The Greener Blog Block

Haypi guide

2011-08-24T08:15:00.001+08:00

This has different troop types

Strategy guide

FORTS:

Lvl-# Catapults to occupy
1-250
2-500
3-800
4-1300
5-2000
6-3600
7-6000
8-9000
9-13000
10-18000

Lvl-# Calvary to occupy
1-1504
2-3008
3-6015
4-9775
5-15038
6-26316
7-43610
8-60150
9-97744
10-135338
Tip: You need enough calvary to kill the forts Infantry in one turn. This number is reduced with increased stats. You will also need enough Archers/Catapults to kill the forts Archers/Catapults per turn.

Lvl-# Archers to occupy

CALCULATED (as always) WITH NO ATTRIBUTE/TECHS SO THIS IS THE MAXIMUM U WOULD NEED

ALSO U WILL SUFFER SOME LOSSES

1-5625
2-11250
3-22500
4-36536
5-56250
6-98438
7-163125
8-225000
9-365625
10-506250

====
OASIS:

Lvl - # catapults to occupy
1-5
2-10
3-25
4-50
5-75
6-100
7-200
8-400
9-500

Lvl-# archers to occupy
1-150
2-150
3-400
4-400
5-800
6-1410
7-2850
8-7100
9-14100
====
Scouting
"Several" 0~9
"One or two dozen" 10~24
"Dozens" 25~49
"Scores" 50~99
"One or two hundred" 100~249
"Several hundred" 250~499
"Hundred" 500~999
"One or two thousand" 1000~2499
"Several thousand" 2500~4999
"Thousands" 5000~9999
"Over 100 hundred" >=10000
====
Lvl Req Branch Oases Forts
1 0 0 1 0
2 200 0 1 0
3 630 0 2 0
4 1150 1 2 1
+nugget
5 2k 1 3 1
6 3.6k 1 3 1
7 6.5k 2 4 2
+nug&gem
8 11.5k 2 4 2
9 20k 2 5 2
10 35k 3 5 3
+gem&medal
11 65k 3 6 3
12 115k 3 6 3
13 200k 4 7 4
+med&scepter
14 360k 4 7 4
15 650k 4 8 4
16 1.15M 5 8 5
+3scepter
17 2M 5 9 5
18 3.6M 5 9 5
19 6.5M 6 10 6
+2scep+2crown
20 11.5M 6 10 6
+4scep+4crown
====
Lvl 10 Turrets Can Kill
255/76/306/85 per turret per round

Lvl 10 Traps Can Kill
120/36/144/40

Strategy guide 2
Range for catapults
Shooting range Level tech
1100 0
1116 1
1132 2
1148 3
1164 4
1180 5
1196 6
1212 7
1228 8
1244 9
1260 10
1300 Lvl 9 turrets
1350 Lvl 10 turrets
====
Oasis lvl Output
1. 100
2. 200
3. 350
4. 550
5. 850
6. 1250
7. 1900
8. 2700
9. 3700
10. 5000
====
Lvl of Fort Output hour
1. $20
2. $40
3. $60
4. $80
5. $100
6. $120
7. $140
8. $160
9. $180
10. $200
==========================
You get prestige from:
•Winning a war against other players armies. (Your losses, and the level difference lower the prestige gained)
•Upgrading your resources and buildings
•Building defenses
•Training troops
•Having successful hunts
==========================
Tip: When you are not using troops, send them out to hunt. You become a wanted target when people see your prestige out.
==========================
Hunting:
•On hunts send as many troops as possible as your reward will be higher.
•Hunt for 8-12 hours for an optimal hunt.
•Try to rotate where you hunt because if a spot was hunted recently, the hunt may fail and you won\\\'t receive anything.
•Note: the level of the oasis does not matter, nor the distance.
==========================
Forts/oasis:
•Occupying an oasis produces additional resources depending on the oasis.
•Occupying a fort earns you money per hour, but are very heavily manned.
•Forts takes 3 attacks to successful occupy, but each time you attack you will receive resources (first attack is the most), so make sure you have enough overload.
==========================

Enhancement
Lvl / Increase / Cost / Success %
1 2% 4 100%
2 5% 5 95%
3 7% 6 90%
4 10% 8 85%
5 15% 9 80%
6 18% 11 75%
7 22% 13 74%
8 25% 14 72%
9 29% 16 69%
10 33% 18 64%
11 38% 20 57%
12 43% 22 51%
13 48% 24 41%
14 54% 26 34%
15 60% 28 30%
16 67% 30 28%
17 75% 32 26%
18 82% 34 24%
19 91% 36 20%
20 100% 38 18%

If you have enhanced all your items, armor, sword, horse, manual and ring, you will need only the half of cats/archers for taking forts or oasis. Around 9k cats as 18k without any equipment for a lvl 10 fort.

2011-07-04T11:34:00.000+08:00

Guide to Fighting on Haypi.

To predict any outcome you need know five things.

1) Field Length, this is easy to find, if you're using cats it'll be 1100+the boost to your cats range from tech, just attack a level 1 oasis to check.

2) Unit Speed, this is crucial when combined with field length.
Cavalry = 300
Infantry = 150
Archers = 125
Catapults = 50
this will always be the same with oases and forts however this may change with players so be careful with players as both tech and attributes affect it.

3) Range, this is easy and only two units are of note with range, cats and archers. Cats have a base range of 800 + 16 for every shooting skill level while archers have a base of 600 + 12 for every shooting skill level. This combines with speed and field length to calculate how many turns you can hit enemy units before they reach you. It it is possible, due to cav having 40 range and inf having 25 for cav to hit inf without retaliation but you have to work it out very carefully using speed, you only have 15 range sweetspot to play with.

4) How many units you can kill per turn, to work out this attack a fort/oases with plenty of the unit you are checking for (or use a small amount of yours instead) and check the war report to see how many eg with 200 cats I killed 407 inf so I can multiply that to find out how many if I change the number of cats, you will only need to check once each time you change your attack.
As a rule, unless you have checked, assume that cats will kill 1.9 inf per cat and 0.4 cav per cat. It will be roughly 1.9 cats/archers per cat due to lower range and health.

5) Max number of enemy units, this can be found out by scouting the enemy, with forts or players with lower scout skill it will tell you exactly (beware of hidden troops when attacking players, by this I mean troops hunting or at an oasis that can be called back right before you hit to stop you withdrawing until it'll cost you 5 coins). With oases and players of higher scout skills you will be given an accurate but vague answer.

"Several" means that enemies number is between 0~9
"One or two dozen" means that enemies number is between 10~24
"Dozens" means that enemies number is between 25~49
"Scores" means that enemies number is between 50~99
"One or two hundred" means that enemies number is between 100~249
"Several hundred" means that enemies number is between 250~499
"Hundreds" means that enemies number is between 500~999
"One or two thousand" means that enemies number is between 1000~2499
"Several thousand" means that enemies number is between 2500~4999
"Thousands" means that enemies number is between 5000~9999
"Over 100 hundred" means that enemies number is between >=10000.

Now you have all the info you need, using 1,2,3 calculate how many turns you can attack each unit type (use 2 to work out when they will come into range, if you are waiting the gap they must cover is 300 for cats, use 1 to work out how long until the units reach you and 3 to work out how long until their cats and archers can attack you) , calculate how many you will kill in that time by doing 4(the fourth point not 4)x[the number of turns you can attack] bearing in mind you can't attack, for example, inf all 7 turns because they aren't in range until 2 and you will be focusing on the fastest unit, cavs until all cavs are dead. Using 5, (take max possible for oases or vague player scouts) work out if you can beat all enemies before any reach you, remember you have inf as a last line of defence to, using higher speed, attack any enemy inf first and defend your cats/archers. Now you've worked out if you can win, if not and to show you an example fight assume I am attacking a level 8 oasis.
My units:
250 cats (Level4 Shooting Skill)
1000 inf
Oasis units:
Max 2499 inf
Max 99 cav
Max 49 archers
Max 99 cats

Turn1: Wait with all units, set cats to hit cav. Result: all enemy cav dead.
Turn2: Leave waiting (do this all fight until I say otherwise) and set to hit inf. This is because, although archers and cats are higher priority there is a gap of 300 between your cats max attack range and enemy starting point so only inf will be in range. Result: approx 500 inf dead, 1999 left (assuming max).
Turn3: Set cats to attack archers. Result: all archers dead. Archers will be able to attack you before any inf or cats due to their 125 speed and 600 range so these are your top priority after cav.
Turn4: Set cats to attack inf. Result: approx 500 inf dead, 1499 left.
Turn5: Set cats to attack inf. Result: approx 500 inf dead, 999 left.
Turn6: Set cats to attack inf. Result: approx 500 inf dead, 499 left
Turn7: Set cats to attack inf. Result: approx 500 inf dead, all inf dead.
Turn8: Now you are probably wondering why I haven't done anything to the enemy cats, simple, the field length is 1164 (remember shooting tech) so the oasis cats (50 speed) won't have my units in range until turn 8 so I can ignore until then. That means on turn 8 I'll use my superior speed to attack the enemy cats. I will hit first. Results: all cats dead. I win 0 losses.
*Note, this was done before I hit a level 8 oasis and my subsequent attack backed up this example.

Turn order. No, I don't mean 1,2,3 etc, I mean how a turn is carried out. A turn is actually carried out by all units moving in order then units attack in order. This means that, for example, a cat will move 300 by turn 6 so although it can't hit you thanks to tech you will hit it turn 6 if you wait as it will move the final 50 needed and then your cats get to attack. However, I would still use turn 6 to attack inf and leave cats until a turn they can hit me, this is because with 4 shooting cats won't reach me until turn 8, the same turn as inf so it's simpler to continue attacking inf until they're gone.

Shooting Tech. There are only four key shooting levels when dealing with oases/forts. These are 0,1,4 and 8. These are the reasons:
0 - At this range cats can hit you on turn 6 and archers at turn 4.
1 - At this range cats become unable to hit you until turn 7 and archers at turn 5.
4 - At this range cats are unable to hit you until turn 8, giving you an extra turn to clear up inf.
8 - This is the highest you will need shooting for oases/forts as this is the last time field length becomes a critical factor. Cats are unable to hit you until turn 9, inf until turn 8, cav until turn 5.

Last but not least: fighting players. The rules change from when fighting forts and oases. Players attributes, tech and hidden forces mean you need to rethink all five points. For field length, if they have a higher shooting skill, the field length will increase, to find this out you need to attack the player, either in the main attack or a sacrificial inf to find out exact troop amount if their scout skill is higher than yours, if they're not commanding then you will also see their speed, something to check carefully in the war report. One thing to be wary of is hidden troops. If you managed to get a detail scout report always check prestige, make sure troop numbers make sense for someone of that prestige. Also look at attributes, if they have a high defence you will kill less per turn and if they have high attack then if they reach you they could cause high casualties.

2011-07-04T11:24:00.001+08:00

Turrets and Trap counts:
•Lvl 10 Turrets Can Kill
255/76/306/85 per turret per round
•Lvl 10 Traps Can Kill
120/36/144/40

Haypi kingdom guide 1

2011-06-12T23:16:00.001+08:00

Number of cats needed for forts and oasis:
Forts
1-250
2-500
3-750
4-1000
5-1500
6-3000
7-6000
8-9000
9-13000
10-18000
====
Oasises
1-5
2-10
3-25
4-50
5-75
6-100
7-200
8-400
9-500
Scouting
"Several" 0~9
"One or two dozen" 10~24
"Dozens" 25~49
"Scores" 50~99
"One or two hundred" 100~249
"Several hundred" 250~499
"Hundred" 500~999
"One or two thousand" 1000~2499
"Several thousand" 2500~4999
"Thousands" 5000~9999
"Over 100 hundred" >=10000

On the contest for Aljunied GRC

2011-05-12T07:27:00.000+08:00

I listened to Minister George Yeo's rally speech last night.

It was impassioned and it was right. It was well delivered and it got me thinking. It was one of those speeches that make this election campaign worthwhile, amongst others of course.

Those that know me know I support having an alternative voice in Parliament, but I think it would be petty to discredit something purely to keep along partisan lines.

He seemed pretty sincere to me. Of course, there might be hidden agendas. Of course he wants to survive.

But his speech elevated him above others like Wong Kan Seng, Mah Bow Tan and Vivian Balakrishnan. It does seem like the factions in the PAP are going to war with each other. It does seem like Lee Hsieh Long has thrown his lot in with the Goh Chok Tong camp.

Still there are little perfect solutions in life. Unfortunately, George Yeo must now suck it up like the rest of us have been doing.

On the contest for Aljunied GRC

2011-05-06T16:02:00.001+08:00

On PAP Strategy (or lack thereof)

2011-05-04T00:45:00.001+08:00

They seem not to operate under any overarching strategy for this election. Whether due to poor direction and leadership, or a case of too many Indian chiefs, one can only speculate.

The usual fear mongering, failure to come up policies that address the concerns of the electorate, a threadbare manifesto, badly run smear campaigns, unsubstantiated allegations, an unethical policy of disinformation and a steadfast refusal to admit to mistakes.

LHL's lunchtime speech at Boat Quay was probably the smartest speech so far. Then why aren't the others reading from the same script. They should have run with this from the very beginning and that would have given them a better ground. As it is, it is too late, the damage has been done.

The election and me.

2011-05-01T23:09:00.001+08:00

I am glad that my wife is really supportive of my volunteering with the WP. Have so far been able to catch the rallies at Hougang and Serangoon. The guys and gals volunteering have had to put in a lot of work with the few resources available. So my dear Singaporeans. Do the right thing this time and please don't disppoint me.

2011-04-26T11:57:00.002+08:00

The hustlings have begun.

Tomorrow is when all will be made known, who is contesting where in GE2011.

I know I'll make my vote count.

I fear the silent majority will just choose the status quo. A slow decline into a rich man's Disneyland.

2011-04-11T10:53:00.001+08:00

Lessons from Dune.
Extracts from God Emperor of Dune:

The wise man observed that wealth is a tool of freedom. But the pursuit of wealth is the way to slavery.

The difference between a good administrator and a bad one is about five heartbeats. Good administrators make immediate choices.
A bad administrator, on the other hand, hesitates, diddles around, asks for committees, for research and reports. - A bad administrator is more concerned with reports than with decisions. He wants the hard record which he can display as an excuse for his errors.

(Good administrators) depend on verbal orders. They never lie about what they've done if their verbal orders cause problems, and they surround themselves with people able to act wisely on the basis of the verbal orders. Often, the most important piece of information us that something has gone wrong. Bad administrators hide their mistake until it's too late to make corrections.

Most bureaucracies before mine sought out and promoted people who avoided decisions.

The above was from a particularly striking conversation between Hwi and Leto. Chapter 28 of the God Emperor of Dune.

2011-03-20T18:58:00.000+08:00

The guilt is horrible. Especially when she keeps quiet instead of screaming at me.

2010-09-09T15:40:00.002+08:00

I wish that the rich people would see money for what it is, a means to an end. Nothing more, nothing less. When having one more million dollars is going to form the impetus for exploiting others, you have to ask yourself if that is how you want to define your existence.

The poor and downtrodden will grab all they can, because they need all they can get. And so they subject themselves to the will of the powerful and rich for the sake of money.

Accumulation of wealth has become the new religion which more than replaces the doing of good deeds, the joy of life and realising our existence is just a transient image.

I swear that my children will see more than dollars and cents in the world. Love of money does not equate to a loving your life.

2010-09-07T12:35:00.002+08:00

There have been allegations of me growing boring in something I consider myself an expert in; the art of conversation.

Firstly, I must first put out that conversation is a two way street. I married my wife because she is someone with whom I can have sparkling conversation with. I could of course have discussions with anyone on sociology and philosophy. How our thoughts affects us and move the world. I would like to point out that a few people who think on these matters do seek me out and indulge me with their company and thoughts.

If I were to talk to the mirror, I could happily entertain myself for a while. Really big on self love. However, put me in front of a cow and I'd be at a loss for what to say after the first minute.

I could talk about business strategies and the direction of the US dollar. How China faces all these economic issues and India's growth could potentially be choked by runaway inflation. I do that with my boss and business partner. However, discussion of macro-economics would involve knowing what the difference between a subprime mortgage and a conventional mortagage and how they contributed to the US housing market's collapse which affected the rest of world. I could teach and tell people about them, but I don't ordinarily assume that someone is interested in these and other potentially complicated financial instruments.

If I see someone rarely enough, I try to update them on my life and with personal anecdotes. Since my life revolves around my family, that is what most of my conversation would be about. If that is boring, one could steer the conversation elsewhere, and I would most happily go into how physiology and which parts anatomy are exerted in say a particular sport elsewhere as what sort of training regime should one adopt. I probably assumed too much when I talk about the family, since I do listen when others talk about theirs. It gives a clue to how they're feeling and why they are the way they are. So my fault lies in assuming that other people's interest in family extends beyond knowing that they're still alive and present.

I could also talk about religion(pet fave), politics(another pet fave since I believe that Socrates is right and every citizen should give a damn), art(big fan of Micheangelo's David and Campbell soup), music(from Bach to Blur), popular culture (I don't like the Shemale, Lady Gaga and have been reminiscing too much about Mambo nights), philosophy(Objectivist and Relativist), idealism(I want to rule the world), food(super pet fave), high culture, low culture, alternative cultures, and I'd be most glad to learn stuff I didn't know about, or hear your opinion on matters. Would be fantastic if you could show me an insight into a world view I never knew existed. Offer them to me, and they enter the conversation.

In short, adding nothing to a conversation leads to a conversation being led off into a potentially boring pathway. Correcting the path of conversation leads back to far more interesting scenery.

Well, I know this smacks of shameless showing off. This post may even come across as all wrong, over-bearing and defensive. Arsehole is me.

However, I'd like to quote one of my favourite bands.

"If you don't know me by now, you will never never know me. Ooo"
-Simply Red

PS.I like seeing my friends; changes or none. Doesn't stop me from thinking of them as friends as long as they still care.

2010-07-15T12:22:00.012+08:00

三国从演

Setting 2

The region to the south of the Empire is known as the Festering Lands (南烂地).

Otherwise known as the Festering, it is land inhabited by strange beasts, demons, devils and a great manner of evil spirits. A feeling of malevolence hangs in the very air around it. Those who were presumed lost in it later re-emerge, as undead with a fire in their eyes, and attempt to slay the living. This and evil place encompasses the entire southern range of the Empire.

The Empire is mostly sheltered from the Festering Lands by mountainous ranges covered with thick foliage and often impassible terrain. The few passes that exist are heavily guarded and fortified. In any case, most of the time, the demons and monsters known to inhabit those lands do not seem interested in invading the Empire en masse.

The natives of the Southern Ranges (南端山峦) are a hardy folk used to the mountainous terrain, harsh weather (where torrential storms sometimes sweep down without warning triggering off flash-floods and landslides. They are often join the ranks of the military to garrison the forts that guard the passes. Their defences are often tested by small bands of monsters, undead and demons that harry the humans in the territory. Each time their defences are breached, the monsters go on to wreak great havoc in the Empire. However, these are usually quickly resolved with the local lord quickly sending troops to destroy the invaders utterly.

So far, the last full scale assault which overcame their stalwart defence was about a thousand years ago, when the Shang Dynasty marshaled a host from throughout the Empire to drive the horde back. This was the only time in history when each of the dozen forts fell to the Festering Horde, their defenders valiantly fighting to the last man and proudly refused to abandon their posts. Many lives were lost before the passes were retaken and the forts rebuilt and strengthened. The attack was believed to have been led by the White Bone Spirit (白骨精), which was believed to have fled when its minions died. The Horde wreaked havoc till the tide was stemmed north of Jingzhou. Till today some of the lands where they bivouacked remain barren and uninhabited, with the stench of evil lingering.

However, there have been many other concerted drives led by terrifying devils and demons, each having been repelled at the cost of lives.

Little is known about the south by most of the common folk, save legends and rumours that grow more ludicrous with each re-telling. Most scare little children by telling them that is where their spirits will end up should they be naughty children.

However, there are those who do study the and the strange power it exudes, known as the Taint.

The Taint has been known to drive men and beasts mad, provoking even the most honourable man to commit vile acts and the most docile animal to extreme savagery. It also gifts those affected with inhuman strength, yet cursing them with a hideous visage. The Taint has even been known to reanimate the dead, and so those who perish near the Festering have their corpses burnt. The many effects of the Taint are still not known and will be left to later discussion. Those with an interest in the Taint and the Festering Lands will have to be careful and aware of its many subtle dangers. In fact, there have been not a few who had been seduced by the mystery and power of the Festering, and they have all come to bad ends.

The natives of the South had long since learnt to combat the effects of the Taint by wearing jade on their persons. But the protection is only for the finite amount of time, for the jade piece, while absorbing the Taint on the wearer's behalf will slowly turn black and cease to offer any protection. That is scouting and exploration missions are usually brief sojourns with a few elite members.

The people of the Empire commonly refer to the natives disparagingly as the "Southern Barbarians" (南曼人), for they are often surly, if not outright rude, to outsiders. Their boorish behaviour is often seen the result of being too close to the Taint and too far from the civilised lands of central China. The terms used to address them is no doubt a play on the Chinese words for the Festering lands and is seen as an insult by most of the natives who prefer to call themselves the Southern Mountain Sky Tribe 南山天族.

Tha natives themselves do not care much for the culture and social niceties of the northern folk, as these do not aid them in their harsh lifestyles. They are often dark-skinned and built like bears. Used to hardship and battle, they are often recruited by the Shu and Wu kingdoms as crack shock troops. Many of them serve in the garrisons of the 12 forts, and patrol the environs, believing that they were placed there by the Celestial Jade Emperor 玉皇大帝 to protect the realm of humanity. They see this onerous duty as a sacrifice for the blessings which makes their tribesmen strong in mind, spirit and body.

It is often rumoured that there is a Festering Pit deep within the Festering Land that spawns the vile creatures and evil spirits from the depths of Hell itself. This Pit is supposedly located within the bowels of Black Mountain whose summit itself is rarely glimpsed, since the sky over the Festering Land is often heavily overcast, rendering the mountains and its foothills as shadows cloaked in darkness. The land of the Festering is usually covered in an unnatural greenish fog. Legend has it that the Pit is guarded by an evil tree spirit of immense power (黑山老妖).

Intrepid scouts sent out over the ages have as yet been unable to verify these claims.

No Emperor has thus far risked trying to invade the Festering Lands, as it is inhospitable and there seeming little gain in such an exertion, which would probably cost so much that it would severely weaken the state.

And so the Festering remains a lingering and ominous threat to the existence of China.

2010-07-02T11:53:00.010+08:00

三国从演

Gameplay.

The rules will be most the same as L5R 3rd Ed. Please note that for simplicity's sake I will not be admitting any of the other supplementary books. Please keep things strictly within one book. However, I am not inflexible and am open to letting in others or even some modification of the core skills if your character can have so much more flavour with it. Please note "so much more". Don't give me some crap like how this is really good for the character because he can then gain this power and have synergy with his other skills.

Techniques shall remain as they are described and house and clan techniques will not change in effect, but only in name to reflect the flavour of the campaign. So the different school ranks will reflect advancement in the chosen school of Kungfu.

Examples of name changes would be:
Hida Bushi school - Shaolin Ironman School - 少林大金刚.
I chose this as it applied very much to the brute force and eat damage ability of the school
Kakita Duelist School - Wudang Xingyi Jian - 武当形意.
The goal of the xingyiquan exponent is to reach the opponent quickly and drive powerfully through them in a single burst — the analogy with spear fighting is useful here. This is achieved by coordinating one's body as a single unit and the intense focusing of one's qi.

Efficiency and economy of movement are the qualities of a xingyiquan stylist and its direct fighting philosophy advocates simultaneous attack and defence. There are few kicks except for extremely low foot kicks (which avoids the hazards of balance involved with higher kicks) and some mid-level kicks, and techniques are prized for their deadliness rather than aesthetic value. Xingyiquan favours a high stance called Sāntǐshì (三體式 / 三体式), literally "three bodies power," referring to how the stance holds the head, torso and feet along the same vertical plane. A common saying of xingyiquan is that "the hands do not leave the heart and the elbows do not leave the ribs."

Sohei techniques could originate from Shaolin of the Beggars Sect. In fact, I was thinking of renaming the Daidoji school Beggar's Sect.

I will add on the others when I have found suitable things, am open to suggestions on renaming as well.

Kihos will also be renamed. For example certain kihos could be name to have come from the Nine Yang Manual or Nine Ying Manual.

Because of these changes players are no longer beholden to any one clan or group. However, the schools still guard their secrets jealously and will not easily impart it's techniques to those of other schools.

Honor and Glory are still important as players are judged on their 侠义 (xia2 yi4) and 正义 (zhen4 yi4). Face is of course, very important in Chinese society and culture.

Castes systems are still retained in feudal China as per L5R, including most social more, superstitions and etiquette. The equivalent of the samurai caste will now be known as the 君子 "Gentlemen" or gentry caste, with enough in family or personal wealth to bear a personal weapon of superior make to peasant arms. Peasants will still respect and fear those bearing such obviously unique arms. Such arms may be hereditary with their position in society also passed along to descendants. There is obviously scope for drama if the father falling on hard times has only one such sword to pass on to his 10 children; who may then plot to gain possession of the weapon and thus retain their place in loftier circles.

The priest is still the one class of people who stand outside of conventional caste rankings.

The daisho set will now be replaced by a personal weapon which players cannot lose or risk dishonour.

Skill sets remain unchanged. 象棋 Qi now replaces Go as the common game played.

Religion will change to reflect the Taoist pantheon.

Daikoku, the Fortune of wealth - 财神 Cai2 Shen2

I will add on to these later as I come up with more stuff to flesh out the world. I hope you guys are as excited as I am to be trying to bring this world to life and fun!

2010-06-30T15:00:00.006+08:00

三国从演

Setting:

It was a time of troubles and wars. The Han Dynasty was well past its nadir and declining rapidly. In actual fact, the Emperor wielded little power, instead, merely serving as a symbol and excuse under which the various warlords waged war and sought to further their own ambitions.

The suffering of the people were furthered by a group of blood magic practitioners. They formed an army and named themselves the Yellow Turbans. They summoned demons from the Festering Lands of the south and enlisted barbarians from the steppes of the north. Working covertly to undermine many of the Imperial institutions, they declared a rebellion to end the Dynasty. The Yellow Turbans secretly identified a section of the Great Wall which was poorly manned; assassinated the guard commander, disabled the retinue posted there and opened a gate to let in the barbarians of the Liao tribes through the Great Wall.

The Yellow Turban Rebellion began in 180 and heroes from all across the land answered the call of the Emperor Ling and strove to put down the forces of the Yellow Turbans.

One by one, the warlords were eliminated until three remained.

Cao Cao boasts the largest armies and had many able lieutenants. He commands the kingdom of Wei. Currently, he has appointed himself the regent of the Empire and holds the Emperor Xian hostage in Xu Chang. He is known to be a man of many talents, who ruthless streak has earned much enmity, and yet treats the generals and officials under him as family. A brilliant tactician and opportunist, he has risen from a low ranking official to hold sway over the north of the Empire, defeating warlords with greater resources at their disposal.

Liu Bei claims to have imperial blood relations with the current Emperor and works to restore the Han Dynasty, failing which he would declare himself the rightful Emperor in order that the Dynasty may continue. His mountainous base is easily defensible. His strength is the result of some of the most valiant warriors in the Empire serving under him, as well the advice of the brilliant strategist Zhuge Liang (Kong Ming). The kingdom of Shu owes much to the man.

Wu is in rich and fertile lands with a thriving commercial sector. As well as capable generals and officials, Sun Quan possesses the love and respect of his subjects. Ruling over the land of Wu for three generations, Sun Quan has nominally declared his loyalty to the Empire. He possess the Royal Jade Seal which is the token of Imperial Authority. With his powerful navy, Sun Quan keeps his territories safe from the incursions of powerful Wei and has entered into a tentative alliance with Shu to oppose Wei.

In AD208, Cao Cao amassed an army and invaded Jingzhou. After swiftly gaining victory, he proceeded south without respite in order to press Wu.

(From Wikipedia)

When Jing fell, Liu Bei quickly fled south, accompanied by a refugee population of civilians and soldiers. This disorganised exodus was pursued by Cao Cao's elite cavalry, and was surrounded and decisively beaten at the Battle of Changban (near the modern-day city of Dangyang in Hubei). Liu Bei escaped, however, and fled further east to Xiakou, where he liaised with Sun Quan's emissary Lu Su. At this point historical accounts are inconsistent; Lu Su may have successfully encouraged Liu Bei to move even further east, to Fankou (樊口).^[2] In either case, Liu Bei was later joined by Liu Qi and levies from Jiangxia. Liu Bei's main advisor, Zhuge Liang, was sent to Chaisang (柴桑) to negotiate forming a mutual front against Cao Cao with the state of Wu.

By the time Zhuge Liang arrived, Cao Cao had already sent Sun Quan a letter boasting of commanding 800,000 men and demanding Sun Quan's surrender. The faction led by Sun Quan's Chief Clerk, Zhang Zhao, advocated surrender, citing Cao Cao's overwhelming numerical advantage. However, on separate occasions, Lu Su, Zhuge Liang, and Wu's chief commander, Zhou Yu, all presented arguments to persuade Sun Quan to agree to the alliance against the northerners. Sun Quan finally decided upon war, chopping off a corner of his desk during an assembly and stating: "Anyone who still dares argue for surrender will be [treated] the same as this desk." He then assigned Zhou Yu, Cheng Pu, and Lu Su with 30,000 men to aid Liu Bei against Cao Cao.

Through strategy, superior naval skill, and bravery. Zhou Yu's well rested and trained marines bested Wei's fleet and they were forced into a rout with Cao Cao only narrowly escaping capture.

The story for players begin in the Spring of 209 AD, when Jing Province is occupied by Liu Bei's troops and garrisoned by the General Guan Yu. Wu had agreed to loan Jing Province but now see that Shu has no intention of surrendering this rich and strategic point. Tensions flare between the two fromer allies but are kept in check due to the realisation that the threat of Cao Cao has only been kept in abeyance temporarily. And neither sides wishes to over exert their resources to squabble over Jing Province.

Remnants of the Yellow Turbans still persist in small numbers causing demonic disturbances throughout China. Bandits take advantage of the chaos to form bands that strike at targets of opportunity. Swordsmen and puglists roam the lands, lending aid to those in need. The gentry take up arms or employ their guiles for their lords.For it is in times of chaos that heroes emerge aplenty.

You are one of them.

2010-05-19T10:41:00.001+08:00

There is a certain symmetry that is beautiful.

As Yesterday moves lower, the Truth climbs higher.

2010-04-01T10:18:00.002+08:00

UNCLE (CRACKED)

Sometimes, when I sit down and think about how much fun the journey of my life has been, like this morning, I cannot help but be somewhat startled at how I've changed from a callow youth into this Uncle who will take his niece out to the driving range (hopefully, my kids can join me there) and who brings his baby to various parks so that she can run about.

Even though business is tough, and does cause me some worry, we can get by and seeing Truth with that cheeky grin just validates everything we do for the family.

Soon Lion will add to the household joy, and no doubt, will wreak more havoc on the cats.

So here's to another year older and hopefully wiser. Till I next celebrate with the Apple of my eye again. Sometimes, I can't help but feel that you and me were meant for each other. We fit like Apples and Fruit Seller Uncles.

2010-03-19T10:26:00.003+08:00

Yes, one has been most lazy indeed.

To lazy to get myself to do a bit of free form writing.

Well, where do I start?

I suppose one could safely begin with the mundane things.

We have made some batches of our own chocolates, as well as Apple's penchant for baking nice things. I love her madelaines and lamingtons.

The Truth is growing ever bigger and becoming more capable by the day. She is such a joy and I can only anticipate the coming of Lion. I do hope they get along, although I don't see a good reason why they shouldn't. Yes, I do expect a bit of sibling rivalry, but they will hopefully have the good sense to keep it under control.

Well, I have taken up trap shooting with a few friends and boy, is it fun.

Well, I suppose one of the reasons this space has been a little neglected is that I know save my discourses for face to face meetings, where I can get feedback, and see how others think. It is far more interesting to try and understand the thoughts of others than to just go on and on about what I think.

Most of the fluffy stuff function is now fulfilled by Facebook, so I only wanted to put substantial stuff in here. However, as you can probably surmise, I have either a lack of substantial thought or am too lazy to type it down.

Oh what else can I tell you? Bioware's Dragon Age : Origins ROCK!

2010-01-22T12:12:00.003+08:00

To remind myself to read every once in a while.

http://www.theamericanscholar.org/the-disadvantages-of-an-elite-education/

Points I especially like.

Before, after, and around the elite college classroom, a constellation of values is ceaselessly inculcated. As globalization sharpens economic insecurity, we are increasingly committing ourselves—as students, as parents, as a society—to a vast apparatus of educational advantage. With so many resources devoted to the business of elite academics and so many people scrambling for the limited space at the top of the ladder, it is worth asking what exactly it is you get in the end—what it is we all get, because the elite students of today, as their institutions never tire of reminding them, are the leaders of tomorrow.

My education taught me to believe that people who didn’t go to an Ivy League or equivalent school weren’t worth talking to, regardless of their class. I was given the unmistakable message that such people were beneath me. We were “the best and the brightest,” as these places love to say, and everyone else was, well, something else: less good, less bright. I learned to give that little nod of understanding, that slightly sympathetic “Oh,” when people told me they went to a less prestigious college.

I never learned that there are smart people who don’t go to elite colleges, often precisely for reasons of class. I never learned that there are smart people who don’t go to college at all.

The existence of multiple forms of intelligence has become a commonplace, but however much elite universities like to sprinkle their incoming classes with a few actors or violinists, they select for and develop one form of intelligence: the analytic. While this is broadly true of all universities, elite schools, precisely because their students (and faculty, and administrators) possess this one form of intelligence to such a high degree, are more apt to ignore the value of others.

But social intelligence and emotional intelligence and creative ability, to name just three other forms, are not distributed preferentially among the educational elite. The “best” are the brightest only in one narrow sense. One needs to wander away from the educational elite to begin to discover this.

One of the great errors of an elite education, then, is that it teaches you to think that measures of intelligence and academic achievement are measures of value in some moral or metaphysical sense. But they’re not. Graduates of elite schools are not more valuable than stupid people, or talentless people, or even lazy people. Their pain does not hurt more. Their souls do not weigh more. If I were religious, I would say, God does not love them more. The political implications should be clear. As John Ruskin told an older elite, grabbing what you can get isn’t any less wicked when you grab it with the power of your brains than with the power of your fists. “Work must always be,” Ruskin says, “and captains of work must always be….[But] there is a wide difference between being captains…of work, and taking the profits of it.”

Elite schools nurture excellence, but they also nurture what a former Yale graduate student I know calls “entitled mediocrity.” A is the mark of excellence; A- is the mark of entitled mediocrity. It’s another one of those metaphors, not so much a grade as a promise. It means, don’t worry, we’ll take care of you. You may not be all that good, but you’re good enough.

When parents explain why they work so hard to give their children the best possible education, they invariably say it is because of the opportunities it opens up. But what of the opportunities it shuts down? An elite education gives you the chance to be rich—which is, after all, what we’re talking about—but it takes away the chance not to be.

You can live comfortably in the United States as a schoolteacher, or a community organizer, or a civil rights lawyer, or an artist—that is, by any reasonable definition of comfort. You have to live in an ordinary house instead of an apartment in Manhattan or a mansion in L.A.; you have to drive a Honda instead of a BMW or a Hummer; you have to vacation in Florida instead of Barbados or Paris, but what are such losses when set against the opportunity to do work you believe in, work you’re suited for, work you love, every day of your life?

You can live comfortably in the United States as a schoolteacher, or a community organizer, or a civil rights lawyer, or an artist—that is, by any reasonable definition of comfort. You have to live in an ordinary house instead of an apartment in Manhattan or a mansion in L.A.; you have to drive a Honda instead of a BMW or a Hummer; you have to vacation in Florida instead of Barbados or Paris, but what are such losses when set against the opportunity to do work you believe in, work you’re suited for, work you love, every day of your life?

Because students from elite schools expect success, and expect it now. They have, by definition, never experienced anything else, and their sense of self has been built around their ability to succeed. The idea of not being successful terrifies them, disorients them, defeats them. They’ve been driven their whole lives by a fear of failure—often, in the first instance, by their parents’ fear of failure. The first time I blew a test, I walked out of the room feeling like I no longer knew who I was. The second time, it was easier; I had started to learn that failure isn’t the end of the world.

But being an intellectual is not the same as being smart. Being an intellectual means more than doing your homework.

If so few kids come to college understanding this, it is no wonder. They are products of a system that rarely asked them to think about something bigger than the next assignment. The system forgot to teach them, along the way to the prestige admissions and the lucrative jobs, that the most important achievements can’t be measured by a letter or a number or a name. It forgot that the true purpose of education is to make minds, not careers.

Being an intellectual means, first of all, being passionate about ideas—and not just for the duration of a semester, for the sake of pleasing the teacher, or for getting a good grade. A friend who teaches at the University of Connecticut once complained to me that his students don’t think for themselves. Well, I said, Yale students think for themselves, but only because they know we want them to. I’ve had many wonderful students at Yale and Columbia, bright, thoughtful, creative kids whom it’s been a pleasure to talk with and learn from. But most of them have seemed content to color within the lines that their education had marked out for them. Only a small minority have seen their education as part of a larger intellectual journey, have approached the work of the mind with a pilgrim soul.

When elite universities boast that they teach their students how to think, they mean that they teach them the analytic and rhetorical skills necessary for success in law or medicine or science or business. But a humanistic education is supposed to mean something more than that, as universities still dimly feel. So when students get to college, they hear a couple of speeches telling them to ask the big questions, and when they graduate, they hear a couple more speeches telling them to ask the big questions. And in between, they spend four years taking courses that train them to ask the little questions—specialized courses, taught by specialized professors, aimed at specialized students.

Indeed, that seems to be exactly what those schools want. There’s a reason elite schools speak of training leaders, not thinkers—holders of power, not its critics.

It’s no wonder that the few students who are passionate about ideas find themselves feeling isolated and confused. I was talking with one of them last year about his interest in the German Romantic idea of bildung, the upbuilding of the soul. But, he said—he was a senior at the time—it’s hard to build your soul when everyone around you is trying to sell theirs.

Yet there is a dimension of the intellectual life that lies above the passion for ideas, though so thoroughly has our culture been sanitized of it that it is hardly surprising if it was beyond the reach of even my most alert students. Since the idea of the intellectual emerged in the 18th century, it has had, at its core, a commitment to social transformation. Being an intellectual means thinking your way toward a vision of the good society and then trying to realize that vision by speaking truth to power. It means going into spiritual exile. It means foreswearing your allegiance, in lonely freedom, to God, to country, and to Yale. It takes more than just intellect; it takes imagination and courage. “I am not afraid to make a mistake,” Stephen Dedalus says, “even a great mistake, a lifelong mistake, and perhaps as long as eternity, too.”

Long before they got to college, they turned themselves into world-class hoop-jumpers and teacher-pleasers, getting A’s in every class no matter how boring they found the teacher or how pointless the subject, racking up eight or 10 extracurricular activities no matter what else they wanted to do with their time.

Some students end up at second-tier schools because they’re exactly like students at Harvard or Yale, only less gifted or driven. But others end up there because they have a more independent spirit. They didn’t get straight A’s because they couldn’t be bothered to give everything in every class. They concentrated on the ones that meant the most to them or on a single strong extracurricular passion or on projects that had nothing to do with school or even with looking good on a college application. Maybe they just sat in their room, reading a lot and writing in their journal. These are the kinds of kids who are likely, once they get to college, to be more interested in the human spirit than in school spirit, and to think about leaving college bearing questions, not resumés.

The most elite schools have become places of a narrow and suffocating normalcy. Everyone feels pressure to maintain the kind of appearance—and affect—that go with achievement. (Dress for success, medicate for success.) I know from long experience as an adviser that not every Yale student is appropriate and well-adjusted, which is exactly why it worries me that so many of them act that way. The tyranny of the normal must be very heavy in their lives. One consequence is that those who can’t get with the program (and they tend to be students from poorer backgrounds) often polarize in the opposite direction, flying off into extremes of disaffection and self-destruction.

There’s been much talk of late about the loss of privacy, but equally calamitous is its corollary, the loss of solitude. It used to be that you couldn’t always get together with your friends even when you wanted to. Now that students are in constant electronic contact, they never have trouble finding each other. But it’s not as if their compulsive sociability is enabling them to develop deep friendships. “To whom can I expose the urgency of my own passion?”: my student was in her friend’s room writing a paper, not having a heart-to-heart. She probably didn’t have the time; indeed, other students told me they found their peers too busy for intimacy.

What happens when busyness and sociability leave no room for solitude? The ability to engage in introspection, I put it to my students that day, is the essential precondition for living an intellectual life, and the essential precondition for introspection is solitude. They took this in for a second, and then one of them said, with a dawning sense of self-awareness, “So are you saying that we’re all just, like, really excellent sheep?” Well, I don’t know. But I do know that the life of the mind is lived one mind at a time: one solitary, skeptical, resistant mind at a time. The best place to cultivate it is not within an educational system whose real purpose is to reproduce the class system.

The last paragraph is so Kierkegaard.

I shall hope to bear this article in mind. To teach my children that the world is much more than what the system will alow and that they can only be bounded by their minds. The school will teach them subjects, I will educate their minds, and hopefully they will then be equipped to best choose how it is moulded. So that financial success is not the only thing they pursue. Happiness in life cannot be merely a matter of dollars and cents.

The only sense I want them to have plenty of is uncommon sense.

Then I can consider my work done, and Mel and me can go off to live our lives solely as a couple with some relieved responsibilties.

2010-01-13T13:09:00.002+08:00

Curiouser and curiouser.

http://miyagi.sg/2006/07/as-regards-today/

http://www.temasekreview.com/2009/05/22/why-botak-siews-decision-to-get-the-police-involved-throws-back-internet-freedom-by-a-good-10-to-15-years-a-study-in-stupidity/

http://intelligentsingaporean.wordpress.com/2007/08/21/it%e2%80%99s-official-the-singapore-government-has-blasted-off-to-space/#more-900

Just for curiousity's sake, but who are these dudes that comprise the "Brotherhood"?

And what's the game? Places and property were mentioned so that must a playing field.

Hackers, real traders, a mix most probably.

Oh well, they're not mainstream and won't affect me much, but it does get my curiousity going with their Dune terminologies, sci-fi stuff, and Freemason hierachies. I wonder if any of them read CJ Cherryh. Heh.

To pursue at another time.

2009-12-24T10:54:00.004+08:00

It's really random.

I finally got off my lazy arse to put something down here as someone's stoked my ego. (See last post with one comment.)

Instead of blogging about anything substantive and important to me, like politics, philosophy and my family and friends, I shall instead entertain myself with some of my random thoughts which will at least make me smile when I read them again, years on.

Because sometimes, when I try to engage people in serious topics, it just riles me up. So I'd rather not have to deal with that today. Anecdotes are funnier.

I was walking towards Millenia Walk from Bras Basah when it started to drizzle. I was then faced with picking up my pace and trying to get to the shelter of Suntec City before it really poured or getting myself a cup of coffee and wait out the rain. I decided on the latter.

Barely a minute after I had sat down, the heavens really opened up and the drizzle rapidly progressed into a torrential downpour. And so I congratulated myself.

Ogre A: That was a choice. I would've caught dead in that rain.
Ogre B: A wise decision indeed, does that make me a wise man?
Ogre A: Not really, but I am known as a wise guy.

It cracked me up and I started giggling. Then I noted a guy next to me peering at me.

On the way to work today, I thought about the phrase "a hail-mary pass." (I know Liverpool really suck right now.) The Brits have actually no right to use that phrase since they have the Church of England, and presumably do not recite the Hail Mary or use the rosary. It's a Catholic thing. Probably this started when the Protestants started trying to kill all the Catholics in their homes, who would have to fling their rosaries out of the window and hope no one finds it. And so no one can say definitively, "He's Catholic! Get him!"

Sans rosary, one could easily pass off as an Anglican. Just proclaim loudly that the pope is a pretender and has no mandate from God. See? Easy peasy.

And in other news, we found last week that my wife is expecting a boy. It's nice, like having a complete set of dining cutlery. It isn't essential, but nice to have nonetheless.

Last but not least, I was humming Sinead O' Connors "Nothing compares to you" this morning, and it struck how it would equally apply to me. I would be devestated if my wife ever packed up and left, because nothing in this world really compares to what she means to me in my life. She is so much a part of it that it would be like losing a limb. Sometimes, it still strikes me as slight bizzare why some would contemplate divorce. Are they so patently unhappy with someone that they've married of their own choice?

I could be just prudish, or really lucky. Maybe both.

But really, I wouldn't trade my family for the world. Because it wouldn't be the same life without them, and I want my life as it is now.

2009-12-03T10:20:00.000+08:00

Heh, I feel herioc when my daughter comes crying to me and stops when I pick her up. When I hit the sheet each night with my wife knowing I've spent the day working so that we can me comfortable about our materials needs, and that I've spent thought and time thinking about how to satisfy their emotional and intellectual needs.

I sometimes think about rushing out and making grand, bold gestures to show the world my ideals and how i really believe they'll make the world a better place. But then I don't trust the world enough to sacrfice that much mana.

And so I just want to make things better for the little circle about me. All I want is stop that speeding bullet for the few that I care about. The rest of humanity can go and find their own shields.... See More

All I really want to is learn from the past, and try to make my family a happier family. Save the world? Do they want to be saved?

I don't want my kids singing Tina Turner's "We don't need another hero"; with good reason to.

So yes, I feel like a hero when I think of my family. :P

2009-11-18T11:02:00.002+08:00

I really haven't been able to spend as much time as I would liked to have spent with you neh.

The family and all takes up time. So does your rushing about. Doesn't really leave all that much time to catch up and simply hang about. I don't really hanker for more time, but rather I'd like to just treasure, remember and enjoy what time we do spend.

It's really good to see you again. And I'm really pleased to be able to show you how happy I am, especially with my family and kid(s).

Well, I do sincerely wish you all the best and to quote Tim Gunn "Make it work!"

2009-11-11T13:26:00.002+08:00

I'm stuck at a coffeeshop while it's pouring cats and dogs. Times like these really start that smoky feeling.
Thus far I am resisting it.
Have toyed with the idea of buying a pack and then tossing it after two sticks, but that's stupid.
Will this rain end soon?

2009-11-06T10:40:00.002+08:00

When people ask, "How's life?".

They don't want to hear about how sedate life has been. About how things have taken on a comforting routine. About how one now snacks and then feels guilty about it but snacks anyway. Or thinks about smoking, but then eats a sweet or find something distracting to think about so that the preceding thought can be quickly brushed away, but then feels guilty for having thought about it and how one still keeps on thinking about it.

How can one just stop thoughts? They form regardless of what you want. Just popping into existence. It's a question on whether you act on them. And therefore I consider the PSP and 3G phones to be boon of existence. Because, they are so effective at distracting me. So i stop thinking about how hungry I am and how I'd like to smoke. Because these thoughts occur to me while travelling. Once I've reached my destination, it's fine. I have people to talk to, stuff to do, lists to refer to and things going on about me.

The stuff that bothers me ceases, because I have new stuff to bother myself with. Like "Why is this item's packaging torn? NABEI, which dumbfuck did this?!"

Ah, life's like that. But generally, I'm really happy. And when one is happy, it's easier to let things slide.

Tra la la.

2009-10-11T18:39:00.002+08:00

We have gotten back into the groove of cooking at home. In the weeks before this, we had chicken parmesan, attempted unleavened bread, and even as we speak, the wife is cooking spaghetti with tomato sauce and I will add some pork patties to it later.

I hope to impress on the Nut that home cooked food is good and yummy. And that she will pick it up and learn how to cook as well. I have no worries about her loving food, since she will try anything at least once. And she will eat something that she likes on principle alone.

The Nut now babbles alot and like to talk and interact with others. Her social skills are pretty impressive when she's in the mood.

Now she's able to stand without support for a few seconds at a time. She has figured out how to climb the stairs, but not quite the proper way to descend them. I suppose it's different from how she is ably getting off sofas and beds by pushing herself off legs first.

And it is funny to try and imagine what she could be saying when she is looking at you earnestly and saying " Bah Ba, Ga Gah, Ta!"

She has also learnt how to growl and make noises right out of the The Exorcist. I can't decide whether she picked that up from the purring cats, Cookie Monster or Hugga Wugga. Maybe it's all three.

2009-10-02T11:05:00.002+08:00

Still In Love With My Wife.

Marriage is an alliance between two kingdoms and not a merger. The fallacy that two can become one, I believe, has lead to the downfall and breakup of more than a few unions.

And I am glad that I am in happy alliance so I try to remember that she is not me, so I should be more tolerant. She will do things and think things through in her own way, and thus far, it has served her well. There will be the occasional lapse, but then I too, make mistakes.

So live and let live, since we still have a lot of living to do together.

I look back at my past, and would not trade what I have now for all the promise that the past had whispered, not when I am really happy with the reality now. What of the happiness is fantasies? Just smoke blown away when I think of my family.

2009-09-29T11:13:00.001+08:00

I'm glad I'm not your friend...

I know it's unkind, but I'm glad I'm not John Doe's friend, because John Doe has really ugly friends. I'm really sorry, but I have to tell the truth. What's worse is that they all seem so uninteresting. Doesn't make me better. All it does is show up what an arsehole I am, so too de loo!

I'm still glad I'm not your friend.

2009-09-15T13:07:00.003+08:00

CRYPTIC JUICE...

- The GPs made us take the Truth to see a GP about a GP that has no specific Dx and no Rx that is mandatory. And she can still wave bye bye when leaving for the clinic. She makes me laugh even when I'm annoyed.

- OH is currently pissed at me for being unconcious. Oh, sighs.

- Day 2 seems harder than Day 1. And there'll be no one to sponge off later since I'm not meeting anyone. Will go on a sugar binge and bounce off the walls of HF later, and make FT of HF buy me an expresso double; Indonesian beans of course. Will persist in feeling sleepy and irritable.

- Sent out nasty email to aggrieved man who demanded, demanded that I sell him something for which I have already advised is sold out. Have resisted the urge to tell him that I will give birth to said item after a nine month gestation period.

- And why are the roads so full of fucking idiots? The eternal question...

2009-09-07T10:55:00.001+08:00

From Starfish to Clamfish.

I watched the Peanut flip over from her all encompassing Starfish position, in which she monopolises the space on her bed, to the Clamfish position, much like that adopted by a supplicant to the ancient Chinese Emperors, all without waking up.

The fact that I have a daughter, who in doing all the things she does, brings us so much joy, worry, amusement and frustration, still never ceases to amaze me. How she has not just taken up space in our room but, has taken up so much space in our hearts and lives.

She has just learnt the virtue of circumspection. Where in the past, she might hurl herself, without thought or regard, off a bed, sofa or the stairs, she now pauses at the edge and moves very gingerly, trying to get down. In fact, she has on a few occasions refused to try and get down, instead she would sit there and cry for attention, to get Daddy to carry her down.

It used to be a little vexing and worrying about how she might end up with some injury should she persists in her kamikaze tactics for getting off higher ground. Now, I wonder if it is any good to have her lose that fearlessness. For with it, there comes a certain feeling that life is full of infinite possibilities. yes, even crawling off a 3 foot drop and getting away without a scratch. Now that she has learnt fear, I want to try to not let her be crippled by it. That one should be considerate and not let fear rule her life. That she will try and fail is a given. That she will try and try again to attain her own dreams in something I will try to inculcate.

In all things, balance.

We have been thinking about getting our own place for some time already. The recent exuberance in the property markets has now pushed back that plan. The optimistic sentiment is not really rational considering how may risk factors are still unresolved, and that the people talking up the market do have a vested interest in the climbing prices. However, i will not be rushing into deals that I believe to be over-valued.

The masses never seem to learn their lessons. They still sway to the winds blown from the mouths of the few. That, I think is something that will never change. Because, quite frankly, I think that most of them would not agree or even think about the phrase "An unexamined life is not worth living."

I know it's really condescending. It is. There is no denying that. I would shrug and tell you that's just the way the wafer crumbles. My opinion seem to make me look high and mighty when I am anything but. Nonetheless, it doesn't change my opinion nor your feeling towards them. I'll not let it upset me. So I'll still rudely, bluntly say what I feel here, because I can't say these things my pretend life playing other roles.

It is ironic that so many miss the proverbial boat precisely because they fear missing that one boat. When other boats might've very well taken them to a sun drenched tropical coral island. Or it might not. You'll never know will you? That's not important. What is important is will you ever learn?

I have to say that that I do admire the Peanut's stubborn nature. She is not one to give in or cower easily. She'd fight you, harass you and generally try every trick in her lttle book to get her way. I like that. And then prepare myself to counter her moves. It is, at the very least, engaging.

I have to say that it's all quite brilliant how my life has turned out, and we'll hold hands and walk towards the shining future. Because I have hope, cats, love and am now armed with the Truth!

2009-08-17T12:19:00.000+08:00

The Next Generation.

I have been accused of being condescending, cowardly, arrogant, selfish and intellectually masturbating by some. While I do not care to defend myself from these labels, since it is quite reasonable and conceivable that at some point in time, I would have been involved in actions that would merit those labels.

What I would instead prefer to focus on, is what I want to do about the future. I still believe that you can make society better one person at a time.

That is why my focus will be instead on bring up my own kids right, with a good value system. I can't save the world, but I can make it better for those who matter. So, I prefer to keep things to what is achievable. Keep the big dreams alive by growing the small successes.

2009-08-07T13:13:00.000+08:00

I was telling my better half this morning that Tweeter and Facebook updates would see less people posting on their blogspots.

All those pithy one liners, clever remarks and quirky thoughts that can be abbreviated will now no longer be up on blogs. Blog entries will now be more substantial and be left for the indepth and wordier expressions.

Which doesn't happen very often for me. I mean I still have these trains of thought but I do not commit them to word.

I am guilty of using my blog less and updating my facebook status on a more frequent basis.

Still, a blog is nice when I ahve something more to say than "TA DA!"

Until next time. Tada!

2009-07-23T11:05:00.003+08:00

Sometimes, I find it hard to generate sympathy for the underdogs, because they don't actually strive to be anything other than underdogs.

Whether due to culture, circumstance or plain bad luck, they seem to lack the drive to elevate themselves. And there are so many of them, it sometimes almost drives me to despair. This "we are mere peasants" complex. Bah.

It's always easier when there is some hero in shining armour or some wuxia cool dude with long hair to fight your battles for you. I wouldn't mind it if everytime I become damn poor thing, some "hero" sticks up for me.
Yes, you are a peasant. But you're alive. Either do something about it or continue being a peasant.

Bad luck? Aye, the rich and famous have bad luck too. You gloat and laugh and have no sympathy for them either. Why do paparazzis work so hard?

Then, I think that they all get what they deserve. Maybe that is why my characters are hard boiled. "You want to die? Fine. I'll send you along."

If being alive is all about how you are more or less peasant and how much you suffer, you'd make for the perfect:
a) Stoic
b) Buddhist
c) Nihilist
d) Better off dead

When there are so many of the weak, who does one protect?

I could be politically correct and say and do all the PC things. Save the whales! Save the Democratic Republic of Congo! Save the world! My heart just is not in it.

All I can honestly say is that I am so grateful how all that my life is because of how much worse it could have been.

The peasants have their blessings and so do the nobles. As also, with misfortune. And so each is different, why make one side more deserving than the other?

In the revolution, I actually felt sorry for Marie Antoinette. I don't think she deserved what she got. She had manners. Which is more what I can say for the masses.

I can understand all the sympathy, feelings and good will generated for the "peasants". I have nothing personal against them.

Though you have to really ask yourself. Truly, if you were born a samurai, a blue blood, a noble. Well trained and brought up in their world and their culture into a well bred example of your class, would you behave any differently?

I believe that one feels for and supports the side that one belongs to. Why did the peasant aspire to be samurai if he thinks that they are all shitty little bastards. Be truly noble and stupid then, don't betray your principles. Be a peasant and let them oppress you.

I think yes, the elites should be more compassionate, understanding, empathetic. That does not absolve the peasants from resolving their "victim" complex.

Actually, I forgot to mention also that Catholics are big fans of suffering too.

Yay for our insufferable lives. With "Thank yous" please.

2009-07-07T18:49:00.002+08:00

I have gotten sick of people asking me about the why cars are named differently. The Honda Jazz is known as the Fit in Japan.

2009-06-18T10:44:00.002+08:00

Oh, mental boh-liao-ness.

I have been wanting to get some things off my chest for a while.

Like how I saw a van belonging to Trinity Caskets. The slogan was "The Right Choice" and how I couldn't help myself but blurt out, "you're dead right about that!" in a most chippy fashion. Fortunately, no one was on hand to witness my callous remark. Although I most probably said it because no one was around.

Thought about the serious matter of war and how those silly peace beatniks should go shoot themselves. War is not something to be taken lightly. Especially seeing how those who start the wars and send men out to die on their behalf, very seldom have to face the dangers that their own actions precipitated. Still, war can be inevitable and maybe even beneficial. Loss of life. Yes. It is a serious and saddening business. It is grim and should be generally avoided. But to avoid war at all costs? Sometimes, you value life, that of your loved ones and all. You can call it selfishness, but I'd much rather slash the fucker threatening my wife than watch him end my reason to live. Life without a reason is not very much. Enough reason for me to kill others and to die myself. War is a very serious matter, make no mistake, I understand that.

Though to say that one has to avoid conflict and politics totally is bullshit. War is political. Humanity is political. Your so called humaneness is not my way. I can't stop you. Life is not so black and white. I could be wrong. I could be very wrong. The blood of wars writ our histories and long will it continue. I'm no warmonger, but neither do I choose to deceive myself that there is a better way. More expedient perhaps, not necessarily better. Diplomacy should be the first option, but failing that, one should never rule out war as a political tool. The lives of soldiers and civilians to be mere numbers on the desks of newscasters and politicians. That is the reality.

Nothing great and glory, other than to survive and protect your loved ones. That's all. Grim? Yes. Become a peace beatnik? No. Life is never a cakewalk, not even if you're Paris Hilton. She has her problems too. Is she happier than I am? I don't think so. I do believe I am happier and much more blessed than she is, with her millions and the glamour.

And on that note, I wonder why Foxcrime has stopped showing Dexter. I want to watch Season 3, you goons.

Oh yes, I've got Sims 3 and it rocks!

2009-06-04T10:12:00.001+08:00

The preparation time for a DM is spent more on planning. The game mechanics don't really factor in so much unless the Dm has to plan for spell casting and magic. Other than that, I didn't see how the simplification of rules would shorten my planning time dramatically. I still have to match ECLs, set the random encounter level, do my faction ratings, pick appropriate monsters and copy their stats onto my notes for the session. 4th ed game mechanics also allow for special abilities which the DM has to take note of.

Also, if the thief can rock at killing things, why should he travel with a party? What happens to the specialist enchanter who feebleminds all the oh-so-tough barbarians? 4th ed just caused pen and paper games to lose the flavour. Might as well just play WoW. That's why we're sticking to 3.5 which is a vast improvment on 2nd ed rules. I think 4th ed is a step in the wrong direction.
As for the image of 3rd ed being super complicated, I have had players, eg my wife, who have not read a single page of the rulebook playing it happily. There's me, Ian and Siew who pore over sourcebooks and errata rules posted on the official sites. It is actually as complicated as you want it to be. Nobody is going to stop you from playing a pure barbarian where all you need to keep track of are HP, rage left and damage dealt. Very easy to play.

4th ed loses the things where wizards can do a lot more than just becoming a wand with two legs.

4th ed does not have skills which flesh out the character and add to the role playing aspect. A ranger with tumble ranks for example, like Drizzt Do'Urden.

My quibble with 4th ed is that people seem to travel in a party just so they can kill more things together, not because the fighter would become paralysed from a trap, the wizard killed by ogres and the rogue running away from orcs. They need each other because the they have a skillset that is so different and work very differently in combat.

Anyway, it is good to know that you're playing PnP games and enjoying yourself. That is the most important thing to all these games, that you have fun.

Cheerio.

2009-05-20T11:15:00.003+08:00

Just a while back, the psycho ex decided to snipe on me using the Facebook page of a friend.

She went:
you sound like someone i used to date. some brainless chap who likes to spell his name in odd ways.

So being the pacifistic and peace loving beatnik that I am, I decided not to reply.

But then I couldn't help myself and I cam back with what I think is a really clever reply.

So I went:

One should always forgive the brainless for their transgressions. As the good book says, "Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots." Luke 23:34
And we all must most fervently believe in the good book or be cast into the ever burning fires of eternal torment. Believe and you shall be saved!...
Whee!

That day I was quite on form with other witticisms as well.

Just one of those good days to savour when you grow old. :P

2009-05-08T10:19:00.004+08:00

The Good Life

I like to spoil and indulge myself every once in a while. It need not necessarily be fine dining, satisfying my fetish for branded goods or anything over the top. It can just a modanyaki even when I'm not really hungry, or a cup of tea at some coffeeshop while I read.

The point is that one should enjoy life. I know I can't speak for those below the poverty line. I cannot begin to comprehend how their life must be like. Frankly it horrifies and scares me how it can be just a struggle to live day by day, and not even have a whiff of the finer things in life. It would be hypocritical to say that I can understand them when I very honestly cannot.

I reckon it would be hard to enjoy and be happy when one cannot even make ends meet to cover basic needs. Maslow's hierarchy of needs still apply.

Still, the majority of Singaporeans do have the financial capability to enjoy the finer things in life once in a while, albeit a long while, but one should still appreciate a well brewed cup of coffee, or some fine hand made chocolate from Laurent Bernard. Pay a little bit more for that nice pan seared chicken thigh as opposed to the usual breast meat dropped in dirty oil.

Reward the service staff with a tip if the service has been up to scratch, take your time to savour the experience. I've only had one fantastic meal in front of the Coliseum but that memory will stay with me for the rest of my life. And it will never stop cheering me up. Me, my wife, great service, and much fun and love. Her birthday celebrated in a place whose history I have always celebrated in my secret worship of Hellenistic culture, in a city whose growth is based very much on Hellenic culture. Two loves sharing time and space.

Which brings me to another point, enjoyment should be shared and spread to achieve maximum happiness. I feel pleased when I bring friends and family to yet another great makan place. I feel happy when a box of good chocolate is given to someone else. In fact, if I like them enough, I'd even foot the bill, since I won't be doing it all the time. Why, because happiness is best shared out. It's less fun to have a pot of Italian expresso all by yourself, but much nicer to share that pot with a like minded companion.

There is the misperception that one should be rich or atas in order to enjoy the finer things in life. Not so. A meal at a good French restaurant might cost you $400.00 for two. Don't buy that Toto or 4D, smoke less, don't take cabs, and you might have enough to do this once every two years, but what a kick you will get.

So be nice, to yourself and those around you. Remember that accumulating wealth, and then not spending it, isn't very fun.

And then share that happinesss, don't be a teaspoon.

2009-04-30T10:52:00.001+08:00

A sensible exhortation. Although how many of us listen to sense?

http://wayangparty.com/?p=8616

2009-04-27T10:28:00.001+08:00

We went to Laurent Bernard at Wessex Village and had a great time. And I have nothing more to say. Happiness and contentment leaves one with few words. Anger and melancholy does seem more inspiring to prose.

Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

2009-04-12T21:07:00.002+08:00

I am glad we decided to have a baby.

You know, one should forget all that crap from MCYS (that's the acronym for Ministry of Community Development, Youth & Sports. Oh, how Singaporeans love acronyms.). Ignore the goverment's exhortations on how it'll make you happy. One hsould blithely pretend that the Government did not say all that crap about how we need more human fuel for our economy's growth.

Because one should have a baby when one is good and ready. There should be an awareness that it can bring joy and happiness, but it can also bring grief and quarrels. If your baby has come in situations where you are not ready, my personal inclination is to keep it and work around it, but I am no one to tell others what to do.

I am grateful for any financial or otherwise help from the Ministry, but I do object to seeing a child as another cog in the wheel in the juggernaut that is Singapore Inc. For that matter, I also diagree with bringing this overload of foreign youngster to grease our economic machine but that's another matter.

The baby has brought joy to us and to our families. They delight in her expressions of glee, her loud yakking, and her inchorent gurgles. It astounds me to see how she cannot seem to basic stuff and how quickly she starts learning. I do hope she picks up on Mummy and Daddy's linguistic capabilities. Presently, she seems to have more PR skills than the both of us combined.

I am really glad that the Truth has come into our lives.

I know it's corny, but what Whitney Houston sang about reminds me that the children are our future. And I will try to teach them well.

2009-04-03T10:05:00.001+08:00

Bizzaro...

In Stuttgart, Germany, a court judge must decide on a case of honorable intentions in a situation where a man hired his neighbor to get his wife pregnant.

It seems that Demetrius Soupolos, 29, and his former beauty queen wife, Traute, wanted a child badly, but Demetrius was told by a doctor that he was sterile.

So, Soupolos, after calming his wife’s protests, hired his neighbor, Frank Maus, 34, to impregnate her. Since Maus was already married and the father of two children, plus looked very much like Soupolos to boot, the plan seemed good.

Soupolos paid Maus $2,500 for the job and for three evenings a week for the next six months, Maus tried desperately, a total of 72 different times, to impregnate Traute.

When his own wife objected, he explained, "I don’t like this any more than you. I’m simply doing it for the money. Try and understand."

When Traute failed to get pregnant after six months, however, Soupolos was not understanding and insisted that Maus have a medical examination, which he did.

The doctor’s announcement that Maus was also sterile shocked everyone except his wife, who was forced to confess that Maus was not the real father of their two children.

Now Soupolos is suing Maus for breach of contract in an effort to get his money back, but Maus refuses to give it up because he said he did not guarantee conception, but only that he would give an honest effort.

2009-04-02T09:45:00.002+08:00

Currently reading the works of P.G. Wodehouse

Read in its context, this line cracked me up.

'I ran across Mary at the Academy last week, and her eyes went through me like a couple of bullets through a pat pf butter. And as they came out the other side, and I limped off to piece myself together again, there occurred to me the epitaph which, when I am no more, I intend to have inscribed on my tombstone. It was this:

"He was a man who acted from the best motives. There is one born every minute." '

-P. G. Wodehouse
"Absent Treatment"

2009-04-01T10:50:00.000+08:00

For the uncontented, you could have it all and not have enough. For the contented, having enough is you having it all.

What's your contentment level?

2009-03-27T10:38:00.000+08:00

Hehehe.

Visionary Philosopher
Your IQ Score is: 140

Your mind's strengths allow you to think ahead of the game — to imagine or anticipate what should come next in just about any situation. Because you're equally skilled in the numerical and verbal universes of the brain, you can draw from multiple sources of information to come up with great ideas.

The timelessness of your vision and the balance between your various skills are what make you a Visionary Philosopher. In addition to your strengths in math and linguistics, you have a knack for matching and anticipating patterns. These skills and your uncanny ability to detect the underlying blueprint of most of life's situations add to your Visionary Philosopher mind.

Two philosophers who share the same combination of skills you possess are Plato and Benedict Spinoza. Spinoza had insight into how things worked in the world. He could envision a future based on the patterns he saw in life, and used mathematical logic as a structure within which to present his philosophical arguments. With that base he was able to use logic to formulate his theories. Borrowing from his linguistic strengths he wrote eloquent texts and, therefore, was able to bring his philosophical ideas and structure to the rest of the world. His story exemplifies the talents that are present in the Visionary Philosopher intellectual type.

Whatever you decide to do in life, you've got a powerful mix of skills and insight that can be applied in a wide variety of ways. You can expand your mind to understand a situation. Your strong balance of math and verbal skills will help you explain things to others.

For example, if you were on an archaeological dig and discovered an object, you could probably use your deductive powers to figure out not only what the object was but also how it was used.

Given your ability to put things together, you are more than capable of inventing a life plan that is in synch with your perspective on how things were, how they are, and how they might be one day.

2009-03-26T09:56:00.003+08:00

I have plenty of idle thoughts floating about about the garbage pile I like to call my mind. One of which is my secret ambition to be Dictator of Singapore. Why?

Because I do believe that I can make life better.

Anyway, it's all grand posturing and empty talk. Though I'd really like to push for Philosophy to be taught as a compulsory subject. To be ranked alongside Literature and History, as well as the languages to being above Mathematics and Science. After all, maths and science can be arguably considered outshoots of classical philosophy.

It'll teach our young ones to think for themselves, rather than knowing things by rote or taking it on faith that the teacher is always right. (Which they aren't. I wish they'd just admit so.)

It should be taught at the secondary school level and the final examination questions could be as follows:

In not less than 1000 words, answer this.

Year 1: What would you do if you were made Dictator of Singapore?
Year 2: What would you do if you were made Dictator South East Asia?
Year 3: What would you do if you were made Dictator of the World?
Year 4: So who died and made you God?

Completely rhetorical questions. I'd agree with that. Except for the Dictator of Singapore bit, but your surname has got be the right one.

The point is to get them thinking. Even the fluffy answers revolving about world peace or saving the polar bears, sharks, or delicious cattle would have to put down the whys, hows and wherefores.

Give them an outlet to express something for what they believe in. It'll be a change from a society that believes in nothing and does nothing. In an environment without fear, after all, there is hardly a wrong answer to the above question. One could even answer that one would do nothing, and that the greatest power comes from not having to wield it, since everything's fine just the way it is. I'd even give an A to the clever chap who would put down an essay detailing why he'd ban such stupid questions in an exam.

And then you grade them based on the strengths of their argument. Not just by one teacher though. Preferably five teachers, for which you award the average points.

I know it all sounds very idealistic, but where does one start without ideals?

And some smart aleck would say, "If Darwin is to be believed, we all start from pondscum."

And when you look at it that way, that's one hell of a ride that humanity has undertaken. What's not to be impressed?

So much for ideals.

2009-03-19T10:49:00.002+08:00

It is sometimes quite disconcerting to realise how much my life has changed in 5 years.

It is really annoying to know how intolerant people are of opinions that do not coincide with their won. How some people just cannot accept that another individual's world view could be different from their own cherished perceptions. Since everyone seems to believe themselves to be the right one and the rest are wrong.

And you know what's even more annoying than that?

When they try to convince you of their righteousness.

I mean I do that, but I do try to give the other party the chance to explain their point of view. I can push my point in an aggressive overbearing manner, but in the end, I truly do believe that the choice is yours.

I often remind myself that the only constant is change, and try to keep my own mind open.

So political correctness sucks to me, because we're all just tiptoeing around the issue. So instead of being racist, and admitting it. (Look there are cultural, genetic and etc etc differences between races, ethnic groups and nationalities. Not liking these differences is not something that can be enforced through a mindwipe or something. It's stupid to deny this.) We now have to resort to being PC, so we're racist but we won't admit it. Denial and repression is great for psychiatrists and psychologists, but not so good for your guilt levels.

Frankly, I am racist. We all are. Only to differing extents and degrees. Doesn't mean that I'll write off everyone from any particular race, just that I do unconciously impose stereotypes onto them. The thing is that I will give anyone a chance to defy that stereotype and change my mind about them accordingly. For example, I think that the Gauls are a particularly galling race, especially when it comes to their perceived superiority in cuisine, thought and human rights. So far, I have only met zero persons who conform to this set of racist stereotyping.

So far, we have decided that I am racist. In future, we will examine how I am also a sexist, mysogynist and masochistic, and how all these make me a bad bad ogre, because I must be evil, since I am politically wrong.

Well, at least I am living the authentic life in my own way.

So fuck off, politically correct, hypocitical savants of numbing existence.

2009-03-16T11:09:00.002+08:00

Liverpool 4 Real Madrid 0; Manchester United 1 Liverpool 4.

I have to say this. What a week. It's almost unreal. Looking forward to watching soccer together with the Peanut in future.

Went to see The tales of Hoffman (Les contes d'Hoffmann) , enacted by the SRT. i have to say that it was a little disappointing. They really didn't impress with the Barcarolle (Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour). I would have been alright if they had dished out the rest sloenly and then really hit me with this aria.

But they didn't.

But having said that, frankly, they didn't ask for sky high ticket prices either. So I guess it's fair.

The bass playing Lindorf impressed me as well at the soprano singing the part of Olympia. In my opinion, the two best singers, although the tenor playing Hoffamn wasn't bad either. I must say that the part of the Muse went to an under-performing soprano.

Still all in all, not a bad evening.

2009-03-09T10:52:00.001+08:00

My mojo is gone, and with it the want to sit down and put down an exciting or at least funny narrative. Cest la vie. And yes, I'm too lazy to spell that properly too.

2009-03-06T10:39:00.002+08:00

A friend of mine was said to resemble House. As in House M.D., where Hugh Laurie is fucking brilliant.

And I think it's quite a compliment to resemble House. The good thing to be said for him is that he's interesting at least. The other humans are so boring.

And boy is he interesting.

I rememberthe first time we met. He pointed at me and exclaimed. "Hedonist! You're a hedonist!" At a packed Starbucks no less.

I was sort of taken aback. The others in the gathering looked at me. Does a hedonist equate to being a murderer?

I remember protesting about how I was not a hedonist. I'm Epicurean, there's a world of difference between them. No, no, no, I'm no hedonist.

And how we used to have these long-ass discussions on theoretical physics, metaphysics, philosophy, and how we disagreed and still do, I think. I believe him to be anarchic, I see order in chaos as the method to life and existence.

It was so gay, but we met up, hit it off, walked about and talked until the next day till 6 am when I caught the bus home.

As usual his entry made me think. I do agree that it is not worth being a friend to someone if they don't open up. I have much lower standards for my acquaintances, and that's what these people will be to me. What would I sacrifice for their well being? Nothing much.

Friends are a different kettle of fish.

And how nobody really knows you? True.

But there are those who know you better than others. I'd like to call her my better half. :)

2009-03-05T10:41:00.001+08:00

I would like to write something deep and meaningful.

But all I want to say is that Baby Ally is getting to to the stage where she can be consciously behaving like a brat.

2009-03-02T10:38:00.003+08:00

Be Cool. Practice Taichi.

It is really annoying how Liverpool can lose to Boro after beating Real.

It is quite vexing having to plan and worry about the company's cashflow and continued survival, without asking my staff to make further sacrifices. Which I do not believe is warranted.

It can be quite tiring to get up when the sun don't shine in preparation for the day.

It can be quite confusing sometimes when you are trying to figure out for yourself what God really wants from you, and for you.

When you spend almost all your leisure time with assorted family members and end up missing your friends. Yes, I hate to admit it, but sometimes I want to get the Copper out for a cup of coffee. But I figure that he'll be busy, and I have to go to bed early so I can't meet him late, besides he'll be busy with his wife, etc, etc, etc. I really would want to have a chat with him, but when I get home, all I want to do is stay home. Sigh...

But all that seems worth it when Peanut is gurgling and laughing away, as the Taichi Doll fights with her. It doesn't seem fair, but her happiness is one of my higher priorites now.

That doesn't mean I'll spoil her okay?

2009-02-26T11:59:00.003+08:00

Despite all the internal turmoil taht the club seems to be going through. I read with relief on the news that Liverpool beat Real Madrid 0-1. Whee. A victory at the Bernabeu!

Sometimes, it is so frustrating to know that we beat Chelsea and Man U, yet cannot seem to put in any against Stoke City. Why like that?

2009-02-23T10:14:00.002+08:00

Dedicated to the one who provides me with strange news.

Now it's my turn.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29282528/#storyContinued

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Police said a woman's tightly-woven hair weave saved her life.
Police were called to a Kansas City market at about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Arriving officers found the 20-year-old woman there. She told police she had pulled into the market and saw a man with whom she had recently ended an eight-month relation with inside a car, NewsChannel5 sister station

A second man came up to the woman’s window and told her that the ex-boyfriend still loved her, Kansas City police said.

The woman told the second man, "I don’t love him."

At that time, the victim heard gunshots and saw her ex-boyfriend walking toward the back of her car firing a handgun, police said.

The victim sped away in her vehicle as her back window shattered, police said.

She returned to the scene a moment later to witness both men leaving in their vehicle.
Officers found a bullet in the woman’s hair and said her tightly-woven weave stopped the bullet.
The victim was not harmed.

The ex-boyfriend and the second suspect were both taken into custody a short time later.

And the interview with the woman.

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/rn=3906861&cl=12135177&ch=4226713&src=news

So how much hair do you need to stop a speeding bullet? That's a good one for the Mythbusters eh?

2009-02-19T13:02:00.002+08:00

Could the rumours be true?

Is that why the Elctions Committee is being put to work again?

Could it all be a mistake by our state-run media?

Check this out.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/sge/contest.php?walkover=no&yearelection=2006&typeofconst=grc&recordindex=0

Now look at the tab. What does it say?

2009-02-18T10:25:00.002+08:00

A Love Letter (Of Sorts)

We share our little secrets; like what defines a teaspoon (tsp), how the nick Peanut came about, the little snide remarks that we make.

We have shared life-threatening experiences; like how we were madly acreening around a corner and saw an oncoming bus, swerving and then making that gap between the bus and the kerb.

I am perfectly happy having a nice meal at Jack's Place for Valentine's Day.

You indulge my inclination for branded goods.

Every once in a while, I fall in love with you all over again.

It's really nice that our respective in-laws accept us, and are really quite nice to us. There are some really scary in-law stories out there.

And everytime I stop to think about it, I feel really blessed that we are us.

With my life, my commitment, my love. Because that is what being married is all about, and I am really pleased to have married you.

For Truth, Justice, And The American Way! *grins*

2009-02-11T21:55:00.006+08:00

Well, I'm back after a rather fruitful trip to Germany.

This year's fair allowed us to touch bases again with suppliers and some of those bases need touching.

Well, there are some nice pics that you might like or you may not. Either way, it's no skin off my back. The chances are better that you'll like it if you're a car buff.

Morgan Aero

Audi R8 TDI

Audi A4 DTM

2009-02-04T12:46:00.002+08:00

I don't really feel like going to Germany. There isn't the buzz that is usually there.

Usually:
I can't wait to see the new product line ups.
I'm hopeful of scouting out something different.
I can tolerate winter as I will be burning calories just to avoid hypothermia.
I look forward to consuming hearty Bavarian fare.

This time:
The financial crisis is casting a pall over things.
I'll worry about Apple, and how she's coping.
What about the badly behaved Peanut?
I'm already fat.

So, the best things to do is keep my mind clear and my eye sharp. put on the best face for our suppliers and keep things in perspective. Trust my Apple to handle matters, and pray that Peanut cooperates.

I'll be back in blink, to be home again.

2009-01-30T13:06:00.000+08:00

You all need to read this.

2009-01-30T10:46:00.002+08:00

BEFORE Viagra, there was Tongkat Ali.

But by 2014, man would have used up all the cultivated Tongkat Ali in the country, bringing an end to the best-selling herb in Malaysia, reported NST.

It is the most used herb in the country but unplanned commercial harvesting and increasing demand may force people to stop relying on it.

Datuk Dr Abdul Rashid Ab Malik, deputy director-general of Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM), said the sustainable supply of Tongkat Ali is a huge concern that needs immediate attention.

He added: 'The Tongkat Ali plant takes five to seven years to mature. The sustainable supply of Tongkat Ali is about 100 tonnes a year from the government and the private sector.

'The government has 167ha of this plant and the private sector about 29ha, mainly in Kelantan, Pahang, Selangor and Negri Sembilan.'

'The problem is that our future needs will be larger and we need bigger players to sustain the current demand.'

This should be an immediate concern to Malaysian men as Tongkat Ali has penetrated the Japanese market, bringing in about RM3.8 billion ($1.6 billion) a year.

'The Japanese demand is expected to increase and Tongkat Ali exports to Japan are expected to be worth RM8 billion next year.'

Even without the Japanese factor, there will be a shortage in four to five years as there are no big players who are continuously planting the tree that will be producing the herb, he said.
Dr Rashid knows because FRIM monitors the commercial planting of Tongkat Ali.

The price of this plant, he said, might also not be as affordable as it is now. 'When there are no more natural sources of Tongkat Ali, the price is going to go up.'

Increasing demand from other countries is also causing prices to skyrocket, said Dr Rashid.
'On a trip to the United States, I found Tongkat Ali products on the shelves. The extract is sent overseas and packaged there. In one store, our famous herb is called 'Long Jack'.

'Tongkat Ali has male enhancing properties, like a form of steroid, but is safe and natural.

The tabloids are always more entertaining than mainstream papers. Cracked me up good.

2009-01-28T10:31:00.002+08:00

Well, I would like to wish everyone a Happy Chinese New Year; and if you're not Chinese, well, too bad.

Now that I have got the civilities out of the way, I would like to write about this Chinese New Year so that I can remember it years down the road.

It is the first Chinese New Year for Truth. And Apple seemed rather impressed by how all the relatives are fussing over Truth and how they keep exclaiming about how cute she is. I am however, more zen about this things. The truth be told, (although you can't really tell Truth anything, even though one can tell the truth) she is our baby, of course, she's cute. She even has a top that says how damn cute she is. I would think she is damn cute even if she grew horns; which I might add would be damn impressive.

And then, I was Saviour for a hapless colleague who got caught up in a high stakes game of mahjong. And when I sat down, she had managed to lose 200 out of her starting chips of $300.

Feeling sorry for for said colleague, I took over her seat. And so with two winds left and my dinner completed, I pulled a green rabbit out of a red hat, ending up with a win of $6.00. Whee. I am quite pleased with myself.

Chatting with Apple's two nephews was suitably entertaining as is the misguided idiocy of an operations manager from a major butchery. Goon. Good is good, there is no waste is using good meat for steamboat. There is a difference between standard tenderloin and Wagyu grade.

Chinese New Year will be a series of dragging Truth about for the forseeable future. Heh, and it pleases me. Woah, I am starting to feel god-like, making these pronouncements.

Let me try that again.

And Truth went to bed as Ogre thudded her head. It was a sound sleep and Ogre saw that she wasn't hurt unduly. And it pleased Ogre for it was good.

So Old Testament right?

Oh oh.

And the Ogre shagged an Apple. (What the fuck right?)

Try again.

And Ogre coupled with Apple. And they begat Truth. Truth shitted, drank milk and generally slept alot. Ogre saw that all was good. Smiling with favour, he would proclaim this tribe as his chosen, for they would have his protection and good will.

I so rock as a deity. All of ye, bow your heads and stomp your feet. Raise your hands and chant "Walla walla womba kor. Lulu wee wee uncool dood."

Must start cult, must start cult, must start cult...

By the way, Obama's inaguration speech was pretty good.

2009-01-22T11:22:00.002+08:00

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Gohs.

In Singapore, according to MP Charles Chong, there are us, who are the lesser mortals; the ruling cadre and their elite ilk, who are the greater mortals; and then of course, the one immortal.

Doesn't it piss you off?

2009-01-20T11:53:00.002+08:00

Straits Times Forum... What the fuck?

It was with some incredulity that I decided to read the Straits Times Forum, after Apple told me about this (stupid) woman writing in to complain about cats at East Coast.

Which you can read here.
http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Story/STIStory_326677.html

And then you wonder about the quality of our national gazette when it publishes this stupid letters that are worse than the crap we used to get in our school or town council newsletters. Which leaves you wondering who are the bigger idiots. Singaporeans who write stupid letters expecting them to be published; or Singaporeans who work in SPH, which actually publishes said stupid letter. I knw Stupid and Singapore start with the same letter, but this is ridiculous.

And then to add to my shock and horror, there is another letter. I am not exaggerating. Our boliaoness and stupidity is shocking, and seem to be embedded into our culture.

http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Online%2BStory/STIStory_328169.html

Why do they even bother to put up these stupid online letters? I'm sure there are better contributors.

What this shows is that the writer and those who support her are silly, irrational, paranoid, insensitive and not very good human beings in general. In fact, I find it quite disgraceful that I have to share space with these people.

I want to just stab them.

"We had expected birds and butterflies in a natural setting like this"
Excuse me, but most the birds you seem often in Singapore are sparrows, mynahs, crows and pigeons. Not birds that I'd put into a "pleasant" category. Except for sparrows, I like them.

Cats not soothing? You haven't heard a Joie purr next to your ear.

If people can wantonly kill cats because humans have changed their environments, taken away what used to their foraging grounds, and now are an intolerant, xenophobic, and totally clueless species, can I have a right to just cull people that are stupid? I'm doing these for the good of mankind, go read up on eugenics. We cannot allow these bad genes and behavioural traits to persist.

Fucking TSP. And you know what? The worst thing is that her 5 year old son will probably grw up to be like her. The tragedy never ends...

See why I read Reuters for my news instead of the local papers? Bunch of crap publications supported by bunch of crap regime voted in bunch of crap people.

Another day begins. Hello! Stupid People! I can only take pleasure in the fact that I am personally happy with my own little bubble.

Because, the tragedy never ends...

2009-01-15T10:42:00.003+08:00

I was looking through the reservation list for those who had put down a deposit for the hottest new model around. There was a William Hung. Serious.

And then I couldn't help it. A nasty corny pick-up line flashed unbidden into my puerile brain.

"Hi! I'm William Hung. My friends call me Will Hung. [With an emphasis on the W sound, and then you drag out the "ng"]. Especially the girls..." *waits expectantly for girl to roll eye and walk away*

And then there are these three middle-aged women who hang around a void deck that we pass by on my way to work. And I remarked to Apple how they appear to be the sort that would join lynch mobs and "vixen beating gangs". You know, one of those crazy mobs of righteous, morally charged women that will gather mops and brooms to beat up the adulterous husband and his cheap slut girlfriend. All the screaming in Mandarin about how she is cheap, and is a wolf spirit. Hmmm, which is really stupid to attribute to the spirit of a wolf since a wolf probably does not have the concept of cheating on a relationship.

Anyway, Apple simply rolled her eyes at me and asked "What's wrong with you?"

In amidst all the doom and gloom and everything else, I will maintain my cheap and corny sense of humour. Some may think it weird, but it is free, and it entertains me, I usually don't let the subjects know that I'm sniggering at him, so there's no harm done.

In which case, I must happily declare that there's nothing wrong with me.

Shit, I should have smiled and rebutted Apple with this. "In fact, I turned out to be your Mr. Right!"

Heh, will keep that for next time.

Amendments- As pointed out by a kind reader, it should be "fox spirits" instead of "wolf spirits". I must remember that women are foxy while men are wolfish. So change the words while reading.

2009-01-06T10:46:00.002+08:00

Les Missies.

I strode into the room. There they were, lying side by side on my bed. Cammie looked at me placidly and continued resting her head on Joie's rump.

Came out after taking a crap. Saw Cammie licking Joie on the head. To my surprise she then proceeded to lick inside Joie's ear!

It is one thing to watch unknown lesbians doing the deed, but quite another to see two familiar faces having tongue-in-ear. I can understand that they are grown up and they are cats, but it is still somewhat disquieting.

2009-01-05T11:36:00.002+08:00

There is scope for a game similiar in concept to Diner Dash. Its working title shall be Diaper Dash.

And thank you all for coming as well as the nice vouchers to buy more diapers and baby wipes.

It's amazing how someone so tiny can produce more laundry than two full grown adults.

2008-12-31T09:54:00.003+08:00

2008 is coming to an end, grinding to a shuddering halt with an economic crisis and so much uncertainty about. Business is now all about survival.

My life's course is now steered by a whimsical, ineffable being, who might very well be an alien seeing how difficult it is to communicate with her. I find it easier to know what the cats want. That being said, I'm grateful for her, and wouldn't change anything.

Last night, she got into a fussing fit. You see, she does this when she wants to be carried. And she wants to be carried until she falls asleep, which can be anywhere from 10 mins to an hour. So she started making some little noises and handsigns of indeterminate meanings.

I had changed her diapers and fed her milk. She wasn't running a fever nor were there any visible signs of inflammation or trauma. So she was fussing because she wants attention.

To avoid waking up Apple, I brought her downstairs and put her down in her bassinet. Since she has decided that she can't sleep on her cot. She will do so in the bassinet. Apple does put her to sleep by carrying her, but Apple had been worn down by a whole day of finding Truth doing really disgusting and uncool stuff. So Apple was concussed upstairs, and mean daddy runs the show.

She bawled, and I mean really bawled. Tears were threatening to stream from her eyes. Her face went candy red and she was gas[ing for air and desperately trying to breathe between each outburst. I sat down on the sofa and did not touch her. Staring resolutely at her face, to let her know that she can be a stubborn bitch. Likewise, daddy can be a mule of an ogre. I resolved to be unmovable. And persistently telling her in an even tone that she has to be a good girl. I think nagging can work on a subconcious level even if she can only hear me in flashes as her crying drowns everything else out. And then I wonder if the neighbours would be awakened and think that some nutjob is abusing his baby, or that there are some horrible parents about who let their baby just cry and cry. Still, I decided that she shouldn't be mollycoddled. My parents will do enough spoiling and doting for her to maintain her sanity and balance.

Where grandparents are the yang, I will be the ying and counteract the forces of bad behaviour.

And after 20 mins, she finally gave up and went to sleep. I let her sleep for 10 mins more. And then I brought her upstairs.

It seemed she was just waiting for this, because shortly after I laid her on the cot, she let out this yell which woke Mummy up. And then she latched and fed from Mummy when half an hour earlier she had drunk 60ml and rejected the bottle. And of course, mummy cuddled her and petted her to sleep, even as Mummy was falling asleep herself. And when mummy does that, the baby sleeps from 2 am till 7am.

Life's a bitch, so's the Truth. Anyway, I will continue to try and put in some discipline, rules, and boundaries into her life. The Truth may be relative, but her father is absolutely determined to bring her up right.

Ah whatever. I just wanted to wish everyone the wit and will to make the best of the New Year. And please don't forget about lunch on Sunday! Must come, okay? You can all line up and take turns to smack the Peanut's bottom, as part of the early introduction to pain and suffering.

Grins.

2008-12-24T10:29:00.004+08:00

I Think I've Been Force to Listen to Too Many Christmas Songs.

The cynic in me would like to yell out.

"For Fuck's sake, Christ was not born today! You are such a bunch of nitwits. If he was indeed born today. Then shouldn't your bloody Gregorian calendar start today and not seven days later?

And you! You dimwits are Satanists and Luciferens. Why in hell would you want to celebrate what is symbolically a Christian holiday? The symbol of Christmas is Saint Nicholas. Not Satan Nicholas. Unless, Lucifer decided to put on a decidedly unglam disguise. Then in that case, I must admit it is rather clever. I have always thought the devil too smart and suave to look so stupid. Then why the fuck should the legendary Santa Claus only give presents to those who are nice? To subvert them? It still doesn't give you a reason to celebrate since you cult is massively smaller than the cult of City Harvest. Face it, you Satanists are damned to be poor, marginalised and universally unpopular. And please, don't get me started on the Goths...

And you! Vege-boy! Aren't you the cow-brained one who degraded Buddhism into a religion (with it's own customs, strictures and scriptures, etc) and venerates Siddhārtha Gautama as a god. Read what he said! Does it not go against his philosophy that you should mystify, obfuscate, and make myths; which is the baggage that Religion carries. Which means you have added in essence to greater ignorance. To more shadow thrown over light. Embrace science, by no means deny mysticism, but see them both in better context. For is not science somewhat magical? And do not those supporters of mystic and occult practices also follows laws? I find it rather silly. You had a brilliant philosophy but chose to make it unthinking. You had a pathway lit by thought and meditation and you chose to attempt to darken it with blind faith, rituals and customs. Really, why are you celebrating a western customary holiday in which more cattle and other animals are slaughtered than for any other festival? You should be grieving and gnashing your teeth.

Some of the other religions take things way too seriously for me post anything on why they are cavorting with rest of us on Christmas. I don't want to be stoned without the marijuana.

As for the atheists, it's just another good excuse to get drunk, act silly and have some fun on a socially acceptable day. Which I can totally agree with.

Apple pointed out something though. If there's another reason for people to get together and be happy, why am I getting so worked up? Which is a really excellent and valid point.

Therefore, I will wish you dumbfucks a Merry Christmas.

2008-12-19T12:55:00.003+08:00

The Green Top Ten about the Truth

The Truth hurts. Or at least will keep you awake all night.
The Truth is insidious. While not inherently evil, truth does have a knack for picking the most inoppotune times to make itself known.
Truth is relative. Some love her, most are indifferent, and I reckon a few will come to hate her.
The Truth is more stubborn than anything I've ever known, and you will never cover her up forever.
The Truth will set you free. Forget your daily schedules and routines. Forget sleep. Welcome to the new world of being liberated from what most people consider normal. You will no longer be under the schackles of sleep. Think of how much more time to have to mould the Truth.
The Truth is great. Greatly over-rated by the older folks. Greatly under-rated for it's life changing abilities, and it's sleep depriving properties.
The miracle of Truth. In which the bearer of Truth becomes the 1% to suffer from PUPPS, and in which the Truth follows 5% who emerge on the correct day duely.
The Truth is usually dragged out kicking and screaming. Which is why torturers were employed in medieval times. In modern times, it is significantly less fearsome to go "under the knife".
Truth be told, you cannot tell the Truth anything that it will listen to. It is only interested in giving one the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Usually at the top of her lungs, and with whatever voice she can muster. Accompanied by much kicking and shaking of fists. I would add the gnashing of teeth bit, but that's too Homeric.
You can't handle the Truth. When you're not feeling on top of the world, feel like you're down with a flu, and denied restful nights pondering the imponderables. Yes, the truth can be pretty hard to handle.

And yet, I wouldn't change a thing. Long live the Truth.

2008-12-12T13:24:00.002+08:00

I was asked some difficult questions one day. Perhaps some of you can give better answers than stammer and smile sheepishly.

"When was the last time you cleaned the fridge?"

- Er, a really long time ago, but I did clean it. Maybe a couple of months back?

"How come you have so little drinking water?"

-Heh, I'll boil some now. Because I drink straight from the tap. Like draught beer, on tap... Hehe... Okay. Not funny.

"Why do you not have so and so utensils?"

- Well, we never thought to use so and so... So, we don't have so and so... We get by with this and that! But it's not as good as so and so...

"Would you remove the cats?"

- No. They are our cats and very much a part of the family.

Thankfully, things have settled somewhat and is only simmering. I certainly hope it does not boil over. Sigh...

2008-12-05T12:56:00.002+08:00

I would like to blog about something thought provoking, something intellectual, but alas, there is no such inspiration.

What fills my mind these days seem to be work matters, my wife and Peanut, as well as Disgaea where the level cap is 9999.

I do believe that Peanut has inherited the stubborn streak of the both of us. When pushed, I get stubborn as a mule. Whether I am right or wrong, I just want to be stubborn about things. Doesn't matter whether it is a Pyrrhic victory, I just want to win. The cost doesn't quite matter when the blood hots up. I don't think my wife carries this streak to the same degree. But she is obstinate as hell when it comes to doing some things, not so much on others. Not that I want to change her, it's simply a matter of accepting it and learning to live with it.

Now, the main thing on my mind is when the Peanut will decide the leave the admittedly comfy environs of the womb and face the bloody world. I do try to ignore it and let Peanut come to terms with it on her own time, but still it stays in my mind. The waiting is actually a little annoying, but what can we do?

The Peanut is just ineffable.

2008-12-02T11:41:00.003+08:00

Something interesting that floats and flits about the Internet at jg69.blogspot.com.

The city-state resumes its campaign against the Journal.

Let us begin with an apology to our readers in Asia. Unless they are online, they will not see this editorial. For legal reasons, we are refraining from publishing it in The Wall Street Journal Asia, which circulates in Singapore.

Our subject is free speech and the rule of law in the Southeast Asian city-state -- something on which the international press and Singapore's government have often clashed. We can't say which side would prevail if the Singapore public could hear an open debate, but the fact is that we know of no foreign publication that has ever won in a Singapore court of law. Virtually every Western publication that circulates in the city-state has faced a lawsuit, or the threat of one.

Which brings us to the ruling against us this week in Singapore's High Court. Dow Jones Publishing (Asia) was found guilty of contempt of court for two editorials and a letter to the editor published in The Wall Street Journal Asia in June and July. The Attorney General, who personally argued the contempt case against us, characterized the articles as "an attack on the courts and judiciary of Singapore inasmuch as they impugn the integrity, the impartiality and the independence of the Court."

In suing for contempt, Singapore chose to go after us for the most basic kind of journalism. The first editorial, "Democracy in Singapore," reported on a damages hearing in a defamation case brought (and won) by former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew against opposition politician Chee Soon Juan. The second editorial, "Judging Singapore's Judiciary," informed readers what an international legal organization had said about Singapore's courts.

Regarding the first editorial, we'll note that court proceedings are privileged under Singapore law, which means they can be reported -- though Singapore's media rarely do the job. Mr. Chee wrote a letter in response to the first editorial, which we published and which is cited in the contempt charge. We also published two letters from Mr. Lee's spokeswoman.

In the second editorial, we reported on the International Bar Association's critical study of the rule of law in Singapore. This is the same outfit that held its annual conference in Singapore last year, a meeting that Mr. Lee himself touted as a sign of confidence in Singapore's courts. The Law Society of Singapore is a member of the IBA. If reporting on what such a body says is contemptuous of the judiciary, then Singapore is saying that its courts are above any public scrutiny.

Again, we published a letter from the Singapore government responding to the editorial. This one was from the Law Ministry, which blasted the IBA report and us for repeating its "vague allegations." The IBA then weighed in, in a posting on its Web site, saying it wished "to correct some inaccurate comments" in Singapore's letter. It invites readers to read the report and "see for themselves" that its views are "based on comprehensive examples and evidence." The IBA homepage is http://www.ibanet.org/.

In his ruling, Justice Tay Young Kwang refers to us as a "repeat offender." He's right in the narrow sense that this isn't the first time Singapore has pursued the Journal Asia for contempt. In 1985, the newspaper and its editors were sued over an editorial about legal actions against opposition politician J.B. Jeyaretnam. The editors apologized.

In 1989, the paper was sued for contempt again, this time over a news story that quoted Dow Jones's then-president, Peter Kann. Mr. Kann had criticized a libel judgment won by Mr. Lee against the Far Eastern Economic Review, the Journal Asia's sister publication. The paper, its editor, publisher, local distributor and local printer were all named. They lost.

We are not eager to return to that fractious era, when the Journal Asia had its circulation severely restricted in Singapore and the paper's reporters were unwelcome. Since 1991, when the newspaper and Mr. Lee reached a settlement, our relationship with Singapore had been more or less stable until the latest contempt charge.

Meanwhile, in September, the Far Eastern Economic Review lost a defamation case brought by Mr. Lee and his son, current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, over an interview it published with opposition leader Mr. Chee. The elder Mr. Lee has long used defamation suits to silence his critics in the press and among the political opposition.

As for this week's contempt ruling, the first line of Justice Tay's decision is revealing as a standard for Singapore justice. "Words sometimes mean more than what they appear to say on the surface," he writes, going on to interpret the words as contemptuous because they had an "inherent tendency" to "scandalise the court." The fine he levied, S$25,000 ($16,500), is the largest ever meted out for such an offense. Justice Tay expressed the hope that it will deter "future transgressions."

We'll pay the fine. We'll also continue to express our views about politics, the courts and other subjects that we think our readers should know about. And we'll let readers decide what to make of the judiciary in Singapore.

From yet another publication...

A high court judge reinvents Alice in Wonderland in a contempt case

As expected, a Singapore high court judge has once again ruled against a western news organization, in this case the Wall Street Journal Asia, for contempt of court for three articles published in June and July that “impugn the impartiality, integrity and independence of the Singapore judiciary,” according to the complaint.

The court fined Dow Jones Publishing Co. S$25,000, said to be the highest amount ever levied for such a case, according to the Wall Street Journal. "Dow Jones is extremely disappointed with the ruling of the High Court and strongly disagrees with the court’s analysis that the editorials and letter to the editor constitute contempt of court," a Dow Jones spokesman said. "Also, contrary to what the attorney general has alleged, The Wall Street Journal Asia has not engaged in a ‘campaign’ of any sort against the Singapore judiciary. We will in the future continue to defend the right of The Wall Street Journal Asia to report and comment on matters of international importance, including matters concerning Singapore."

The 43-page judgment, written by High Court Judge Tay Yong Kwang, contains some startling language in its attempt to pin contempt charges on the newspaper, its editor, Daniel Hertzberg, managing editor Christine Glancey, and Dow Jones Publishing Co., now owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. In effect, Tay said, there were no actionable words in the articles. But, he wrote:

“Words sometimes mean more than what they say on the surface. This proposition is a recurring theme in the present proceedings before me, which concerns an application for by the Attorney General for orders of committal for contempt against [the] three respondents...”

And, as part of the background of the case, Tay wrote: “As will be demonstrated shortly, it is not the AG’s case that the publications contained passages or words that expressly scandalize the Singapore judiciary, but that they do so by implication, especially when the offending passages or words of each publication are read in the context of that individual publication.

”In other words, any publication deemed by Singapore to have been hostile to Singapore in the past could find itself in the dock without using “passages or words that expressly scandalize the Singapore judiciary” or presumably the family of ageing patriarch Lee Kuan Yew, the country’s minister mentor.

The court, however, is about as touchy as the Lee family. In October, three supporters of the opposition Singapore Democratic Party were promptly arrested when they turned up at Singapore’s Supreme Court wearing T-shirts depicting a kangaroo in judicial robes. The three, 19-year-old Muhammad Shafi'ie Syahmi Sariman, 33-year-old Isrizal Mohamed Isa and 47-year-old John Tan Liang Joo, were convicted and were to be sentenced November 27 for contempt of court.

Reporters Without Borders condemned the Wall Street Journal ruling, saying that "Even if the fine is not colossal, the ruling very clearly shows that Singapore's judges have no intention of letting the foreign media express themselves freely about the country's judicial system, which is lacking in independence."

As to the Journal case, it is hardly the first time Singapore has found the western press wanting, or used tortured language to go after them. The lawsuit-happy Lee family has filed a plethora of defamation lawsuits and contempt charges repeatedly against Dow Jones publications, particularly the Far Eastern Economic Review and the Asian Wall Street Journal, now known as the Wall Street Journal Asia, as well as Time Magazine, the Economist, the International Herald Tribune and many more.

In 2007 for instance, the Financial Times issued a hasty apology and paid undisclosed damages for a story in which there appeared to be no libel. The article dealt with the growth of so-called sovereign wealth funds, particularly a new Chinese fund that was unveiled at the end of September, and referred to growing concern over the acquisition of strategic industries by funds controlled by governments in Asia and the Middle East. At the end of the piece, the author referred to Temasek, the increasingly troubled Singapore state investment fund, and described some of the problems Temasek has faced with the fallout from the fund's acquisition last year of Shin Corp, the Thai telecoms group owned by former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, which ultimately contributed to Thaksin’s downfall. At the end of the article, the author referred to the fact that Temasek is run by Ho Ching, the wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and concluded with these words:

“DBS Bank, whose biggest shareholder is Temasek, this week surprised many by announcing that US-born Jackson Tai would step down towards the end of the year. Mr Tai was said to be keen to ‘spend more time with his family.''

“Last week Jimmy Phoon, Temasek's chief investment officer, announced he was leaving ‘to take a break and spend some time with the family.’ “Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised at the reasons. Singapore, after all, is built on strong family values. Lee Kuan Yew, founding father of the city-state, must be proud to see Lee Hsien Loong, his son, occupy the role of prime minister. “Mr Lee (Jnr) himself will be pleased Ho Ching, his wife, has helped turn round the performance of Temasek after being appointed chief executive in 2002. The rumour mill now suggests Lee Hsien Yang, the younger brother, could replace Mr Tai at DBS. The younger Mr Lee earned his spurs as chief executive of SingTel, also part of the Temasek firmament.”

That caused an apparent explosion among the Lees, and allegations of libel over charges of nepotism. The FT quickly complied with its public apology.

In 1994, the Lee family sued the International Herald Tribune, which also quickly issued an apology and paid damages, for a column in which the author wrote about dynastic politics in China and, in passing, mentioned Singapore, saying “Dynastic politics is evident in ‘Communist’ China already, as in Singapore, despite official commitment to bureaucratic meritocracy. Similarly with the Kuomintang inheritance in Taiwan, which won out until 1987, when lack of candidates and the pressure of opinion ended the Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek era".

The courts awarded aggravated damages on the basis of Lee Kuan Yew’s claim (and similar claims by Lee Hsien Loong and Goh Chok Tong) that "The said words, in the context in which they were published, and in their natural and ordinary meaning, meant and were understood to mean" that Lee Hsien Loong was "appointed to various offices in the Singapore government on the basis of nepotism and not on the basis of merit."

No member of the Lee family has ever lost a case in a Singapore court as far as can be determined. The Lees recently won damages against Far Eastern Economic Review for defamation and the government has banned the publication over a 2006 interview with Chee Soon Juan, the head of the Singapore Democratic Party, in which Chee said the authoritarian city-state would only change direction after the elder Lee’s death.

At one point, Judicial Commissioner Sundaresh Menon refused to allow the Review’s lawyer, Australian Tim Robertson, permission to sit in on the hearing because Robertson had made comments critical of Singapore in 2005 over Singapore’s decision to execute a convicted drug trafficker.

Of course, there is nothing to say...

Actually I wonder if Singaporeans would care even if we had a free press. And frankly, I don't hold out great hope on us giving a damn. Okay, maybe a quarter of a damn.

D!

2008-11-26T11:30:00.003+08:00

On stuff like fluff.

I have been conscientiously trying to wage a war to promote the tipping culture. Whenever I go to a restaurant with my mum or wife, I leave a 10% cash tip on top of the bill for good service. For merely decent service, it goes down to 5% or so, since the establishment already levies a service charge. For those that don't have said charges, a 10% is the decent minimum for so-so service.

I just had dinner at Ma Maison's at Central and we gave them a $10.00 tip on an $80.00 bill after service charge and assorted taxes. Because their service staff was attentive, polite and friendly. Really nice people. Which made our dinner all the more enjoyable.

Really, take the effort to smile at them. Reward the person serving you financially and emotionally. It would make them feel better and they in turn would make you feel better. Be a typical Singaporean and you get the shit service that you moan about all the time. Do note, they do somewhat owe their living to your patronage, but they don't owe you their respect and service if you cannot behave with enough dignity to deserve it.

Grace. It needs to work both ways.

On other matters, I am actually rather nervous about Peanut sometimes. The general gist that I get from forums and interviewing mums is that one never quite knows when the Peanut will decide to come out and menace the world. I need to remind myself to be zen about it, and let it be. Despite being described as somewhat of a control freak, it actually isn't that hard for me to let it flow. Have patience and the Peanut will come eventually. Maybe after a year of gestation. By which time, she would have developed green skin and order really complicated burgers. Sorry, I couldn't resist that. Heh.

As for the business, cash flow is a bit of a bitch sometimes, but I am working at it. Still, never quite know what will crop up next, or how bad this downturn is going to hit us eventually. the effects are already felt and I'm not too sure how badly it will go this time. Obama's picks, to fill the positions in his economic team, are quite heartening. if anything, they will at least give a measure of confidence to badly shot nerves and lowering expectations. I hope he delivers on his promise of bold changes, and not mere lip service.

Even though it doesn't change my position of advocating more opposition members into parliament, I do applaud the lowering of civil servant pay. It's a measure that goes someway to show that the government still has some measure of objectivity.

Also, Peanut will be the unfortunate guinea pig for me to try cultivate a love for learning and an appreciation for philosophy from a young age. I do believe that eventually, this will lead to her having a happier and more fulfilling life. And of course, I will not neglect to instil some discipline into her as well.

All this fretting started since we found out that she has flipped head down. I would really prefer if she decides to come out sooner rather than later. I do want to just see what she looks like.

Peanut, be good.

2008-11-21T10:26:00.002+08:00

Take a chance on me...

There is no guarantee that something new is necessarily good. However, you know that the old and familiar no longer does what it's supposed to do.

There is no guarantee that the new treatment works, though that old cancer will kill you slowly but surely.

There is no guarantee that the new man is capable, but you see the old ones have become complacent.

There is no guarantee that the new guard is incorruptible, but you see the establishment become rife with cronyism.

So why not try something new? Despite what the ones in power say?

Just planning a setting for my Dungeouns & Dragons Modern game. GOD OF GUNS Prestige Class! Whooohoo!

2008-11-19T10:33:00.002+08:00

A TWO-PARTY system will not work in Singapore, which is much better off with 'one dominant, clean and good party,' said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday. But he acknowledged that the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) 'should not have a carte blanche'.

Addressing the PAP conference at Toa Payoh sports hall, PM Lee who is the general secretary of the party, said just as changes are taking place in Singapore, so must PAP continue to evolve. 'As long as the PAP changes itself, and continues to provide clean and good government, the country is much better off with one dominant, strong, clean and good party,' he told cadres, stressing that the party has to account to voters at elections every five years. 'If you're given a renewed mandate, so long as it continues to evolve, then even if this generation of ministers doesn't work, we will find a new generation of ministers who will be able to adapt our policies and make them work.'

'If the party doesn't work, if something goes wrong with the party, you can be sure new parties will come, new contests will come, people will split up to take on the government in no time.' Mr Lee said the two-party system works in America because 'it's a superpower, a continent'. But in smaller countries, there is no guarantee that a new player can turn up, who will bring positive results.

'There's no guarantee that if something has gone wrong, everything can be put right, and you can put Humpty Dumpty together again,' he cautioned. In Asia, a dual party system 'very seldom works' because it has been shown that having two or more parties would not guarantee good governance or progress, said Mr Lee, citing Taiwan as an example. Taiwan's economy stagnated under the opposition DPP and its politics were polarised because Taipei was always quarrelling with China. Corruption worsened and the voters booted out President Chen Shui-bian, and voted in Kuomingtan's Ma Ying-jeou.

'But it is not so easy to get the economy restarted. It's also very difficult to restore good government,' added PM Lee, pointing to the recent street protests over Chinese envoy Chen Yunlin's historic visit to Taipei. 'I don't think you want that kind of political system in Singapore. I don't think that a two-party system can work in Spore,' said Mr Lee.

The Prime Minister said it not PAP's job to build up the opposition or to split the party into two because 'it's hard enough to find one team' to take charge of the country. Elaborating, he told the conference: 'If we split our Cabinet into two groups, you must end up with two second division teams and Singapore cannot afford a second division team.

'As a small country we must have a first division team, an outstanding group of people who can make up for our many limitations and make sure that Singaporeans get the standard of life they want. We cannot compromise on this. 'That's why we must have leadership self-renewal... throughout our grassroots at all levels.'

On recent media reports about the Elections Department has started preparations for the general election, which is due at the latest by Feb 2, 2012, prompting political analysts and observers to speculate that a snap poll is imminent, PM Lee said this is not a political decision.

'If you want to know whether elections are coming, you track our political renewal, whom we have, whom we have put on the ground, who are the new faces in the party, are they right to be fielded?' he said. 'And when they are, you can be sure we will put forward a strong team. That's the critical factor to determine whether Singapore will continue to enjoy stability and good government in the long run.'

Because I am stupid and not so gullible I have a few questions.

Did our Dear Leader just insult the intelligence of the general populace to decide for themselves who can lead? (Actually, I would agree.)

Did the Dear Leader just clearly state that only the Chosen ones can enter Parliament?

Who chooses the Chosen Ones?

Who approves of the Chosen Ones? (Oh the same silly apathetic people, who have now been rendered pathetic.)

Will the Ministers take a pay cut in view of the ballooning budget deficit?

Only the PAP is clean and everybody else is corrupt?

Can the opposition sue for defamation?

What about the PAP cadres who were caught for corruption? (Dishonest mistake, let's move on.)

Other CEOs have come out and made statements or apologised. What has Ho Ching come out to say? (I know that one! Nothing. The lesser said about their losses, the better. Shhh.)

Why is it thatthe people getting moved out in the name of renewal, eg. Inderjit Singh, Tan Soo Khoon, etc, are those who have asked contentious questions, critiqued policies and offered up dissenting views? I thought there was a promise made to lift the Party Whip? Oh yes, our Dear Leader also promised to "fix" the opposition this term.

Why do people still go on voting for the PAP when they have the chance to make a statement every five years? (I guess they are too many reasons, but stupidity and cowardice come to the fore.)

Why does the ruling party continue to indulge in the politics of fear?

Why this stranglehold on power? You have to ask if this is really desirable and good for Singaporeans.

Why do I have so many questions. I should shut up and blend in with rest of the sheeps cowering from the wolves.

2008-11-18T11:25:00.002+08:00

Like my wife said, most people are just content enough to muddle through their own mediocrity. Upon reading forums, both local and overseas, I have come to the conclusion that too many people employ fucked up English when writing.

Much earlier in life, I have also come to the conclusion that many Singaporeans have an abysmal grasp of English grammar. That is still not too bad. The sad fact is that they do not even care that their spoken and written English is horrible, and their Mandarin is only that little bit better.

I know this sounds elitist, and it definitely is condescending. My own English may not be the best, but I do try to employ the language properly. My Mandarin? The lesser said, the better.

I cringe whenever I hear some locals speak English. It would seem that wanton slaughtering is in our blood, considering how we butcher our languages. At least for the Chinese Singaporeans.

Is it a fair generalisation? I think so.

Would it cause offence? I hope so.

So that the fuckers will take the effort to go and brush up on their English.

2008-11-12T10:02:00.002+08:00

I was up till 1 am last night, watching Sesame Street and Jim Henson's Muppets on Youtube. For me, they are still as funny and endearing as ever. I think I'll just plonk Peanut in from of the computer, instead of watching stupid silly shows like Spongebob Squarepants.

I will now endeavour to find a DVD of The Muppet Movie. :P

2008-11-04T09:42:00.002+08:00

The Silly Season Has Begun

In a season which has seen more twists and turns, more drama than Vince McMahon could fashion in Summer Slam, Lewis Hamilton has improbably won the F1 World Championship in bizzare fashion on the last lap of the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The first thing was that Hamilton's usual pace went missing. Mclaren would rue playing it safe, as Hamilton got dropped to six, which would crown Felipe Massa as champion. The second was how Timo Glock contrived to lose a 15 second lead on the last lap. In F1 terms, a 15 second gap on the final lap might translate to crossing the Pacific Ocean on raft in worse shape than Kon Tiki, with no oars. Well, you might get a spoon, that ought to help you paddle and steer.

One would have thought that that would be the end.

In a surprising turn, Ron Dennis, Mclaren Mercedes team principal, has declared that Heikki Kovaleinen would be leaving the team, and that Timo glock would be transferred from Toyota. "Timo has done more to help Lewis' title bid in one race than Heikki has done all season. Heikki's a very talented driver and I am sure he will do very well in his new team. We are looking forward to working with Timo who brings a great wealth of experience."

Asked if Glock had allowed Hamilton to pass him, Ron reacted angrily. "There is absolutely no way it happened as you lot have conceived. Glock was struggling badly and the rain was falling harder at the end. Lewis came on and Timo did the sensible thing and avoided an accident. Unlike Kubica, who was looking for all the wrong things when he unlapped himself."

When it was pointed that Hamilton did the same to Alonso Reanult at the Fuji Speedway, when he unlapped himself in a rather aggressive manner against the race leader, Ron shook his head. "No, that was totally different. In no way did Lewis drive dangerously nor take unnecessary risks. This is a different race. Anyway it did not change the result."

And so Saint Lewis goes on to become the youngest world champion in his sophomore season.

Meanwhile the rejuvenated Alonso looks set to stay with Renault after a string of strong performances. In my humble opinion, possibly the most complete driver now.

2008-10-20T23:43:00.002+08:00

You know you've been domesticated when:

- You start trying out the vacuum cleaners that other people have in order to find out their relative strengths.

- Joie waits for you to finish cleaning up the litter bin in the mornings before relieving herself.

- You form definitive opinions about the ergonomics of mops.

- Cammy waits until you have mopped the floor and then proceeds to leave her grubby paw marks all over.

- You start cleaning the stove when you're done cooking.

- Dishwashing becomes something of a routine.

- Aimee expects you respond to her meows and smack her till she's content. Bloody demanding spoilt brat.

- When you have a Peanut that's on the way, and you expect to do more housework. The scary thing is how matter-of-factly you accept it.

- When you understand how your mother could do so much work for so little gratitude.

2008-10-15T10:24:00.003+08:00

I am green skinned, but the irony is that I do not possess a green thumb.

We have finally gotten ourselves two lovely orchids, one for her and one for me. Thankfully the cats have investigated them and have come to the unanimous decision that orchid plants are not yummy.

Here's to many more beautiful blooms.

2008-10-10T13:53:00.001+08:00

Apparently, I hae invented something and now hold the patent for it.

Title:
Multi-phase linear motor having an integrated coil assembly and method for forming the integrated coil assemblly
Document Type and Number:
United States Patent 6573622
Abstract:
An integrated coil assembly (10), a multi-phase linear motor having the integrated coil assembly (10) and a method (100) for forming the integrated coil assembly (10) are described. The integrated coil assembly (10) has multi-phase coils with each multi-phase coil (20) having a number of coil loops based upon the number of electrical phases of current required by the multi-phase linear motor. The coil loops of different multi-phase coils are interweaved at two opposing portions (11,12) and are substantially parallel at two other opposing portions (13,14). In the method (100), different wire dispensers wind coil loops for different electrical phase for each multi-phase coil (20). However, the same wire dispenser winds coil loops that are for the same electrical phase for different multi-phase coils (20). The coil loops for each multi-phase coil (20) are wound before the coil loops of another multi-phase coil (20) are wound.

I feel much better about. Another poor sod shares my name.

2008-10-08T10:00:00.002+08:00

I was blasting music on a Sunday morning whilst going about my household chores. And then it came to Foreigner's hit single "I Want To Know What Love Is".

The 80s and 90s were the best time for the best kind of music for me. You had Meatloaf who has the longest ass titles ever for songs. I mean seriously. Bat Out of Hell II had some songs with long titles. You got Nirvana, Guns 'N' Roses, Scorpion, Suede, Extreme (who doesn't fucking love "More Than Words"?). You had Cyndi Lauper, Madonna (she's still kicking), Tina Turner, Rod Stewart, Elton John and so many more, who seemed to have much more character than most of them nowadays. Many of the singers nowadays just seem to be cookie cutter stars manufactured by the great PR machinery of the industry.

Maybe, it's the fact that I was young then and felt the world had infinte possibilities. And now I feel older and calmer about things. The world does have endless possiblities, yes, but one cannot endlessly pursue each to its end.

2008-09-29T12:32:00.002+08:00

Fabulous sporting weekend for the couch potato.

Valentino Rossi returns as MotoGP World Champion after 2 years.
Fernando Alonso wins the first Singapore F1 GP.
Liverpool beats Everton 0-2 at Goodison Park.
Arsenal upset by Hull.

Not so good are :

Chelsea won. Craps. They are looking good.
Man Utd won. What the fuck? Like that also penalty? I thought this was a contact sport?
Hamilton got third. That's more points for the faking smiler.
Massa didn't finish in the points.

Good viewing for the couch potato sports fan.

2008-09-23T23:05:00.002+08:00

I think a Singaporean version of Little Britain would be damn funny.

There'd be the man who'll take the bus or MRT and instantly fall asleep whenever a pregnant woman, handicapped, small children or old people get on, even in the middle of conversations.

I would include the gay young man who constantly gets picked on by the straight guys in NS. The evil scheming PRC woman who constantly takes advantage of gullible naive Singaporean men. A fanatically happy fantastic follower of mega churches who always try to beguile sweet young things in joining so that more full blooded males will join, which in turn will attract the gays and lesbians. More tithes for the church!

I have too many crazy notions. Besides, we are too uptight and politically correct to take such satire based on locals. It hits too close to home.

2008-09-22T23:15:00.003+08:00

WHY I DON'T READ THE LOCAL PUBLICATIONS.

Because it fucking gives me a high blood pressure.

Take for example, this letter to our foremost daily.

With financial chaos all around, Singapore may be the safest place

THE world has become quite an intriguing place recently.

Banks and financial institutions are falling like flies and dominoes around the world. Most stock markets around the world have lost 5 per cent or more in the past few days. The 30-plus years of Malaysia's ruling party may soon come to an end and democracy is almost as good as gone in Thailand. While the world is still trying to recover from the recent spike in energy and food prices, another financial tsunami seems set to sweep across the globe.

What has the world become if its leading banks and insurance companies, with their best analysts and actuaries, are unable to assess their own risk profile correctly? As an insurance giant, AIG's systemic risk is often mistaken for idiosyncratic risk. Systemic risk is a moving target, never constant, just like the entire market value and its indices. The scale, magnitude and complexity of the problem will never be easily quantified.

Ten years have passed since the Asian financial crisis and the tables have turned as the United States government tries to cover pothole after pothole in its financial system. With more than US$3 trillion (S$4.2 trillion) spent on the two wars, almost US$1 trillion spent on the housing bubble and financial crisis, a trade deficit just below US$1 trillion and uncontrolled consumerism, the once great American economy and American people will soon find their American Dream turning into the American Nightmare.
May be it is just chaos theory, which simply states that, given time, the only certainty in life is inevitable change or evolution.

How the world has changed, when discussion of babies now is about taking out a calculator and punching in the amount of savings and cash we get in the Singapore government's procreation package. While some Singaporeans often complain that their lives are controlled by the authorities here, no one complains when cash incentives are involved.

One of my friends commented: 'As the world goes terribly wrong around us, Singaporeans are worried only about where the next foreign workers' dormitory will be.'

We can all sleep well because there is a giant invisible protective cover hovering over this tiny island. With a diversified economy and a huge war chest to fend off most problems, the real dream paradise in the world may be right on our door step.

I cannot believe the naivete of some people.

Yes, your paradise may be right on your doorstep, but that's because I have my loved ones about, dear friends which I cherish. Clouds that form amusing shapes, and scarlet sunsets. Not merely because I live in the GREAT ISLAND of Singapore. Somebody should pull your head out from the sand.

As for the giant protective invisible cover, I have not heard of a condom that can stretch to cover 700 sq. km. And trust me, I'll know if someone invents some shit like that. We can't even yet make force fields for individual use. Somebody should pull your head (which recently vacated your ass) out of the sand. Fucking ostrich brain.

The writer really sounds like one of those born-again Christians for which everything is going to be oh-so-good because it's part of God's plan. Sure, I just made a religious and personal attack, though since I am somewhat Christian, I feel justified in doing so.

As for the diversified economy. Hello, we're not all that diversfied. Do we have natural resources to sell? Check, sure we do. Are we a great manufacturing center? Of course we are! Are we a hub of R&D? Definitely. Are we at the cutting edge of the biosciences. Sure, every serrated edge there is. Oei, I didn't pull your head out of your arse and then the sand so that you can fall asleep and start dreaming okay?

Our open economy means that we will never be insulated from the repercussions of the current financial chaos in the States. So if they go down, believe you me, we will too, along with a whole host of other nations. Because, like it or not, the world's biggest economy is still the States and they did not grow big by keeping all their tenatacles in their domestic markets. You either failed economics or never had the brains to study it. I'm quite fair, I gave you two choices. You're either ignorant or stupid. You can pick either.

As for the huge war chest, you probably don't have an inkling about accounts either. How much transparency does our sovereign funds have? We don't know eactly how much is in our reserves. And more importantly, our reserves could be valued at paper value, which has absolutely jackshit to do with real values. I have a car. Independent valuation puts it at S$50K. I get into real shit (because my CPF got wiped out, my house got reposessed, all my shares and unit trusts dropped faster than a man jumping off UOB Plaza, and I still have to feed a family), so I decide to sell my car. I'm sure being such a bright and cheerful little node of joy; you'd pay me the full value of my car. Right?

And how much have we lost from bad investment decisions in which nobody is accountable, there is no one to blame, where it is all a learning experience and let's all just move on? It's not their own money anyway. It's really fun to play with other people's money. When it happens that I find a sponsor for my mahjong session, I usually just try to make those sets that are so cool to win with. Like thirteen wonders, jade dragon, four winds, three treasures. Why the fuck not? Not my money what. Lose lose lor, I'll just keep quiet. If I can win but once, I can brag about that game for the next hundred years. Tell everyone, you know, I make Thirteen Wonders 5 times already la. Better give me your money. In fact, there's no choice. Your money, my decision and I don't even have to explain. Best man. I want to join TH as a risk analyst.

All I want is to win once and haolian, doesn't matter that I've lost fortunes which cannot be recuperated. Because I'll keep telling you that I've done it once, twice, and that means I can do it again, many, many times. Even quantum science shows that if I hit my head against the wall enough times, there is theoretically a chance that my head will just go clean past that steel wall; and then I'll find that I'm trapped at the neck. Really! It could happen.

So the writer can take a dump and deposit all his crap in our huge war chest which may or may not have enough volume left to take all his shit. I rather suspect it does.

I'm sorry but it had to come out. All this vitriol directed at you. Well, better out than in, in your case. And better me getting pissed at you than me getting high blood pressure.

Okay, rant over, you may stick your head back where the sun don't shine.

2008-09-19T09:48:00.004+08:00

WHY I DON'T READ LOCAL CAR MAGS WHEN THEY WRITE REVIEWS.

Because they are actually doing a write-up and not a review. So except for Hot Stuff which features souped up cars and reviews of the Nissan GT-R (which as everybody knows, is great and as sharp as a katana) for which it is really true that you only have the write about the negative token points e.g. "it's too easy to drive!".

Other than that, they mainly spout mush in my humble and silly little opinion.

Take a look at a local mag's review of the Chevrolet Aveo. They even had the gall to award this car the winner in the Budget/Compact category 2008. For my money, the Hyundai Accent is cheaper, and the Hyundai Avante is more value for about the same price, whereas the Honda Jazz/Fit or the Suzuki Swift is the one I'd go for, but then they are dearer.

This is a Korean car despite what the marketing brochure says. That's why it isn't at the Japanese or Continental car prices. After all, maybe only the badge is designed in the States.

Here is the local review.

"The new Aveo sedan from Chevrolet is the quasi-American carmaker’s answer to the Kia Rio, Hyundai Verna and Toyota Vios, budget runabouts with small price tags but big sales figures. Being the entry-level model for the brand as well as one of the most affordable cars in the local market, the new Aveo’s target audience is value-minded car buyers, particularly small two-plus-one-or-two families.

The previous four-door Aveo was rather nondescript, almost utilitarian, and this could be a prime reason why the car did not make much of an impact among the budget-conscious yet style-conscious youth set in Singapore. General Motors, the parent company of Chevrolet and its bedfellow Daewoo, has a new design centre located in the small city of Bupyong in Korea, whose very first product to market is this new Aveo sedan.

Not only does this new car get an all-new exterior, which is much more aesthetically pleasing compared to the previous model, but it also receives a much-welcomed makeover on the inside.The exterior design of the new Aveo exudes an aura of Continental flair. It is the first model in the Chevy line-up to sport the nice new corporate face – the by-now familiar gold Chevrolet bow-tie logo taking centre stage within a prominent grille that comes complete with chrome trim and mesh inserts. With the Aveo having a supermini-sized front end, that bold new grille with its big bow-tie badge looks even bolder. Large three-dimensional headlights complete the facial package, while the newly chunky bumper houses a prominent pair of foglamps. Giving the Aveo a mildly muscular side profile is a combination of pronounced fenders and a rising character line that runs along its flanks.

Rounding up the proceedings at the rear are a set of eye-catching triangular jewelled taillights and a discreet bootlid spoiler. An added bonus comes in the form of a lower drag coefficient (0.33 versus the previous Aveo’s 0.35), and this can only result in lower fuel consumption, certainly a piece of good news in these times of rising fuel costs.In terms of exterior dimensions, this new Aveo is notably longer, wider and taller (by 75mm, 40mm and 10mm respectively) than the previous model, and it now measures 4310mm in length, 1710mm in width and 1505mm in height.

The boot’s cargo-carrying capacity has been upped by 20 litres to 400 litres, and the 60:40 split-folding rear seats will come in useful on those occasional trips to IKEA where you might need to transport longer items. On the inside, cabin spaciousness is assured by the car’s useful wheelbase of 2480mm. The headroom at both the front and rear is impressive; as for the legroom, it is more than adequate unless you are exclusively talking about occupants who are male and are significantly taller than the national average.

The Aveo’s all-new instrument cluster houses an on-board computer display as well as four instrument dials. The latter have been spruced up with chrome bezels, while the font used is large and legible. On the centre console are a factory-fitted integrated audio system with MP3 playback and a manual air-conditioning system. The tactile controls for both systems are within easy reach of the driver and front passenger. The four round air-con vents can even be closed fully – often a sign of quality design. All these aspects work well together, giving the cabin of the Aveo sedan a surprisingly upmarket feel. The only telltale signs that this interior belongs to that of an entry-level model are the hard plastics on the dashboard and the cheap side stalks. Driving-wise, this new compact sedan from Chevrolet – equipped with MacPherson struts at the front and a torsion beam axle at the rear – impresses with its ride quality, absorbing just about every road irregularity with aplomb and providing the occupants with a truly pliant ride at both city and highway speeds. The only letdown is the presence of wind noise, which sets in at above 100km/h.

Unlike most other budget runabouts, the Aveo can also hold its own when you throw it into turns. The 185/60 R14 Hankook Optimo tyres enable the Aveo to get a decent grip, with the car leaning into corners as it gently goes into understeer when the tyres’ adhesion limit is breached. If more feel had been engineered into the steering wheel, the Aveo could almost be an enjoyable steer.The 94bhp 1.4-litre engine up front, mated to a smooth-shifting four-speed automatic transmission, puts up a decent performance, its strong mid-range enabling the Aveo to more than keep up with traffic, as well as to overtake slower-moving vehicles with nary any effort. Engine refinement is not too bad, with the four-pot sounding strained only at the upper end of the rev range. When it comes to slowing down, the Aveo does it confidently, its firm brake pedal allowing for easy modulation and the ABS cutting in only when necessary.

A rather major gripe is with the location of the “HOLD” button, otherwise known as “O/D OFF” in most Japanese cars. Instead of being on the gear selector lever, it is found on the shift gate – an illogical and ergonomics-killing position. No doubt this gripe will go off with familiarity, but I still think that the driver would be better off having it at the conventional location, on the gear lever itself. Though not much, the standard equipment of the Aveo sedan does include four-channel anti-lock brakes, a decent factory stereo, electrically adjustable side mirrors, electric windows all round (albeit without one-touch operation), individual rear headrests, a driver’s airbag and a neat key complete with remote boot release.

Priced attractively at under $50k, the new Chevy Aveo sedan is a perfectly viable alternative to the Kia Rio and Hyundai Verna, with its biggest trump card perhaps being its American heart and ‘seoul’."

Now read the American review.

"Chevrolet’s Aveo has the makings of comic gold. It’s the cheapest car sold in America. It’s from GM, ever the stooge to straight men Honda and Toyota. And get this: despite being the first vehicle to feature in Chevy’s ubiquitous “An American Revolution” campaign, the Aveo is built in… wait for it… Bupyong, South Korea. Ba-dum ching!

From where else would the Aveo hail? Daewoo is responsible for its design, manufacture, and export (under such varied monikers as the Suzuki Swift+ and Holden Barina). Chevy’s sole Aveo contribution: the bow-tie badge. But let’s give The General some credit. While Ford and DCX have ignored the fast-growing subcompact segment, ol’ Number Two has been building Aveos since 2004. Well, sort of.

For 2007, Daew—er, Chevy has updated its punch line on wheels. That’s the good news. The bad news: this mid-cycle love applies only to the Aveo sedan; the Aveo5 hatchback stands pat until 2008. The bad news for GM: the half-revitalized Aveo line faces no fewer than five all-new rivals from Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan and Toyota.

Yes, it’s survival of the Fittest in the increasingly cutthroat subcompact class, and the Chevrolet Aveo isn’t looking so good. Literally. Most of the ’07 refresh consists of styling tweaks, and none of them addresses the Aveo’s awkward-puppy proportions or tall-‘n’-tippy stance. The Chevywoo’s oversized, vaguely bovine new “face” is in keeping with current small-car fashion. The vintage-2002 “Altezza” taillights aren’t.

The Aveo’s redecorated interior is more impressive. Compared with the coal-bin cabins of previous Aveos (and the current hatch), the ’07 offers big-car digs. Perforated leatherette upholstery, chrome-ringed vents and switchgear, and not-horrendously-faux wood trim grace the range-topping ($13,450) LT. Plastics are of the low-gloss variety, done up in a soothing black-and-tan blend. The driver’s seat adjusts for height; an iPod jack adorns the radio.
While the veneer of quality is initially convincing, it’s only skin-deep. Carelessly-placed knees and elbows excite flexy crackles in the Aveo’s trim. The sun visors meet the headliner with a tinny “clang.” Moreover, the Aveo’s sit-up, legs-tucked driving position and fishbowl view out ensure that Aveo drivers feel as dorky as they look.

Which brings us to the act of driving the Aveo. Normally, I’m of the mindset that econocars deserve a break (not to say a free ride) in this department. Their raison d’etre is conservation, not titillation. But the Aveo’s gas mileage is, frankly, terrible for such a wee little beastie. On the ever-optimistic EPA scale, automatic Aveos score 26/34 mpg. That’s the same as the decidedly un-funny Mazda 3i and Honda Accord EX.

But hey, if the Aveo is the thirstiest of all subcompacts, at least it’s the slowest! No, there’s none of the threatening “zing” of a Honda or Toyota’s four banger here; just a labored groan as the Aveo’s 1.6-liter, 103-hp mill drudges its way up the tach. An oversensitive throttle does its best to mask this paucity of punch, and adds a certain kamikaze flair to stop-and-go freeway driving.
If you’re thinking that the Aveo’s standard five-speed manual transmission might help boost its pep and economy, you’d be kinda sorta correct. That version’s EPA estimates are 27/37 mpg, the same as a mildly funny Ford Focus’. Unfortunately, it’s also The Worst Manual Transmission Extant. The Aveo’s spindly shift lever moves with long, doughy, rubbery throws, hanging up easily in a wide H-pattern. Clutch feel is limp. Truck ‘boxes provide better feedback
There’s less to say about the Aveo’s handling, which is soft and secure in standard operating mode. Steering feel, however, remains a notable weakness. Daewoo responded to criticism of the original Aveo’s numb, vague, and darty helm by making the classic beancounter’s boo-boo of mistaking more effort for better feel. So, for ’07, we get steering that’s numb, vague, darty AND arthritically stiff in the turns.

Need another reason not to buy an Aveo? The mushy brake pedal may be an adept coffee slosher, but it’s less-skilled at the meaningful business of retardation.

Given the Aveo’s lowly station in life, this review may seem like a cheap shot at cheap wheels. It ain’t. This reviewer holds a firm respect for– and bizarre fascination with– basic, sensible, well-conceived, inexpensive transportation pods for John Q. Public. And subcompacts are no longer the domain of the desperate. Petrochemical paranoia is driving consumers who can afford big to think small. The threshold of acceptability is soaring.

It’s such a strong trend that Aveos sales are up despite the fact that the model doesn’t offer one competitive advantage over its rivals— not mileage, sportiness nor versatility. With better buzzboxes priced within a shifter’s throw of this Korean expatriate, there’s only one reason for anyone to buy a Chevrolet Aveo: to make other small car dealers and owners shake their heads in disbelief."

By the way, fuel efficency of 11-12 km/l (according to local reviews from owners) in city conditions is nothing to crow about. The 2003 Corolla could boast better about 13-14 km/l. The new engines from Honda can do even better. The TSI engine from VW does 11 with spirited driving (with speeds hitting 150km/h on local roads.) So, what the fuck? And many good reviews of this car have come from India, where you can guess Tata isn't much to compare against.

As for the locals who really like this car, all I can say is "Well, you'd better like it. you just paid S$50K for it. So you better write good stuff about it." Those who regret have kept their mouths shut, because S'poreans don't like to lose face face and say I paid S$50k for that Chevrolet bowtie. Yay! I could have gotten poor FC but more power from a Hyundai (let's give credit where it's due).

I'm not condemning the Aveo. It's a decent car in it's own right. But it's not the car of the year. The Suzuki Swift was and still is a good car. Ditto for the Fit, alothough I do prefer the 2006 exterior vs the 2008 facelift.

What I am saying is that I don't read local mags. Most of my car readings are from US, UK and Australian sources that aren't afraid to call an apple an apple, and the horsefly a bloody fucking horsefly. They might not be right, but they do try to be honest. However, when you aren't honest, how can you even have a chance of being right?

I understand that local mags survive on advertising. The foreign mags try to survive on readership and subscribers. Respect them, give them something to read, instead of an opinion that every car is either "not bad/ pretty good" or "awesome". Since every car, according to local mags have nothing really bad to critique, then why would I want to bother buying your magazine to find out that it is decent. Doesn't help me to know the car, much less decide to buy one. I just buy the car lah.

And that is why I don't bother to read local mags. So if there is one less reader, there is one less reason for advertisers to spend money. I wonder if the publishers ever thought about that. Gradually the readers do become smarter you know? You could of course get away with only reviewing awesome cars.

Advertise with the Green Ogre's CARAFFAIRS. Where this week, we look at the awesome Pagani Zonda R, the awesome Bugatti Veyron, the awesome Nissan GT-R, the awesome Ferrari F430. Awesome!

Yeah, right... Rant over.

2008-09-19T09:48:00.001+08:00

Fluff...

Random things I picked up on the Internet.

In 1570, Ivan the Terrible, Tsar of Russia, wrote a letter to Elizabeth I, Queen of England that was, perhaps, the rudest letter ever received by the Queen. A letter to Queen Elizabeth I from Tsar Ivan of Russia has been discovered at the National Archives at Kew in London. Historians believe that the Tsar was miffed by Elizabeth's failure to take his marriage proposals seriously and railed against her "boorish" advisors in the letter. Dated Oct 28, 1570, the letter was doubly untimely since the ruler felt he might need to seek asylum in England if his subjects turned against him.

"Wee had thought that you had beene ruler over your lande, and had sought honor to your self and proffitt to your Countrie, and therefore we did pretend those weightie affairs between you and us," wrote the Tsar. "But now we perceive that there be other men that doe rule, and not men but bowers [boors] and marchaunts [merchants], the wich seeke not the wealth and honnor of our majesties, but they seeke there owne proffitt of marchandize. And you flowe [flourish] in your maydenlike estate like a maide."

Ivan is mad, but oh-so-interesting.

2008-09-10T09:41:00.002+08:00

As I sat and sipped a drink, I couldn't help but wonder if others left tips for good service. In a sense the consumers do get doubly taxed if they tip as there is already a 10% service charge levied on the bill. However this money does not go to the service staff at all. In most establishments that money just goes to the owners. I would rather just leave 10% for the waiting staff. There are those F&B outlets that do give out the service charge amongst all the staff, although those are few and few between.

I am in favour of abolishing the service charge and moving to a culture of tipping, in the belief that such a practice will encourage better service. The younger locals are also more exposed and well travelled and are both more comfortable and familiar with the concept of tips.

They are those who say that service staff ought to produce good service by default. I agree. Then wouldn’t you say that the onus is also on you, the gracious diner, to show some appreciation?

Smile, say thank you, have your coffee, leave your tip, and fuck off. That’s a good diner.

2008-09-03T11:42:00.002+08:00

Happiness is served with coffee.

It is quite strange and amusing how far we have all come. From our idiot adolesecence where I schooled together with Smelly Breast, to knowing about Copper from working Hotel Boulevard and then getting together with Low Blood Count.

And now we still hang out together in various stage of life from engaged to divorced, from having kids to having one soon, a reflection of the different paths we took.

Having disengaged what used to be close friends from my life; it is still really cool that I have this bunch of friends, as well as the intermittent poly ones. I have picked up new friends from work and with Apple.

Still, I'd consider this clique a core group. They were a part of my life and I hope they will continue to be. They have all been damn brother and I can hope that I have been damn brother to them. Which is why I get annoyed when random fuckwits call me "Brother!". Invariably, I then refuse to give more discount, give them better allocations, or engage in any further small talk. Only the few can do that without pissing me off, and they have nicknames which do not start with "Fuckhead" or "Retard".

And as we get older, I wonder if we can always stay together. I certainly hope so, although even I have to ruefully admit that my first priority has got to be my family. The Peanut and the Apple will have to be the main things in my life. Still it doesn't mean that my friends mean less. Not in absolute terms. They don't. Just that the Apple means more.

So I look back and think what a wonderful journey it has been. And I hope that Peanut will have just as wonderful a youth, filled with misadventures, heartbreaks, joy, excitement, warmth and sadness. That she meets all sorts of people, from the strange to the aggravating. And become fast friends with just a few of them. In difficult times, looking back may give her to strength to stride forward.

So that when she hits the magic age, she can stop and look back, smile wanly, feel tears forming and end with a laugh. With feelings brimming in her heart, she will think "Life is wonderful."

2008-08-26T00:17:00.006+08:00

I had a bit of a reputation for being a dilettante. I did take some aspects of my work and personal relations seriously, however, I did not quite take life in general rather seriously.

I had a bit of an undeserved reputation for being rather too flighty with my relationship with the female of the species. At least, that's the way I'd put it.

It wasn't that I was being a Casanova (goodness, I don't have the look or physique for it) or that I set out to hit a magic target with regards to the number of conquests (since I really don't have any such fantastic ability). I can charm the socks off a capybara. That is if capybaras wore socks.

And since capybaras do not wear socks, all this means that I generally go around irritating and annoying others until I happen to get lucky or they punch me. Even with a ratio of one success to a hundred failures, I do get a few people who like me. Men, women and the few dogs and cats. And some things get accomplished by sheer good fortune, like motivating a bunch of NSFs to really really hate me for trying to make things better. Imagine me, getting called a motherfucker behind my back! Atrocious and frankly, rather amusing. I like pissing people off.

Anyway, the point of changing partners in my misspent youth was so that I could find someone with A) Elle Macpherson's body B) Linda Evangelista's nose C) Gong Li's poise D) the effervescence of Scarlet Johansson E) brains of Mira Sorvino F) with the unattainability of Zhang Ziyi G) and the patience of Mother Theresa. Not a lot to ask for, right?

Then life taught me that to truly enjoy life itself, I had to stop dreaming and start living. It didn't mean giving up my dreams, it just meant that I had to start looking for in reality.

And so I decided to forsake my lofty dreams and found that life offered better than dreams. I thought i would be trading in my happiness, instead I found happiness. Life isn't about having it all just right. It is instead about getting it all right. There's a difference.

Now I am happy to have found someone and to be with A) the two bodies within one B) a nose for finding things out C) the stoicism that I agree with D) the curiosity of a cat E) brains and wits that never disappoint me F) who I can call mine and to whom I belong G) she does have the patience of Mother Theresa. That is good, since patience is the mother of all virtue.

I have never thought of it as lowering my expectations. Since, to be really frank, I am now happier than I've been before. I am continually surprised by how awesome she is at some stuff. That is called exceeding my expectations.

In other words, sometimes, if you sit back and reflect, you can count your blessings and thank the heavens for them. I'm really glad that things have worked out as well as they have. I do thank my lucky stars.

Hey, I may be annoying, irritating and all that, but I'm luckier than many.

2008-08-18T10:44:00.003+08:00

Some internet sleuth had managed to find some guy who took some shots of what we were up to in recent days.

Ah... the wonders of the internet.

http://keropokman.blogspot.com/2008/08/heli-evac-exercise.html

On another note, I'm glad we got a medal to finally get that monkey off our collective national backs. Well done, I watched the match against the Koreans and those girls deserved that big fat bonus. Drama till the end. Great entertainment. Now, all we need is for Liverpool to win the Premier League title.

As for the Prime Minister's Speech, he was at least smart enough to delay his English broadcast since nobody would be listening otherwise. let's hear what he has to say and then we can judge his words and worth at a later time. Say, this day, next year. I do suspect that I'd be disappointed and disgruntled again.

2008-08-13T00:02:00.002+08:00

The opening ceremony of the Olympics was really something else. Directed by Zhang Yimou, it was really quite the spectacle. Of course, one also must have the budget that the Chinese government threw at it.

I did not even bother to turn on the TV for Singapore's National Day Parade, which in my opinion has mutated into Ruling Party Day.

So, I've been catching the Oylmpic programmes and I must say that I am quite taken by fencing. I like the saber the best. And Zhong Man of China has just beaten the Frenchman to take the fencing gold. Which just gives me further ammunition to hurl at The Annoying French Man.

I guess this is one of those times when it isn't so bad to be in the Chinese race.

2008-08-07T23:19:00.002+08:00

My unit called me up on Monday. They had apparently forgotten to issue me the SAF 100 for my reservist ICT which began on said Monday.

I agreed to go down, because they hit my soft spot. They appealed to my pride and vanity.

They had another exercise on, whereupon a professional media crew had been engaged to film the job that our newly operational squadron does. And so they decided to pick me and a specialist in emergency medicine.

I know I'm so vain, but it feels got to be acknowledged as competent right?

2008-08-01T13:27:00.002+08:00

Contradictions and Incoherence.

Firstly, I will admit that I do hold racist views. I do believe that to a different degrees, all of us are racist. Because each race is different, each culture evolved differently, and we do look different.

Next, I will admit to having elitist views. I do believe that I am better than the majority in quite a few aspects. Many may fix plumbing better than I do, but I can do a passable job in that respect. However, I think I can comfortably breeze past in discussions of Classical philosophy, history and politics. Whereas, many may come to stuttering halt when asked about the Democrats’ New Hampshire primary. (Is it a school in the US?)

Even if they know about it, they wouldn’t form an informed opinion about it. (Not my problem what. Doesn’t affect me.) Well, let’s see if you can say that when your firm, which has invested heavily in China, reacts if the next US Presidential Administration totally revokes China’s MFN status. (Actually that debate is pretty moot, since China has joined the WTO and is holding the US dollar hostage.)

Having put forth all the above little disclaimers, I will now tell you the content may be offensive and not politically correct, since I believe that political correctness leads to a suppression of a diversity of properly based views, to our stupid culture of fear, to where opinions and articles have been watered down into this sterile blandness. So the basic idea runs that you offend no one by saying nothing in essence. After all, if you call people mentally handicapped, it helps them to be less retarded. Right? (I would prefer to help retarded children; mentally handicapped kids, to me, seem to be a result of bad parenting.)

Anyway, while in Russia, and elsewhere, I have seen the deplorable behaviour of quite a few idiots from the Chinese race. And they make me ashamed to be Chinese, so much so, that I tried to disassociate myself from them by speaking English loudly. Perhaps, the terms Mongoloid would be better, because I wanted to be disassociated with Koreans, Taiwanese, PRC Chinese, Hong Kongers, and Singaporeans. Because these people were behaving badly. They were either inconsiderately smoking in designated non-smoking areas, obnoxiously loud, bloody rude, or just behaving like general morons who make me wonder why they even bother to travel to certain countries. I mean I can dig going to Hong Kong, Tokyo or New York for shopping. Why bother to go to Russia, when you can ignore the tour guide who’s trying to explain history to you and just run off so that you can take a group photo? And you block and entire passage to take group photos. In the museums, all you care to do is scoot around taking pictures of the Da Vincis, the Rembrandts, and the other famous portraits. Well, and why should one stop this mad running around to stand in front of the piece and take it in. I have the photo don’t I? Besides, I have to go and take pictures of the other masterpieces. Whee… Then everyone will know that I’ve been here and there. I can smoke my way through explanations. It’s really easy to pretend that I know all these things, because the other idiots wouldn’t be able to tell if I’m lying. Guess what, because, they don’t know too!

So, you don’t care for the history and wouldn’t care less for the culture. That picture has just about as much value as one in which your image was photoshopped in. Because that’s how much you took away, and grew from the experience. Little enough.

The ironic thing is that about the only East Asians that haven't really pissed me off are the Japanese. Which is why there is a lot that I like about them. World War II was a mistake, but everyone makes those. They seem to have learnt from it. Which is more than I can say for other people and their mistakes. One may not need to acknowledge their mistake publicly, however, they do need to learn from it and correct it. Still, men seem to ignore the lessons of history time and time again.

What's the use of a knowledge base, if it isn't accessed, reflected upon, adapted to the needs, and then built upon? Just like how the Chinese people have missed out on their ancient advancements and just stagnated.

I am proud to be a Chinese. I make no bones about it. There are cultured and mannered Chinese. Chinese civilisation stretches back into history and at an early point, we were already technologically advanced relative to the West. We lost the edge. They caught up and bypassed the East. Now, English is the lingua franca for world business. In fact, it is the language in which I am most proficient and fluent. My Mandarin is passable but I can't wield it with quite the same proficiency as English.

So it does disturb me when I have to disassociate myself from other Chinese. I am disgusted enough by their behaviour that I consciously speak what is clearly English and avoid reverting to any dialect or Mandarin. In fact, I had this ugre to utter French phrases to further distance myself from these badly behaved specimens.

Sometimes, it is just so annoying when you see these people with negative social graces, brains that are no better off than deadweight. And you wonder, what is society coming to? They are not bad people. By no means are they evil. They commit no vile acts of villiany. Yet I would quite brutally consign them to be excuted along with serial killers. Eugenics does bear some benefits. The Spartans got over the ethical considerations, and they are in legend. Bad example, you could probably bring up others to counter it. And they would be just as valid. It's just that I think our children deserve a more considered upbringing. If you teach them young, there's every chance they will achieve a happier live than you.

"The meek shall inherit the earth." Would they? Why should they? Thus far, it hasn't been shown so. They just get mowed over when some strongman takes over, or herded and used like cattle when a wily politician sways them. I do not see the meek inheriting any earth is Singapore. Because the government can take back your HDB anytime it wants to. Just declare SERS. And the meek do not own the freehold land. So, too bad.

Could it be that beacuse we protect those who commit acts of wilful stupidity, that these acts persist and continue?

If there is nothing that I achieve, I shall at the very least teach my children bloody manners, to think and use their god-given brains, love, get over misery and heartbreaks, have dignity and integrity. To teach them to live well, to realise that happiness goes, but it comes again.

And again, to have bloody manners. If I fail in all else, they must still have manners.

2008-07-28T12:23:00.003+08:00

My apple took this particularly breath-taking shot of the Church of the Spilled Blood. I know there are those who would say this shot is damn post card, but I like post card pics, as long as they move me.

2008-07-23T12:05:00.003+08:00

At St. Petersburg... At bloody fucking last...

I was so glad to have finally arrived. 2 hours from SIN to BKK, and then 9 hours from BKK to DOM. Then a bloody 2 hour wait to buy the train tickets and then an hour wait to board the train before the 8 hour train ride to get here.

I lost count at the train station when the woman at the only counter selling express train tickets put up a sign in Cyrilic, proceeded to open her thermos flask and eat her sandwich, adamantly ignoring everyone who were patiently queueing. Without so much as by your leave. I have never felt so flipped off.

Not even if a girl I was trying to catch the eye of pretended that I was made out of glass. The Russians made you feell worse. Not just a piece of glass, but an inconsequential piece of glass. All because you can't speak Russian. Which everyone knows, would have been the major language of the world, had they won the Cold War.

The Ruskies made me feel very put off at this point of the trip.

I didn't like them at the before the trip. I like them as a people even less after the trip.

But then again, I don't really like most Singaporeans either. Hell, I just don't like people in general.

You can get out of my face now. Fucking Human Scum.

2008-07-20T03:08:00.003+08:00

What did we do upon our return from Moscow? Why housework, of course! That and trying to give the appropriate attention to our cats. Aimee has decided to pull a major sulk on us, only coming out of her room in the later hours of the afternoon.

We met up with my mum for dinner and then proceeded to have coffee with Becks, returning only now.

I'm glad that my mum is pleased about the handpainted matrushka doll that I've bought for her.

What about my trip?

Well, Russia is a beatiful place, but the Russians are a pissifying bunch of people. They shout at you and shove you, or they adamantly ignore you and try very hard to pretend you don't exist. Either way, they piss me off.

Perhaps I will attempt to regale you with each pissing incident and its specifics later.

However, one must not take it to mean that the trip wasn't fun. It was. It is a different sort of experience.

Although, suffice it to say that Russia is a country I'm not exactly planning to return to anytime soon.

2008-07-07T06:09:00.001+08:00

In the airport at an unearthly hour to catch our flight to Moscow.

Thus begins our Russian adventure.

Take care of yourselves, folks. I'm sure we'll have a good time.

2008-07-01T16:09:00.002+08:00

Hehe, going to try make a tea smoked pork dish which I hope will be damn good, since I'll be having guests over a dinner for the first time.

In other news, I'm going to the opening of Au Petit Salut's Bistro tonight! Whee.

And we have managed to have home cooked food every night, even though it can be tiring sometimes to come home and have to cook.

Well, it's all's well that ends well.