issues and tissues

interns.

2009-07-09T06:44:00.001-07:00

in light of the recent NUS v SMU interns squabble, i have my little 2 cents worth to add:

these are some of the funniest things that they have ever said to me.

(to protect their identities i have taken the liberty to generalise their names)

NUS intern 1: OMG! you smoke?!

NUS intern 2: were you from gymnastics?

SMU interns: you look like you have the "I'll-kick-you-if-you-give-me-more-work-face"

of which i assure, all of them are perfectly false notions.

i'm like how nice. ;)

anachronistic swashbuckling samurai hiphop anime

2009-05-24T11:06:00.000-07:00

i'm crazy addicted to this anime right now.

samurai champloo.

*hiphop and breakdancing vagrant-fighter + liberal and loudmouthed girl + modern glasses ex-samurai, with graffitti on ancient hiroshima castles and baseballs in the 1600s peppered with random social commentary done in various styles and genres. lol. nice.

sometimes i feel like such an otaku. :D

peace out.

* oh and if you were wondering why no more neosteam this season, it's coz the game moved out of beta mode and is now bought by some other company, which entails re-registration and i can't deal with the possibility of my characters' stats re-setting so i have been timidly staying away... if you were wondering at all that is.

comebacks.

2009-05-23T09:22:00.000-07:00

back in those old days when i was called a prefect, there was this teacher-in-charge who once told us this

"if you re-arrange the letters in prefect, you can form the word perfect, and that's what we expect you guys to be"

if i was a pesky little person who is witty and smart and fearless then, maybe i would have wished to retort

"then why mis-spell that 'r' and call us prefects? why not just be straightforward and call us perfects?"

that would have definitely sent a clear message.

haha. well. but i wasn't a pesky little person who is witty and smart and fearless, and i'm not one to buck the system at all when i was in secondary school. maybe that's why i was made a prefect, because i won't buck the system. not that i buck the system alot now that i completed my studies. lol. guess they don't choose rebels to be prefects. they must have chosen those docile rule-followers who are obedient and will yield to authority without question.

sidenote: what does this say of head-prefects? sidesidenote: i was just a small little prefect who used to sell some temporary nametags and sat around latecomers while they were punished standing around in lines.

endnote: anyway no one can truly be perfect, but we all know that don't we. maybe prefects are supposed to be more pronounced in aspiring to perfection. HAHA. maybe that's why they mis-spell that 'r'.

* wiki on prefects:

In the context of schools, a prefect is a pupil who has been given limited, trustee-type authority over other pupils in the school, such as a hall monitor or safety patrol.

**whoa trustee! haha. fiduciary duties!

hypocrisy and a nice photo

2009-05-07T09:01:00.000-07:00

hypocrisy is the tribute which vice pays to virtue

- La Rochefoucauld (a Frenchman)

I was reading an introduction to The Prince and this line made me pause for thought. Honestly it took me quite a while to comprehend. guess my brain's really mush now after the exams (maybe it's mush to begin with hah). my guess is this: vice's relation with virtue is close, since virtue is the mean and vice the extremes along the spectrum. then, hypocrisy is the alongsides? vice masquerading as virtue = hypocrisy?

or the easier way to see it may be this: since being a hypocrite is saying something but not practising it, i.e. paying lip service, then "yeah yeah, i agree, it's all about being virtuous.... not(under your breath)"

according to the writer Christian Gauss, the above means "hypocrisy works because the majority of men are not hypocrites and therefore not suspicious". somehow i don't think that's what it means, literally; granted, Mr Gauss's interpretation is more like an explanation of the utility of the maxim. And this put another freaky thought in my mind. if the world is populated entirely of hypocrites, then in the long-run, how 'efficient' or 'useful' is it to be a hypocrite knowing everyone might or might not be telling the truth? hypocrisy breeds cynicism then, doesn't it? <-- Quote me! :)

so. what does it mean exactly?

* sidenote: i was reading "hypocrisy" from wikipedia and my idiotic brother came up to me and said why someone called you a hypocrite and you didn't know what it meant and you had to look it up on wiki? then he continued to babble about the straw man argument and the smoking example in wiki, to which i replied wait a minute, how come you know everything so well on wiki on hypocrisy, did someone call you a hypocrite before and you didn't know the meaning and had to check it up on wiki?

to which we both guffawed right in the middle of the living room and woke the house up at bout 1 am. LOL.

well, here's the picture i took! but somehow the quality is bad :( though the scene and everything else is great!

yippee

2009-04-30T10:55:00.000-07:00

yippee = because this is the day i've been waiting for since primary sch/secondary sch/jc.

sigh= because i'm too young to be working.

anyway here are some of the photos i took, now that i have some (read: miniscule, actually, only a month. miniscule on my terms) time on my hands, i shall pore over my photography 9th ed to learn!!!

* this bus stop features quite prominently in my photos. i'm a regular fan/customer/commuter there. anyway this blurry effect was achieved using tilt-shift, as recc by a fellow-photog-mate XXXXN :D

* this gives me vertigo, but i feel is great on angles haha.

* different bus stop, but i really do enjoy the water droplets effect. took this from inside the bus.

Now the following few photos are selected/exhibited because i like the colour contrasts :D

* i do love edamame. many a nights i study and i need a snack and i reach for these. i only found out that they're called edamame when i saw HXXXXA at the traffic light one day and she had an edamame handphone strap and i asked her what it was and how do i cook them lol...

* this was taken at millenia walk, with my handphone flat on the starbucks table facing up, and i had a miraculously nice perspective effect + silk screen deco all rolled into one

* i just thought it was lucky of me to chance upon such a lovely sunset right outside my window. now let's wait for the red kind. or pink. or purple (do we get purple?)

thanks for being patient and viewing the amateur photos!

city trek II - bus stops

2009-01-29T08:24:00.000-08:00

* i like the reflecting glass which seems to cast a photoshop-y effect on the subject.

* this gives me a looking-through-a-keyhole kinda feeling

anyway! i was introduced to rickrolling by my brother! this is the internet phenomenon whereby people create interesting fake video titles but in actuality it would bring you to a rick astley "never gonna give you up" video. e.g. would be "britney spears did WHAT again?" or something, and when you click on that video link, you see rick astley doing his little dancemoves. haha.

here's a sample:

city trek

2009-01-06T08:27:00.000-08:00

*this photo exposes the inadequacy of the cameraphone. it's prone to over-exposure because i cannot regulate the amt of light entering the lens... if i were to name this photo let it be called "the limits of sonyericsson"

-
-

again, these were taken with my trusty 2mp sony ericsson. i guess i can't take part in the photocompetition anymore, since i will never be able to dream up photos with a reso of 300dpi, much less meet the competition requirements of 600dpi.

and what were the organisers thinking! those professional nikon d700 can only do 300dpi! where are we to find something to give us 600dpi!

i tried blowing up my photos to 600dpi with the guide of my snr and the program jammed on me. :'(

of translation

2009-01-01T10:21:00.000-08:00

hellos again.

i've decided to be proud of my bro's achievements and post the video he translated here!

well i must say i'm proud of him! at least he's absorbing some language skills by watching animesssssssssssssss and putting it to some use.

anyway, back to derrida, deconstructionism and translation.

jacques derrida (1930-2004) the obscurist, posed this gordian knot of a phrase to translate during one of his lectures - Ulysses Gramophone

"Oui, oui, vous m'entendez bien, ce sont des mots français"

which, if translated to english, will be:

"Yes, yes, you are receiving me well, these are french words"

but your translated sentence consists of english words and not french words... therefore must you alter the translated sentence to prevent the inherent contradiction?

this was derrida at his best, looking for instability within the established fields and trying to create some form of chaos.

bet my bro didn't encounter such issues. haha.

recently i went on an amazing city trek, and there'll be nice photos up soon!

steampunk

2008-12-27T12:14:00.000-08:00

i was lvling up happily ytd in steampunkland by aoe-ing mobs and because my character is a mage, i have low def and will take alot of heavy damage while aggro-ing by myself.

so then, this NOOOOOB of lvl 17~19 came to pvp me while my hp is really low and killed my character. i was about 11 lvls higher than the noob.

i went back in, and there in bold, over his/her character name was this

"i'll leave you alone now >.<"

the NOOOOOB killed me while i'm at my lowest and was persuading me not to take revenge by presuming that i need him/her to have mercy on me. the acting cute part was really just wtf.

no prizes for guessing what happened to the NOOOOOB lol. i could stalk noobie and pvp him/her multiple times but well, i'm not the vengeful sort. once is enough for me because i'm nice and i have principles (even in gamingland) ;)

on a lighter side, here's a screenshot of me and my bro in the MMORPG! i'm the suave guy with the beard.

* that's nt my mage btw, if you were wondering lol

OMG.

2008-12-26T07:53:00.000-08:00

heya guys!

here's our breakout chance! (albeit breaking out limited to the NUS community)

here's a link to the related website:

http://www.nus.edu.sg/cfa/nusartsfestival/museum/museum.html

do take part if you're interested!

school tour

2008-12-16T10:01:00.000-08:00

As i was digging out old hp photos, i realised that i am rather into trees and greenery. and i have to look no further than my own sch for that. lol. don't ask me when did i even bother to take such photos while traipsing ard in sch.

*proof that i go to school bright and early

* winding path

and finally, something to scare you by.

granted, these are not my favourite pictures, but just to continue on the topic of greenery before i move away from it. haha and to showcase the beauty/booty of my school. and don't all these make you feel like wanting to....

yeah. just mull over it.

* all photos are taken with a 2mp cameraphone

sunrise

2008-12-13T06:37:00.000-08:00

i call this the early bird catches the sun series. haha.

especially love the natural light and shadow effect in the photos, and i would like to be able to take more photos with such pretty natural lights. though in the 2nd shot, if the shadows could be more defined instead of a lump of black, things might be better.

P.S. X! maybe we could compare notes on photography! haha. yay :)

notice the subject matter.

2008-12-04T09:33:00.001-08:00

if i write about the doctrine of mistake, and it's inherently confusing nature, i'd feel like i'm studying all over again, so i shan't. suffice to say that when i signed up for restitution, i didn't know that it came along with epistemological issues.

haha. i'm having thoughts of turning this into a photo-blog.

then maybe someday, i'd be talent scouted. and will finally become the artist in my parallel alternative world. LOL. what better time to start building up my portfolio :)

my kind of race

2008-10-04T01:28:00.000-07:00

i love how the f1 was so full of suprises and loud noises and collisions (and unexpected wins. sorry f. alonso.) here's a pocoyo version of it all! complete with excitement and arrogance of f1 drivers and not to mention collisions and unexpected wins.

P.S. I especially love the ice cream part.

Kids nowadays have such nice programs that they can relate to. we only had doraemon and according to a source, a mother who can turn into the size of the spoon.

books

2008-08-05T08:57:00.000-07:00

While browsing books today i picked up 2 intended for the purchase; Utopia by Saint Thomas More and The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli.

Imagine, if i had bought both! One written by the Patron Saint of politicians and the other denounced by the very same Church and placed in its Index Librorum Prohibitorum (List of Prohibited Books).

Please, however, do not read anything into my sudden interest in politics.

more of where it came from

2008-08-04T08:29:00.000-07:00

La vertu s'avilit à se justifier.
Virtue debases itself in justifying itself.
Oedipe, act II, scene IV (1718)

L'homme doit être content, dit-on; mais de quoi?
Man ought to be content, it is said; but with what?
Pensées, Remarques, et Observations de Voltaire; ouvrage posthume (1802)
Note: This is from a volume of posthumously published "Thoughts, remarks and observations" believed to be by Voltaire.

Le secret d'ennuyer est celui de tout dire.
The secret of being a bore is to tell everything.
"Sixième discours: sur la nature de l'homme," Sept Discours en Vers sur l'Homme (1738)

Un bon mot ne prouve rien.
A witty saying proves nothing.
Le dîner du comte de Boulainvilliers (1767): Deuxième Entretien

That being said, i shall not be a bore and prove nothing; I shall be content with this selection and let the post justify itself.

Credits to Voltaire

quote

2008-07-14T09:56:00.000-07:00

"A long dispute means that both parties are wrong."

-Voltaire

* Just a little something that reflects the reality of our ... future endeavours haha.

work/management theory

2008-06-12T19:37:00.000-07:00

I think this is so weird. Things that the *beep* (censored due to confidentiality issues) the businessman/executive/father/insert any one here asks his lawyer to handle it for him and then his lawyer asks his associate to do it and then his associate asks his pupil to do it (the alternative is the intern, lowest-ranked in the hierarchy) Lucky for me, the line stops there. Now you see how the world twists (ok I know it's supposed to be turns. Just in case you think I didn't. HAHA.)

On a side, I wonder how the bill will look like.

I think the situation is the same for other work. Things that the customer can do for himself he engages an outsourcing company to do it and the outsourcing company asks its employees (that whole hierarchy) and then the lowest ranked would do the dirty work. The world is run by the lowest-ranked. I know that work is delegated sometimes just because upper management can and not because they can't accomplish it by themselves. This gives them the feeling of importance, which leads to complacency, which MAY (but often) lead to the diminishing of the motivation to improve oneself, which MAY result in the lowering of actual capabilities.

This is just my theory.

comics sharing time!

humbled

2008-04-28T20:57:00.000-07:00

I realised that all i was being in the previous post was obnoxious. i hereby issue a public apology for being tactless and uncaring. as public as i can.

i am mathematical

2008-04-28T07:47:00.000-07:00

I realised I cannot count. I think I can count. It's the anguish. ANGUISH. It's analogous to:

You know how when you finished your titration back in chemistry, but after doing some working backwards* you realised your volume was incorrect but you know your backward calculations are correct, and you just go ahead and doctor your results and get 21.5/22 for your experiment.

The same happend today for FNA. I used the direct method to compute cash flows. BECAUSE IT IS DAMN EASY TO DIRECTLY TRACE THE FLOW OF CASH IN A SMALL BUSINESS WHICH DOES ALMOST NOTHING EXCEPT SELL 2500 FURNITURE WITH A FIXED ASSET OF ONE UNKNOWN EQUIPMENT. the answer was 90k.

but no they wanted the indirect method. and doing things the indirect way always ALWAYS give you weird results. you know how your friends always say"hey, just tell me what's wrong/what's bothering you/what do you want for your birthday present" you should never beat around the bush and be indirect?

It appears that that applies for CASH FLOW STATEMENTS TOO.

*I should have trusted my backward workings. I should have deducted 90k from my 110k and with that excess 20k, work backwards to hunt down that extra weirdo 20k and delete it from my CFO and get a PERFECT MARKS for that *tooot* question. So that I can feel better about screwing the rest of the paper up.

the futility of it all

2008-04-08T22:30:00.000-07:00

hey.

i have told so many of you already (those that are near enough) but for those that are not, here's something from shopping rehab.

Maybe you think it doesn't apply to sg since we only have seasons in name i.e. spring/summer collection without the corresponding spring/summer or fall/winter change in weather, but note: replace the words in the comic *spring with hot/humid/rainy and *summer with hot/humid/rainy, and you'll be sure to see the futility of it all. the cycle.

P.S. I i run/own/control shopping rehab. that is, until the end of the exams. :)

racy

2008-03-16T10:52:00.000-07:00

i have been wanting to say this so bad. for so long. but i run the risk of being called elitist/racist*.

then i wondered. is it possible to objectively report some of the events that happened without any subjective elements? just purely purely objective, without my subjective evaluation? i really need to do that so i can be safe. But. But. (this is bordering philosophical) How can any information we receive via our senses be objectively related to another human being? or just to be objectively reproduced in words? hey guys try this exercise, it might really be fun. just try to objectively report some happening in your life.

here's my attempt.

"today (date, time, weather) i took the bus (no.) and it was crowded (how many people. maybe some people think crowded is relative). i sat down. some lady sat down next to me and there i felt squished. (i can only leave you guys to infer her qualities)."

at this point in time i can objectively list her qualities but it'll be mean. and bitchy no less. i don't hate her. but it's the mental quality that caused her to intrude into my private space that made me slightly uncomfortable.

maybe she has her reasons. and i digressed. sorry. well try the exercise i bet it'll be fun!

a totally unrelated point.
* today on Channel News Asia i heard this amateur tv compere, introducing the wonders of camel racing in Egypt and he called the jockeys "RACISTS" haha. i think he really meant "RACERS". chuckle chuckle.

i feeeeeeeel you, johannaaaaaaaa

2008-02-01T06:53:00.000-08:00

i have bragging rights because i watched SWEENY TODD already. even though i censored the movie out myself when mr todd was waving his razor around, be it shaving or slitting. also when mrs lovett was baking. HAHA that means it was most of the movie though. But. I did not close my ears!

I decided that i loved the music of Sweeny Todd, even though it's dark. but we all love a little dark humour here and there don't we. listen for yourself.

well, i think stephen sondheim is a genius. love the harmonies..

and don't mind that it's just a poster of depp looking regal and barbaric/barberic it's the point! i won't spoil it for you guys! hoho. watch it.

death of a salesman

2008-01-26T22:36:00.000-08:00

remember i was telling you (jing) that being too cute/pretty/handsome/hot/in general all things beautiful with regards to outward appearances is a bad thing because then you would not have to work hard for the things you want. and you said i was 'poisoned by southpark' and i agreed that it was from that episode* but there was something else?

HERE it is, Death of a Salesman. I was kidding you not. HAH. ok.

A Plot Synopsis as cited from wiki.

The American Dream

The depths of the problem are gradually revealed. Willy's emphasis on being well-liked stems from a belief that it will bring him to perfect success—not a harmful dream in itself, except that he clings to this idea as if it is a life-preserver, refusing to give it up. In high school, his boys were not only well-liked but quite handsome, and as far as Willy is concerned, that's all anyone needs. He pitches this idea to his sons so effectively that they believe opportunity will fall into their laps. (In this way, Biff and Happy can be considered forerunners to the culture of entitlement.)

* Season 11, The List

tautology (2)

2008-01-23T07:03:00.000-08:00

I think the double entry accounting system is the world's biggest tautology. HAH.

P.S. haha lin! this is for you! hope it's not too contrived!

Parkour

2008-01-07T08:32:00.000-08:00

I just learnt that this art/discipline/sport(?) was inspired by African indigenous tribesmen escaping from volcanic eruptions and other life-threatening events. It was further developed and popularised by a Georges Hébert from France.

Amazingly, it shows how humans can react in the extreme conditions requiring flight, but curiously, it seems really animal to me. This will make Charles Darwin happy, or not? (Happy because we really might have animal qualities; Not happy because we're de-evolving.)

mathematically speaking

2007-12-25T06:58:00.000-08:00

I was reading about philosophy, logics and mathematics. reminiscent of the days back in marine vista where i would pop down to the library to pick up a mathematics periodical/journal and read about the latest proof or theorem about triangles and imaginary numbers. I did not understand them, naturally. It was purely motivated by boredom, or the scarcity of available newspapers. Making a point. (point! geddit lol)

I always believed that mathematics was special, even sacred, in the sense that it was totally different form other sciences or disciplines because it was absolute, certain and a confined system within itself. There is 100% absolute certainty in mathematical answers, different from moral or legal answers where there can only be moral certainty or conviction that is never absolute, dare i say it even--> beyond a reasonable doubt is the best thing we can get. (Now to rinse my mouth for saying that)

My world came tumbling down when I saw THIS little titbit about Gottlob Frege.

Gottlob Frege(1848-1925)* demonstrated that the connection between mathematics and logic. He demystified mathematics, saying that

'numbers are not objects, like giraffes, but they are "properties of concepts", or useful logical fictions-rather like the fiction of the average man... mathematics is analytic, or "empty"... '

Therefore, according to him, 2+2=4 is merely TAUTOLOGY. It is no more than saying

2+2=1+3=1+1+1+1=4 or even, 1+1+1+1= 1+1+1+1

Somehow, I felt that I wasted a lot of time doing mathematics in school. Was it all futile?

*This is to show that I did not make him up, (well I would be glad if i did, because then it'll ALL be my Theories LOL)

of plush toys

2007-12-18T05:59:00.000-08:00

Was wondering how a kenny plush toy would look like. here it is:

Then, I saw this. "Shaun the Sheep"

HAHA.

my art(ist) escapades

2007-12-07T08:13:00.000-08:00

been to the UtterRubbish at the Singapore Design Festival and I was very inspired.

AH. but damn today's their last day. my procrastination has robbed you guys of chances to visit the beautiful exhibits. but nevermind it's ok. here's something that lingered after the exhibit.

1. wefeelfine --> http://www.wefeelfine.org/

the artist, johnathan harris (according to the volunteer at the installation, is uber cute) designed this search program to scour every weblog in the vast Net to hunt down any sentence with the word "I feel" and records it in their database. the program will then discriminate the findings into categories like "happy" "sad" or "sexy" or "lonely" or "mad" and many many others. the feelings are also grouped according to the ages of the bloggers and the location. so you can find feelings from singapore females aged 20-29! and just a little titbit; Singapore is the saddest city in the world. on average.

2. FLOWmarket -->http://www.theflowmarket.com/

the installation at UtterRubbish was this minimalist retail space selling posters and bottled products. makes you think twice when consuming goods. here's some samples that i love.

haha. i would like to buy them all!

the spirit of christmas

2007-12-03T07:46:00.000-08:00

this is a picture of consumerism hell. i finally got to see it with my own eyes, XXXXN!
so is christmas all about spending? and why is singapore so crowded? is it because of some type of ANTS? where do they come from? why do they all hive down to orchard?

but lin said christmas is all about spending time with your loved ones. tell them that! go lin!

artist part2

2007-12-01T09:04:00.001-08:00

having read the comments i decided that i am nothing but a con-artist for putting other people's photos. the motivation was just merely to illustrate the beauty of the subject matter. and not to pass them off as my own. anyhoo.

here's my interpretation/inspiration

*was going for the blurry/lighted sides effect to make this look like a stairway to heaven-isque effect but it turned around on me and highlighted the inadequacies of my phone instead.

These are all I've got. Pales in comparison next to the gettyimages one. well well well. I need the nikon 10 megapixels with the adjustable lens and related peripherals. bwahaha.

if i were someone else, on another existential plane.

2007-11-12T06:22:00.000-08:00

If there were parallel universes, i wonder what would i be doing in that funny little niche. You should too. Think about you in your little niche, doing things that you might never think of doing at all.

Maybe I would be an artist (stop your sniggerings. i know you guys are sniggering. damn.) An insecure artist. But still an artist.

Here is the one living in this dimension's rendition of: What the artist herself think is most symbolic about life in a packed city.

Escalators. Sybolic of urban life more than anything else. distinguishable from its understated cousin, Stairs. Hah I know how lazy folks hate steps that do not move.

Run along now, and think about how weird and random and self-fulfilling your friend can get, blogging about escalators and thinking about being an artist.

* My next piece of work as an artist shall be what I told me good study friend about, taking a video camera (of high quality, not those mediocre lay camera-phone species) and shooting many many many different people quarrelling. And then edit it by removing all the sound. Imagine how enthralling it will be to watch.

I am so going to be an artist.

Thriller

2007-10-13T00:16:00.000-07:00

To everyone who's bored doing assignments, I found this.

The subtitled english-ised lyrics will make you guffaw. It will. I promise.

While you're at it, why don't you check out the 1982 original too? just for the kick. HAHA.

Here:

AND CHECK THIS OUT: A LEGO VERSION.

GO THRILLER!

song

2007-09-27T10:06:00.000-07:00

i think it was some time last year, when on the way to school, me and ZXX were singing on the bus 67(like always?haha ok it was an exception rather than the norm i guess). we were singing a great duet. but i can't really remember now, either dilemma or my boo...

there was something about the lyrics, that couldn't make us stop laughing. something. a misinterpretation.

it was damn funny.

singing on the bus- soo primary school excursion i know.

the simple things.

i don't have any money, whaddya want?

2007-09-06T07:57:00.000-07:00

my online travels.

i was listening to sean kingston's beautiful girls and this came up.

she's quite cute huh. singing stuff like 'i was away doing my first crime' at 4 years old. lol. haha. but the thing is towards the end, you can hear this faint, hostile "i don't have any $ what do you want!!"

oh no! don't sell the girl! (haha. i'm just making this up! cross fingers)

sigh

2007-08-23T11:38:00.000-07:00

i'm tired. haha.

erotice justice

2007-08-16T10:14:00.001-07:00

after the well-received sexy corporate issue, I'm proud to present the finding of this exciting phrase in our own law school soil.

Behold!

If the word doesn't jump out at you, you have bad eyes.

Credit all goes to XXXXN for the photo!

today at lunch...

2007-07-27T00:49:00.000-07:00

this is my attempt to blog about my incomprehensible thought processes. I think sitting down in the office for too long a time and not talking to your colleague does weird things to your brain.

Today at the departmental lunch at a swanky italian restaurant, in the middle of the main course...

E: .... civil servants sometimes have to be called up to do election duties...

F: Yah, and I always don't get to vote you know.

H: HUH? You mean civil servants cannot vote?! (My brain was doing this really quick sweep about the constitution and if there was any part which states that civil servants cannot vote)

T: (Laughs). What do you mean civil servants don't get to vote? What do you think the government is afraid of? I can assure you votes are secret. I was doing...

H: (to qualify my laughable thought) Maybe there's a conflict of interests or something... (drones off)...

And all that conversation took place right after T and I had a discussion about public law module in law school.

OMG. You cannot believe how horrified I was. But the lunch was yummy.

legal sex

2007-07-25T02:27:00.000-07:00

you know, i was hard at work, burying myself into my ever-so-exciting corporate research topic and this was on my hitlist. and no. my search term was nothing sexual. it was independent directors. and look what i found.

_begin quote_

FOR EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY

18 Hastings Women's L.J. 173
Hastings Women's Law Journal
Summer 2007
Article
*173 SEX, TRUST, AND CORPORATE BOARDS
Joan MacLeod Heminway
Copyright © 2007 UC Hastings College of the Law; Joan MacLeod Heminway

INTRODUCTIONMany have indicated, directly or indirectly, that the highly publicized corporate fraud of ....

_ end quote_

I kid you not. and apparently my supervisor kids me not too. This is the legendary sexy corporate issue.

the tabloid series

2007-07-24T20:01:00.001-07:00

ok here. as promised. the TABLOID SERIES.

Notice also how pastis always draws other characters from other comics (I assume without much permission) so I don't believe he'll do anything to us (ok me I used 'us' to delude myself) and I give him free publicity. Enjoy!

2007-07-22T18:20:00.000-07:00

Monday Morning and I AM PREOCCUPIED WITH CAKE.

This preoccupation is a tad disturbing. What does this bespeaketh of me?

Oh, woe is me.

Am I Anonymous?

Ok I have to rush something. toodles.

sexy

2007-07-18T23:27:00.000-07:00

"Here at ----, we don't do all the sexy corporate issues, it's more regulatory and procedural offences"

Hear that dears? There is such a thing as sexy corporate work. I am so amazed.

minimalism

2007-07-17T02:45:00.000-07:00

my thoughts on minimalism

if we reject all that is flamboyant and ostentatious, what is left of all of us?

if we strip everyone of theories and dreams,will everyone finally be equal and the same?

if materialism and materials are what separates the rich and the poor-but if I were to say that the poor wishes to be richer someday?

nothing

2007-07-16T23:13:00.000-07:00

I FEEL AUTHORISED.

driving

2007-07-13T02:21:00.000-07:00

damn. i want to drive a vehicle so badly.

it's going to be the one year anniversary of my initiation into the world of the wheels soon. should i eat a cake? have a P-plate breaking ceremony? (ok i won't because it does not belong to me)

I WANT TO DRIVE A CLASS 3 VEHICLE! preferably a VIOS 1.5E in silver/black/chillired/bananayellow/somegreen.

I VIOS YOU.

VROOM!

(I think it's the transformers, they're getting to me.)

friday

2007-07-12T22:32:00.000-07:00

hey today IS FRIDAY! but it's going to come out as thursday and i know it. ahahah. will it?

well, dress down day is pretty much the same, nothing too shocking really. he's really playing it quite well...

anyway. more comics...

there was once on class 95, this female listener asked the dj, 'what does my boyfriend mean when he says "I LOVE YOU BUT I'M NOT IN LOVE WITH YOU"?'

This means, to me at least,

GET A GRIP, WOMAN.

or in the alternative,

the guy's a closet poet and he's been waiting all his life to use this line on a lover(or soon-to-be-not) so that he appears remotely whimsical

too bad. someone used it in a better way than you, closet poet.

That said, do any of you want to try explaining what does 'get a grip' REALLY mean?

AHAHAH. bye.

cheap office thrill

2007-07-11T18:20:00.001-07:00

I think most of us know this CHEAP OFFICE THRILL.

Let me introduce the items needed to get the most out of this cheap thrill.

1- a very open workstation
2- a pc/laptop with internet connection
3- a bored and unsupervised assignment
4- quick fingers and reflexes
5- stoic facial expressions
6- and the most important, the mini rebel in you

Now with all the above gathered, we may begin.

Firstly, put item number 3 aside, and utilize item number 2. Quickly do a quick surveillance sweep around item number 1 and its vicinity. Log on to the World Wide Web, and start your illicit surfing. If your item number 6 is in sparse quantities, or you are just a beginner, do just go to wordy websites (e.g. wikipedia, blogs with owners who are html-impaired* so they have weak formatting skills and have plain and dreary backgrounds). Leave the multi-coloured and flashy sites to the experts. (I know of my superb friend (it’s you jing!) that dares play spider solitaire and we all know how striking and big the green window can be and all the movements of the cards will cause a flurry but she’s an expert already so do not imitate unless you’re as expert-y or you have an overdose of item 6)

If someone walks by, item 4 will come in HANDY (ahaha cheap pun and I recognized it) and immediately put on item 5. It’s the best office make-up there can be. The ideal is that item 5 is on all the time so you will not arouse suspicion.

If all goes well, every time someone walks by there will be this mini flutter in you. That will be caused by a little boost in adrenaline produced by the adrenal gland which prepares your body for the ‘fight or flight’ situation. Trust me. This is much more effective than caffeine.

Behold. The alternative to morning coffee in the office has been discovered. BY ME.

*ok I’m sorry, not everyone with a wordy/plain format are html-impaired. They might subscribe to contemporary minimalism. And not everyone who have flashy blogs are experts in html. I’m one of them.

~

As you can all see I’m quite visibly bored. I blog almost everyday. I was even contemplating of chronicling the fashion wows and blunders by mop but decided that it was downright mean and he really hasn’t done anything to offend/disturb me so I shall not (nothing too interesting about the male office wardrobe anyway). Oh. But tomorrow is DRESS DOWN FRIDAY. ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN. DO STAY TUNED.

drone

2007-07-10T18:38:00.000-07:00

Trust me, you guys do not know how tempted I am to do these:

"one hour into work and i am doing A"
"two hours into work and i am busying myself with B"

The conclusion: The above are utmost boring because the most bored people do these sort of things. Today I learn (not counted)

some more of my favourite strips! adore our brand of humour together!!! WAHAHAH

This is DEEEEEP. ahahah. ok you know what it is. Off I go to scout for one more.

There. made you laugh didn't him/them/me? I love how Pastis tries to summarise the facts in a bubble. typical lawyer (lawyer-turned-comic-artist)

~end comics~

Well, maybe you will like to know what the mop came in today at work. He looks stripey in multicoloured predominantly green and blue stripes on a white shirt. perfect for the domestic look don't you think? CLEAN(ing agent) colours.

AHHH I'm revisiting the companies act. wish me the best of luck.

how gold 90.5 is affecting me

2007-07-09T23:48:00.000-07:00

how gold 90.5 is affecting me.

i just heard my heart will go on and i'm traumatised with the memory of a suicidal friend (still alive please don't worry).

there's this soft stereo of gold 90.5 in my new workplace. should i mention names? ahah my friends would know and they would be proud of me because!

ME BEING HERE SHOWS THAT I CAN COUNT AND THEY CAN VERIFY IT HAH.

well. there. no more clues.

OH. There's currently another intern here with me, my coursemate.

someone used to call him MOP HEAD/HAIR.

i'm stuck here for 3 weeks with a household item sitting next to me. help. ahaha. ok. bye.

2007-05-27T09:40:00.000-07:00

i am DAMN AMUSED WITH THIS AD.

not that i find him cute or anything, (my dad even went to say he looks *awkward* (read: euphemism)), but i guess it's just the jingle. THE JINGLE.

Anyway, Moving Rubber is too weird a product to be advertising.

and damn, i found a whole series of this gatsby line commercials with similar jingles on youtube.

an obligatory lawyer joke

2007-05-15T09:26:00.000-07:00

here's the obligatory lawyer joke.. btw stephen pastis was a corporate lawyer before he turned comic artist!
the hint is half-truths. lol. who else in the world uses something like half-truths?!

2007-05-12T08:53:00.000-07:00

Secondary School Girls Wearing MakeUP

Actually. The only question is why.

If you are already late for school (at that time it was 8.10am on my hp clock), why do you sit yourself so lackadaisically at the bus-stop sit with boredom in your eyes, and WHITE EYESHADOW on your lids? (btw is white the new black or something lol)

I had a shock of my life. she looked like a clown/ghost or ghost of a clown. partly because she was wearing her secondary school uniform and white eyeshadow. she was not about to perform in any extra-curricular event, since now should be exam period for secondary school-going teenagers.

Then I saw another one, it was obvious that she had thick makeup on but I can't really remember exactly what was wrong with her.

Probably the only wrong thing is that she was in her school uniform too.

Precocious Girls.

comics

2007-05-09T10:37:00.000-07:00

this is to erase the traumatic post you guys had to read. i bet you were holding your breaths for me. ahaha.

Allow me to introduce...

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE

They are positively endearing. I was introduced to this set of comics by shaun.

They have a whole series on street signs!!! :)

living dangerously.

2007-05-07T07:54:00.000-07:00

today i was sewing some buttons (on some shirt) on my bed.

it was a hot day. positively sweltering.

i dozed off. i did not know where my needle was, but it was loitering around. i slept for 2 hours. there was no scratch or poke marks. incredible.

AHAHAHA. another day in the life of a holiday-er who does not thrash around while sleeping.

buses

2007-05-01T09:24:00.000-07:00

i noticed something.

2 digit bus numbers are verbalised as thus e.g 56=fifty six 96=ninety six

3 digit bus numbers are verbalised as thus e.g. 171= one seven one 960=nine six zero

HAH. betcha didn't notice!

I win!

2007-04-04T22:31:00.000-07:00

hello world!

i hereby declare that i CANNOT drink any type of alcohol in any amount.

even if it's a mixture, like cranberry vodka.
even if it's LESS than half a glass. (yes, it was really less than half a glass)
even if i had dinner. (i mean, ppl are more susceptible to such........unglam moments when their stomachs are empty)
even if i slpt. (well....................i slpt as much as i could)

[in any case, im threatening someone now about her hair. even tho i know that she's insecure about her hair. this is how evil and vicious i really am.]

so i drank a bit.
and i puked a lot.
it's not very proportionate actually.
i think my macs dinner came out together with my cranberry vodka.
and my cranberry vodka beautified my puke.
it was PINK!
how gleeful!
:)

but i did not puke cos of the alcohol!
i puked cos of the train!
it was moving too violently.
the actions caused motion sickness!
i need to sue SMRT.
[by the way, SMRT means death in czech! a random trivia. which is not verified.]

yays.
in conclusion,
i SWEAR never to drink alcohol again.
and my frens SWEAR never to ask me to drink again.

because i'll slump around.
then i'll be groggy.
then i'll puke.
and ppl will slip on my puke. or almost.
then i'll start blaming everything else but the alcohol.

alcohol.
no good no good.

love, huay chinggggggg!
(and her beloved, jing)

indulge me

2007-03-26T10:10:00.000-07:00

i think i take nice pictures. vote me for Photographer of the Year!

The nicest ones are with human subjects which i shall decline to upload in respect of their privacy, but behold!

If my pictures of inanimate objects are this good, wait till you see my pictures of animate objects. AHAHAHHAHAH. *erhem.

Uploading pictures are quite tiring! I shall stop. ahaha next time then. BYE ALL! VOTE ME.

bleahs.

2007-03-10T01:55:00.000-08:00

the history of this post:

i was bored so i was clicking at the carrot's blog (yes i'm still trying to protect your identity; see this is how much i love you and this is how you repay me) because her's was the easiest to remember. she has a lovely new blogskin and i decided to comment on it. initially i was a little hurt to find my name deleted from her roll of friends. then i was intrigued to find the addition of her new weird friend named 'she who cheats'. curiousity got the better of me and i clicked on her new friend, which to my horror, i found out, was none other than.............................

ME.

(btw this also explains why i want to update, because after clicking on the link, i noticed that people tagged at my blog. yes. this is how i remembered that i actually own a blog thanks to the carrot's link. how convenient.)

-End Primary Four Narrative-
-Start Ah Lian Rant -

eh wah lau. Who's the one who cheat larrrrrrrrrrrr. Who?

and to show off that i know how to upload pictures so you can be more afraid of the empowered voyeur:

run and hide you people bwahahahahaha.

Ofelia!

2007-02-07T06:31:00.000-08:00

OFELIA!

wat a sensational name.

OFELIA!

now i shall show you her beautiful face.

Yes, contrary to popular belief, i watched the movie at the behest (read: emotional blackmail) of my brother. Well, he paid for my ticket.

dreams of long ago

2007-01-23T05:04:00.000-08:00

i wanted to be a photojournalist.

i really believe i can take earth-shaking photos and dispense some witty lines for captions.

whatever happened to that dream?

degeneration?

is that why you guys all call me a voyeur?

YAY. mystery solved. i'm not a voyeur, i'm a wannabe photojournalist.

Resolution

2007-01-18T08:18:00.000-08:00

I WILL BE NICE.

I WILL BE NICER.

I WILL TRY.

even if it kills me, i'll die trying.

I WILL BE NICER I WILL BE NICER I WILL BE NICER I I WILL BE NICER

this is my new year resolution.

Don't you break, resolve.

pink post-it!

2007-01-05T10:27:00.000-08:00

someone promised to make me a pink cycle-able bike!

i'm posting this as a sign of my excitement, so if the someone ever revoke his promise/fail to deliver, he should feel really bad because he got my hopes so high (high enough for me to post a post so that i'll remember that such a promise was made).

*please test it first okay, as reminded by another friend, i do not want to die in a cycling accident. i just crossed the threshold of my adulthood.

thanks a lot!!! i can feel the love~~~ :D

all for me?

2007-01-05T01:53:00.000-08:00

i received 2 suprises on the same night at the same time!

wow. *grins*

geriatrics

2007-01-01T02:41:00.000-08:00

i'm getting on in years. i'm old.

old people tend to repeat things they said before, many times. this is by far, their most enjoyable hobby.

this stems from the fact that they are forgetful; they forget things easily and hence the repetition. do bear with them.

old people tend to like to think that they are right all the time, because they believe that they are old enough to have the right to assert their opinions.

old people are also hard of hearing, they are PAKISTANI. (this is not racist, do believe me)

old people are boring too, but this is subjective.

ok.

behold world. this is me.

(old people like to excuse their bad behaviour)

usually not by blogging though.

now that all this is said, go wait outside the tapas bar for me to throw tapas out!

doctrine of estoppel

2006-11-30T00:49:00.000-08:00

after property paper, me and kayatoast came up with this brilliant A+++ theory.

me and kayatoast on besotted-ness (ok love if you prefer) and how proprietary estoppel applies.

a. the guy represents to the girl that he likes her (vice versa is possible too)
(well, does not have to be outward and express representation, by conduct is possible too. the worse cases are those by conduct actually)

N.B. whether or not it's a misrepresentation is another question.

b. the girl relies on his representation to her detrimental reliance.
(examples would be waiting around for his call, being lethargic and lifeless when he's not around)

c. there's some unconscionability involved in the insistence of the guy's strict legal rights.
(i'm too lazy to think of examples already do you seriously think i'll flip my notes just to post this?)

ok there you go. and this is proprietary estoppel because the girl claimed property interest in the guy himself. exclusive possession LOL. Leasehold interest.

This doctrine will apply when the guy denies that he likes the girl or ever made such a representation. he cannot do that because he's estopped from doing so. it's not equitable!

i'll talk about remedies another day k. so lazy. i don't really want to think of property now.

we come up with the best things in life, me and kayatoast.

bye!

P.S. again. this lighthearted post is just to mitigate the harshness of the earlier post. sorry about that. my demure image is gone i know. but i wasn't very demure to begin with. so yah. bye!

p.o.w.s

2006-11-02T08:37:00.000-08:00

my junior college treated us like p.o.w.s

they locked us in at whim by locking up ALL the exits(false imprisonment), forced us up buses against our expressed wishes(criminal force) and deposited/herded us all on a hot sunny island out of singapore without any useful resources and left us there to die (this crime is too horrendous i shall not attempt to put it in words)

in a nutshell, they are *beep*

that's why i hear people on the p.o.w buses go "i've got the *toot* spirit. where? up in my arse!"

lol. i love my sch.

best years of my life.

2006-10-27T12:17:00.000-07:00

when i was younger, i wanted to be swinging on a tree.

so me and my brother and my cousins, innovative as we were, invented the indoor vine.

tie up long, rope-type (not plastic) skipping ropes on the hook where you hang sarongs for babies to sleep (yes back in the 90-s that was the prevalent sleeping culture, not cots) and voila!

the indoor vine.

the indoor vine will allow you to swing from one end of the room to the other, like tarzan.

you may include the "ooo-eee-ooo-eee-ooo"s, and if you like, hang more vines around the house and you may have a forest of skipping rope vines.

that is subject to the number of hooks installed in the ceiling.

i can never stress enough, kids who read this blog, do not try this at home. i'm stupid now because of the side-effects of falling often when you cannot cling on properly to the rope.

but. heck it. IT WAS THE BEST YEARS OF MY LIFE.

leases.

2006-10-11T08:26:00.000-07:00

After property tutorial, I cannot help but wonder:

Given a new lease of life.

WHY OH WHY, do they measure our life in terms of leases? And no, there will not be a lease or licence analysis. It is the better end of the stick I agree, proprietary interest over personal, but still.

Certainty of Term, Rent Consideration, Exclusive Possession.

Does it not disturb you to think that someone up there grants us leases? And holds the reversionary interest?

Oh wait. It depends on your faith; whether you have it or not, then your level of disturbance follows.

Not a fee simple. A lease. Not a conveyance. A lease.

What about the myriad of remedies available to the lessor and the lessee when a party wants to terminate?

One cannot help but just wonder.

beeeeeeeeeeeep

2006-09-19T09:40:00.000-07:00

i hate to have to censor myself just so that your life will be better.

i hate to have to censor my views and hold back my opinions so that you'll think that you have the higher ground.

i hate to have to censor myself just because you will not be able to stand testimony to my sarcasm/wrath/opinions even.

just you wait bubble girl, the day that i decide that censorship is no longer a neccessary evil (it's not even evil in your case), we'll have the most interesting verbal battle ever.

or is it a verbal homicide on my case and suicide on yours.

the last laugh has my name written all over it.

understand these, and go away.

be gone.

IMF OFF.

the walters in my life

2006-09-17T09:37:00.000-07:00

i know 3 walters. only one is actually living and breathing though.

walter the fish.

i recently got to know this aqua creature through jing and all the other people who were supposed to be paying attention in lecture but decided that walter the fish is much more exciting and alluring than lecturers who talk about companies.

Walter C. Dollneazz

this is anime walter the butler. he's from hellsing the anime. a suave old man. real smoooooth. (ok whoever reads this can tease me about the old man swoondrome now, but hey, i bet every female likes some smooth old man now and then. remember richard gere folks, and for the rest, lecturers with GRAY hair (or no hair) and those who practise canto martial arts. yes you. you know who you are)

Lastly! the living walter!

THIS! is my favourite student. i have to protect his privacy and identity so i cannot give his full name (i cannot remember his surname drats). he is so darn cute! CUTE! i bet he'll grow up and charm all the socks and pants and skirts off all the girls. Girls born in the year after 1997, be warned. GO WALTER!

nerds.

2006-08-23T09:45:00.000-07:00

nerds. whatever you need, they need too.
nerds need food, clothes and shelter.
and most importantly, this is for you my last-sem twin,
NERDS NEED LOVE TOO.

p.s. oui quick let's pool $ together.

personal crisis.

2006-07-03T10:37:00.000-07:00

Imagine you are walking along and someone asks you these 3 questions.

1. Who is huayching?
2. What is she like?
3. How well do you know her?

Answer them truthfully. Give them some thought. It's vital that you do so. :)

horrors.

2006-06-30T11:28:00.000-07:00

The elements of a horror movie

The characters
Almost all the time there is the standard fare of a troupe of dauntless teenagers who will rumble and tumble into the brave new world (those I remembered and "watched" includes house of wax and the silly park)

In the bunch of fearless teenagers there must be one scaredy cat, one cynical/scornful non-believer, one bimbotic/himbotic lipstick-toter, one intellectual (not likely considering that they are smart enough to tag along in the group) and some other fillers which i cannot remember.

Well, never mind the composition since they all die in the end anyway.

There must be scary kids as well. Scary kids add all sorts of flavour to the drab blend.

Scary kids must sometimes be accompanied by panicky or disturbed parents.

The setting
Some graveyard or scene of crime or dilapidated house. duh.

The props
You’ll need a camera, or better still, video-cam. Or a radio that detects the ghosts and makes weird white noises. The camera will usually aid your night vision, thereby phasing out night vision goggles entirely. Sometimes they even work better than thermo/kinetic sensors.

Wax figurines that come to live are a favourite among the props.

There. I can't write much because I don’t watch so much. However, this much I know. They are all the same anyway. Trust me. You have been pouring lots of money watching the above recycled plot scenes and stuff again and again.

So much for dissing the whole genre. I am still scared. I still cringe. My cringings scare those with me (i.e. they might jerk). Behold. Just watch me when I am attempting to watch some lousy horror flick and you might get the same kick. Saves your money too.

killing me, surely

2006-06-27T09:02:00.000-07:00

stop whining. stop acting cute. stop throwing your tantrums.

there are some people who can carry it off, and i'm proud to say that i know a few. they can get away with almost anything, but sad to say, you can't. you can't so please stop trying. it irks me.

thank you very much.

there are cute people and there are acting cute people. i know you don't know where you belong, but let me tell you, everyone else does.

welcome to the real world, bubble girl.

On Commuting

2005-12-04T09:19:00.000-08:00

commuting and narcissim

Sorry for not blogging for half a year. If I say 'I'm real busy' I will be lucky if I convince half of you, but if I say 'I'm real lazy' I bet 100% of you will believe. Haha. The truth is, I've contemplated shutting down this medium that exposes myself to liability left and right, and since this is not a blog about how I woke up and brushed my teeth and ate a cup of cereal and partied half way around town (which is unlikely btw, for those who have gaping mouths now, close it wahaha). Issue and tissues discuss certain social, economic and even certain (gasp!) political issues and decisions, which is exactly the kind of blog that brandishes the banner "Here! Here! HERE it is! Come and sue me!" and so, you guys get the picture. I definitely do not wish to turn up in court prematurely lol.

Today's issue of the day: Commuting.

Ah, commuting. A safe and harmless topic that tugs at everyone's heart strings, or at least those poor commuters. No no, I'm not about to whine about any parliamentary decisions or price hikes, lest something untoward happens, but I'm just going to make a list of TOP 3 MOST QUESTIONABLE COMMUTERS.

In 3rd place, the ever present 'Giggly secondary schoolgirls or Sweaty secondary schoolboys'

That's it. Now now, don't deny it, ALL of us passed through this phase before, and I'm sure we caused much discomfort to other commuters. We were a bunch, a huge bunch of monkeys talking chatting laughing sniggering making jokes guffawing... you name it, we did it. Of course, this category sometimes do not irritate people but trigger off in them a lovely memory of being young again; you know, the warm fuzzy feeling you get when you look at younger citizens and go 'ahh, we were like that before' Then again, more often than not, we/they irritate more than we/they please. When the noise levels climb faster than your stock index in a bull market, you know when the threshold is reached. Everyone will start glaring and 'tsk-ing' you'll wonder if those young people are deaf or muffled by their own voices. This is not particularly attacking secondary school students, primary school kids forming a gang and hitting Orchard constitute such a disturbance too. (And no, I do not have anything against school going students if you are wondering).

HC's additional input: Just the other day, I was taking the bus home after a long day of school and I vaguely heard humming. Laughter. Humming and more laughter. In a flash, some off-key bad singing by a trio replaced the humming and laughter. 3 secondary school girls sitting at the back of the bus actually plucked up enough courage and guts to start singing in the bus, rather loudly might I add, to the rather popular song at that time. I think it was 'tong hua' by someone. It was absolutely horrible. How in the world can they ever live it down I wonder. Well, it's their own reputation they decided to put at stake, so all I can say is, good luck and please do not try and take part in school superstar or something like that. You do not want to be recognised. Really you don't.

Peak Seasons to spot them: During holidays. Especially during holidays when schools have school concerts and school musicals and students start missing each other and have class reunions and gatherings. Buses and MRTs are as badly hit as the other.

In 2nd place, the 'PDA-ers'

The PDA-ers, contrary to belief, are not those who own PDAs in this context, but those who engage in Public Display of Affection. All the kissing, coddling, fondling... and *toot* whatever. Just by looking at them, you will wonder whether they were super-glued together before they left the house in a freak accident or something. Have they no shame?! "Get a room!" is right! They could promote the hotel and tourism industry at the same time too. 2 birds with 1 stone theory. Such a class of questionable commuters will cause everyone else within glancing vicinity to roll their eyes and this time round, no warm fuzzy feeling but a 'goosebump-y' one would emerge. Not only do they cause discomfort to other commuters, they taint the verdant airs of our graceful society. Such exhibitionists should be penalised I tell you. They may be classified as 'mild-flashers-of-the-couple-kind'. In a way they are 'flashing', just look at how they are imposing on the public (victims) what we have no wish to see or be exposed to. Recent trends show such 'mild-flashers' are starting to slide down the age scale.

Peak Seasons to spot them: I have no idea actually. Valentine's Day? They are around most of the time, just specks here and there. Randomly they'll appear and the trains are more likely to be their breeding grounds than buses. Oh. Do forgive the pun.

Top of the list, the POSERS.

I do not like the posers. Nothing but absolute loathing. Firstly to let you know what exactly the posers bunch are. They are those whom you might call wannabe pole-dancers. Sometimes they gyrate (due to the train movements) but most of the time they just pose. And pose. And pose somemore. Notice the poles provided on the train, 2 per carriage. They are to facilitate those poor commuters who are already unlucky enough not to get seats already, after losing to those "Huge-Assed-People and My-Dainty-Bags-Are-Heavier-Than-Thou" classes of people who are in their own world altogether. They (HAPs and MDBAHTTs) will have to be left for another day since the loathing for them are straightforwardly understandable. These poles are not for wannabe pole dancers, for lack of suitable poles to practice their moves on. Please go install one in your own house or something to satisfy your dancing needs. These pole dancers, they hog the pole and treat it as their own personal property for their sole enjoyment. Well excuse me, but obviously they do not understand the concept of communal property. Share! Bad enough that it's already peak hours where everyone is rushing and the train is jammed, you still want to deprive poor commuters something to hang on for their dear life? Are you only happy when you start a human domino chain long enough from the start to the end of the train? Well it might get into the Guiness Book of Records for longest human dominoes but well, I hope their reward for you (along with the other 11 posers) for starting it will be international shame that will beat William Hung(or any other shameful event you can think of). How do they hog the pole you ask? By: a) with their back leaning against the pole with their head thrown back and arms crossed behind them at their butt level b) with their hands crossing in front of them and hugging the pole for their dear life.

Peak Seasons: ESPECIALLY DURING RUSH HOURS. Which makes it all the more terrible.

My intention/motive behind this article (so you guys have no need to second-guess): For the betterment of the society. Please, read this and take heed. If you are guilty of them, whether you have the intention behind your acts or not, change for the better. We will welcome you with open arms back into the light if you will mend your ways and all that wahahaha. Ok I shall stop that "holier-than-thou" crap. Just change so that all of us can lead a better life.

Disclaimer warning: No responsibility whatsoever shall be accrued to me for whatever mentioned in the article. It is written in a non-professional, non-business and not for profit context for the amusement of the owner and the readers. The statements made are strictly opinions and nothing more.

I really want to write about NARCISSIM. I've been hit by a fresh new wave again. I have to let it all out. But no. This entry is already too long and I have no wish to drone and relegate this pertinent issue of NARCISSIM to second class afterthought filler article. I'll give it first class treatment next issue. I promise. Till then!

Hiking Phenomena

2005-06-04T02:36:00.000-07:00

Hiking Phenomena

It is a great sunny Saturday afternoon and you, ever the social butterfly decide to have an enjoyable day out in town. Let us say you want to catch a movie and following that, dinner. Deciding that the gang should all meet at one of the gazillion pillars holding up the Orchard MRT Station, you start to plan your route.

Routes: (Take it that you live in the lovely award-winning town Tampines)

a) Take a feeder bus to Tampines Bus Interchange, following an MRT ride to Orchard Station

Estimated cost: ~ $0.63+$1.30= $1.93

b) Take Express 518 and drop at TANGS and walk to the rendezvous point

Estimated cost: ~ $2.30 and highly activated sweat glands (walking in the blistering heat)

c) Drive there.

Estimated cost: Petrol+Parking+ERP(tentative owing to the govt. debating about implementing ERP on Saturdays) ~~~$_$!

Not to mention the sunk cost involved in getting your driving licence. However since it is sunk cost we will not include it in the above computations.

Now that the govt. gave the go-ahead for the hike in public transport fares, we will see a maximum of three cents increase. On one hand, we understand that Singapore's public transport fares are rather cheap compared to developed countries. I suppose Singapore, which was conferred the status of Highly Developing Country despite certain self-proclamations of us being Highly Developed Country but sadly we are not; in a bid to emulate the models of certain Highly Developed Countries decided to 'emulate' their public transport fares first.

HC's lament: WHY! WHY! Travelling has become such a luxury! Coming from someone who never had to worry about transport costs (it was previously fixed at $27.50/month: concession) but was plunged into the world of adult travelling prices when I am not yet an adult... This is too harsh! For a period of time I took to walking home from work where the company bus drops me 6 bus stops away (about a good 25min walk) in order to save some transport money. Great exercise. That was when I had income. Now I am unemployed. Imagine the burden. ARGH.

Back to the story of the fluttering social butterfly. Since it is a Saturday, your movie ticket will now cost you... $9.50! You willingly part with it as you can only find free time on Saturdays. Opportunity costs will be too high for you if you decide to catch your movie on a weekday/workday.

Well, for this part I am glad to say that I never had to part with $9.50 to watch a movie on weekends (yet). KUDOS TO JERM! *raise a glass of lemon shiver* The battle between the cinema operators and us movie buffs resulted in us delivering the triumphant blow to the enemies with a funny card. KUDOS TO THE FUNNY CARD!

Well, after spending that great amount of $, you would definitely decide to eat something cheap. N.Y.D.C? No way. You head out in some silly fella's car, since the person decided to drive to town despite the hefty cost, to *drum roll* fengshan block 85 food centre! Palatable food at affordable prices. Finally, something worth waiting for.

HC's in conclusion lament: Do not forget, issues and tissue-ers that we saw an increase in our G.S.T rate and various other little things. Yes I agree that things will never stay constant, and with the increase in our living standards our cost of living will definitely shoot up. However, I BESEECH. Spare a thought for the middle to low-income family units! By increasing G.S.T (the regressive tax) and transport fares, who are the most badly affected? Us! Middle to low income family people and unemployed teenagers who are unable to pay student prices when we are not adults! I am so for the idea of the government increasing other stuff, i.e. progressive tax and whatnots, maybe increase tobacco tax even, rather than increasing the regressive taxes. Increase tobacco tax! Since cigarettes are sooooooo price inelastic (meaning the quantity demanded of cigarettes do not correspond to a relatively significant change in it's price/ hardcore smokers will still smoke!) In that way, we poor commuters would not have to pay increased bus fares but still have to face this scenario of standing under a bus-stop crowded with smokers on a rainy day.

ARGH!

Sidelines- just ranting. Will try not to rant next time because this makes issues and tissues look like a common blog, but I ... ARGH X3! Pardon me but I must get this off!!!

I hate inflexibility. It makes a fool out of everyone. Stupid Red Tape. I hate red tape too. There is a stupid rule in the driving school (I shall not name the school to protect it's reputation though I am so sure 99.995% know) stating that we can only cancel practical lessons 48h before, if we want our money back. "Oh you are not feeling well? M.C. by the doctor? Sorry then, we cannot help you. You just have to miss the lesson. Thanks for donating $58.80 for the betterment of the lives of the wealthy shareholders who run this place! See you again!" Crap. I was not sick but missed a lesson nonetheless. Took things for granted. CRAP!!!

Went to 85 last week. Stupid uncle selling drinks chased us away from 'his area' because we did not order drinks from his stall, right under this sign, "Customers are liable to sit anywhere regardless of which stall they order from- East Coast Town Council". The nerve of that arh-pek. Thank his lucky stars I did not get into law faculty. See what I mean about inflexibility now?

A-R-G-H. Sing it together. A~R~G~H.

Greek Mythology

2005-05-23T02:40:00.000-07:00

Greek Mythology.

WARNING: LONG ARTICLE AHEAD>>> READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Once upon a time I was at Tampines Regional Library. Actually MOST of the time I am at Tampines Regional Library but for the sake of this article let us treat it as such. I was alone, apparently opting to pick out some good book to bundle home and enjoy. This book with a grasping title caught my eye. The title: The Golden Ass.

Ignorant as I was, I did not associate it with Greek mythology when I picked it up. Leafing through a few pages, and reading some, it began to dawn upon me that the book was nothing about Asses, be it the animal kind or the anal kind. The book tells us of the heart-wrenching sob-love story about Cupid and Psyche. Which translates into the association between love and soul, each trait as represented by each character. Cupid/Eros embodies love (if you had not known before this [!]) whereas Psyche represents the soul. How beautiful. Let us continue with the story.

In ancient times, in some faraway kingdom lived the royal family, which consisted of the king and queen and three princesses. All three princesses were gorgeous, but the youngest was the most beautiful of them all. She was Psyche. The elder 2 princesses were already married to some kings of some faraway kingdom and lived their pompous royal life. Wondering why the most beautiful of them all could not be wed? Wonder no more. (1) Psyche's beauty was too exquisite and astounding men worshipped her instead of desiring to marry her. They hailed her as the New Aphrodite.

Well jealousy rears its ugly head in Mount Olympia, and Aphrodite herself was unhappy with the fact that the civilians worshipped Psyche now instead of her. She demanded that her son, Eros (aka Cupid) curse her by firing an arrow at some hideous monster, which would be Psyche's husband and let her live a life of torment.

(At this point of the story I want the readers of issues and tissues to erase any idea of Cupid as a cherub. Do away with the idea of Cupid as a baby as it will affect the story henceforth. Imagine him as a teenager/adult. Grow him up. Else the story will sound paedophilic in the later parts. If you have trouble here's a link [warning: contains a certain level of nudity but it will not be rated NC-16 or whatever. Nothing that will scar you eternally. It is a beautiful painting by William Bouguereau (French, 1825-1905) of a picture of Cupid and Psyche.]) Please do not click on the link and complain because you have been cautioned.

Well Cupid being the obedient son went forth and approached Psyche and--- Who will ever guess that he would fall in love with the one claimed to be the New Aphrodite? Definitely not his mother. Fall in love with her he did, and he cooked up some marriage to fool his mom.

Psyche's father consulted an oracle regarding his youngest daughter's marriage and returned with devastating news: she was to be wed to a fearsome monster in a few days time, and he should prepare an entourage, sending her off to the mountain where she would wait for her husband to arrive. Fast forward to the day of her marriage, she arrived at the peak of the mountain, and after bidding a tearful farewell to her family and friends she cried some more, before deciding to commit suicide (2) and jumped off.

She was carried by the mighty West Wind (Zephyrus) and landed gracefully in this palace-like area whereby she was led to a royally furnished bed and told to rest. Her husband came to her at night, and consummated their marriage. He came to her every night as well, but the only catch is that she was unable to see him. He only gave her 2 commands, which was not too demand to see his appearance and something else I forgot. (haha) Where's the ugly monster you ask? Who is her husband? If you wish for me to spell it out here it is. The ugly monster is non-existent and her husband is none other than Cupid himself.

Since he came to her every night and left early the next morning, Psyche never got to know who her husband was (3). She got bored eventually, and begged her husband to allow her to visit her sisters or allow them to visit her. He relented, knowing full well that her evil-minded sisters will do the both of them harm. They arrived some days later, and jealousy reared its ugly head again in this story. Her sisters were jealous of Psyche's lifestyle and plotted to harm her. They told her that her husband was indeed a terrifying flesh-eating monster and Psyche should do the world a favour and rid it.

That following night, Psyche, with a dagger in hand and an oil lamp in the other, approached her sleeping husband timidly. She brought the lamp close to his face, and whom should she see but Cupid himself. Shocked by his handsome-ness or whatever she accidentally dripped a drop of scalding oil onto her beloved and that woke him up and away he flew. Cleverly he parted with this sentence "You are the wrong sister that I have married!"

Well this spurred the other 2 sisters on and thinking that Cupid was meant to be their lover, jumped down at the mountain thinking that each would be his rightful bride but in the end met their rightful end.

The story does not end there though. This is too long a summary already but my major 3 points have been highlighted and I shall stop here. If you wish, I shall continue the remainder of the story in the next article. To this week's topic!

(1) Psyche's beauty was too exquisite and astounding men worshipped her instead of desiring to marry her.

This shows that one should not be too beautiful or have too high standards (because you are beautiful). You will be left on the shelf otherwise. Often glamourized as "I chose single-hood because no one can tie me down"

(2)...before deciding to commit suicide...

As said before, death should not be employed as a means to solve problems. It never worked out and will never, in real life scenarios. For Psyche it did, only because she is a myth. If you are confident that Cupid will be your husband, I have nothing else to say except that I'm sorry that you have to read this. Children, do not try this at home too.

(3) Since he came to her every night and left early the next morning, Psyche never got to know who her husband was.

This story was described by certain scholars to have adultery content because of the above act of the husband leaving the 'mistress' in the morning. In modern adultery the husband hides the mistress from the wife (family), whereas in the story Cupid (the husband) hides his wife from his mother (family). See the resemblance yet? What are your takes, my dear issues and tissue-ers?

What a loooooooooong article! Phew~ Concluding remark: I never borrowed the book, contrary to popular belief. I went off and borrowed some other interesting economics book instead. I was researching on Narcissus and came across Love and Soul and decided to write about this. With regards to why the book is called "The Golden Ass", I would have to leave it for another time.

Ciao~

Bad English/ Narcissus

2005-05-19T01:09:00.000-07:00

Bad English

Can you stand bad English? Bad as in those really terrible kinds. Some examples:

The famous few:

1.All your base are belong to us.<--can you stand that?!?!
2.Especial for you; what a site to behold <--- spelling errors!!! ARGH!
3.I'll be there for you, as an oxygen...<--- an oxygen!! let me see you quantify it!! oxygen is not a countable noun!
4. She will decided tomorrow <-- tenses tenses!!!!

(I am guilty of no.4 most of the time. Therefore I am no saint myself.)

HC's justification: To err is human.

ARGH! I do not mean to sound like some underpaid primary school English teacher BUT we have all these errors popping up everywhere. "Where?" You ask. In those cheap notebooks that cost a dollar for one, especially those made in china, taiwan, korea, japan and the likes. You can find such glaring errors in certain t-shirts, which, sad to say, also originate from the above countries. Only young girls(a selected few that wears clothes bought by mom at a pasar malam) and the mentioned mothers themselves (i.e. auntie category). Here are some reasons why people continue to wear them/ use such products:

a. The item is at such a low, must-buy price that such errors are negligible.
b. They will only wear it/use it at home so nobody else will ever know except their immediate family members.
c. They do not come from English speaking backgrounds.
d. They are illiterate.

In conclusion: To err is human. Yes I said that in the beginning. You must be thinking that those QC wings of the manufacturing department should be forgiven for their negligence since they are only human too. Wait. What are computers there for? Spell check anyone? If you want to say that the human being operating the spell check will err, fine, but statistically speaking, the products out on the market definitely do not conform to the idea that errors in English are unintentional. Almost 99% of the time the cheap notebooks you pick up, there are bound to be plentiful mistakes.

Well I can certainly live with errors in such notebooks, since it might just jolly well be the reason why it is so inexpensive. For all you know, those weird QCs which check the products might just decide to submit proposals to jack up the price to $4 a book because of the perfect English they have on their cute little covers. The status of the notebook would be elevated to professional class despite it's cute-ness.

Erhem. Back to this week's issue: Bad English. After our PM Lee urged us to drop our 'lahs' and be better understood, this topic popped up. We do not speak bad English, like for example committing all the above errors (1-4) while having a conversation, but our singlish has often made us difficult for non-Singaporeans to understand. Therefore it depends on how one defines bad English.

It all lies in individualistic perceptions.

And now, presenting the story of Narcissus... in all that HC can remember...

Long ago in ancient Greece there lived a mortal by the name of Narcissus. He was a pretty good-looking fellow. Oh wait. He should be astoundingly handsome or dashing since he spurned the love of many, including Echo, a nymph (haha bet you all did not know that). Well, rejected Echo decided to live in the mountainous regions and pined away for her love till nothing was left of her except her sad, pleading voice. (Myth Of Echo) *chilling*.
Well someone complained, and hence Narcissus was cursed by Nemesis to suffer the pangs of unrequited love. This curse was fulfilled when Narcissus became entranced by his reflection in the pool and tried to seduce the beautiful boy, not realizing it was himself he was looking at. He died in the end, desiring himself and transformed into a flower by the name of--- you guessed it, Narcissus.

That's why Narcissus grows by the pond?

I will take my leave now. Sorry for late update again!

Obsessed

2005-05-10T01:20:00.000-07:00

Why are we obsessed with how people think of us?

This week's article is here! Is it on time? Yes? Phew~ No? Told you I was lazy!! hahaha...
Topic: Why are we obsessed with how people think of us.

Face it certain people are. Before I start off another round of debate about narcissus* and grasses, here's how I link things up. You preen in front of your mirror; you are self-conscious. You are self-conscious because you do not wish to look like a tramp in front of others and disgrace yourself and your family and your ancestors and whatever. You want to look your best when you step out of your house. Now I see someone scrolling to the right to type in the tagboard --- wait wait not yet not yet. I have not reached a conclusion yet. Give me a chance man.

I understand that self-consciousness does not necessitate into an obsession, but more often than not it leads straight into it, like a pretty girl rushing into her prom. Being self-conscious is a good thing; it shows people that you respect yourself by taking time to ensure that you look neat and presentable. Those 'perfect' windswept and casual looks do not come by easily I suppose (Those that come by easily are usually not very nice and they look sloppy.) My point: There is a very thin line between an obsession with how people view us and us being self-conscious. Being OVERLY self-conscious to the point of fussing about everything from fashion apparel to measuring the precise length of your pretty nail(s) leads to an obsession, be it with how people think of you or how you think of yourself. Oh and by the way, an unhealthy preoccupation with oneself is considered NARCISSISM. Next.

You can be obsessed with how people think of you as a person, whether they think you look handsome/pretty enough, or whether you meet their expectations as a good friend or any other role for that matter. You worry whether you fit into other people's regimented mould of perfection, determined by them taking society's predominant votes and values into consideration. See that? Those 'obsessors' are worrying about nothing and trying to live up to other people's expectations. Living up to other's expectations is not wrong, I just feel that you should live up to your own before trying to live up to someone else's.

If you cannot convince yourself, chances are that you cannot convince others too.

Anyway, human beings are not meant to judge. If we are, anybody can be Chief Justice (!) without having to undergo that many years of legal training and the jury would only consist of one person, not so many, such a waste of tax. It is precisely the point that we are not meant to judge, which shows we do not have to fear how we are being judged by peers, especially peers. Take their 'judgement' with a pinch of salt, and decide what you want to do about it. Again, the thin line between judgement and criticism shall be carefully treaded upon. They are similar, but criticisms often have the said subject (person being criticised) in mind, whereas judgement is often just a one-sided statement made with not much objective(s).

So therefore, in conclusion, being self-conscious is fine, obsessing with how you look/how others think of you is not very good (any obsession is not very healthy either); criticisms can be good, judgements are not. Even though I state that we should all not try and judge, we still often do. It is really difficult to try to change that bad habit, if anyone has it as a bad habit(ME!). So let me take this opportunity to apologise to all those people (whether I know you or not) that I have judged before, whether knowingly or unknowingly; I AM SORRY FOR JUDGING YOU (ALL). I am not Judge Amy. wahaha.

Whoa. It's quite a mouthful now. Time for my personal statement: Boring you again? I am so sorry too. How about trying to help me think about topics that I can discuss so I can effectively capture your interest? Let the tagging begin!

I feel like writing about the whole story of poor *Narcissus in my next issue and tissue article! Or do you all know it already?! Haha...
Till next time~

Wallowing

2005-05-02T02:50:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my/your weekly dose of issues and tissues. I am so lazy, I cannot even guarantee you a weekly update. Ask those secondary school buddies of mine, they can tell you my motto when I was studying. Back to this week's topic.

What can you wallow in? Mud? (well if you want to, in the most literal sense) Misery? (close...) Self-pity? (yeah now you hit the mark)

I will discuss the idea of wallowing in self-pity, by answering the most basic 5Ws and a H. The polygamous husband with that many wives. Not forgetting to cover the cause and effect model along the way.

What is self-pity?

Self-pity here is described as a stage in which one cries out "WHY ME!" with passion. Or anything similar along that line. Usually a wallower will start performing little comforting actions or demand that people exhibit comforting acts towards them. In short, they wish to be comforted, self or by others is fine.
Usually confused with plain attention seeking.

Why do people wallow in self-pity?

To wallow in self-pity, I suppose one must possess these qualities first:

1. High level of narcissism
If you think that you are the one and only person that matters the most, on a certain level, you will wallow in self-pity. The world revolves around you, and if any event or occurrence strikes, you will feel that the worst person on planet earth is you and only you. In this case, you will be blinded to the other more serious and shattering happenings around you on other people. Large scale mishaps (e.g. earthquakes and tsunami) will be rendered peanut status compared to your 'oh so woeful sob story that is so 'earthshakingly' devastating' Oh. Please pardon my pun.

2. Low level of self esteem
I feel that self esteem is the regulating mechanism in your mentality to help you get back on your two feet after any mental blows. If you think you are able to lead your life confidently, you will. Power to those who are able to see that life has to go on even though you are shortchanged. Low level of self esteem will just prolong your periods of wallowing.

When do people wallow in self-pity? Who wallows in self-pity?

I shall answer those 2 together. People wallow when they are badly hit by certain events, examples being bad results, bad break-ups, bad financial cases, or simply put, any bad situations. Who you ask? Those with the abovementioned qualities in the [Why do people wallow in self-pity?] section. Most people do wallow for a while. Even the strongest person with zero narcissism and moderate self esteem (too high is not good people) will take a reflective moment to consider their failure. Just by questioning "Why ME?" is already considered basic wallowing. Those who do not ask "Why ME?' do not wallow in self-pity, I guess. I said I guess. Who am I to judge anyway?

Where do people wallow in self-pity is such a silly question I do not want to insult anyone by answering that.

How do people wallow in self-pity?
There is the basic wallowing and the advanced wallowing. The Basic one, I am quite sure most of us went through the process at least once in our lives so I will not elaborate. The Advanced one is characterized by prolonged periods of wallowing. Which is torturous. To anyone, even yourself, if you can manage to wallow a little OUT of your self-pity to think that it is torturous. The epitome of wallowing is frightful. Not to mention traumatic and I do not wish to frighten anyone here on issues and tissues. Especially not little children who stumble here, I want them to leave here with their innocence unscathed. (Though some may already be eternally scarred just by reading other articles posted here.)

Hope this is not boring you all again. Maybe next time I shall discuss how to quit boring my dear readers of issues and tissues.

On Blood (Loss)

2005-04-25T02:01:00.000-07:00

On Blood (Loss)

This is a scientific essay I decided to write for some reasons. Nostalgia (missing school, especially Biology)? Maybe. Information for a certain injured friend believing himself to be at the losing end of the deal and also an expert on blood types. Highly probable.

Blood is a specialized tissue required by us humans to fulfill functions, namely, transport of substances within the body, distribution of heat, defence against foreign agents (not soviet spies but viruses and bacteria) and for maintenance of osmoticity and pH, which sums up to integrating physiological processes. This will enable the body to achieve a constant internal environment. Blood contains several types of cell suspended in a fluid medium called plasma. The cellular constituents are: Red Blood Cells (RBC), White Blood Cells (WBC), Blood platelets and many other plasma proteins in blood plasma but I'm not going to name them all her to clog up your mind. Tag me if you really want to know.

Let us envision this scenario. An object hits you hard and bleeding occurs. This might mean that blood vessels are ruptured (though more likely if you are cut) and the red fluid that flows out is blood (you do not need to be a genius to know that). The amount that flows out depends on the amount of vessels ruptured and the extent of each rupture, which of course depends on the impact of the hit. You say blood gushed out like a fountain. I say either you are exaggerating or it's time to call 995/1777.

After your body lost a certain amount of blood, your body will try its best to replenish. That is why people still survive after blood donations. It is only after MASSIVE blood loss then do you need to be sent to hospital to receive a transfusion.

Another point to make, haemoglobin is broken down in the spleen and certain important elements are stored. Transferrin and iron will then reach the bone marrow and your new red blood cells will be synthesized there. Enough said on that. I'll be termed evil and unfeeling if I continue. To the sick one, rest well and nurse yourself back to health and I hope that there will be no psychological trauma that'll leave a scar.

I think if I start on Blood types now, tomatoes will start flying in my direction. I promise, I will write it next article. Or next next. Or next next next. Eventually I will. Really.

Adios!

News Flash

2005-04-17T22:32:00.000-07:00

Well yesterday was a wonderful day till I chanced upon the channel U news at 11pm, more specifically, the feature on how people are getting increasingly prone to abnormal behaviour when under stress. The above, seems like a no-brainer, and you say, "Anybody under stress will display an anomaly in their behaviour! Do we still need you to tell us, LHC? Go back and sleep! Shoo!" However, as their (the channel U news<-- which actually belongs to the whole big monopoly of news network body known as channel news asia) case study features, more people, adults and teenagers alike are unable to handle relationship problems and are resorting to violent acts towards others and themselves. To put it simply, people experiencing relationship problems (henceforth referred as PERPs<-- People Experiencing Relationship Problems) are either trying to kill others or trying to kill themselves.

I am most definitely not saying that ALL PERPs are psychotic killers and have the violent seed in them, only those under stress and unable to handle them properly and channel their anger/angst/unhappiness/unfairness/vengefulness/self-pity and other negative feelings into correct channels. PERPs are common. People get into relationship problems all the time. However, those that are not able deal with such strong feelings should seek immediate PROFESSIONAL HELP before they turn into menaces of society as shown on the news feature.

For the benefit of those who did not catch the 11pm news as I did, here is a brief breakdown.

Case Study of Hong Kong citizens (I feel that this actually applies to all industrialized cities, rather than HK only): Recent reports show that HK citizens are unable to deal with increasing stress, most of which comes from relationship problems, specifically break-ups, and are turning towards violent social behaviour, i.e. throwing of belongings off high-rise buildings thus posing danger to those innocent passers-by [in chinese, gao1 lou2 pao1 wu4] and suicide. For the case of dangerous litter, the camera zoomed in on debris on the ground, which happens to include a CHOPPER. Nope, not chopper as in helicopter chopper, but as in those cleaver chopper. That is absolutely insane! If you want to die, by all means go ahead and kill yourself. Do not throw stuff like a cleaver down which may actually hit a bright student with an illustrious future; that is murder, even though it may be unintentional. Such debris took 7 huge dustbins to clear. The camera then showed this guy in action, whose face was pixellated, throwing his mattress (at least a double) down and jumping down two or three floors himself despite the fire fighting force shooting great jets of water at him to prevent him from jumping. He landed on an inflated air mattress (the irony) and was wheeled into an ambulance on a stretcher.

We have to come to terms with the fact that no relationship is smooth sailing and hitches and quarrels are most common between couples. The more you care about each other, the more you tend to disagree with your counterpart's opinions and behaviour. It is done with the loving notion that you hope your partner will change for the better. Hence let the games begin.

Let us all examine how much of your life your love relationship takes up. After deducting the area taken by your survival instincts, your religion (if it applies), your family, your studies (if it applies), your work (if it applies), your friends, your leisure, what is left is not really significant. Ok. Wait, you say. I have not experienced it so I do not understand. Fair enough. I'll try again. No matter how great/consuming your love life is, it will never be equal to your entire life. Never. Large part of, yes, maybe, (none for some even), but NEVER your whole life. NEVER. nevernevernevernervernever. It is only part of your social life, especially true for those engaged in courtship rituals.

Fine. I'm boring you. Yes I got it. Next time there will be more interesting topics. And Yes. Try not to rant. Yeah, Ok. I love you all too. Till next time then.

A Pat on the Shoulder in Time Saves Nine

2005-04-13T07:43:00.000-07:00

My humble abode is turning into a gambling den. Since I do not own a licence to run one, I think that my mini gambling den runs against the law. (Why is it that everything I write risk lawsuits?) Since Saturday, when the pioneer batch of mahjong addicts turned up, business has been brisk to say the least. Today the humble gambling arena welcomes its second batch of mahjong fanatics. To think I get irritated by my neighbours from the opposite block playing mahjong. Haha.

Today, my issue will be on superstition. There is this rumour going around fellow mahjong enthusiasts, saying that if anyone pats someone who is at present engaged in a round of adrenaline-pumping mahjong game, the luck of the person pat will go away, causing losing streaks. We, at the mini gambling den decided to try it out among 'brothers', and since jermaine aka daniel did not believe in such baseless superstition, amid cries of 'pantang!' coming from weiling aka kelvin, both me and yuqian aka cheeky decided to try a two-pronged approach and pat our dear brother on the shoulder. One each. Note: Children, do not try this at home, or anywhere near mahjong-ing adults or teenagers. You might get bashed.

Having tried that, jermaine aka daniel after winning three (or two, i cannot really remember such details) games, started his losing streak. Superstition or not? Hmmm.

Since this is on issues and tissues, it shall be discussed properly. I have no psychological and laboratory tests scheduled to run this aforementioned 'pat on the shoulder' hypothesis and get results, so all those that follows are just opinions. I think that all these superstitions are based one such one-time occurrence, like the above case study. Everyone at the table gets shocked at such an occurrence, and starts spreading the interesting one time phenomenon to everyone. Or better still, the 'pat on the shoulder' hypothesis might just be a made up thing of some director of some mahjong movie and it starts to spread like wildfire. Everybody knows that media spreads such information like spreading jam on bread. I remember the first time I came across any superstitious acts were from cartoons! Those Disney cartoons featuring Mickey mouse running all over the place opening black umbrellas under ladders while jumping over a black cat on Friday the thirteenth. Yeah, those were the days.

Still, no one can deny that superstitious acts do add spices to our lives. They make everything all the more interesting. I remember when the 3 of us, (June and Jermaine) walked down the dark and eerie corridor, the superstition that when walking in 3s, either someone will join your little gang or someone will be taken away set us all jittery before anything, and you all knew what happened next.

This concludes the installment on superstition at issues and tissues.
Post-article notes: Want to know the scores of those who mahjong-ed at the illegal mini gambling den? NOTE: No $$$ was involved. No calling of the police, or else I'll Jump! haha.Oh wow. since no money is involved, the activity is totally wholesome and legal. Re-typing...

Want to know the scores of those who mahjong-ed at the mini mahjong den?

Hall Of Fame/Shame:

on Saturday 9th April:
1. Yanying, Yiling, Weiteen and HC all won 2 games each. Played a total of 8 games.
Special mention, since my mini brain forgot most details of the saturday game; Weiteen likes to hold the tiles she drew from the wall with two hands ahaha. An interesting sight!

on Monday 11th April:
1.ME! HC is the ultimate winner winning 4/10 games! (YAY YAY!)
2. Jermaine aka daniel is the first runner-up winning 3/10 games. (hereby crowned as 'The One Whom Does Not Feed'/Hogger of all Flowers)
3. Yuqian aka cheeky is the second runner-up winning 2/10 games. (hereby crowned as 'The One Whom waits for Flowers/The One Whom Gets to Feed')
4. Weiling aka kelvin did not do that badly, we must bear in mind that it was her second game and mahjong is a game of chance afterall. She won 1/10 game(s). Which is a notable feat, since she managed to win at least. (hereby crowned as 'The One Whom Always get the Licence to hu2/ Flower Girl <-- always get her flowers)

My maiden ARTICLE

2005-04-07T23:17:00.000-07:00

As the title suggests, this is the very 1st article of the much-awaited launch of my blog, issues and tissues. The driving force for me to create this blog, as much as it saddens me to say, is a suicidal friend of mine. Since she refuses for me to tell ANYONE her present state of distress, I shall do my utmost to adhere to her wishes, and i do hope it will not be her last. Therefore anything mentioned here would be my views and opinions on how her outburst is affecting the 'thoughtful citizens' [quote jermaine] of the society.

If the mentioned suicidal friend is reading this blog, may all that is holy bless her soul.

I am not about to wash dirty laundry in public, and those who are here looking for some scoop, shoo. Bear in mind i am no gossip column journalist, though i may act like one.

Now, back to my blog. Disclaimer first, before anybody decides to take me to court for the stuff i write for my own personal leisure. No names would be mentioned in this article unecessarily, and i would most definitely not name the suicidal person. So understand that I am actually protecting her privacy, though it sets me wondering why, since over at her blog, she is definitely shouting to the world what she is trying to do and all that buzz. Do not message me to ask me for names, for i will definitely not provide any.

I have been, as many of my other friends too, under the plague of a suicidal friend, henceforth known as SF. SF is affecting all our lifes in many ways, and this article will dissect the various issues that are sprouting from it. As how stories should start, i shall provide certain details, none that SF would disagree with me publishing.

Things/Words that I uttered in a vain (and i say VAIN) attempt to encourage/dissuade SF.
(all arranged in order of frequencies mentioned)
1. Don't <-- mentioned it as many times as she said Bye, and her second personal fav, take care
2. It's not worth it
3. This is foolish
4. Don't hurt yourself over someone who doesn't care and hurt others who actually care. <-- quote of the year if i may say so myself

and many others that i cannot begin/bother to remember.

On how SF affects everyone else, inclusive of SF.
SF's many intended suicidal attempts are all less than creative and are absolutely traumatic.
All her friends and her secondary and tertiary friends [quote friendster] are worried about her. She tells us not to worry, but we still do. All that we say/encourage/dissuade/persuade/advise are not getting into her system, since she says she is stubborn. Her circle of friends are dwindling by the minute, you do not need a M.A. (Sociology) to see that. The reason is that SF is wearing all of them thin, and her hopeful fews are really worth mentioning for still hanging on.

If SF is still unwilling to see that her cause is hopeless, if she has a cause at all, then as i've mentioned at the beginning, may all that is holy bless her soul.
If SF is willing to 'hui2 tou2 shi4 an4' [a chinese idiom which means turn your head and head towards the shore] all of us will still accept her for who she is, i hope.

This is the end of my rant for today, on issues and tissues. Stay tuned.

Post-article disclaimer: Do not flame me for writing this article. I have to get it out of MY OWN SYSTEM. Any pro-SF readers out there, i am absolutely apologetic for hurting your cause. anti-SFers, i'm sure you know how i feel. SF, be warned.

issues and tissues

interns.

anachronistic swashbuckling samurai hiphop anime

comebacks.

hypocrisy and a nice photo

yippee

city trek II - bus stops

city trek

of translation

steampunk

OMG.

school tour

sunrise

notice the subject matter.

my kind of race

books

more of where it came from

quote

work/management theory

humbled

i am mathematical

the futility of it all

racy

i feeeeeeeel you, johannaaaaaaaa

death of a salesman

tautology (2)

Parkour

mathematically speaking

of plush toys

my art(ist) escapades

the spirit of christmas

artist part2

if i were someone else, on another existential plane.

Thriller

song

i don't have any money, whaddya want?

sigh

erotice justice

today at lunch...

legal sex

the tabloid series

sexy

minimalism

nothing

driving

friday

cheap office thrill

drone

how gold 90.5 is affecting me

ad

an obligatory lawyer joke

comics

living dangerously.

buses

indulge me

bleahs.

Ofelia!

dreams of long ago

Resolution

pink post-it!

all for me?

geriatrics

doctrine of estoppel

p.o.w.s

best years of my life.

leases.

*beeeeeeeeeeeep*

the walters in my life

nerds.

personal crisis.

horrors.

killing me, surely

On Commuting

Hiking Phenomena

Greek Mythology

Bad English/ Narcissus

Obsessed

Wallowing

On Blood (Loss)

News Flash

beeeeeeeeeeeep