as in refering to world outside army(pardon me for the small world im in), money and profit runs things. For example, if you need help to create servers in your office and make everything IT based, hire the computer IT professionals, they will put in their heart and soul for the job. Why? Simply because if they don't do a gd job, u can sack them and hire other computer IT specialists who are waiting in line. If you need to print loads of brochures maybe for advertising purposes, go to the printing professionals and they'll do the job Swee swee for you, suited to your preference. Why? Simply because you can always choose to go to another printing company. The motivation them is profit making, earning money, so that their business can survive.

In the inside world( i should think that most of you should noe what it is), it is the opposite. If you call for a meeting, chances are, most of the pple you call will not come for your meeting. Instead, they will send representatives who will most probably listen to your ramblings for as long as you take and everything will come out the other ear and taken to be swept under the carpet(im exaggerating). i hear that outside if u call for a meeting and u don't attend it, it's your own problem as what is discussed in the meeting will be materialised, so if u weren't there you have no say in the output. Motivation factor? Maybe its the fear of getting "punished" by personnel of higher ranks. Maybe its the wanting to "score points". I dunno, but one thing is certain. In the army, your job is secure. There is no fear of losing your job. There is also no incentive to do extra. So what's the point? What is the point?

Im doing Duty this Sunday. Feels a bit wierd since i've not done duty for a very long time. First time doing kena weekend. Actually not i kena, its i swop with a friend. DOn't say i stupid first ah. Its cos this Sunday its his birthday, and he can't find anyone else to swop with him. Now don't say i very honorable ah. I mean, if im in his shoes, i will certainly feel like shit if im doing duty on my birthday. Birthday suppose to have off one leh, now no off some more kena duty. ALAMAK!Yeah, so that's why i took over loh. Anyway he agreed to do a weekend duty for me some time later if i kena one. So its fair trade, and that's only if i kena one weekend duty. But quite impossible, honestly, since im in the branch that plans duty, most prob won't kena. That's the way things work wat...hor? Sorry ah, suddenly feel very singaporean, so use a bit of singrish here okie? Gd.