Sanctuary

A Prayer for Rain

2011-05-05T12:51:00.004+08:00

Yesterday, I was somewhat brutally informed that this anti-PAP sentiment always ran high in the period leading up to the elections; that the people in Singapore always complained but voted for the PAP in the end; that yes, this time the younger generation who would actually dare to vote against the PAP after saying they would are eligible to vote but that the PAP would still win.

It's been a long time since I have come to this sanctuary.

What was I hoping for? The PAP to actually lose? That's not even possible, Despite what some foreign 'talent' says (that the PAP will win because the opposition doesn't make up enough seats -.-") being untrue, I understand that the PAP will probably still be the majority in Parliament.

But that does not mean it has to win.

I am not hoping for the PAP to lose. But the very fact that they may very well get away with all their (mis)deeds totally unscathed is truly scaring me.

I will admit that my first gripe with the PAP in this elections arose from Ms Tin Peiling. I looked at her and discounted her not just as a politician, but also as a potential employee. Yes, I judged this from her looks, the way she carried herself. But really, I would expect a politician to at least be able to look and SOUND decent. Even a 14-year-old student feels this way (yes, I actually asked A 14-year-old student :P). As with most Singaporeans, the unhappiness comes not from the fact that this girl gets to run but from the fact that she's going to sail into a $15k/month salary on the back of Singapore's beloved second Prime Minister. And more importantly, I am upset that Mr Wang pities the citizens of Singapore because they have such a government.

Why should we need such pity from such an arrogant person? Because we have such an arrogant government?

And arrogance is really the word of choice. Before the campaigning started, I thought that hey, the PAP would still win but that the opposition would make them sit up and take notice. And that this would be a stepping stone for the Singapore to become a true democracy and for the opposition to have proper competition in the next elections.

But no, even now the PAP has to prove me wrong. After listening and watching a whole bunch of nonsense up till Tuesday night, I was swayed to believe that that PAP was actually trying to LOSE the elections. Either that or that they believed they could do all that and get away with it because, hey, they are the PAP after all.

We know the PAP; we know which of the above-mentioned two suggestions it is.

And with this knowledge, there is a resounding fear in me that the PAP will win.

To me, it doesn't matter that the opposition may not have true concrete plans as stated by one of my friends on facebook. Yes, I agree with you that I would really like a politician who had solid good plans for the building of my nation and that waiting to see what could be done after being elected in may not be the best bet. But I say, I prefer this much greatly to the idea of the ruling party having concrete plans that benefit itself regardless of whether the citizens benefit.

And much as you can say that this is NOT what they have said they are going to do, this is what they are making me feel.

Dear citizens of CCK GRC (who may not live in CCK at all) who wish to have the PAP govern their estate, I apologise that I cannot aid you in this matter. Possibly because I don't live in CCK GRC but am being forced to vote for that GRC; this despite the fact that I changed my residential address in the first week of January this year and that the one and only property I own is not in CCK GRC.

As I used to tell my students, if you have a problem, you don't just complain--you find a way to fix it and suggest the solution. Thus I will not wish for the opposition to be successful. Thus I will not ask for wish for PAP's loss.

I pray for rain this Saturday. And a flood. Not a big one to take lives but a sufficiently large one to cleanse us all. Because if that is what it will take to open people's eyes, so be it.

Blog?

2008-10-09T00:24:00.002+08:00

So nobody blogs here anymore.
Everyone is dating. Except me. :)

And I bought a url to humor myself with, and hopefully it doesn't end up being a one entry per year kinda thing.

Blah. >> Myron Tay <<

Diu

2008-07-07T11:13:00.001+08:00

WAH Half a year no new post. how can!!!!!! All wow and lotr too much la!

Just for Alex Loh

2007-09-21T12:22:00.000+08:00

After I told Alex that he had a honourable mention in the previous post, he demanded to know why I didn't write more about him.

Alex! says:
...
Alex! says:
why
Alex!
says:
am i not the STAR of ur blog

So, I asked for his Chinese name so that I could do a proper dedication on the site to him.

Shelly says:
wad is your chinese name?
Alex! says:
....
Alex! says:
"wad is your chinese name"
sounds very suspicious.........

Wei. Alex. Want to be star of blog but don't want to give out full identity. How can.

Of Teaching and Volunteering

2007-09-21T09:50:00.000+08:00

Although it is quite evident that this blog has practically 0 readership (hmm I think I will make Ernie read my post later), I shall start to blog again here because ~~I have nothing better to do in school~~ typing induces the growth of fingernails and I have once again bitten them all off.

Really. Nailclippers are only for the big toenails when they grow to unreasonable lengths (i.e. a well placed kick from me would cause an imprint of my nail to be left on your shin), because I am not flexible enough to bite the nails off there, and i am unable to peel them off.

Ok fine. I get bored too easily and bitting fingernails is just another way for me to pass time. Which is why I have to grow back those nails or I'd seriously die of boredom.

So ya, I found my Degree Scroll. My mother had it after all. She hid it away in her cupboard. Goodness knows for what. It's not as if she wanted to keep me at home for the rest of her life - she has been after me to get a job for just about forever. I was right, however, about the temporary clerks in MOE (none of them read this blog, I presume =P). I probably could have gotten away with never letting them see my Degree Scroll by using the I've-already-sent-it-in and the I-never-received-your-letter methods. When I went for the interview, the guy at the counter (whom I assume is a temp clerk, him looking young and dressing rather casually) took all my documents, including the originals, to sort out and check. After my interview, all the originals were returned to me, and I checked with him that everything I needed to hand in was there. He said that it was, and that I was free to go. So I did.

A couple of days later, someone from MOE (whom I also think was a temp clerk, the permanent staff having better things to do than call up errant teachers-to-be) called me on my handphone, and asked me to send in a copy of my IC. I told her that I had already submitted a copy on the day of the interview, and also informed her that the guy who checked my documents confirmed with me before I left that he had all the necessary documents. She insisted that they did not have a copy of my IC, and requested that I fax a copy in. So I did what I normally do to unreasonable people over the phone (grrr I don't have a fax machine leh!) - I scolded her (for losing the photocopy of my IC). The only reason she was spared further trauma from me was that I used to be a temp clerk at MOE too, and not only did I have to deal with teachers who were blatantly lying about the submission of their documents (I mean seriously, how is it possible that you only receive the reminders and not the first letter we sent requesting for a copy of one of your certs, which you were supposed to have sent in a long time ago?), I also requested for some guy to send in his ORD cert 3x because I was too lazy to check the file properly. Thank you Wilson Lin for pointing this out to me. I would also thank this guy for complying each time I asked for it by name, but I ~~can't remember what his name is~~ I had signed a nondisclosure agreement with MOE.

Well anyway, I agreed mail them a copy of my IC, and of course, being me, I didn't. A few days later, I noticed the photocopied IC in Angus' aunt's car's glove compartment. Heehee. Oh well. He DID say he had all my documents right.

Now, more than 2 months later, I have yet to be contacted (again) about the lack of the photocopied IC.

MOE decided to hire me in the end, even without the copy of my IC. Bah. Don't they already have COPIES of my IC anyway. And they decided to post me to a school starting 10 September, which is just after the school holidays. Which means I get to go in during the school's examination period. And do WHAT? Get money for doing practically nothing? Not that I particularly mind heh. However, the other contract teacher who is sitting opposite me in one of the smaller staff rooms (yes, Willy, I am talking about you) suggested that if he were to give MOE a reason for terminating their employment, it would be that during the short stint he spent at PJC, he had nothing to do, he had not learnt anything, and has hence lost his direction in life.

I told him MOE would use that as grounds to fire him, on the basis that since he doesn't want to get paid for doing nothing, he would most probably be deemed as having some psychological problem.
The PJC teachers are very protective of their students (or so says the Principal), and hence I was not allowed to interfere with their preparations for the exams by being allowed to teach them. Good move, I say =X.

Willy Chua, I am laughing to myself because I have decided to sabo you and mention your name on this blog. Happy? Lalalala....

The HOD of Project Work in PJC, whom I have the (mis)fortune to be acquainted with, has given 'volunteering' a whole new meaning. On the first day, he announced to the other teachers during the meeting that the three contract teachers had volunteered to take over invigilation duties of teachers who for some reason or other cannot make it for their invigilation slot. After assembly on Monday morning, he came up, stood infront of Willy, looked at Willy and said that he needed one of us to volunteer to invigilate. Ok. Fine. Maybe he did look at Jennifer or me. I was too busy trying to remember if had any class to observe during the time of invigilation. But he was definitely standing infront of Willy, who was at the end of the row (of the 3 of us heh). Perhaps this is the way people are 'volunteered' in the army (can't remember, did Jennifer or Willy suggest this? Certain activites probably DO cause the death of brain cells =.="). During Tuesday morning's assembly, Willy was at invigilation, and Jennifer was standing with her mentor, so I was alone. I got approached after assembly and asked if one of us could volunteer for that afternoon's invigilation.

Alex commented that CKL could not possibly be a Maths teacher, because he does not understand that ¹C₁ = 1. Lol, good one Alex, but CKL teaches Maths haha. So does that mean it's his concept of volunteering that differs from the general population's?

Yesterday, while Willy and I were in the staff room ~~chatting on MSN~~ organising the content of the laptops that were loaned to us, Mr Chue came in looking for Jennifer (who sits in the other staff room with her mentor) to ask her to invigilate an exam that afternoon. So, because I am me, I decided to point out to him that his request for people to volunteer was never a really a request. To which he replied that since Willy and I have both invigilated before, it was Jennifer's turn. Today, Jennifer told us that she received a missed call from him, and an SMS to which she did not reply to. When she returned to a desk, she saw a note telling her to invigilate that afternoon's paper. So much for 'volunteering' =X. Why he did not leave a note on the desk for us so we could ~~volunteer Jennifer~~ let Jennifer volunteer herself is beyond me.

I now think that Mr Chue is a very evil person who does not let me volunteer for things (I very on leh! I like to volunteer for interesting things like invigilation! So fun!), and does not say hi to me when he sees me in random places in school; except for that one time on day 1, where he asked if I was influenced by Jason to teach. Doh. I applied to teach before in 2003, ok, long before I knew of Jason's existence. (I blithely ignored their offer of employment after getting into Honours haha.) But since Mr Chue looks like a huge teddy bear (no I'm not going to hug him -.-) he can continue to be mean to me T.T.

During the course of typing out this super long post (haha hey look Malcolm, my lengthy posts are back!) the head of Science came to see me just to ask how things were, and yay I had my legs folded up on the chair =P. He didn't say anything about that though. I also got scolded by the subject head of Biology for sleeping in another teacher's class. Argh. I apologised to one of the teachers for doing that ok. Sighz. Why that student complain about my sleeping. I didn't even put my head on the table bleah. I am however rather embarassed about managing to actually fall asleep in another teacher's class. Grrrrr.

Gerald, I blame you for making me WoW the night before =D.

Help Me Malcolm!

2007-07-06T04:21:00.000+08:00

Some time ago, Malcolm offered to Photoshop a Degree for Ruixian (see post).

I have an interview with MOE next week (to teach Biology and ENGLISH o.O) and they have requested (ok, fine, they said it is compulsory) for me to bring my University Transcripts and my Degree Scroll. I really have no idea why. On the website where I applied, they have already asked me if they can access my records (I think NUS and MOE share some database) and I have already agreed.

So I dug out all the copies of the transcripts sent to me each semester over the 4 years I was an Undergraduate in NUS. Found them all easily during the raid =P (Hehheh noone from my WoW guild reads this right). And then, I suddenly realise I have absolutely no idea where my degree scroll is. I can't even remember if it is laminated. All I remember is that it is with the certificate of my participation in the University Scholars Programme, and of course, I also have no idea where that cert is.

I know my first reaction to getting a new cert would be to get copies of it. Oddly enough, I also cannot find ANY copies of either certificate. My parents don't have my scroll. (Or so they claim. I will go dig in their room when they go to work tomorrow.) I have found the holder that I bought to store the scroll in. It, is, of course, still in it's wrapper, without the degree inside =.=. But then again, I bought the holder because it came with the bear that was wearing a graduation gown because I wanted Ernie to have a gown too, so I GUESS the folder wasn't very important to me.

ARGH. How does something of such a weird size go missing???

I hope the temp clerks at MOE still function in the same capacity as they did the last time I worked there. In which case, I will never have the need to surrender my Degree Scroll for their observation. Because they will keep forgetting. Or calling you for it. In which case you can just tell them you sent it in a long time ago, and ask them to recheck. And rinse and repeat each time they call/send you a letter.

I swear. That is what I suffered back in the day.

Or Malcolm, you could just photoshop one for me. T.T

Black, Blue, Green and Yellow.

2007-03-05T00:31:00.000+08:00

In English it is blue-black.

In Chinese it is black-green.

This is because yellow + blue == green.

More on afterlife and suicide

2007-01-14T17:06:00.000+08:00

Shelly asked: "But will you want to end your stationary existence? Will you actually act to end it? Or will your reluctance to cease existing allow for future nudges to prod you into moving once again?"

Might be stationary... but it is not completely boring and nasty.

Acting upon the will to cease existing requires too much effort and reason to change the way things are. Things are still alright. Being crippled does not mean that one does not feel or feels only pain. Being unable to feel does not mean one does not live in hope that one may feel again.

If life is not completely nasty, it does not need to be terminated. I mean, if your computer bores you, it is not like you actually try to wreck it. Leave it in screensaver mode or something and take a trip elsewhere.

As for stationary part. If one has not reached there, try not to reach there. From Boston Legal, a fictional lawyer by the name of Danny Crane said something to this effect: "Do not ask yourself 'why'. Never ask yourself 'why'. It will kill ya." Without lofty ideals that requires a great deal of blind faith to believe in, like religion, everything will fall apart in the light of infinite regression. Ok... not all things fall apart, but whatever you conclude will not be pretty. So if you have not begun, do not ever ask yourself 'why'.

Sidetracking: I believe that Danny Crane is an extremely wise character. Nothing that exits his mouth is not like completely profound or something. =D Clarity in mad cow. Truths in apparent insanity.

I have not written about my thoughts on afterlife on this blog so here goes... (Thoughts triggered by http://meyanze.blogspot.com/2006/09/journey-from-life-to-death-and-suicide.html)

On suicide

In Neil Gaimen's 'Portraits of Despair' in one of his many 'Sandman comics', there is a picture of a woman's ghost sitting alone by the roadside after she committed suicide. The tagline was "Funny... she did not feel any happier..." as she sat beside her carwreck in expectation that things will be better. I believe that the author is try to say that if one does not feel happy in this life, one could not realistically expect to be happy in the next.

On afterlife in general...

I believe that most people like to believe that the soul is eternal and afterlife is eternal too. That too is problematic in many ways.

In western cultures, if I am not wrong, the soul is ethereal and eternal and does not require material sustenance. Is that not a big problem? If one does not need material sustenance, one cannot enjoy material comforts either. Perhaps it is just me, but ask yourselves this: "What are we if we are not driven by the hope of material comforts? Can you imagine a life that does not require material sustenance and is not driven by material comforts? How is life's experiences going to be even vaguely relevant to the afterlife?" That is the way I pictured afterlife in this context: an eternity of waiting for the warmth that will never come and the food that you will never taste. And since there is no indication that one will grow any wiser all the emotional bullshit will just carry over, though you will probably not physically feel it too so everything is just imagined? An eternity of makeups with no sex and breakups with no ice cream? For religions largely influenced by Judaism (I might be wrong to make this generalisation), you start it with a trial where there is no Danny Crane can save you. And you spend the rest of the VERY LONG segment of your afterlife preparing for the court of appeals at the end of time? Now why would I wish this upon myself and others. Reincarnation is not possible, if you REALLY hate yourself, that is what you will be stuck with for a VERY LONG time and good luck trying to kill yourself again. There is a way out fortunately. If you are good boy/girl, you will probably end up with a lifetime supply of an overdose of afterlife-functional prozac and sing/gibber about your favorite idol for eternity. IMO, in this setting, 'heaven' or 'hell' or 'purgatory' all seems to suck. I do not wish to be in a situation where I have to choose between these 3 hells.

In Chinese cultures of Taoism and Buddhism, it seems much more interesting. When I remarked that there is more than enough time to rest when we are dead, HP happily chirped: "错了！做鬼也很忙！要忙着收钱。。。收房子。。。收汽车。。。下面 inflation rate 很高的！还有很多 corruption！" Sounds like the rat-race on crack. HAHA. Still sounds preferable to western views, because if I am unhappy I can go smell a lot of incense. The court of appeals system is also more flexible so as long as you 集一点德 to offset 你所造的聂... you will not be sentenced to lifetime imprisonment. And the best part is! You get to drink the 'Water of forgetfulness' and start over again! Maybe as a cockroach if you 造 too much 聂. For people who want to commit suicide, I believe this is what they are looking for. Start over! It is fun! =D

Personally...

Unfortunately, I do not subscribe to any known organised structures that has anything to say about afterlife. If there happens to be an afterlife, I am not sure how I will react to it. I will react to it really badly I suppose. I am not made to live forever and I do not wish for it. I certainly hope either that I fade into oblivion or be reincarnated. If I could live forever that will truly be hell. If I wake again to find myself in an eternal place where no reincarnation is possible, I will be majorly pissed. Ok... I might be relieved for a while, but I will definitely end up being majorly pissed.

I will like to to die while I still want to live. And not have my life drag out so long that I find myself wanting to die.

Disclaimer

I find it very silly but I will just write this anyway. This post reflects my thoughts and not anyone else's.

Please refrain from framing, 'crusading', 'jihading', 'lynching', I can be reasoned with unlike some people. Just post intelligently back in a coherent manner.

If you think my replies will offend you please do not post back.

Unlike many others, I do not believe I have a court case in my afterlife. Therefore, I am less constrained by rules in comparison to others. My actions will be clear and direct for there is less need for accountability or hypocricy.

Clarification

2007-01-14T07:40:00.000+08:00

It seems like with my last post, I have freaked out at least 2 people (see tagboard and Puffy's post). Ok, maybe not Ruixian heh. (Goodness lah Ruixian if you *really* didn't mean your statement to carry so much meaning, should just pretend right? It's really cool if you intended it to mean what I thought it did =P.) Oops. Did not intend it to be that way. Sometimes something I read just strikes me in a particular way. As in the case with Ruixian's statement, I at first thought, yes, we all do need laughter in our lives. Whether it's from relief (e.g. after you fall down the stairs but land on your feet) or because you find something amusing, a laugh will always help to brighten up your day. However, I also felt that the statement was profound because there appeared to be an underlying message - that in life, things don't always go your way, but not everything leaves a scar, and if you're able to look back at an incident that affected you in a negative way, and laugh at it, you can move on with your life.

And because I'm me, I was suddenly struck by the phrase 'laugh it all off because there's no deep scar anywhere'. It reminded me of the times in my life when my whole world was falling apart, but I had to keep smiling and go on with the show. Yes, the deepest scars are also the deepest buried. And yes, I've definitely been hurt before in my life. When you've reached my age, it's highly unlikely that you've never ever ever been wounded deep down before. Just once is enough. And suddenly this whole new side of the world will become visible to you.

I'm not exactly sad or hurting now. As it was when I read some certain post some time in the 2nd half of 2006, the incident mentioned in the post below only served to provide me with a huge sense of relief. Any sadness related to the incident would be due to the loss of a very good chance, not because of the other person involved. And perhaps upset (angry?) that he appears to be telling others untruths about me.

Ruixian's statement simply served to evoke a whole train of thought, which I just had to blog about. I believe that being hurt is actually a good thing. In JC, my classmate said that she didn't believe in God, because she couldn't believe any God would allow suffering to occur in this world. I, however, believe that you cannot truly experience life without having suffered before. It is impossible to appreciate something if you cannot fathom what life would be without it.

And that is why I would like to say to Puffy, although I'm not sad (and anyway I didn't get abandoned, and definitely not by a person I trusted), you should know that, it's only because I have experienced sadness before, that happiness means so much more to me now.

And finally, I would like to say in response to Malcolm's tag: That which does not kill may leave you crippled, and you may get crippled to the point where you do not want to move anymore. But will you want to end your stationary existence? Will you actually act to end it? Or will your reluctance to cease existing allow for future nudges to prod you into moving once again?

No Crash, No Burn = No Scar?

2007-01-12T06:09:00.000+08:00

From Ruixian's Blog:

Life should have more of these mistakes to laugh at, like maybe you slip down the stairs and you're expecting to crash (and burn) badly but you land, thankfully, on your feet, then you can recover from it and laugh it all off because there's no deep scar anywhere.

A very profound statement. Those in love, or who have known true love, could modify it slightly by saying replacing 'you land, thankfully, on your feet' with 'someone catches you in time'.

And yes, I agree with Ruixian, we really need more of these experiences in life. But as time wears on, and your notions of the perfect world around you are slowly shattered, you may start to wonder, after falling and landing on your feet, you can laugh, but can you really recover? Not all scars are visible, and those that hurt the most are usually buried deep down inside.

Last year I met a girl, who was (and still is) vibrant and full of life. 'Hyper' would be the choice of word many would use to describe her. Oddly enough, she says that I am more hyper than her. I do not claim to be like her. She has qualities that I have never possessed. And yes, she sometimes scares me. But why does she truly frighten me? I wonder if it's the intensity that she does things with, the happiness she radiates when she is being hyper. Maybe I see in her a part of me that has died over the years. 8 years can do a lot to a person.

My mother once told me that her friends and colleagues commented that I was an extraordinarily happy baby - I smiled in almost all the photos taken of me. I think I stopped being able to smile for the camera somewhere in Secondary school. I wonder if I will ever stop being able to smile.

Many people make New Year's Resolutions. I think, at least for me, they don't really work. Resolutions can be made at any time, and it helps if there is an event that happened around the time it was made to help you keep to it. New Year doesn't work for me.

Someone once said that, with one SMS, he finally saw a person for who she really is. I have seen this person for what he truly is for quite some time now. But only parts registered consciously. It took a statement from a friend, reminding me of that SMS, to let me clearly see what he really is.

Some would say that now is a good time for me to pick up the pieces and start over. I think I'll let the pieces stay where they are, and patch up the holes with new experiences. I'm not one to bear grudges. But I think the pieces should remain where they are, because I prefer not to forget. No matter what he may tell the world, there are some things I don't have to lie about. And those pieces should remain where they are, to serve as a reminder to me, always. Pieces to be viewed from a distance, because the sharp edges can only hurt when you touch them.

Circumcision?

2007-01-09T06:25:00.000+08:00

Went to read Kenny Sia's blog and came across this entry. It's funny, of course, but as usual the comments were the most hilarious part of the post. I really had no idea that people would now view circumcision as something to be proud of (previously, I actually thought the normal view was that non-circumsized men had it better in bed), but hey, I'm not the guy, and maybe cutting it off is really more hygienic (like girls going for Brazilian waxes).

Samples of some of the more amusing comments:

dude!! 24 years later & you still don't know how to pee right??
u may wanna know that circumcised male are placed at a lower risk of AIDS as the cells of the foreskin are 'friendly' for the entry of the human immunodeficiency virus.

Me: Good point eh, but you have to have sex with someone with HIV in order to get HIV, and you should be asking yourself, why are you having sex with someone who has HIV, not if you should have a circumcision to reduce your risk of getting it.

SLICE IT MATE!!! SLICE IT!!!!!!!
So big liao only cut, very pain one. (I mean your age big, not ur kukuciao k?)
Alternatively, u can pay extra money, to make u sleep during the process. which is good, so u wont panic when u see a doc with a light saber coming to ur kuku.
(from the same guy who made the previous comment) But hey, now i doesnt felt that kind of thing on my dickhead anymore. Except sometimes when i accidentally drip some toothpaste on it. which can make u scream ur lungs out.
(Still from the same guy, what a cool mom!) My mom said, zhanging kuku is really really good for ur dickhead. Sometimes after masturbating, the sperm is stuck inside the skin.
(And again from the same guy, especially for Myron)Imagine leaving sperm in a condom and left it there for days. ewwwwwwww
I never zhng my kuku & still chicks says there is no smell or taste when they lick the lollipop.

Me: Why this guy ask girls such WEIRD things o.O. Eeek. Oh. Maybe the girls he dates are so weird they comment on the TASTE of his penis. Eck. No. Maybe they really think it's a lollipop and are wondering why it's got no taste. *faint*

JUST CUT IT!!! It will make you feel like a VIRGIN again!!! ;p

Me: Now how DOES this work hmmm....

lan jiao stay uncut.. will look like torpedo.
Kenny, you are a genius.You succeeded in getting rid of the typical Malaysian taboo by getting girls to admit without any sense of embarassment that they give blowjobs.
it'll taste better if u cut.....

Me: For obscure reasons, I am thinking of how good blood tastes now....

(Some people dunno how to count) kenny, one word. do it. im gonna do it. lets do it together.
Before you go for it though, ask the doctor if he can sew the skin around the dickhead to form a sunflower shape... that would be damn cool.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=kenny
kenny u are a foreskin! harharharharhar

And finally, the general consensus:

Thus, our logical conclusion today here is: LEAVE YOUR SCHLONG ALONE, MAN!
But if you can't, don't forget your camera.

Racial Discrimination?

2007-01-09T04:23:00.000+08:00

On a recent post on his blog, Mr Wang laments on the requirement for one's race to be specified when filling in a warranty card. He says that it is "uniquely Singaporean". I guess I don't buy enough Singaporean products, because I don't remember ever having to fill in my race in on a warranty form. *Looks at Cannon warranty card on desk*. Nope, it doesn't ask for my race. As The Galoisian Radical pointed out in his comments on Mr Wang's site, putting 'others' as an option for race isn't "uniquely Singaporean".

I didn't write this to critisize Mr Wang. (I wrote this because his post reminded me of the lecturer I am going to write about =P.) I do agree with his opinion that some people may find it offensive to have to be labelled as 'others'. However, I would think it would be more impolite to actually not have an 'others' option for people to choose from.

Take A/P Chrys Mendis from NUS, who was my lecturer for UIT2204: Foundations of Engineering in 2003. He staunchly refuses to be labelled as an Indian, because of the conflicts between Sri Lanka and India. So when he was required to fill in his race on a form in the hospital (which does make more sense than having to fill in your race on a warranty form, I have to say), he filled in 'Human'. The nurse/receptionist saw that, crossed it out, looked at him, and chose 'Indian'. He then scolded her, and said that if she was to choose a race for him, it was to be 'others'.

So, if you really have to ask for race, and you give choices on the form (let's face it - not only do most of us prefer to pick an option instead of filling in a blank, the collation of the results for statistical purposes would be made much easier if choices were given), omitting 'others' would really be much more impolite than forcing some to choose 'others' as a race. Maybe what Mr Wang is suggesting is that all possible options be given, but this seriously serves no statistical purpose (considering that those choosing 'others' would really be a minority), and not everyone is ashamed of being from a minority race. Maybe it's because I'm Chinese in a country where the population is predominately Chinese so I never really feel slighted about my race, but I'm pretty sure if I were filling in a non Asian form which Chinese was not listed as one of the races, I wouldn't really feel slighted should I have to choose 'others' as my race. It's the truth after all. But I would be really peeved if they refused to even acknowledge the existence of my race by giving me 'others' to choose, or forced me to look through this silly long string of races just to find my own.

As for filling human as my race, I guess there was a point of time in my life where I would do that (i.e. that crazy time in Secondary school where classmates would bring in a stack of survey forms from the other GEP schools and we'd help some friend's friend mass fill them hahaha), but since I've had my fill of inventing answers (and adding options next to the existing ones heeheehee), I don't think I'd still do that now.

Back to Prof Mendis. It was rather refreshing to find a professor who during his lessons, instead of telling you what he did 'in 1981, when I was doing my phD' (goodness knows what THAT professor wanted - for you to follow in her footsteps, or to boast about her accomplishments?), complains about the people driving on Singapore expressways, saying that they drive so slowly in the right most lane, and announcing that he expected people to be able to drive above the speed limit in that lane.

He's also the one who tried to apply to be a Professional Engineer in Singapore a long time ago. Apparently, the form he had to fill was in landscape, and was to be filled in in print or using a typewriter. Since he didn't want to mess up the form with his handwriting, and because he couldn't properly fit a paper landscape into the typewriter, he copied out the whole form into his computer, and typed all his answers (without changing the format of the form, of course), and printed it for submission. It was rejected because it was not on the original form. He wrote in with appeals, and got the usual 'we are looking into this matter'. As of the time he told the story to my class, he was still not recognised as a Professional Engineer in Singapore, but as he cynically put it, as soon as he gets on a plane and it takes off, he is recognised as a Professional Engineer.

And, as he suspected it would be (when he tried to submit the form he printed himself, and said it would be during the class), the form to apply to become a Professional Engineer in Singapore can now be downloaded here, right into your computer, which you ~~may~~ are expected to print on your own paper for submission.

Never mind the corny jokes he made. (Said Prof Mendis to Justin, "Why is there no Justout?") Never mind the fact that I didn't actually learn any Engineering in his class (one must never complain about an 'A'). Though they are stories that I (and the class) initially found funny, the 2 that I have written about in this post have taught me more about the fundamentals of life than any other lecturer in NUS has.

Yes, even the Moral Reasoning (Philisophy) one.

Those Crazy DOTA Opponents

2007-01-02T07:32:00.000+08:00

After playing DOTA for some time, you'd think you've heard all the trash talk possible from the members of the opposing team. Currently, most of this 'trash' revolves around MapHacking, which opponents seem to accuse you of whenever you kill them, or successfully escape from their gangbang. They will also definitely accuse you of MapHacking if you accuse them, or any member of their team, of MHing.

In 2 of the DOTA games I've played today, the opponents I encountered have once again reminded me that, there are, indeed, really bizarre people in Singapore who play DOTA.

In the first game, my teammates accused the Lion from the opposing team of MHing, which sparked off the usual response of 'We're not MHing YOU are'. However, as the game drew near the end (i.e. the opponent's base was being whitewashed), one of the opponents announced that he was lagging, and had been throughout the entire game, and that it was the person who was MHing that was causing the lag.

=.=". So now, not only do people think you can get the power to do whatever you wish in the game with MH (see post), they also think you can cause LAG with MH. I guess they must believe in Map Hacking, in the literal sense of the word.

I probably would have blogged about this lag-by-MH issue, except that from the start to the end of the game, the person we accused of MHing was lagging so badly that his lag screen would show up every now and then; and his was the only one to do so throughout the entire game, except for a crazy ally of ours who got bored and lagged himself out of the game on purpose. Apparently by pressing Alt-Tab.

In the last game I played, the opponents confirmed my belief that no matter how you play, and what you do, as long as one of your teammates accuses a member of the opposing team of MHing, the other team will accuse members of your team of MHing.

From the start of the game, the other members in my team suspected the Furion from the other team of MHing, and decided to test if it was true. They started to randomly ping all over the map to see how the Furion would react. I'm not exactly sure what they expected him to do, but if he was MHing, and seeing all those pings all over the map like I was, it may have been rather taxing on him (I know the pings on the Mini Map were causing me to hallucinate a little more than usual), up to the point that when he was accused on 'All' of MHing, he didn't even bother to deny it. He, instead, dropped all his items in his base, and ran straight into our fountain.

His teammates, as expected, immediately accused one of us of MHing (they always manage to find someone to blame, and weirdly enough, it's never me. Hmm....) when we asked them to stop MHing so blatantly. When the Furion was directly pinpointed out, he vaguely admitted MHing, and by his further action of suicide, it was rather obvious that he was, indeed, MHing. His teammates, however, kept insisting that we were the ones MHing, and that we were only accusing them of MHing because we were noob, losing, and being sore losers.

Noone on my team could see how having a kill-death ratio of 38-10 was 'losing', so we kindly informed the opponents of that fact. One of my teammates then asked the opp if he 'had Primary school English'. I'm not exactly sure what prompted him to ask, but that opp immediately retaliated by asking us if WE had Primary school English, and proudly proclaiming that he had Secondary school education. o.O.

The entire opponent team then proceeded to use the words 'sore losers' and 'noobs' in great quantity, while attempting to insult our proficiency of English. So we asked if they knew how to see the kill-death ratio (which was still very much on our side), to which one of them actually answered 'no'.

And then, because I was bored, I told the opponents to stop 'talking big'. Which got an immediately reply of 'You said I don't have Primary school English and you ask me to stop talking big.' or something along those lines. Er? So I asked him what talking big and not having Primary school education had to do with each other, and he said I didn't know what I was talking about. and said I should 'be mum'.

Now, I know that 'mum' can be used in the context of silence, but I've only seen it used as 'keep mum', not 'be mum'. I'm still not really very sure if 'mum' can be used in conjunction with 'be' (checked up with the online dictionary, doesn't really give me an answer).

So I decided to be funny. I told the opponents that I was a mum (well he asked me to be mum right), and I asked them if they were embarrassed to be losing to a mother.

Amazingly, everyone of them kept quiet after that.

Faint. Maybe they are all in Primary or Secondary school, and are still scared of mothers.

Because I Told Malcolm I Would Do It

2006-12-21T00:41:00.000+08:00

malc says:
i am home!!!!
Shelly和小Ernie says:
GRATZ!
Shelly和小Ernie says:
you made it!
Shelly和小Ernie says:
hahaha
malc says:
i didnt
malc says:
dizzy
malc says:
and die
Shelly和小Ernie says:
wad you pregnant
malc says:
we havnt have sex how i pregnant!!!
Shelly和小Ernie says:
ruixian mah!
malc says:
she underage... if i pregnant if i say it is her i will get jailed...so i will pt a finger at u
Shelly和小Ernie says:
i post this up on your blog ok
malc says:
!!!!

Would anyone remember me?

2006-12-19T23:54:00.000+08:00

ITS MY BIRTHDAY IN 5 MINUTES

6 more

2006-12-14T14:13:00.000+08:00

days till my birthday

7 more days

2006-12-13T23:27:00.000+08:00

till my birthday.

Listen Up Guys!

2006-12-13T06:23:00.001+08:00

A couple of days ago, some guy trying to test the waters to see how I would react to his proposal made a really big mistake. He started off alright, asking me as a passing comment if I would say yes if he asked me to marry him. I answered with the standard 'Of course, if you buy me that ring.'

This guy happens to know I want a ring from Tiffany and Co. because he knows my female friend, and one day in 2003 when we were tired of studying for the finals, we went to Tiffany's to have a look, and I pointed out that ring to her. Unfortunately, Ms Ye Meixiu cannot remember which ring it is. And no laughter about wanting a ring from Tiffany's please. I'm a sucker for that place because Audrey Hepburn happens to be my definition of beautiful, and then well my favourite movie just happens to have a proposal scene at that silly shop.

So basically that guy went to Tiffany's and since Meixiu didn't know which ring it was, went to have a look around. He apparently saw this ring with a price tag of 5 digits (not including the decimal place duh) that he couldn't take his eyes off. He said he went to look at other rings in the store, but that ring sparkled so much he couldn't stop looking at it.

And he foolishly enough told me this immediately after I reminded him that no proposal to me without a ring is ever going to get a yes.

So I told him matter-of-factly that the ring I originally wanted only cost 2-3K, but since there's a ring that he thinks is much nicer, so much so that he can't even look around to find a ring that could possibly be the one I was referring to, then obviously I'm not going to settle for less than that ring.

Hee hee hee. Not going to mention that guy's name here, in case he gets embarassed and I won't get any ring at all =(.

Something for you all to learn from, guys. Especially those *ahemMalcolmahem* who need me to invite the girl they are interested in into a group MSN chat window and ask her out for them because they are too shy to *gigglez*.

Christmas Story

2006-12-13T04:36:00.000+08:00

http://www.futurismic.com/2006/12/new_fiction_from_jason_stoddar_1.html

Why can't the Jasons I know write like that? =P

SALE SALE SALE

2006-12-10T11:13:00.000+08:00

Bought a new top and cardigan from Topshop ($120?) and a sexy new fossil watch ($147) from the sale going on over at Suntec. Yummy.

Btw, is it true that Malc and Ruixian are cohabiting?

Awwwwww Malc.......

2006-12-10T09:21:00.000+08:00

Stumbled across this video on http://www.everyone.rossfun.net/play.htm. I love Firefox's Stumble addon. How else can I entertain myself in the middle of the night or in the early morning when all sane people are still in bed?

Ya well, so this video kinda reflects Malcolm's sentiments exactly.

Malcolm's response on being shown this video:

Shelly和小Ernie says:
http://www.everyone.rossfun.net/play.htm
Shelly和小Ernie says:
this muz have been written for you
malc says:
i wan sex!!!!

Heehee. Don't let that scare you off, Ruixian, he's a perfect gentleman, and won't force himself upon you. In fact, he is so law abiding that he won't even ask until you are legal =P.

But on another note, I am going to play at bridge at the 28th ASEAN Bridge Championships on Monday (which is why I cannot go for your tuition on Monday, Ruixian; don't know if you received my SMS or not, my phone seems to either send out 1 million of the same SMS to everyone, or no SMS at all baaaahhh). I asked Malcolm to come and watch, and he said he would only go if Ruixian goes and hangs on his arm the entire time. He also said that he would prefer it if Ruixian would wear her SCGS uniform, but that is optional. He giggled that Ruixian in her SCGS uniform watching bridge with him would make him look extremely paedophilic, and he thought that it would be cool.

I pointed out to him that Jason (Chew) would be there, and so would Yingdan, and the difference in their age is 1 more than the difference between Ruixian's and his age. Malcolm retaliated by saying that Ruixian is younger than Yingdan, so he wins.

Win what win. Ruixian isn't legal. You want to sit in jail cell issit Malcolm.

On another note, Ruixian, you can have tuition on Thursday and Friday this week? You can sit for the entire duration of Ruichen's tuition, and I'll be there for at least 3 hours on both days, so I think you should be able to complete most of your homework? MSN me the reply ok my hp is very CMI. Tag here also can.

Yes, I don't know how a girl who managed to score As for all the subjects I teach her without wanting my tuition for approximately 1/2 a year needs help with her homework, but since Ruichen definitely needs tuition, I'll be going there anyway, and Ruichen knowing that I will still be staying for 3 hours MIGHT actually do the work I give her properly so that she can leave before the 3 hours is over.

I can only hope =X.

Oh and Ruixian, if you actually want to come and watch me play bridge, you don't have to cling on to Malcolm. Hee hee hee.

To Those Who Know Me in Real Life

2006-12-07T06:32:00.000+08:00

Help me do this : http://kevan.org/johari?name=ShellyYong

Heehee thanks.

Johari Window

2006-12-07T02:29:00.001+08:00

http://kevan.org/johari?name=myrons
Out of sheer boredom. Wheee. DO IT!

A house is not a home.

2006-12-06T22:48:00.000+08:00

Google earth is freaking fantastic. I found my home in taiwan (BWAHHA BIGGEST IN THE ENTIRE AREA) and the pig farm that I keep raving about.

Kinda makes me miss my relatives over there. :'(

Bored...

2006-12-04T23:16:00.000+08:00

It's 2315 and nobody's dotaing...just when i finally got my modem fixed. This...is...crap. Malc wants me to contribute reasons why people shouldn't do med (prolly cos he does not want rx to do med...evil mojo). Since I'm doing a miserable posting now...guess I'll oblige
1. You really have NO life. You think you have it bad in uni when u r studying when everyone else is having hols? Well, that's the way it is after u graduate too. Ever hear of hospitals that close on weekends? And you know wat? It doesn't stop even after u become consultant-->NO LIFE
2. For the amt of time u work, you get paid peanuts...and I don't mean the NKF kind of peanuts...Just think: is 30 hours of your life (sleep deprived) worth the miserable 210 (330 weekend) bucks extra they pay you? Not gonna go into the hourly rate here...its so sad I'll cry.
3. Everything bad that happens is your fault. Relatives blame you if patients die, your seniors blame you if patients die, the nurses look at you like u r the scourge of the earth...and the truth is: that poor guy would prolly have died anyway no matter wat u do. They just like to blame somebody. On the bright side, once u become senior then u dun get blamed anymore--u can blame the juniors :P
4. You live in fear of lawyers (who work like crap too--but who at least get paid at a more decent rate). And how often do you hear of lawyers getting sued? The last one I understand got away with enuff money to start a new life in Switzerland. You try embezzling someone's organs in medicine and getting away with it...
5. Your whole life is about being trampled upon: junior dr trampled by nurses, patients and seniors, senior dr trampled by administrators and patients, and juz when u think u got it made by being administrator, administrator kena trampled by minister-->GG

I think 5 is enuff for now...getting more depressed...maybe i'll go collate a few more from frens...

Questions Designed for the Sake of Humour?

2006-12-04T22:14:00.000+08:00

From this website: http://humour.group.stumbleupon.com/forum/54543/, under the heading 'Some great questions brought to you by Peter Kay'. I don't know who Peter Kay is, but most of his questions, though probably intended to be on the humourous side, seem totally bizarre to me. I shall therefore help him answer his questions here.

1) Why does your gynaecologist leave the room when you get undressed?

Do you actually think you pay enough for your gynaecologist to stay and watch you get undressed? He/she has got better things to do than stand around and watch you. Besides, I think the poor doctor probably doesn't really want to that much of you in 1 session (you probably don't look THAT good down there, yah? =P).

The question here should be 'Does Peter Kay have his own gynaecologist? Or do females routinely talk to him about their visits to the gynaecologist?'

2) If a person owns a piece of land do they own it all the way down to the core of the earth?

I think that person owns it as far down as they can possibly get. Heehee. Guess this isn't that bad a 'question'.

3) Why can't women put on mascara with their mouth closed?

Don't know leh. I don't put mascara often, but when I do, I can do it with my mouth closed.

Ok fine. I sometimes stick out my tongue when doing it. But I stick out my tongue most of the time anyway (fortunately partner is usually dummy when this occurs - i.e. no need for partner to concentrate). There seriously isn't enough space in my mouth for it to remain there all the time.

But I don't think my friends put on mascara with their mouths open. Bizarre question.

4) Is it possible to brush your teeth without wiggling your bottom?

Erm. Yes. I don't wiggle my bottom when brushing teeth. I can't even remember a time when I ever did.

My current thoughts: Is Peter Kay a male who goes to the gynaecologist, wiggles his bottom uncontrollably when he brushes his teeth, and watches females put on mascara?

5) Why is it called Alcoholics Anonymous when the first thing you do is stand up and say, 'My name is Peter and I am an alcoholic'?

Because Peter may be Mary and noone will question him/her on his/her true identity.

This is the 2nd 'question' I find to be (slightly) humourous.

6) Why are they called stairs inside but steps outside?

They do????

7) Why is there a light in the fridge and not in the freezer?

Haha. In this current day and age, most freezers DO have lights. But in the past, yes, there used to only be a light in the fridge, but not in the freezer. My very rich friend thought that all freezers came with lights because his did (I commented that this was not the case, but he said his freezer always had a light).

So why would they put a light in the fridge, not the freezer? Because chances are that when you get up in the middle of the night for a snack and are lazy to switch on the light, whatever you want is likely to be in the fridge, not the freezer. In most freezers too, there's like only 1 thing that can actually be eaten without having to first thaw and/or cook - icecream. So to be more economical, there's only a light in the fridge.

Maybe Peter Kay keep his moisturiser in the freezer, and gets up in the middle of the night dehydrated and wanting to slather on some nice cold cream regularly? Hmmm....

8) Why does mineral water that 'has trickled through mountains for centuries' have a 'use by' date?

Because the mineral water that 'has trickled through mountains for centuries' was purified and sterliised before it was bottled for you to drink, and the 'use by' date is when this (relatively) bacteria-free state of the water would last until.

9) Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible crisp no one would eat?

Don't know. My toaster doesn't seem to do that. Peter Kay - learn to control your toaster!

10) Is French kissing in France just called kissing?

Don't know. Got only C5 for AO French =P.

Are French fries in France just called fries?

There's kind of a difference between a 'normal' kiss and a 'French' kiss, but there's no real difference between 'normal' fries and 'French' fries. Improved on your question for you, Peter Kay; or perhaps you could use 'my' question because someone else already had and you'd be accused of plagiarism? Heehee.

11) Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, 'I think I'll squeeze these dangly things here and drink whatever comes out'?

Someone who already knew what milk was, and knew that squeezing the dangly things would give milk. The first person to milk a cow likely saw calves drinking milk from their mother before.

12) What do people in China call their good quality plates?

Porcelain. 磁瓦. Or 好素质碟盘.

13) Why do people point to their wrist when asking for the time, but don't point to their crotch when they ask where the bathroom is?

I don't point to my wrist when asking for the time. And when you need to go to the toilet, it could be for many reasons other than the one that involves your crotch. You could need to use your ass, or wash your hands, or reapply your makeup. Goodness. Do you need to tell others what you are going to do in the toilet? They might actually decide NOT to tell you where the toilet is after you point to your crotch, and then you can go pee in your pants =P.

But there WAS this weird time when a woman came up to me and asked me for the time, saying she wasn't wearing a watch. To emphasize her point, she pointed at her wrist (no watch there, of course). Weird part is I wasn't wearing a watch either.

14) What do you call male ballerinas?

Ballet dancers. Male ballet dancers, if you wish to be SO precise.

15) Why is a person that handles your money called a 'Broker'?

Don't know, but I actually see the humourous bit of this question.

16) If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?

Quizzes aren't quizzical. Quizzical is usually a description of the look on a person's face, or an expression. Like the one that was on my face when I read most of the 'great' questions by Peter Kay.

3/16 vaguely humourous questions. I wonder what Peter Kay does for a living.

Its moi burfday

2006-12-04T18:53:00.000+08:00

Am reading Timoleon Vieta Come Home. bloody good read I tell ya. :) Birthdays coming up (December 20th people!) and heres a suggested list of books to get me.

1. Anthropology and a hundred other stories.
2. Don't Tell me the Truth About Love
3. Little White Car.

All by Dan Rhodes. :) Make my collection complete people!

Update: Someone just agreed to get me the anthropology book. 2 MORE LEFT! BOOK EARLY!

RESOLUTION!

2006-12-04T17:31:00.000+08:00

THIS PIC SHALL MOTIVATE MUA TO LOSE WEIGHT ONCE AGAIN

MORE MORE MORE

2006-12-04T17:13:00.000+08:00

Camwhore!

2006-12-04T16:52:00.000+08:00

HELLO

2006-12-04T06:24:00.000+08:00

Harloe Malcolm see Ernie can POST ok.

Ernie's paws say hi to everyone.

Mugshot

2006-12-03T00:28:00.000+08:00

Picture of yours truely on a good day

Reasons Why Malcolm and Ruixian Should get Attached

2006-11-30T05:31:00.000+08:00

Malcolm's name comes first throughout only because it starts with M and M comes before R.

1. Malcolm's and Ruixian's friends are supportive of them being a couple.

This is evident from all the posts and tags on this blog. The approval of friends is extremely important. Relationships rarely survive without it. Sure, Shania Twain's 'You're Still the One' points out that what your friends say may not really matter, but if they object to such a union, there usually is a good reason. And having their approval DOES make life hell a lot easier for the couple. At least they won't frown when you bring your other half out for a group outing, and keep talking bad about him/her when you are alone with them.

2. Malcolm and Ruixian are both intelligent.

Malcolm went to elite schools all the way (due to scholarly merit, of course), and Ruixian was on 'Singapore's Brainest Kid', and is currently in an elite school. Having about the same level of intellectuality, they should be able to have conversations on the same level as each other (i.e. no communication problems).

The Singapore Government also approves of such unions, because they believe that the elite will spawn an elite next generation. Yes, we should not let the government run our lives, and seriously, why should we do what the government suggests? As with no. 1, it never hurt to have the approval of the government.

And really, we all do want smart kids, don't we? =P

3. Malcolm and Ruixian live near each other.

Yes, Myron has already mentioned that in his post, but I'm going to expand on it.

While dating, living near each other is a bonus. The guy can always send the girl home, and even pick the girl up for dates. This is rather important in Singapore, where it is rather expensive to own a car. Travelling together on public transport gives more opportunities for conversation, and the couple can get to know each other better. Less time is wasted apart too. Spontaneous suppers, come-meet-me-I'm-at-home-on-MC-and-you're-home-too's and the like are also facilitated by the proximity.

Sure, absence makes the heart grow fonder, but I'm sure they will miss each other enough if when they return home for the night.

And upon marriage, the couple can easily choose a location for a home near (or far haha) from both sets of parents.

4. Both of them have the same surname.

There will be no quarrels about retention of surname, or whose surname the children should adopt. Ruixian (or Malcolm =P) will not have to assume another surname.

Having the same surname of course implies that they are from the same race. Although race should not matter, we being in this multi-racial country called Singapore ('regardless of race, language or religion'), it still affects many, and having an other half from the same race is generally more acceptable by the older generation (read:parents).

And yes, as with no.s 2 & 3, why bother with what your parents think? Life's already hard enough as it is; there is no need to create more problems.

5. Malcolm and Ruixian are around the same height.

This is for practical (and aesthetic) purposes, obviously. Ruixian is shorter than Malcolm, and Malcolm isn't too tall such that Ruixian would have problems holding his hand, or would have to strain her neck every time she looks up to talk to him.

6. Malcolm's and Ruixian's first (and last) time can be with each other.

This has already been touched on in Myron's post, but once again I'm going to expand on it.

It is very rare these days for couples to save themselves till marriage, so having your first and last time with the same person, and keeping yourself only to that person throughout is makes you (practically) unique.

Ok. Enough of that preaching crap. No prior sexual experiences = no STDs. 'Nuff said.

7. Malcolm and Ruixian are both not brand conscious.

No expectations of designer goods on birthdays/anniversaries/Valentine's Day etc. No disappointment at the other half for turning up in cheap clothing on a date. No shame in introducing the other half to their friends simply because he/she didn't wear at least $1000 worth of clothing and the bag he/she is carrying was the free one given with some promotion.

Money saved = money earned. More for the future =).

8. Malcolm and Ruixian can both learn to play contract bridge together.

Learning with another beginner is much more fun.

Ok fine. This point was included because I have failed to get both of them to play bridge. OEI WHAT'S WRONG WITH LEARNING HOW TO PLAY BRIDGE!

Now that my hair is dried, I will go to bed. And no, Malcolm, I will not stop gossiping about you on your blog. Because YOU refuse to blog on your own blog, and I have noone else to gossip about. You know there are many ways to remedy this situation ya? The 2 most prominent ones being 1) get attached to Ruixian so I will not be able to gossip about the both of you, and 2) BLOG LA DUH!

And the Ball is in Malcolm's Court

2006-11-30T03:42:00.000+08:00

The data on Ruixian's computer has disappeared, her computer requests for a format, and she has asked for help on Malcolm's rather inaccessible tagboard. Her plea appears to be directed at Malcolm, because 1) she did not ask me for help although she SMSed me for tuition (fine I do NOT have a degree in computing.... but see! I did the blog for the Malc... practically from scratch >.<) 2) she makes a direct reference in her tag to Myron's post on why she should date Malcolm ("COMPUTER WOES").

As Myron (masquerading as 'someone') so aptly put it, it appears that Ruixian has made the first move.

And what does Malcolm do about this? He acts cool. Although he has her MSN, and her blog address, he tags on his own blog, telling Ruixian what he thinks is wrong with the computer, telling her how he thinks it can be fixed, and (pointedly?) informing her that he cannot physically help her because he doesn't have the tools required in his solution.

Malcolm could have reacted in this way because of various reasons:

1. Malcolm is a kuku and doesn't know a hint when he sees one.
2. Malcolm saw the hint, but was too embarassed to try take advantage of it, which still makes him a kuku.
3. Malcolm saw the hint, but thought that playing it cool would score him extra points - kuku all the same.
4. Malcolm actually has no interest in Ruixian, and is politely trying to tell her no. (Which, in my opinion, still means he is a kuku.)

Knowing Malcolm and the insanity that seems to come over him whenver Ruixian is involved (see post), I'd think it's no. 1. Or possibly no. 3. Bio definitely didn't teach Malc how to handle such a situation.

There is a strong suspicion on our part that HI and HELLO on the tagboard are Ruixian's friends. If so, Ruixian's friends seem to be rather supportive of Malcolm getting attached to Ruixian. HELLO has urged Malcolm to ask Ruixian out on a date, and HI has asked Ruixian to give Malcolm a chance. Both are very supportive of Malcolm and Ruixian becoming an item.

Ruixian, if you wish to find out who these dear friends are, HI's IP is 220.255.53.134, and HELLO's IP is 210.24.115.125. I'm sure you must be touched that your friends are showing such care and concern towards you, and if when Malcolm and you finally get hitched, you may want to remember them and thank them for helping you along at the start. (:

Malcolm, does it take Myron to point out the obvious to you, that you should offer to go down and fix Ruixian's computer for her? What's stopping you? The fact that Ruixian is not legal yet?? You waited 25 years already surely can wait 1 more right . Besides, the suspense can lead to a heightened first experience. =P

Don't worry, Ruixian, I'm sure he'll last longer on his first try than Myron *gigglez*.

So, Malcolm, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?????

Oh ya. Ruixian ran off to KL.

Will Ruixian meet someone in KL and forget about Malcolm completely? Will their interest survive the separation? Will Malcolm regret not jumping at opportunity when it presented itself? Will Ruixian wish she made herself more obvious before she left? Stay tuned to http://meyanze.blogspot.com to find out.

Crashing

2006-11-25T06:05:00.000+08:00

I crashed at the Awards graduation show with only one piece making the wall (See above). Overheard comments that people just can't figure out what the hell the ad is about. But crashing is crashing, guess now its time to start whoring the work around the usual A-list agencies. Anyone with any contacts?

A Word of Wisdom

2006-11-23T12:28:00.000+08:00

Inspired by Puayjoo's post on the tagboard. LALALA. Actually inspired by Sophia and Licai also. I have such perverted friends to inspire me.

This happened in Keith's class back in RI.

The geography teacher was feverently preaching the importance of being multi-talented to us.

She went: "Nowadays, people expect you to do different jobs! You can't just be a geographer! You need to be a geographer and something else. Geographer-cum-economist, geographer-cum-historian, geographer-cum-businessman-cum-archaeologist!"

"You got to CUM!"

And she turned around excitedly and wrote the "C-U-M" in large letters on the empty blackboard.

They are all stunned by her wisdom. It's so true in so many ways.

Random musing: Will our blog turn up high on search rankings when searching for 'cum'?

Trivia

2006-11-21T18:05:00.000+08:00

1. The longest recorded flight of a chicken is 13 seconds.

2. It is impossible to lick your own elbow.

3. The North American bald eagle can mate while airborne.

4. A full-grown bear can run as fast as a horse.

Malcolm's your man!

2006-11-20T02:32:00.000+08:00

There is no question in my mind that Malcolm deserves to be with Ruixian.

Here's why:

A) He's still a virgin (Not promiscuous)
B) He's not dated anyone in ages (hence, not a flirt. Not even remotely)
C) One with almost childlike innocence (see his almost warped obsession with Lina Inverse)
D) He's thrifty/not brand concious (Look at his dress sense, or lack of)
E) Other than Sophia he's surrounded by all males. (Safe choice)
F) He's good with the computer. (NO MORE COMPUTER WOES)
G) He already has a degree.
H) He lives near you, he's practically has the whole house to himself most of the time (More time to snuggle)

Theres bound to be other points but for now all I can think of are permutations of the above points. so. shd just stop here.

Therefore, continuing our goal of trying to lessen the number of singles in this sick group of people, I beseech you, Ruixian, to take Malcolm, as the man, in your life.

P.S. By October you'll be legal and all is well. :)

Now Even SDU Cannot Help the Malc

2006-11-20T01:00:00.000+08:00

Trying out the small font because Malcolm said should all use small font on his blog. It actually looks ok. Hmmm... Shall see the post later.

Malc has received the letter for his complimentary SDU membership upon graduation from NUS. But, SDU is now going to leave matchmaking to the private sector (The Straits Times, 17 Nov 2006). So the Malc will have to find a gf/wife by himself, or pay for matchmaking services from some private agency. Awwwwww.......

Actually, I don't actually know anyone from NUS who has actually gotten a date through SDU. And I only personally know one NUS graduate who went for an SDU session. He said that all the girls there were old and supremely ugly, and the only average looking female there was being swamped by a bunch of guys, so he just sat at the corner with some other guys and drank. This same guy went to a private matchmaking agency and got himself a pretty girlfriend (never met her before, so can't comment on her character). I've never made any use of my SDU membership. The only event I even considered going to was some bridge event, but I was going to be overseas at that time, and noone actually wanted to go with me ("What? You want to play bridge with noobs who are more interested in each other than the game? You SIAO ah!"). Come to think of it, not going was probably a good move - the advertisement actually said 'bridge is played in pairs' o.O; imagine playing with people who didn't already know that.

I have no idea if this is some government conspiracy to get university graduates to get married to each other and produce a more elite next generation, but I've learnt from a friend that it was rather impossible to reject the complimentary membership from SDU upon graduation from NUS. My friend (single, unattached, don't ask me why he didn't want the FREE membership) emailed SDU, telephoned SDU, and was finally told that to stop being an SDU member, he had to send them a SEALED letter stating his wishes. So my friend happily went out, made himself a seal (I think he was rather pleased with having his own seal), and sent off the letter. (Edit: My friend has MSNed me to tell me that it was actually just a stamp he bought, because SDU didn't have any self adressed envelopes. In which case, I really don't know why I remember him being so happy and pleased with himself. He must have really wanted to not be a member of an organisation that couldn't even afford self-adressed envelopes.) He received the next newsletter, which he thought came only because they had yet to do the update. They failed to update anything for the next 2 years, so my friend continued to be a member of SDU. Come to think of it, this could be the reason he ran off to Japan to do his phD before the 2 years were over.

One female friend of mine, not a graduate of NUS (she went to UK on a PSC scholarship) actually came back and signed up for SDU. She went out with quite a number of guys from there, but as yet, she's still not married to any of them. And I don't particularly remember her getting into any long term relationships with any one she met through SDU.

Hmm... So much for the efficacy of SDU.

But would SDU really have helped Malcolm find himself the girl of his dreams?

Going on the recent happenings, I am starting to suspect that the girl Malcolm wishes to date is not eligible to join SDU, unless she is some child prodigy, in which case she'd probably not be from NUS (and hence not get free ~~forced~~ SDU membership).

There is now some standing joke that Malcolm likes Ruixian, who is 15. But it's amusing how the frequency of Ruixian spotting me increases when Malcolm is around. Maybe she IS looking out for Malcolm after all! =P And in both instances, Ruixian saw us, but we did not see Ruixian. Malcolm asked Ruixian why she was spying on him. She retaliated by asking why we always appear where she can see us. And the 2nd part of that SMS was 'And I was thinking of you also. Eeeks so creepy!'. So I asked her why she was thinking about Malcolm (haha) and as expected she replied that she was thinking of me not him (ehhh don't anyhow assume. She passed by my house so she thought of me.). I told her that Malcolm was disappointed that she didn't think of him, so she said next time she would think of the both of us, which made Malcolm grin insanely and utter incoherent noises.

Heehee ok maybe I exaggerated on Malcolm's response to future moments where Ruixian would think of him. But I'm sure he was happy =D.

And then there was that incident where I asked a J2 from HCI to come read this blog. He said:

爱 X 无限大
Shelly和小Ernie
whoa

爱 X 无限大
Shelly和小Ernie
Why I Think Malcolm has a Crush on Ruixian

爱 X 无限大
Shelly和小Ernie
best post of the year haha

Which I of course told Malcolm (I believe in letting people in on their own scandals, especially if they happen on their own blogs =P). Malcolm asked me who said that approximately 10 hours later, and I told him it was a J2 from HCI. To which he replied that 'Hmm... She is legal age..Lala'. When I told him Liangzhen was male, he said 'oh damn...'

And then there was this really weird time on Bridge Base Online (BBO) when Malcolm said he didn't want to partner me because he wanted to be a cradle snatcher like _____.

Hmmm....

Maybe it doesn't really matter much that SDU isn't really there for Malc anymore, because he couldn't possibly have gotten the type of girls that interest him from there.

Singaporean Apologies

2006-11-19T05:48:00.000+08:00

I've read about 3 apologies by Singaporeans/Singaporean companies in the news recently, each handled in very different manners. The first is the extremely notorious set of apologies by Ms Wee Shu-Min on her post about Mr Derek Wee, MP Wee Siew Kim's for his daughter's 'elite post' on her 'private blog', and his apology for that apology a day later. The second is the not so popular, but almost as well publicised, apology by Candy Empire on its ex-policy of disallowing wheelchairs into their store. The third is an apology by Marks & Spencer on retracting their job offer to a candidate because they could not find a uniform to fit her.

As yet, the last apology has yet to make full page news, so I will include it here. Taken from The New Paper, 18 Nov 2006, page 23.

We refer to Ms Norbaieyah Ismail's letter and confirm that her friend was offered the job as a customer service assistant at Marks & Spencer.
However, it was for a temporary assignment of one month.
When the assignment was offered to her, the human resource personnel genuinely thought that Ms Norbaieyah's friend would be able to fit into the available uniform size. Unfortunately, it was not the case.
Given that the Marks & Spencer tailor would take two weeks to produce a new set of uniform, the human resource personnel felt that it would not be fair to hold the candidate back from other job opportunities that she may receive during the course of waiting for the uniform.
In addition, we would also like to seek Ms Norbaieyah's understanding that Marks & Spencer, being an international retail company, has very strict guidelines and policies - and definitely one which states that every Marks & Spencer employee has to adhere to a strict uniform code.
We regret and apologise if we have failed to clearly explain this to the candidate.
And we would like to reassure Ms Norbaieyah that the company does not practise discrimination of any kind in our employment policies.

- Gloria Ngooi,
Human resource manager, Marks & Spencer

After reading all the apologies, I have to say the one from Marks & Spencer is, by far, the best. First and foremost, the company admits that they had made a mistake in assuming that they had a uniform the candidate could fit into in stock. Secondly, they explain that they did not insist the candidate keep to the terms of the 1 month contract she had signed because it would be better for her to be able to look for other jobs in the 2 weeks it would take for a uniform to be ready - i.e. they had the candidate's welfare in mind. And most importantly, a direct apology was made to the candidate.

Well, let's put it this way. The apology from M&S actually sounds sincere. (Word 'sound' here not used with bad connotations).

The apologies by the Wee father and daughter have been slammed all over the internet and the papers, and probably during friendly gatherings all over Singapore, and I've already written a post about it, so I won't bother to say too much about it here. Except to repeat the point that none of the apologies even seemed remotely geniune, and that it was rather evident that both parties did not care much about the people they were apologising to, and didn't even try to make it seem like they did.

I empathize with Candy Empire though. Their apology in the Straits Times on 7 Nov 2006, page H8 goes as follows.

We refer to your report "Candy store's 'no wheel-chair' policy upsets shoppers" (Sunday Times, Nov 5). We would like to clarify that people on wheel chairs are now alowed in Candy Empire shop at VivoCity since the removal of the sign last Thursday.
It is not a cosmetic change in our policy.
We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused to anyone who was offended by the sign.

-Abdul Mohamed
General Manager
Candy Empire@VivoCity

Although this apology is nowhere near as sincere as the one from Marks & Spencer, I still feel that Singaporeans should give credit to Mr Abdul for at least making the effort. I definitely have nothing against the handicapped (even though I do use the handicapped toilets now and then to save time =P - see post), and I do feel that they should be viewed with sympathy and consideration. I, however, do understand why a store would ban wheelchairs from their premises (not that I agree with this policy). As it was reported in the Straits Times on 5 Nov 2006, the store said that they had such a policy because 'wheelchairs may hurt customers and damage property'.

While some people may view that as 'discrimination', I can totally see where the store's management is coming from. Imagine a customer in a wheelchair accidentally banging into another customer, running over another customer's foot or belongings (not actually sure if this is possible), or even worse, knocking someone down and causing such hurt that the person has to be sent to hospital. Who would bear the medical costs then? Surely it's unthinkable to request for an already disabled person pay for your hospital bills? (Well, at least with all the angry remarks I've read about people not sympathising with the handicapped, I guess that would be the case with most?) So would the store have to pay for the cost because they allowed someone in a wheelchair to enter? It can't possibly be the injured customer's fault can it? He IS hurt.

Then there would be the case where the store's property is being damaged by the wheelchair. I suppose if a couple of jars of candy got smashed, the store should put up with it - it's not like able-bodied customers are never clumsy and never knock over stuff in stores. But let's face it. A wheelchair can possibly do a lot more damage. And what if the wheelchair knocked over an entire shelf, and this shelf lands on someone, who would most likely get injured rather badly? Especially if that someone was a kid? If the person who knocked down the shelf was not handicapped, they'd likely have to pay for both the damages to store and the medical fees of the person who was injured. But a wheelchair-bound person knocking down the shelf seriously complicates matters.

So how IS this 'discrimination'? I don't really know. But I can tell you what I think 'discrimination' is. In the same article "Candy store's 'no wheelchair' policy upsets shoppers" in The Straits Times, 5 Nov 2006, 2 different attitudes towards wheelchairbound shoppers are reported.

1. Ms Sherena Loh, a wheelchair user, said this is the first time she has heard of a store openly banning wheelchairs. The 47-year-old senior manager said sales staff and shope owners usually try their best to accomodate her.
"They will even shift their furniture a little to make space for my wheel chair. If the place is too narrow, they'll bring out the items for me to choose," she said.

2. Aaron Shui, 14, who is wheelchair-bound, planned to buy some candy at the store with his family last weekend. ... Said his mother, Madam Molly Zhao, 47, a house wife: "At other stores, sales staff will just give us unhappy looks when we enter. But this is the first time I'm seeing such outright discrimination."

Hmm. Try to entertain Ms Loh because she obviously has the money to spend, but give unhappy looks to Mr Shui because he's younger and possibly won't be giving them much business? Now THAT is what I call discrimination.

And Candy Empire's banner, although not done in the most tasteful of ways, certainly didn't deserve the feedback it got.

In their update in the Sunday Times, 12 Nov 2006, it was reported that Mr Abdul said that the sign 'had to be taken down because people were coming to the store to take pictures and ridiculing it on online forums'. An example of this ridicule can be found here on Xialanxue's blog, where she comments that 'Wee Siew Kim, Wee Shu Min and Vivocity's Candy Empire all have one thing in common - They REALLY need to hire some PR professionals.'

Yes, as Malcolm said, the sign does indeed indicate that the store was discriminating against the disabled, and yes, Malcolm, General Managers should have some PR skills. But Mr Abdul certainly isn't the store's HR manager (unlike Ms Ngooi of M&S), and I still think that his efforts to rectify the situation shouldn't be made a mockery out by so many Singaporeans. And as to comparing him to the MP Wee and his daughter, well, that's just really plain silly. Mr Abdul recognised that there was a problem with the management of the store, admitted that there was a problem, apologised for it, and attempted to fix it. He may not have done it in the best way possible, but at least he tried. I cannot say such a thing for the Wees. Tried to rectify the damage they caused? Maybe. But as to actually making a proper apology? I don't think so.

And yes, perhaps Candy Empire would be better off hiring some PR professionals, but I do believe that MPs have the services of PR professionals at their disposal. Hmm. Ok, maybe they don't. Then why DO we pay so much taxes?

A random quiz.

2006-11-17T04:42:00.000+08:00

1. Where do you hang your towel to dry after showering?
Towel rack.

2. What kind of mouse pad do you have?
C-Fold HandTowels container that is flattened. (If you do not know that is... probably you never will).

3. Do you brush your hair with a comb or a brush?
Comb comb! I do not have that much hair yet!

4. From your opinion, who do you think is the hottest celeberity?
Celebrity of the moment: Sarah Carter.

5. You got a project due tomorrow, do you use tape or glue?
Taping is faster.

6. Chicken or pork?
Pork!

7. By the time you get to school/work, is the sky still dark?
Huh?

8. If you had a choice to see a unicorn or mermaid which would it be?
Unicorn. Because they are magical.

9. What was in your bag the last time you went out?
Almost nothing except an umbrella and a water bottle. Random stuff that I keep around also - dice, pencilbox, calculator...

10. What time does the sun usually set?
7? I do not notice.

11. What do you think of last before you go to sleep?
Damn my neck aches.

12. AC or fan?
Fan! < 1m away blowing at laptop =x

13. Do you wear braces?
Nopes.

14. Can you hand stand?
Too lazy to try.

15. If you were the opposite sex, how would you style your hair?
Long loose bundle. To play with.

16. What level math are you in?
Errr... The use excel and calculator level and do basic addition?

17. Jessica Simpson or Alba?
Alba!!!!! She has nice sexy voice. =x

18. Which subject is worst, English or Math?
Currently Maths.

19. What's one thing you really want to do this very moment?
Nothing.

20. After buying something, do you automatically throw it away?
I will leave it to collect dust first even if I really do not want it.

21. CD player or iPod?
iPod.

22. Would you rather spin upside down goin 30 miles or drop 400 ft. into water?
The 400ft is faster.

24. What you got planned for the weekend?
Nothing! >.<

25. Have you ever gone ice skating?
Nopes. Sounds scary.

26. If you were put in a room with nothing except for a pencil and paper what would you do?
Probably daydream or try to get out.

27. Is it always easy finding your remote everytime you want to watch TV?
Yes.

28. How was your day?
Casino Royale rules! =x

29. Do you grow your nails, bite or cut them?
Grow... then when I feel irritated I will cut.

30. Describe your handwriting.
Small and looks like print when I write slowly. Someone say look like girl's. When writing faster everything goes REALLY haywire and my hand starts to hurt before I even finish a paragraph.

31. Do you consider yourself a stalker?
Yes.

32. Do you bruise easily?
Not really.

33. There's nothing on TV except Barney and Japanese news what do you watch?
Japanese news. More derangedly amusing.

34. Do you know more than 3 friendster codes?
Huh?

35. You got an essay due, you either can type or write in pen, which will it be?
Typing is the lazy way out.

36. Do you wear jeans to relax at home?
Noooopppppeeessss... Warm...

37. Describe yourself using one word:
Slack.

38. Do you think bestfriends make the best lovers?
Good partners yes. Good lovers is another thing altogether.

39. Do you like ice in your drink?
Yes to chew.

40. Do you have abs?
Yeah... who doesn't. Just not well sculpted.

41.What is one of the best nicknames u ever had?
Hua Ze Lei from Meteor garden. Though, I do not think I am anything like him. Zzzz... cannot remember nicknames.. hehe

42.Do you think suicide is the best way?
It is effective.

43.Do you wanna get married?
Perhaps.

44.Do you think money is everything?
Yes.

45.Have you writen your own song?
Nopes.

46.What movie did you last watch?
Casino Royale!!!!! It ROX!

47.What are you going to do today/tomorrow?
Try to complete writing a resume. >.<

48.Do you believe in love forever?
Nopes.

49.What is in your mind rite now?
My eyes are dying.

50.What song is in your mind rite now?
Beyond's <海阔天空>.

----------------------------------------------------------------

1. What is your phone brand?
Nokia.

2. What are the last 3 digits in your phone no?
614

3. What does the second message in your inbox say?
"That good? What's so worth smiling about"

4. Who's the first person under M?
Madelene Hp.

5. Who's the last person you rang?
Sophia.

6. Who was your last missed call from?
Sophia.

7. Who's the second person under D?
Dad Hp

8. What does the last message in your inbox say?
"Nah. it was what he badly wanted to watch."

9. Who is the second last person under J?
Janice Hp

10. Go to your sent items. What is your 10th message about?

11. Who's the 4th person under S?
SarahSCC Off (Office - wow... its totally not even relevant anymore. She moved.)

12. Who's your network provider?
Singtel.

13. How many messages are in your inbox?
4.

14. What do you have as your wallpaper?
Rei Ayanami. With her Eva Unit 001.

15. Who is the second person under R?
Renny.M Hp.

16. Who do you have on speed dial 3?
Don't use it.

17. If you're on prepaid, how much credit to you have left?
Not on prepaid.

18. Who's the last person under C?
Coop Teo.

19. How many bars of signal do you currently have?
Uh all... 7 bars.

20. What do you have as your main ringtone?
Satie.mid.

21. Name 5 people to do this quiz.
...

Quiz Because I am SO Bored

2006-11-17T04:08:00.000+08:00

From Ruixian's Blog.

1. Where do you hang your towel to dry after showering?

Towel rack/bar/whatever you want to call it.

2. What kind of mouse pad do you have?

Black coloured spongy one, possibly from IBM, but I wouldn't bet on that.

3. Do you brush your hair with a comb or a brush?

Brush. Some things are impossible to do with a comb, and only near impossible to do with a brush.

4. From your opinion, who do you think is the hottest celeberity?

I have no idea. Do I even look like I know who is 'in' these days. Wait. What IS a celeberity?

5. You got a project due tomorrow, do you use tape or glue?

Tape. Does biofilm count as tape?

6. Chicken or pork?

Chicken. No piggy for me. (And that is why, Miss Randomity, I couldn't possibly be sharing the porridge with Elsie because it had piggy it in! Eeek. =P)

7. By the time you get to school/work, is the sky still dark?

What do you mean by STILL dark. BECOMING dark might be it hahaha. Shelly = Nocturnal.

8. If you had a choice to see a unicorn or mermaid which would it be?

Mermaid. See my computer's desktop. See my laptop's desktop. I love Arial. I love her singing. I love 'Part of Your World'. I love the story of the little mermaid (the original, not the disney one) - it was one of the few kid's stories that had a touching ending, talks about the afterlife, and the main character didn't get the man of her dreams. Talk about reality. 2nd favourite kid's story is The Little Matchgirl, for the same reasons. Hans Christian Andersen is great.

Of course, if in all reality, since I don't usually go near large bodies of water, I'd probably rather see a unicorn than a mermaid fighting to crawl on the ground. Unicorns are cool too.

9. What was in your bag the last time you went out?

The same stuff that's usually there when I go out. This includes wallet, foldable brush, umbrella (ya I actually have one even though I am resistant to using it), small radio thingy, pencil case. And a hell lot of cards from goodness knows who. Those business type ones. I think I must stop taking them from shops.

10. What time does the sun usually set?

Slightly after I wake up? Shelly = vampire. Haha kidding. 6:45-7:15pm

11. What do you think of last before you go to sleep?

Am I ever going to get up at a socially acceptable time?

12. AC or fan?

Fan. Because I like fresh air too much. But if it's a stuffy place, or the temperature is above 27 degrees C, AC please. I overheat too often. Oh and still fan even if it's like 10 degrees outside. I like fresh air blowing around the room.

13. Do you wear braces?

No more. Not even retainers =P.

14. Can you hand stand?

Against the wall, yes. Not against the wall, probably only headstand.

15. If you were the opposite sex, how would you style your hair?

Neatly. With a parting. If there is no character change when brought over to the other sex, I cannot see myself waking up everyday to gel my hair and put it in spikes, even though it looks cool on some.

16. What level math are you in?

In? None at all? I'm in Biology now. Highest qualifications in Maths = A level Maths C 'S' paper. And 4 modules of University Maths - abandoned minor in Maths after this horrdenous Math module where the answers were given in paragraph form, mostly in WORDS and SYMBOLS.

17. Jessica Simpson or Alba?

Alba obviously. Ms Simpson can't even tell the difference between tuna and chicken. o.O.

18. Which subject is worst, English or Math?

English. Especially if it's what Singaporeans call 'literature'. My views differ too much from others, and I tend to fail the lit essays as such. Also, my vocabulary sucks. But seriously, is there a need for such a large vocabulary when I know enough about the English language to ~~sublty suan people and pry information out of others~~ write out my research findings in presentable format?

19. What's one thing you really want to do this very moment?

Have something really really interesting to do. I am like so bored. Where have all the good books gone? (Look suspiciously over at brother's room.) No more games (glare at Myron). Too lazy to compose an original post and here I am doing this quiz.

20. After buying something, do you automatically throw it away?

??? Straight after buying or eventually? Unless it's edible (referring to wrapper/container here), I actually think even eventually doesn't work for most of the things I buy (looks guiltily at extremely messy room). And agreed with Ruixian, who the hell is so insane as to throw away something immediately after they buy it?

21. CD player or iPod?

iPod. I promise to learn how to use the software immediately if anyone will get me one for a Christmas present *sweet smile*.

22. Would you rather spin upside down goin 30 miles or drop 400 ft. into water?

Drop 400 ft. into the water. I will bring along sufficient oxygen while doing this and wear scuba diving gear, and go down slowly. Or maybe go in a submarine. Preferably this will take place in some nice ocean with beautiful sea creatures I can watch going about their daily routine. Hey! Maybe I'd even get to see a mermaid.

24. What you got planned for the weekend?

Planned? Go lab do work get results. Go for the WoW raid planned on Saturday morning. Play DOTA. Blog.

What I will probably do? The last 2.

25. Have you ever gone ice skating?

Yes, I even took classes.

26. If you were put in a room with nothing except for a pencil and paper what would you do?

Write crap for abit, doodle, try to pretend I'm an artist and draw a really good picture. Fail at that, and if I'm still not let out of the room, fold paper frogs, crows, and try to fold paper cranes. Still in room? Start eating bits of the paper. Fibre is good for you. If still stuck there, will start methodically shredding the paper into bits, tiny tiny bits, and then start exploring the inner parts of the pencil. Wood will probably be eaten at this point in time (assuming it's those non mechanical pencils).

If they have kept me in there for long enough, I'd probably have made a bed out of the shredded paper, but being unable to sleep, I'd be ready to kill whoever waks into the room. Possibly with the remanents of the pencil.

27. Is it always easy finding your remote everytime you want to watch TV?

Yes. Those Chinese sofas in my living room can't hide the remote from me.

28. How was your day?

Bizarre. Hot. Overheated. Haha. Why not ask how was my night? *gigglez*

29. Do you grow your nails, bite or cut them?

Grown until I get bored, then they get bitten off. Fingernails, that is. Toenails get peeled off, unless they are on the big toe, then they get cut off, or I stab something/someone with them, and they break off.

30. Describe your handwriting.

Always trying to be neat. It's already hard enough to make myself study. Why make it worse by having horrible handwritten notes that I will not want to read? Rounded. Always script, never cursive.

31. Do you consider yourself a stalker?

Definitely.

32. Do you bruise easily?

Yes. Very easily. I wonder why. Maybe it's because I keep bumping into things, bruises have to appear sooner or later.

33. There's nothing on TV except Barney and Japanese news what do you watch?

Can I not watch TV then >.<. Japanese news. Barney is evil. The only things more evil than Barney that could be on TV are the Tellytubbies. I watched 1 episode of the Tellytubbies, and they read my mind when I thought to myself 'hey what did I just miss?' by going 'Again! Again!' and repeating the previous scene. Freaks with TVs in their stomachs are NOT FOR ME. And neither is that big purple thing.

34. Do you know more than 3 friendster codes?

No. Since I have no idea what they are. The number each person is assigned to? I AM NOT THAT BIG A STALKER!

35. You got an essay due, you either can type or write in pen, which will it be?

Type. Do I look like I can handle referencing by hand after being spoonfed with Microsoft Word?

36. Do you wear jeans to relax at home?

Never. I would overheat. Even if I was in Beijing in the winter where the temperature outside was below 0, I'd still wear shorts. Wait. I've already done that.

37. Describe yourself using one word:

Abnormality.

38. Do you think bestfriends make the best lovers?

Not necessarily. Even the best person to marry may not even be the best lover for you.

39. Do you like ice in your drink? Yes. It gives me the feeling that the drink isn't finished (e.g. when pouring out the drink from a can into a cup of ice). But then again I drink alot. And with that overheating problem, any way to cool down is always welcome.

40. Do you have abs?

No. I don't think I ever would. But I would like some.

41.What is one of the best nicknames u ever had?

Best? Err? Wet duck by my primary school form teacher (Mrs Elizabeth Khoo) because I wish I could sweat as much now as I did then, then maybe I wouldn't overheat so much. All the other nicknames I've had were just offshoots of my name. Or someone else's nickname.

42.Do you think suicide is the best way?

Not for everyone. My views on suicide here.

43.Do you wanna get married?

Yes. (So he can pay for my WoW and my bridge and my shopping......)

44.Do you think money is everything?

No, happiness is. But in this silly world we live in, and in this country, you need money for that. Grrrr.

45.Have you writen your own song?

No. But Ernie likes to make up lyrics for songs as she sings along to them.

46.What movie did you last watch?

The Banquet. Bizarre show, bizarre ending.

47.What are you going to do today/tomorrow?

Demoing Practical 6 of LSM3232 in NUS. Going to NUS to hand up marked lab reports. Hopefully going to do experiments. Stupid spoilt biohazard hood now have to try to get a slot for the other hoods that are always fully booked. Play games on computer.

48.Do you believe in love forever?

Yes. 'I believe in love surviving death into eternity' - Savage Garden, Affirmation. See post.

49.What is in your mind rite now?

Why is this quiz so long? Did I make it so long >.<.

50.What song is in your mind rite now?

Affirmation by Savage Garden. Because of question no. 48. ----------------------------------------------------------------

1. What is your phone brand?

Motorola. Always has been, always will be. From pager till the mobile phone.

2. What are the last 3 digits in your phone no?

346.

3. What does the second message in your inbox say?

'Oh Damn..'

4. Who's the first person under M?

Malcolm.

5. Who's the last person you rang?

Malcolm. Who didn't pick up.

6. Who was your last missed call from?

o.O. Malcolm.

7. Who's the second person under D?

Daniel TX.

8. What does the last message in your inbox say?

'Hehe. you are always beautiful to me.. but i am hardly an objective party.'

9. Who is the second last person under J?

Josh Home.

10. Go to your sent items. What is your 10th message about?

Disturbing someone. o.O. So that he can't complete his project >.<.

11. Who's the 4th person under S?

Shaohan Home.

12. Who's your network provider?

M1.

13. How many messages are in your inbox?

20.

14. What do you have as your wallpaper?

Ernie. What else.

15. Who is the second person under R?

Raj Hp.

16. Who do you have on speed dial 3?

Shian Hp, but I don't use speed dial. It was automatically stored for me.

17. If you're on prepaid, how much credit to you have left?

On plan.

18. Who's the last person under C? Haha. Cust Svc No.

19. How many bars of signal do you currently have?

All 5.

20. What do you have as your main ringtone?

Ambient. I really don't know how to get ringtone songs for Motorola without paying =P.

21. Name 5 people to do this quiz.

Ah? And who will listen to me and do it? zzzzzzzzz

Random Quote of the Day

2006-11-15T02:08:00.000+08:00

Licai says:
sweat is a lot more acceptable than cum

Heehee so random.

That was followed by

Licai says:
u dun anyhow quote me out of context
Licai says:
zzzz

After I said:

Shelly和小Ernie says:
whose blog you want it on?
Shelly和小Ernie says:
=P

Haha. How can a RANDOM quote be quoted out of context!

Ernie: SLE. Heeheehee.

See. Even Ernie finds it amusing.

An (Unpaid for) Advertisement for Myron Tay

2006-11-13T04:49:00.000+08:00

1. more. says:
her love confession
1. more. says:
WOW
1. more. says:
MALC U DA MAN
1. more. says:
u'll be called mancolm from now on
1. more. says:
^ is that funny enough to get blogged?
1. more. says:
>.<
1. more. says:
pls talk abt me
Shelly和小Ernie says:
mancolm look like lancome to me for bizarre reasons
Shelly和小Ernie says:
myron do you REALLY want a post about you
1. more. says:
yeah. but something. cool
Shelly和小Ernie says:
after all you've read about what i can do on posts?
Shelly和小Ernie says:
hmmm?
1. more. says:
so girls wld. like. fall in love with me

Hmm.... so someone wants a post about himself too. Even after being warned by me.

Shelly和小Ernie says:
ruixian demanded a post
Shelly和小Ernie says:
she got
Shelly和小Ernie says:
4
Shelly和小Ernie says:
=P

So what is there to say about Mr Myron Tay? I first got to know him from a pub DOTA game in 2005, after which he came and joined us in our (then) clan channel, and never left. Not counting the numerous times he deleted Warcraft in some sort of hissy fit (and reinstalled it soon after because he missed us DOTA so much), and the time when he finally uninstalled it for good to concentrate on his advertising campaign (which is his profession btw). He, however, promised to come back as soon as his new Dell arrived. The unexpected kink in that promise was that he had (and still has) no idea how to get his new computer fixed up to the internet/router, so he still doesn't DOTA with us. Malcolm refuses to go to his house to plug in the lan cable for him.

Picture of Myron for you girls to oogle at:

Myron never fails to amuse. There was this period of time when we'd simply invite Myron into group MSN chats because he'd never fail to lighten the mood and chase our boredom away. We would probably still do that regularly, except that I have found blogging, and Malcolm is rather fixated on Slayers and Naruto. Myron also still has his advertising thing to do (it will apparently be over by Monday). And of course, there is a group chat with us all in it open as I type this advert for Myron.

1. more. says:
shit
1. more. says:
sophias not chatting
1. more. says:
means shes.... blogging.
1. more. says:
abt me

Haha. If you haven't learnt anything about me yet, you should know by now never to request such open ended things from me like 'Write about me in your blog!' Regret often comes too late in such situations =P.

Well, to all potential suitors of Myron Tay, what information about him can I provide that would entice you to date him? Malcolm phrased it best (not from personal experience though. RX and future partners of Myron, have no fear! They are both very heterosexual!) Myron is good in bed. He is flexible enough to do 10seconds or 1 hr depending on how his partner likes it, or on what record he wants to set. He will cuddle you in bed after sex, and make you feel really wanted. Compromises have to be made there, however. Hence, microbiologists, health freaks, and anyone prioritising hygiene need not apply.

1. more. says:
wth
1. more. says:
u writing thousand words comp?
1. more. says:
compo?
malc says:
dun u feel honored?
>1. more. says:
...

Aiyo... Myron... must learn to be patient ok. How would you feel if I wrote paragraphs for everyone else and 1 measly line for you?

Back to the advert. If you manage to catch Myron's eye, rest assured, you will always be on his mind, in his heart, and on his tongue. He will stop at nothing in his declaration of love for you. You will never have to worry about him hiding you from all his friends, and about him insisting you give up your lifestyle for him. He will accomodate you, and all his friends will know about you. He will not stand to have anything bad said about you, and will always defend you to the fullest. In need of devotion? Myron's your man.

Myron is in the advertising line, and is good at what he does. His drawings are marvellous (ok fine, I have to admit here that I don't actually see much artwork in my line, and compared to my drawings, other people's usually look much better), and he can actually draw using a mouse (the computer one). He can express himself very well with pictures, and is apt at graphical explanations of certain subject matters. Information from Myron never fails to amaze.

For more information about Myron, contact him through email/MSN at tay_myron@msn.com. Some things tend to be misrepresented when not from the horse's mouth =P. ~~(Especially if the mouth it comes out from is mine.)~~

And the M-R Saga Continues

2006-11-13T04:18:00.000+08:00

So Ruixian tagged in the tagboard that the 'rocket' in reference actually comes from a song. Thus, I felt obliged to go and check out what the song was about. And this is the first stanza of the song.

Special by Mew

You're special
You're like a rocket through me
Ohh, you're special
You're a rocket through me
And I cannot this time

It also appears to be the chorus, as it appears 3x in the song, at least according the the lyrics given on http://www.lyricsbox.com/mew-lyrics-special-tkknk2l.html.

Hmm... So what COULD this mean? Went to listen to the song on YouTube (courtesy of Malcolm, who found it and gave me the link) http://www.lyricspy.com/155947/Mew_lyrics/Special_lyrics.html. All I could really hear was 'special' and 'rocket through me' many many times. Maybe that was what Ruixian was referring to when she said she was listening to the song at the time and simply used that as a title for her post. Just a guess here though =P.

Ruixian, however, appears to have a profound effect on Mr Lee. He suddenly came up with the idea that noone would know that she was only ___teen from my post, so noone reading his blog would think he was trying to be a cradle snatcher. I, of course, burst his bubble and reminded him that only people of a certain age would be trying to get into JC.

Disclaimer: I did not introduce Malcolm to Ruixian with any intention of them getting attached. Or even interested in each other. I would actually be very freaked out if Malcolm started dating Ruixian. It's got nothing to do with her being me being her tutor. I do have ex-students who have a 2 infront of their ages, whom I would not be shocked to find dating my friends. Surprised, maybe, but not shocked. Yes, the 10 year age gap is a significant factor.

Malcolm seems to have been nudged slowly over the edge of sanity by Ruixian though. Maybe it's just her name, maybe it's just the introduction to a girl. Maybe it's all in my mind.

Will Malcolm invite Ruixian to guest post on his blog to clear up her name (and his)? Will Malcolm give Ruixian administration rights on his blog so she can delete/edit my scandalous posts? Will Malcolm decide to take some control over his own blog and edit/delete my posts? Will Malcolm (oh horror) take away my ability to post on his blog?

Stay tuned to http://meyanze.blogspot.com to find out.

More Proof That Malcolm is, Indeed, Nutz

2006-11-13T01:41:00.000+08:00

malc says:
i passed desmond the blog to showcase ur madness
malc says:
madmadmad
Shelly和小Ernie says:
!
Shelly和小Ernie says:
i think he will think YOU are mad
Shelly和小Ernie says:
=D
malc says:
oh ya
malc says:
oops

Desmond's response on seeing the post:

nightsky says:
i must say sophia's cross referencing to blogs trumps my supposed APA style essays in detail and meticulosness

Sorry Malc. Only you appear to be insane here >.<. Oh wait... Hmm... There's more!

malc says:
nightsky says:
she talks to God.. but... doesn't want to hear God talk to her.... hmm....
malc says:
YAY
malc says:
I SET THE DESMOND ON U
Shelly和小Ernie says:
zzzz
Shelly和小Ernie says:
that's religion
Shelly和小Ernie says:
isn't insanity!
malc says:
>.<
malc says:
malc says:
whats that abt?
nightsky says:
one of her posts lor
nightsky says:
in the invasion of ur blog
malc says:
yes whatever does that prove that she is mad?

Er, nice try Malcolm. Not believing in God through the orthodox religious styles definitely doesn't make a person insane (weeelll fine, considering that random offerings of innocents or mass suicides are not in my list of religious beliefs).

And of course I have something to say about the invasion of blog nonsense.

Shelly和小Ernie says:
what invasion of your blog!
Shelly和小Ernie says:
you dun even POST on your own blog!
malc says:
=x
Shelly和小Ernie says:
i so nice do all the work for you kena called invader
Shelly和小Ernie says:
*maligned*

Why I Think Malcolm has a Crush on Ruixian

2006-11-12T23:07:00.000+08:00

I introed Malcolm to Ruixian (who I apparently give tuition to even though she doesn't even look like she needs tuition) the other day on MSN because Ruixian wanted to go to RJC, and although I told her that it's hard for someone not from RGS/RI to go to RJC without taking Higher Chinese, I wanted to show her that it's still possible to get into RJC without taking HCL. Why do I think Malcolm has a crush on Ruixian? Because he goes slightly insane with her around, or when her name is mentioned. Examples to follow. But well, he was behaving so bizarrely in his first conversation with Ruixian that she actually made a post all about him! Yup, with snippets of the MSN conversation as well! It's entitled 'A Rocket Through Me', dated 07 Nov 2006.

I told Malcolm at the start that he was invited into the conversation because he didn't take HCL and yet still managed to make it into RJC. He nicely spoilt my plan to convince Ruixian that she can get into RJC without HCL by saying 'i dun have HCL... but... i got 1st for my chinese in RI in sec 3! >.<'. Sheesh. But of course Ruixian didn't even get the idea that he got in because he's from RI (affiliation), and instead decided that it was because 'people don't have HCL but got 1st in chinese'. Bleah. Both kuku de. Seriously. And what's up with the name of her post? Please please please don't tell me the rocket is Malcolm.

Ok now I cannot stop laughing.

Malcolm then proceeds to make really bizarre statements in the conversation. This is one (in my opinion that is) of them 'xianYES IFU WAN MEDICINE U MUST GO RJ'. Malcolm has already explained to me why he says this is the case. He says that most of the people in NUS medicine are from RJC. I agree with that. But being as I explained to him, the high % of people in NUS medicine being from RJC does not mean that you need to go to RJ to get into NUS medicine. Most of those in NUS medicine came from RJC simply because RJC is (or at least was, in our year and before that) the school that had the most triple Science classes. Since you had to take all 3 sciences at A level standard in my year and before to get into NUS Medicine (not just Chemistry like now), it would be highly likely that RJC with so many triple science classes would have a high proportion of their students going on to study Medicine next time. This compounded with the fact that you actually have to do decently well in the A levels to get into Medicine, and that you can't normally get into RJC without good O level grades (meaning you'd be more likely to get good A level grades as well), means that people in RJC doing triple science (the requirement for entry into NUS medicine) are also likely to score will in the A levels (another requirement for entry into NUS medicine), and hence many of those in NUS medicine are from RJC.

Hence, I felt, and still feel, that in order to get in to NUS Medicine, studying in RJC is not a requirement. As I stated in the MSN conversation, my brother is from NJC and he's in NUS medicine. I also think that if you're a girl (hence NUS doesn't really want you in Medicine, they have admitted it themselves), and you're not from RJC, and you're taking triple science, chances is that you'd have a post in either the student council of your JC, a post in some CCA/ECA, or both. Thus chances are really really high that's you'd get into NUS medicine, perhaps even higher than if you were a girl studying triple science in RJC, simply because an abnormal proportion of students in RJC take triple science, and not every single one of these students can hold posts in their CCA/ECA, or even be in the student council.

So basically I thought Malcolm was a little mad. But then again, who doesn't go off on the wild side every now and then these days? Hmmm.. Then I take a closer look at the statement, and realise, eek, he's calling her Xian! Know her for only 5 minutes, hasn't talked to the other sisters of hers (their names all start with Rui, so they call each other by the 2nd part of their names), and he's already calling her Xian! Waaaaa. Even I don't call her Xian. Hmm... but that's coz I think Ruixian is a nice name, and Xian sounds, erm, weird.

His insanity about photoshopping a degree can be read about on Ruixian's post (which was probably the reason why she even blogged about him in the first place?) so I won't bother to discuss it here. Malcolm then goes estastic when he finds out the post is actually about him 'omg she admitted the post was abt me!!!', but not before admitting that 'omg... i am going to check if xian replied... i must be in love with her >.<'. And then in response to my question on Puffy's blog about what he is looking for in his future partner (this post also made coz of that Ruixian >.<), he goes and says 'oh yeah... thats a nice to have criteria for future partner' in response to me kidding that it's good that 'at least she (Ruixian) lives so near you can send her home all the time'. Er? As I said in the MSN conversation, 'future partner' kinda = wife, and I'd be really sorry if his wife doesn't live with him >.<. And then Malcolm goes on to say that one of the most important criteria he has for his companion is that she doesn't 'run away'. Errr. He later admits that he doesn't really know why he even mentioned run away. I suspect the mere mention of Ruixian drives him insane.

But then again, Malcolm claims to always have been insane. I insisted that he is usually more normal, and challenged him to name an incident where he actually appeared to have lost this much of his mind without being under the influence of Ruixian. He couldn't, or wouldn't. Then, while waiting an infinitely long time for the 173 to take us home, he comments that maybe they discontinued the bus service. So maybe it IS possible that he doesn't have a crush on Ruixian, and just sometimes goes into fits of insanity, because we took 173 to get there in the first place just 1 hour before.

Of course I could say that Malcolm has made a deeper impact on Ruixian than I thought he would have (gee.... talk to him ONE time on MSN and HE gets a post.... know me for 5 years and I have to write one for her instead o.O), and that she has also affected him more than I thought she could have (ok maybe he's just bored). Goodness knows. But now I can always suan Malcolm, and call him a paedophile =P.

Oh did I forget to mention that Malcolm nudged Ruixian on MSN by mistake, decided that she nudged him, and told her he was playing game and would talk to her later?

Insanity I tell you.

Will You Flame Me?

2006-10-30T11:28:00.000+08:00

malc says:
y shumin will wack my post?
malc says:
cos me not elitist scum?
malc says:
=x
Shelly和小Ernie says:
coz she is elitist and uncaring and dun understand YOU and YOUR PLIGHT and your INABILITY TO DONATE TO YOUR ALUMNI
malc says:
and i got bad english
malc says:
>.<
Shelly和小Ernie says:
YA!
malc says:
that bad hah...=x
malc says:
help me correct =x
Shelly和小Ernie says:
ya like she will take the time to read your blog
Shelly和小Ernie says:
=X
malc says:
i am not worth her elitist uncaring face =x

Noone will come flame you la Malc. Or me. You more likely though. My post the paragraphing like crap. 1 big chunk here 1 big chunk there. Worse than essay. And teachers get paid to read essays. And see the stupid tagboard. Noone even comes here lor. Can't even complain that the layout of this site drives readers away!

Actually we or you or me get flammed better. Then this site get some publicity, then maybe really can try to earn money off it. Hahahaha.

And no, NUS, even if we did earn money off this site we are still not donating any money to you.

Why I do not donate to NUS

2006-10-30T10:52:00.000+08:00

This is in reference to a ST article - Just 1% of alumni donate to NUS, By Sandra Davie, Education Correspondent.

The reason I will give for now - Is that I am not actively looking for a job now and my financial reserves are... dangerously low. I would like to keep my state of jobless freedom for now and I do not think that it will change as NUS is now calling for donations. >.<

1) Quoting ST: "first annual giving drive in September last year, by sending out appeal letters to 150,000 former students"
Personally, sending the appeal letter to me now is kind of pointless? I just graduated? I got my own tuition fee loans to settle? Got to pay back else it is 4.7% interest? How many batches of students are covered in the '150,000 former students' anyway? A suggestion will be to try removing the ones that are freshly embarking on their journey to the pits of debt hell because of the following reasons - aging jobless parents; tuition fee loan debtees who have to pay back at least 500 a month else they will still be paying for the tuition fee loans after they are 30; those following the government's call for more babies and getting married and thus having to pay 800 dollars a month for the next 20 years on a 4 room flat and other misc expenses that are neccessary but adds up to very huge. The list goes on. If you are not damn rich or what, you will not any savings at all for the next 5 years unless you earn a lot more than the 2.5k that my friends are earning.

Ok la... Maybe someday we might REALLY strike it rich and all be earning a lot more than 2.5k a month. RIGHT. Too far in future - I can't see it. Not relevant to me.

I mean seriously, how many of us have spare cash? The call for donations and the guilting of people to do so gets annoying.

From the endless flag days to the regular heart and kidney foundation thingies and now we have this too? Blaming us for not sparing any cash for the needy when we are not exactly very affluent.

How many of the 150,000 former students are in this category? Almost everyone below the age of 35 I suspect.

2) Comparison to elite foreign universities.
Different culture. Different paychecks. Different systems. I do not aspire to be Harvard-class in my donations. Sorry, it is just not one of my childhood fantasies.

3) Feeling of dodginess of err.. misc.. stuff..
Quoting ST: "A common question we face is, Why should I give? Isn't this the Government's responsibility?" and "Government funding here is generous - about 70 per cent of the cost of educating a student comes from public funds"

The... foreigners... get... it... too... But that is not the point for this issue.

Yes. They bother to break down what our donations is for (so they claim anyway). I heard from a friend of mine from medicine faculty that NUS NEVER does break down what our school fees is for. The medicine faculty has tried in vain for decades to obtain a straight answer from them and even brought the matter up to parliament and in the end no breakdown is ever obtained. Eventually, what my friend remember of the answer was: "It is all placed in a big pool of money somewhere and the office of finance is unable to break it down".

GG.

I do not believe NUS will ever break down how they are spending our 6k school fees and the additional 70% of the government funding. But I see. Could it be in the new University hall that is so grand and... useless (to me at least)... Could it be in the new house/building our high ranking NUS staff got? Could it be in the roads that they repaved for no reason other than to receive the cars of important guests? Could it be in the events held in school with regards to research that always seem to get limitless funding when we always have to beg for funds for student activities? Could it be that it is used for the impeccable landscaping of the NUS facilities? Maybe they paid off a wizard somewhere to magic away all the fallen leaves that - wait a minute - can you even find a dead leaf the streets of NUS?

Sidetracking a little, I was walking in SMU recently and it felt wonderful to have many dead leaves on the ground and floating in the wind around me. It feels so nice and reel like those colleges you see in TV. In real life NUS, it is just rare to find.

4) Status of students in NUS

Face it. We are the lowest part of the food chain in NUS. Except for those poor aunties that have to clean the toilets every 2-3 hours at budget rates and have to walk up and down stairs though some have leg problems.

Overall rigidity of the system. More concerned about their admin than wanting to help us. They did not seek for my understanding so I am bad mouthing them now. Too bad.

A computing professor lamented to a friend of mine that it is better to do research in NUS because you can obtain helpers for free.

A pharmacy student informed me that ALL pharmacy students have to spend 10+ weeks of their Jul holidays almost EVERY holiday working for guardian at a I-could-only-describle-as-'measly' rate of 5 Singapore Dollars a day. Even SAF pays more. I cannot believe that I am actually saying that.

Approaching school admin to help you solve your woes is only met with red tape after red tape as you are led in circles to find an answer, which you will find once someone decides that you bugged them enough that they rather take responsibility for your problem.

At least 2 faculties out of 2 that I know do not give a flying shit about poly students when it comes to the planning of their academic module planning.

Term breaks turn from 'one week full of project work' to 'no term break with school and same amount of project work' to "4 days of pseudo term break (after they consulted an oracle probably given the stuff that they had to think about when finally deciding on the number 4) that all the lecturers try to pretend that it is not really a break anyway by inserting lectures".

Random sidetrack: I do not know what happened to Aaron Tan but looking at the aftermath, the ones that caused his misery are really... really... CCBs.

Anyway, yes we graduated and somehow they are trying to make us feel important now.

5) Learning experience

Quoting ST: "NUS helped me discover myself and my true potential"

Sadly, in summary, the most important thing I learnt there is we all have different agendas so let us all try to reach it while being with each other. I do not regret and I do appreciate that I am in NUS SoC. It is just ironic that I do not think I turned out the way they wished for us to turn out. I like it like that though. =x

6) "Last year, it employed a direct marketing company to do the calling."

I am sorry I am partly an Communications and New media (Used to be known as Info-comm.) graduate and somehow the training I receive there makes me view marketing with great suspicion.

My reaction is: "OMGWTFBBQ is that what they are using our school fees for too?" But then on secound thought if it works I do not really mind.

I really do not like the way charities are going in Singapore.

It is not like I am so damn sheltered I cannot see the plight of the beneficiaries. Even if I wanted to donate I will donate to individual people. Where I know how my money is being spent. Not to something like NKF. "Remember remember the fifth of november; the gunpowder, the treason, the plot." This qoute has nothing to do with the issue but it just slipped into my thoughts.

Here is my excuses for not donating. What's yours? =D

What happens when you drink tea at 4:30am

2006-10-30T09:48:00.000+08:00

Then your brain produces bizarre endorphins and you think the world about yourself?

malc says:
my blog best right?
malc says:
=x
malc says:
layout wise =x
malc says:
and color
malc says:
=x
Shelly和小Ernie says:
it actually look about the same as gideon's one
malc says:
it is!
malc says:
EEK

Ernie: Heeheeheeheehee

And then the Ernie laughs at you. Again. Ernie needs to go for a social ettiquette course.

Why Just 1% of Alumni Donate to NUS

2006-10-30T06:49:00.000+08:00

I have totally given up on the Straits Times. I have long known that the Straits Times has too many ties with the Singapore Government (read: PAP) to give Singaporeans an unbiased report of the news in Singapore and all over the world. But recent articles that have come to my attention in the newspaper have just led me to believe that the journalists for the Straits Times don't really know how to write very well. I shall talk about that at another time though.

On the front page of today's Straits Times, it is reported that 'Just 1% of alumni donate to NUS', and that

'Only 1,452 alumni, or one in 100 graduates, responded to the university's first call for donations last year.'

This does not surprise me at all. When I was an undergraduate in NUS, I did not feel special, and I definitely did not feel that NUS had given me a competitive edge over anyone else. NUS did not make much of a provision for me because I was a Singaporean. I got to pay only $5K+/year in school fees, a mere 1K less than foreigners, and this was because of the MOE subsidy which was also extended to foreigners (hence the relatively cheap school fees for them). The only 'catch' for foreigners accepting this aid from MOE was that they had to work in Singapore for a stipulated period of time after they had graduated. However, they were not bonded to a specific company. Apparently (from what my foreigner friends told me) all they had to do was work in Singapore (and pay income tax to the Singapore governement I guess).

Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those who didn't make it to go overseas to study because of my grades, or because of financial problems, who is just lashing out at the Singapore government because I feel it is not doing enough for the average Singaporean. I did get a PSC scholarship to study my subject choice (Biology and Mathematics) in either a US or UK university (my choice), but I had to turn that down because of my parents. Not going to discuss that here.

So basically what I felt of NUS at that time was that Singaporeans were not really given an advantage by studying in their own country, while NUS was really trying to attract foreigners to study there. Nothing much to say about that, because that is basically what the Singapore government is trying to do - attract foreign talent. But what this meant to me was that I didn't feel much for NUS. NUS didn't make me feel important. It was just a place for me to get my degree. I didn't bond with NUS, didn't feel much about the school name. And now that I've graduated, I don't really feel proud of saying I'm an NUS grad the way people would happily announce they are Harvard graduates. Nothing to do with the standard of education in NUS here, it's just that I've never really felt like part of the NUS community.

There was also this point that in USA/UK Universities, most people get their Honours degree in 3 years, and their Masters in their 4th year. This is almost impossible to do in NUS. NUS degrees are very structured. To graduate with Honours, some enormous number of modules have to be completed within 4 years. Yes, 4. This means that if you wanted to do something bizarre like major in Maths and Biology, you'd have to take at least 6 modules/semester, while doing 7-8 modules in some semesters. There used to be a module cap of 5 modules/semester (not sure if there still is), and you were only allowed to do 6 if you had a CAP of 3.8/5.0 or more, which I agree should probably the case if you wanted to take 6 modules. If you wanted to take 7 or more modules you had to specially apply to do so. With the workload required to graduate with a single major (I'm talking about majors here because usually faculties with no majors have fixed timetables across the 4 years needed to graduate, e.g. law and engineering, and you can't really choose to graduate in 3 years or less) with honours, you'd not only have to have advanced placement for some of the first year modules (if not all 4-5 of them) to be able to complete these your course with honours in 3 years or less, you'd have to take 6 or more modules/semester to accomplish this. So basically, most people who want to graduate with honours have to stay in NUS for 4 years, while as an exchange student from UK put it 'Everyone in my university at home gets honours after 3 years, unless they were constantly flunking their modules throughout their stay in the university.'

I shall take this paragraph to laud my friend, Jialu, who actually managed to graduate from NUS Science faculty in 3 years, with double honours in Chemistry and Computing. She is truly amazing, and she could only get advanced placement for the Chemistry modules. She took 8-9 modules per semester, and did 2 honours year projects in her 3rd year. Jialu, I shall always be in awe of you =P.

But for the rest of the not-so-elite NUS students, honours in 3 years is really very hard to obtain. In fact, in my year, because the cutoff for entry into the Honours year was a CAP of 3.8 (for Science faculty that is), more than 1/2 of my Microbiology class didn't qualify for Honours (this CAP has been lowered to 3.5). Which means (to me at least) that just by getting Honours, I'd have graduated in the top 1/2 of my class. Sadly, this is not reflected in the government payscale, which views degrees held by graduates from overseas Universities (ok at least the 'good' ones) in the same light as degrees held by graduates from NUS. This payscale doesn't take into account that overseas, practically everyone graduates with Honours (at least in my field), while in NUS, only the top 1/2 do. At the point of time of my graduation, I roughly estimated that an overseas student graduating with a 2nd Upper would be about the same as an NUS student graduating with a 2nd lower. How good this estimate is, I really can't say. But my point of view was that since almost everyone there will get an honours degree, the top 50 percentile would be getting a 2nd Upper or better, but since only about 50% of NUS students qualify for Honours, and the cummulative CAP of 3.8 for entrance into the Honours year practically ensures that noone doing honours gets less than a 2nd lower, the 2nd Upper from overseas universities is roughly equivalent to those getting 2nd lower from NUS.

When I was applying for University in JC, the tuition fees for Universities in the USA were very different for International and Local students. I ran a check for the fees for the University of Chicago and the University of Michigan, and as Gideon had pointed out to me recently, they are now the same for both International and Local (US) students. Either this or I am really incapabale of finding information using the internet now. However, I remember being rather unhappy that Singapore didn't really 'protect' it's locals by offering (comparitively) lower fees to Singapore students. In my honours year, I was relatively interested in studying post-grad medicine, thanks to my fellow Microbiology honours year student, Huiwen, so I went to look up on the costs. In Australia, the fees for International students were once again much higher than that for locals (have no idea if this is still the case). Hence, the idea that NUS doesn't really cater to Singaporeans (other than actually being in Singapore itself) crossed my mind.

Thus, people who get to study overseas, whether on scholarships or because their parents can afford it, are generally able to come back and start work 1 year earlier than their Singaporean counterparts who choose to do their Honours year. So Singaporeans getting their degrees from NUS have to
1. Study that extra year just to get the same pay as those who got to study overseas
2. Work their ass off in NUS for 3 years to get the same pay at the same time as those who studied overseas
3. Study that extra year, get the same percentile (top 50) as those who studied overseas, and get paid less
4. Not study their honours year and get paid less than both those who studied overseas and those who chose to do their honours year in NUS.

All not very attractive options, I must say.

The Straits Times also makes a very bizarre comparison in it's article.

'The 1per cent response rate pales in comparison to the relative generosity of American university alumni - four in 10 graduates from private universities such as Harvard and Yale open their chequebooks.'

Ok yes this 1% pales in comparison. So how about the public/government universities in USA? How much do THEIR alumni contribute? The Straits Times gives no statistics on this. o.O? NUS is not a private university. Why should this make a difference, you may ask. Well, for starters, the quote there names Harvard and Yale, which are very high ranked universities not only in the USA, but around the globe. University education in the USA isn't as cheap as that in Singapore, and private university education even more so. I would say that if during my stay in NUS, I entered through scholarly merit, and I got 5 digits of financial aid in US dollars per year to make it through my university education, I would probably feel some indebted to the school in some way or another, and would try to contribute back to my alumni. If I was rich and hence able to pay for my 5 digit school fees/year and enter a private university in the US, I might also be inclined to donate to my alumni so that more needy students could benefit from this. If I graduated from Harvard or Yale, and just by writing that name on my resume people would actually take notice, I might (might being the keyword here) feel obliged to donate some money to my university. But NUS offered no such thing to me. In fact, it appears that I should donate to MOE instead because of the tution grant >.<. Perhaps the Straits Times was trying to highlight the fact that universities such as Yale and Harvard are getting donations from their alumni, but NUS is not yet in that league, so I don't really see a comparison there. And the word private already implies that the rich, i.e. those with the money to donate, are the likely ones to study in that school. Doesn't matter that 'private' includes top schools such as Yale and Harvard, where they practice 'need-blind' admittance. Doesn't matter that many of the students from Yale and Harvard could be on financial aid when studying in those schools. There has to be a reason why the Straits Times didn't publish the statistics from public US universities.

NUS Alumni Mr Adrian Seet, 36, made a point that I don't totally agree with.

'The business graduate, who is running a family travel business, said: ''I feel strongly that the Government should pay for the fees and the extras of the needy students. After all, these are the elite of Singapore.'' '

Heehee. The elite of Singapore don't study in NUS lah. They go overseas and graduate with ease with honours in 3 years or less, get their postgrads in the time NUS students take to get their honours, and come back and get high pays (or break their bonds because they are so elite and companies overseas are also looking for foreign talent). But once again, NUS is not a private institute. That is why there is the tuition grant from MOE. Hence also the idea that the government should take care of needy NUS students.

Let's face it. NUS doesn't really instill in most of its students a sense of belonging. If you see NUS students wearing/using things with the NUS logo, it's most likely because these things are free. People from Harvard would pay to buy their school sweater to wear. Students from NUS clamour over the free windbreakers that are given out to those who represent NUS, but I doubt any of them would actually PAY for one if they were asked to. I have paid for a windbreaker and socks from my secondary school, but I don't think I'd pay for anything with the NUS logo for the sake of the logo. Possibly the only thing I've bought with the NUS logo (other than my degree and transcripts) is that bear from my graduation, and that's only because Ernie wanted to wear a graduation gown too.

Come to think of it, if Microbiology still existed (it is now under LS), and they started a fund for needy Microbiolgy students, I'd probably contribute, because the Microbiology community was, indeed, a community where I actually felt part of. But of NUS as a whole, I really never felt the sense of belonging. I feel attached to my primary school, even though it is not a 'branded' one. If it accomplishes something, I'd actually be proud to say I came from there, and I would be truly happy that they managed to achieve something. My secondary school and JC are 'branded' and 'elite' in the eyes of most Singaporeans, and although them winning something is probably 'expected', I feel the pain when those in the school do something to blemish the school name, because I do feel like part of that community. However, if NUS wins anything international, I'd tend to see it as Singapore winning something, rather than NUS itself, and perhaps this is why I do not feel obliged to donate to NUS. I feel that I have gotten myself a Singaporean degree, but not really a degree from NUS.

Latecoming >.<

2006-10-23T02:42:00.000+08:00

Posted on request of Sophia. Posted because it is cute anyway after all the context of the original purpose of this piece is no longer relevant anyway. =x

Have you been a latecomer today?

Reasons for late coming

Priorities

When it comes to something important, like your first date or your graduation ceremony or your plane trip, most people will not be late. Most people would be early. If you find that you are not late for some meetings, but are late for others, PRIORITIES is your reason for latecoming. If not, look at SLOTH and GROSS TIME MISMANAGEMENT.

Sloth

If you are rendered unable to move by your low energy or large mass or both resulting in too much inertia, that is SLOTH, one of the 7 cardinal sins. Increasing your energy or lowering your mass or both could help you overcome inertia. Increasing your mass and lowering your energy could also help in theory, for you will soon exert enough of a gravitational pull to attract the meeting to you or distort space-time. In which case, sloth will cause you to be late ALL the time.

Gross Time Mismanagement

You severely miscalculated the time and effort needed to get to the meeting location. Everything is known to you but you are probably someone who fails math or logic or both.

External factors

You are locked in a jail cell whose bars you cannot overcome (EXTERNAL FACTOR). You broke a leg before the meeting time so that hindered your movement speed (Note that if you broke a leg and went hospital the reasons will be PRIORITIES though). You get caught in an unanticipated traffic jam before the meeting time, lowering your movement speed. (Note that if you are caught in an anticipated traffic jam that is a matter of PRIORITY though because you have not made allocations for it). These factors occur occasionally for most people.

Main reason for latecoming?

I am going to make a sweeping generalization and say that most of the time, it is due to Priorities. It could be also about Gross Time Mismanagement, I get Cs for my math all the time. Sloth is least commonly seen.

Pros of latecoming

1) More time for yourself

Comments: Need I say more?

2) Illusion of importance

Comments: Everyone waits for YOU. You get an ego boost and more endorphins.

Cons of latecoming

1) Overall drop in group efficiency

Comments: Everyone stones and waits for you. Unproductive for group.

2) Group realization that you are disrespecting their time, or worse, them

Comments: Every meeting you gather the time of everyone else and sacrifice them on the altar on which you are on the pedestal. How long will it take for them to realize that and start taking action against you?

Whatever the reason is, you do not want people to focus on your latecoming habits, because it is bad news to have people think that they are not your top priority or that you are a lazy person or a fail-math person.

Why become a successful latecomer?

While the cons are disturbing, the pros are excellent. After all, who is more important than yourself? Though I do not claim to be a competent latecomer (I am terrible in fact), but I am learning. Here are some tips and tricks that I have learned over these couple of years that appear to be effective:

Latecoming Tactics 101

1) Be late every time

Comments: Using the tactic of inoculating your publics, they will be gradually used to the fact that you are late and this will become a non-issue. Whereas if you are not consistent, your latecoming will stick out like a sore thumb in your record. Yes, be late even when you take a cab down, just for the sake of consistency.

2) Believe that your time is more important than anyone else’s and IMPOSE that belief on them.

Comments: Being the selfish way we are, of course we know that our time is more important than other’s. The trick lies with IMPOSING the belief. Encase yourself with an aura of self importance. Pick up more socially acceptable vices like courses or sleeping or boy-girl relationships. Use them as excuses when they ask for one, do not offer them yourself.

3) Inform the coordinator less than 15 mins before the meeting starts

Comments: Right before the meeting so you are less at fault. Directly before the meeting so no one can bug you about your latecoming because they have more important things on their mind. After all, the early comers can always entertain each other.

4) Take a cab to the meeting or at least pretend that you have. (But still be late anyway) Remember to tell everyone that you have taken a cab

Comments: Since you spent so much money and energy getting to the meeting, albeit late, they should appreciate the effort else it will be inhumane.

5) Believe that you are early

Comments: Make sure everyone thinks so too. Ask them why are they so early to bring the point home.

6) Positive attitude when late

Comments: Looking flustered will gain you sympathy points. Giggling and smiling will bring about distraction from the issue that you are late because flirting is effective and will raise the overall endorphin level of the meeting. Sashaying in will gain you style points.

7) Contingency diversionary tactics

Comments: This requires a quick mind. Enter the meeting grounds and note anything controversial. Like “Ahhh!... You cut your hair. So ugly. Where you cut one?” Your latecoming issue will be missed.

8) Make small improvements, but still be late and then make sure everyone knows that you are trying. But remember to be still late.

Comments: Everyone likes to hear sob stories of one who tries hard but doesn’t succeed. Occasional improvements will lighten your guilt (if you feel any) and their blames.

9) Be creative!

Comments: Do not know why I placed this point. That is what people do when they run out of points apparently. So deal with it.

Start being a latecomer today!

Practice makes perfect! Every lie you tell will make it easier! Every bit of time you save by being late will make you yearn for more as you feel empowered from all the extra time and endorphins that you are going to get!

Look Me in the Eye

2006-10-16T04:25:00.000+08:00

In one of the episodes in season 1 of Ally Mcbeal, Billy (Ally's ex) tells Ally that while they used to lock eyes during sex, he and Georgia (his wife) don't really look at each other during the act. There was the question of whether people only look at their partners during sex if they really are in love with that person. So I wondered, when I have sex, would I be able to tell if I truly love that person and if he loves me if we look at each other, and what would it mean if we didn't. Then it suddenly occurred to me that I was once told that it was rude to stare when kissing someone (no, I wasn't being scolded for staring at someone while kissing him....), and I quite think this is right, so wouldn't it be impolite to look at someone during sex?

It is possible that looking at your partner during sex helps to coordinate simultaneous orgasms, which are supposed to increase the chances of the female getting pregnant. Thus, it would follow that if you really are in love with someone, and you are having sex with that someone (and assuming that this is true also for the other party), you both are likely to be in sync during sex, and since people in love are much more likely to want a pregnancy than people having one night stands, simultaneous orgasms are likely to follow, which would increase the chance of fertilisation occurring, and if looking at each other helps them orgasm at the same time, people in love would tend to look at each other during sex.

Ok. That extra long sentence is confusing me too. In short: people in love more likely than people not in love to want to pregnancy to occur -> simultaneous orgasms increases chances of pregnancy occuring -> looking at partner during sex boosts chances of simultaneous orgasms -> people in love likely to look at each other during sex. Or something like that.

Back to me looking at partner during sex (no not bridge partner don't be disgusting). I somehow think this may be a rare occurence, if it ever does occur. In the first place, I'm still quite a stickler for the staring-while-kissing-is-impolite 'rule'. And I have problems looking at people anyway. Maybe it's due to a lack of self-confidence. Malcolm commented that I don't really look at people when I talk to them. I know I don't. But I'm not sure why. Maybe I like to look around too much. Maybe I'll get bored if I keep looking at someone while talking to them (I know that when I stare at my lecturer/professor while he/she is talking I usually am not really listening haha). I do know that when I first met my current semi-fixed bridge partner (term coined by him, not me; not sure if this really describes the situation fully, but that is another story. What DOES it mean anyway? Is it the relationship equivalent of an open marriage, or in friendster terms, 'it's complicated'?) because he offered to give me a ride home from NUS, I only had a vague idea of how he looked like after I got down from the car. It didn't matter that he got lost on the way to my house, making the usual 10-15 minute journey a 1/2 an hour one. I looked out the left window, out the windscreen, at my file, in my file, at the door, and basically everywhere else except at him for the 30 minutes. I have to admit that it was because I was kind of too shy to look at him >.<. But even with people I know well, I still don't really look at them when I talk to them.

Slight detour here. When I am in the passenger seat of cars, the driver (male of course, but that's because my mother doesn't drive and most of the people I know with a driver's licence and access to a car are males.... or maybe not =P) tends to get lost. It absolutely does not help that I cannot read the street directory properly. I couldn't do map reading for Geography in Secondary school until a miracle happened in Sec 4 and I could suddenly get 10/10, instead of the usual 2/10 (even lower than the probability calculated average of 2.5/10 for guessing an answer out of 4). I think it really isn't me, it's them, because they seem to be able to get lost whether I'm there or not (given by the length of time I have to wait for them to appear sometimes). So there. No more complaints about female drivers, ya? (Nothing mentioned about female Vehicle Commanders here heehee). But I still maintain that I am better than giving directions than my cousin, who just after I got my licence, told me when I was driving down the AYE on the rightmost lane in a manual car that had no power steering that I had to exit immediately (pointing to a very visible exit on the far far far left lane), because that was his exit, and he didn't know how to get back from the next exit =X.

So back the the staring bit. I remember when I was in RGS, my friend told me that her dad told her that when you talk to people, you should always look them in the eye because that was the polite thing to do. I decided that it was probably correct, so I tried to do that. Shortly after, during some really boring assembly, I was yanked out of my class for talking to my classmate. (That teacher really had something against me. My classmate was allowed to remain seated. This wasn't my first brush with that teacher, but I really have no idea why she disliked me that much, considering she hardly knew me, not having taught me a single subject, not being me ECA teacher, and not even being in the same House as me.) Another student from another class was also being disciplined by being made to stand next to her. There was this really bizarre part where the teacher came up to me and whispered something that I thought was 'They are taking the flower pots out' (I am quite sure I heard her wrongly, but I'll never know =X). So I stared blankly at her and she retorted 'I thought you'd like to know what is going on'. Then later she dragged the both of us aside and reprimanded us on talking during assembly. Being nice and young and innocent, I decided that it would only be right if I looked right at her and accepted her scolding properly. Believe me, that was really hard to do. But of course, it backfired with her telling me that I was being isolent, unlike the other student who was showing remorse by looking at the floor. So I got to stand next to her somemore while the other student returned to her place, and I gave up on trying to get my eyes to focus on people when I talked to them. (You can read more about my brushes with discipline in my school days here =b)

Thus, I think that I will never be able to actually lock eyes with anyone during sex, even if I am totally utterly in love with them. It's not polite, and it isn't in me to do that anyway. Apologies to my future sex partner(s)/boyfriend(s)/husband (this one I quite insist on having only one >.<) should you feel slighted that I don't look at you during sex. Perhaps if it affects you that much you could try to link pleasure and eye-locking in my brain by catching my eye during sex, holding my gaze and giving me a really, really, big orgasm =D.

The Pen is Mightier than the Sword

2006-10-16T03:39:00.000+08:00

An excerpt from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Chapter 34).

It (a Blagulon Kappa policecraft) seemed somehow unnaturally dark and silent, even for a ship whose two-man crew was at that moment lying asphyxiated in a smoke-filled chamber several miles beneath the ground. It is one of those curious things that is impossible to explain or define, but one can sense when a ship is completely dead.

.
.
.

'That ship hated me,' he (Marvin, the Paranoid Android) said dejectedly, indicating the policecraft.

'That ship?' said Ford in sudden excitement. 'What happened to it? Do you know?'

'It hated me because I talked to it'

'You talked to it?' exclaimed Ford. 'What do you mean you talked to it?'

'Simple. I got very bored and depressed, so I went and plugged myself in to its external computer feed. I talked to the computer at great length and explained my view of the Universe to it,' said Marvin.

'And what happened?' pressed Ford.

'It committed suicide,' said Marvin, and stalked off back to the Heart of Gold.

If looks could kill? I think killing with words could actually be humanly possible. I wonder if I could ever kill anyone with the crap that comes out of my mouth, since I have the flair for talking ~~too~~ so much (see post below). Maybe the poor person listening to me will die of boredom *gigglez*.

Rerolling

2006-10-10T06:34:00.000+08:00

After I wrote my post on death and the afterlife, Malcolm brought up the idea of rerolling, and how he would like to reroll. I thought about it, and said that actually, I kind of like my current roll. I may not be of sky-high intellect, I may not have model-like features and looks, or even be of average height. I may not have the inbuilt charisma that draws crowds. But I realise that I don't really want all of this from life. I have a pretty decent roll Ernie: and you have me!, and what I really don't like about my life is how I spent it. The way I used the talents I was born with, the choices I made through this journey. That's what I am really unhappy about. And Malcolm agreed. Finding the restart button for this life would be something I would be keen on doing.

But today, he touched on the point that rerolling would mean a different family, and how that might have affected us in a totally different way. I must agree that my family is something I keep complaining about, but looking at all the families around, and those that keep on popping up in the news and all that, and I'm actually grateful that my family, though dysfunctional in ways normal families are (or possibly slight more than the average family), isn't totally messed up. I didn't get (overtly) physically abused as a child, there was no sexual abuse, and I can't really say my parents didn't provide for me financially. Yes, they do like my brother much more than me, and he does get hell a lot more benefits than I ever did or will get, but they did take care of me all the same.

Then, on the way home, my mother calls me (yes, she called me when I was right outside my doorstep, a common practice of hers...) and asked me where I went. I told her I went for breakfast. She asked if I went alone (??!!). I said no, I went with Malcolm. She asked who he was. I told her he lives next door. She asked who he was again. I said he was from RJC. Then I hung up on her because ~~she doesn't pay my phone bills~~ I was at my doorstep. She chased me from the door all the way into my room asking all about Malcolm. I repeated that he lived next door, and she said I told her he lived in Ang Mo Kio (??!!). I said he's not Gilbert!

At this point, I have to detract from my mother to people associating guys with me. I don't know if it's me, or just something adults (fine people at least 10 years older than me) do. Malcolm's response to being thought of as Gilbert by my mother was 'i am.. mistaken for gilbert' followed by 'she tot i was gilbert?' slightly later in the conversation, as if he couldn't believe the fact that my mother would think he was Gilbert. Neither could I. My mother is mad. (This will be made more evident later.) At the recent IMP pairs (bridge event), Greta thought that Licai was Gilbert when we signed up. I wasn't even signing up as a pair with Licai (and no, I wasn't signing up as a pair with Gilbert either, and neither was Licai.) Licai went into shock after that, possibly more from being mixed up with Gilbert than Greta not remembering who he was. For Greta's benefit, it was 9am on a Sunday morning and she was probably 1/2 asleep (I know I was more than 3/4 asleep), why is probably why she tried to charge my partner who has been working for several years the student rate.

After my fixed partnership with Licai dissolved, I was dragged aside during a bridge session and asked if I had changed my boyfriend. o.O. I told him frankly that since the first time I ever met him, Licai and I were not attached. It's bizarre. That guy doesn't even play bridge with his own wife all the time. And then I'd get comments from people who were saying that young people change bridge partners all the time. Er? They do it more frequently than I do >.<. And these were for ordinary weekday sessions, not for serious competitions where people usually play with their fixed partners. I, however, completely understand Gilbert being called Gideon for several sessions, given the similiarity in their names. (As with the above 2 scenarios, I think Gideon is more affected by this than Gilbert.) Licai apparently got it worse. He told me that for one session where he went with another girl, the guy he signed up with absolutely refused to believe he was playing with some other female, repeating my name over and over again and even writing it down despite Licai's ardent protests. When he finally got his point across, he was told 'Young people these days...' ZZZZZZZ. Don't these people know it's very unhealthy to play bridge with people you are dating/married to?

Ok, so back to my mother. I told her approximately 10 times that Malcolm lived next door, and 5 times that he came from RJC. Maybe my mother forgot that I went to RJC. She kept asking how I knew him. In the end, I gave up, and told her Malcolm was from NUS, which weirdly enough, got her to leave me alone. Not before, of course, asking me if Malcolm was this guy who lives in my estate (that guy is also the same as as Malcolm and I, and also has all his siblings coming from Raffles). ARGH.

Mother, if you ever ever read this, I am not attached to Malcolm, Gilbert or Licai! And no, please don't even entertain the thought that I am attached to more than one of them! I would add something here about your son, but I think he is more likely to find this site than you are, and he would kill me.

I suspect somewhere along the way of reading this post, someone will go 'hmm I was right about her after all this' and send me SMSes/MSN messages telling me how so. If you are that person, for goodness sake. Read the entire post first. THEN you can message bash me all you wish.

So yes, possibly if I could reroll, and get a more normal mother, I would. But the thing about rerolls is that it's all a gamble. I kinda like myself in this roll, and I don't know if I would like to gamble away this relatively normal family for a more dysfunctional one. Is it worth it? People usually don't know what they have until it's gone.

When Angus was a fixture in my life, my mother would keep telling me how there were 'so many fish in the sea' (yes so cliche..) and how I shouldn't settle on the one person so early in life etc etc. It went on nearly forever. She just never stopped. Not that it really affected me. I learnt a long time ago that everything she said should be taken with a (really big) pinch of salt (= ignored). But then I decided to go exploring. Suddenly, she kept harping on how nice Angus was.

And the big punchline. 'He really loves you.'

Well, at least she noticed in the end. Isn't that the most important part of a relationship your daughter is in? That she is in a relationship with someone who loves her and wants to take care of her? And will try to to his best capabilities? At least one person in my family realised this when it wasn't yet over. Sad to say, it wasn't me.

My feelings on this? 'The truth is I gave my heart away a long time ago, my whole heart, and I never really got it back.' (Melanie Carmichael - Sweet Home Alabama)? Or maybe 'My heart can't possibly break when it wasn't even whole to start with' ('Because of You' by Kelly Clarkson. Even the title of this song seems apt.)? The song 'What If' by Kate Winslet probably expresses it best. 'If I had stayed, if you tried, if we could only turn back time.' We were supposed to find out in 2 years' time. I wonder if the ending of the song will be the end of this chapter. 'I guess we'll never know.'

In one of her closings in Ally McBeal, Ally said that people seldom say the found the right person; they usually say they let the right one slip away. I don't know if I've done that yet. But the regret that I feel and could possibly feel over one single part of my life makes me wonder. Is rerolling all that great? Will it take away the pain? Will it make living any much better? I really believe that you can't fully appreciate something until it's gone. And then you'll regret ever having let it go. So I don't think I'd want to reroll this life for another, because if I ever knew of this life in my next life, I'd likely live that life in permanent regret.

Appointment for Meeting in the Afterlife

2006-09-30T08:01:00.000+08:00

Malcolm had something very interesting to say about my view of spending eternity with someone.

malc says:
if... it works out as u see it...
malc says:
all of us will end up in the same place someday for eternity
Shelly和小Ernie says:
not if you dun believe you will
Shelly和小Ernie says:
and the eternity is so large
Shelly和小Ernie says:
if you dun want to be someone
Shelly和小Ernie says:
you'd never find them
malc says:
and that being that... u prolly have an eternity to go for long visits to everyone u ever knew and more
Shelly和小Ernie says:
>.<
Shelly和小Ernie says:
not if they dun want you to find them

And then lyrics from the song 'Love Me' by Colin Raye started playing in my head.

If you get there before I do.
Don't give up on me.
I'll meet you when my chores are through
I don't know how long I'll be.
But I'm not gonna let you down
Darlin wait and see
Cause between now and then, till I see you again
I'll be lovin you
Love, Me.

No mention of where this place is. They know where 'there' is.

I guess if someone wants to spend all eternity with me, we'll know where to meet in the afterlife.

The Journey from Life to Death, and Suicide as a Means of Reaching the End

2006-09-30T06:03:00.000+08:00

This title of this blog seems rather apt for this post. My online existence is to me a Sanctuary from Reality. I hide here from the world that I pretend I am not really part of, and would prefer not to be part of.

I don't know what really happened in my life that I suddenly decided that not being alive would be an improvement. Perhaps it was a gradual thing that just hit me one day.

Once upon a time, there was a person who used to call me constantly and tell me about how much he wanted to commit suicide, that there was nothing in life for him, and that he was very depressed. I didn't really know him then, and the conversations generally shifted away from the suicide topic quickly to other things. But each call would start with the same thing. And I'd be so mortally petrified of hanging up because I didn't want him to do anything stupid. And even now, I'm still certain he didn't call me because he wanted to hit on me. Maybe all he needed was for someone to listen to him. For someone to talk to him.

To that someone: Will you be my lifeline when I'm drifting aimless searching for the courage to speed up my journey to reach life's ultimate goal?

No, I'm not here seeking attention from anyone in the pretence of being on the verge of suicide. I'm not comtemplating killing myself anywhere in the near future. I'm just in a really weird state now, having read a blog where the owner has just said goodbye to the world after having planned reaching the end of life's journey.

It has been suggested that that person was merely seeking for attention, as all bloggers are apt to do on their blogs. I will not disagree or agree with this statement here, lest I demean an actual intent on the owner's part to return to God.

I'm Catholic, and will be so until the day I die. But I'm not the type of Catholic that takes whatever is written in the Bible at face value, or what I was taught in Sunday school to be the ultimate truth. I believe in God, and I believe that He is omnipotent, and forgiving, and ultimately, that He will love me no matter what I do. I do not feel the need to go to church because I feel closer to God when I talk to Him in my own way, everyday, than in a church during a mass I do not feel intuned with, surrounded by people I hardly know. I trust Him in everything that I do, and I know that after the end of this journey, He will be there to welcome me, and take me home.

I believe this will be true even if I choose to end my own life. Maybe reading Terry Prachett has convinced me that in this world, just like on the Discworld, what the afterlife holds for you is what you believe it to hold. I believe in the theory of Evolution, and I don't think it conflicts with me being a Catholic. I don't find it demeaning that Adam and Eve could have been apes. God's special creations evolved to become present day human beings, guided by the hand of God. I don't see anything blasphemous about that. I also believe that God put us here to experience life and all its sufferings and joys, so that we can better appreciate the afterlife. Someone in my JC once said that she didn't believe God could exist because He couldn't possibly allow all that suffering to go on in the world. But without suffering we cannot possibly comprehend what happiness truly is.

This is also the reason why I can understand how people can use suicide and God in the same sentence.

To all the mice I've killed for my experiments: I really meant it when I told you I felt happy for you that you were leaving this world.

Relationships, and the end of them, tend to be the cause of many contemplating suicide, or actually committing it. '我宁愿他们用仇恨将我的生命结束，也不愿意放弃爱情来换取生存' - a quote from someone's MSN. But I was right smack in the middle of the longest and most serious relationship of my life, with no end of it in sight, when it dawned on me that I didn't really feel that there wasn't anything in particular in life that I wanted to continue living for. It wasn't a death wish. Rather, it was just a lack of wanting to live. At that point of time in my life, I saw myself spending the rest of my life with this person. And so did everyone else who knew us. But I also saw myself spending my afterlife and all eternity with him. He didn't believe in an afterlife then. He apparently does now. He said then that if I died, he'd come join me immediately.

To this person: Will you still come with me? Will you come walk the afterlife hand in hand with me? Do you still want to spend all eternity with me?

I know I only want to spend this life with someone who wants to spend eternity with me. I think I decided this only after I got attached to you, because it was only then that I could see eternity with anyone.

The net is a wonderful, terrible thing. Because of it, I have been able to decide the way I would commit suicide if I should ever wish to. I have also found support sites for people who want to commit suicide. Whole forums worth of them. Sites which rate various suicide methods in terms of painfulness, effectiveness etc. There are online support groups for people to discuss how they should meet their end. Where people can chat online with each other to give each other the courage to take the last step. Where people who don't want to die alone can find others to die with. Where people will wish you a happy goodbye and wish you bon voyage on your chosen death day, and say see you soon.

If I ever choose to commit suicide, I would never blog about it, or tell anyone about it. I might hint, but I don't think anyone will notice with the cryptic way I always word things I don't want to say outright. But I would say goodbye to all those important to me. So they won't ever felt I left having unfinished business with them. So they would remember me that way, instead of having my suicide imprinted in their heads as their most prominent memory of my existence.

I've never cried at a funeral before. I was pissed at my first two grandparents for leaving. Maybe I wasn't really. Maybe I wanted to be different and not be upset, so I channelled all my sorrow to anger. I came close at my paternal grandfather's funeral. Not because he left, and I missed him (I still do, I miss all of you). But because he didn't get to die at home, with his family, and I don't even know if this was important to him, but it was important to me, because I don't want to die alone, and I didn't want him to be alone when he died. And I was upset because I couldn't bear the thought of the last people he saw being the nurses and the doctors. I don't know who was there when he left. And I don't want to find out, in case what I suspected turns out to be true. I hope he knows we loved him and that we still do. Well at least I know I still do.

Right know, I'm only certain that I will cry at the funeral of one person, and I think I will be gone long before he is. In fact, I'm quite sure of that fact. You're the only person whose testimonial in friendster I really treasure, and you have no idea how much you actually mean to me. And of course I'd never tell you, because such things as just not done. By me at least. At this point of time.

Leaving off here, not to commit suicide, or to plan my suicide. My world has come crashing down on me all in one weekend, and I'm still alive, without a suicide plan (now or then), and without that special someone there to pull me through. Many believe that suicide is an easy way out, a coward's way of escaping. I'm in the school that believes that it actually takes courage to commit suicide, to find out what the afterlife holds for you.

The Generation Gap that Spawned Somewhere in 1984

2006-09-28T21:41:00.000+08:00

It has occurred to me recently that in Singapore, there appears to be a generation gap between the people born before 1984, and the people born in or after 1984. It seems that nearly everyone in the 2nd group has a blog. All my tuition kids have blogs. Yes, even the one in Primary 4 has a blog. It seems that of all the people born in 1984 or after that, not only do they have blogs, but all of most of their friends do. My brother who is born in 1983 doesn't have a blog, or he's concealing it really well from me. (I seriously doubt this is possible though, because he is a 3rd year medicine student, and is also addicted to WoW. But he may still surprise me.) I don't really know why 1984, but it appears to be that way.

Well, there are plenty of people born before 1984 who have blogs. But there appears to be a great difference between the blogs of these people, and those of the other group. For some reason, those in the latter group tend to treat their blogs like their online diaries. The older group tends to blog about their opinions on issues; if they blog about their day, it's more like as a collection of experiences than a merely a record of what happened. Of course there will be exceptions in either catogery. One of my tuition kids is a very good example. She actually blogs about her many opinions. I would link up her blog here except she would complain.

My friend (Malc, was this you?) once commented that we are in the Gap between diaries and blogs. My generation appears to be the type to dabble in homepages (yes, homepages, not blogs) and visit BBSes. Is it actually possible that we abandoned diaries for new technology? I know someone from that generation who actually typed out his diary entries and stored them on his computer. For his eyes only though. Perhaps we are in that Gap because we were more interested in learning about new technologies than about ourselves, and had the conservative Asian view that one should not tell the world about oneself.

So what exactly happened such that people born in the year 1984 and after blog diary-style? I suspect it's got something to do with personal computers (emphasis on personal) with internet access becoming only widely available to Singaporeans somewhere starting in the late 1990s. It would nicely coincide with the people from that generation growing up with computers, and having internet access at a time in their life when they are still young enough not to consider it that much of a new technology. Possibly after being exposed to the apparently barrierless internet, young Singaporeans became less conservative about sharing their lives with the world.

Actually, I personally have nothing against people telling others all about their day on the blogs. I just think it's boring. Yes, what I write is probably boring to practically everyone too. But at least it interests me and since this will still interest me in years to come, I am fine with it being up on the net for the world to see. However, I don't think what mundane occurrences in my day (like rain splashing all over me on my way to lab or someone making me mad) will be things I will be interested in 10 years down the road. Come to think of it, it doesn't even interest me now. And because of my lovely selective memory which can behave like an elephant's for choice situations, it appears that if the incident is of enough impact, I will remember it many many years later. I sometimes remember the most ridiculous things too. So I guess writing about my life for memory's sake isn't all that important to me.

But then why 1984 exactly? I have no idea. Weirdly enough, all the people I know born in 1984 that I can think of now are, to put it politely, bizarre. One guy tried to break me up with my then boyfriend, and it didn't matter to him that I was in uni and he was, well, in secondary school. (Yes, currently a guy born in 1984 isn't really all that young to me, but then the age gap was really huge. He didn't succeed, btw, and I didn't date him or do ANYTHING with him.) One girl I know has slept with well, more people than I have fingers and toes. Another one of them guys apparently talks to girls who have insulted him in some way or another in Chinese because he claims it irritates them. I wonder if he is doing that to me now. I'm not too sure why a Chinese person speaking in Chinese would irritate anyone (unless you are my brother or Licai, and then you BOTH know why >.<), so all in all it's very puzzling.

3 bloggers I know are born in 1984. One is the (in)famous Xiaxue, whose blog link can be found in this sidebar. The other 2 are people I know in real life, whose blogs are, well, not going to be linked here because heh, it's not worth it in too many ways. There are however, so many similarities between these 3 bloggers (at least those evident from their blogs or public posts) I'm wondering if there is a trend with those people born in 1984 that caused that Generation Gap. All 3 of them have publically claimed to be intelligent. Xiaxue and one of other 2 by announcing their IQ on the net (and in the case of Xiaxue, her PSLE score as well). The other has said she considered someone smart because he went to elite schools and made it to university, implying that she is smart because she herself has such qualifications. (Oh btw, Xiaxue, her PSLE score is higher than yours haha.)

[I sincerely don't know what hype there is about IQs and intelligence. What's better? Being able to accomplish everything you set out to do in your life with a low IQ, or having this beautifully preserved intelligence rotting away while you... hmm... have dreams you are never going to obtain? Is it more impressive to have won a Nobel prize with a lower or higher IQ? I think my parents are never going to be proud of me for whatever IQ I am supposed to have, but rather of what I accomplish with my life. ]

Well, back to those 3 bloggers, all 3 do write about their daily lives in their blogs. Not everyday like some people, but they do post about a fair amount of their lives. And all 3 of them have flammed on their blogs someone or other who has insulted them/belittled them/rubbed them the wrong way/mentioned their name in a way they don't like it publically in real life or on the net. Yes this online flamming thing has been going on long before blogs became popular, but it apparently is still frowned on by majority of the Singaporeans I know, who still think that feuds should be taken out in private.

I was actually inspired to write this post based on a site which showed what Xiaxue apparently did in her attempt to get back at someone she didn't like online. [http://xialanxue.blogspot.com/2006/01/xiaxue-expos.html]
It was rather amusing the extents some people will go to just to insult you publically over the internet, and yet pretend that they don't affect you in the slightest bit. I guess pretending to be someone else works until, God forbid, someone finds out about your evil scheme and tells the world about it! Some people don't even bother to cover it up; one of the other 2 bloggers said that the person in question (unnamed of course) wasn't someone she could be bothered about at all, and yet she wrote 3000+ words in her post whining about how she was being painted as a villian when she was actually the victim of the entire situation. Perhaps these people think that with their high IQs, everyone else must have a lower IQ than them and hence be totally unable to notice what they are up to. It's just so hilarious.

I still haven't actually figured out why the year is 1984. Maybe it's because of the bizarre people who were born in that year. Maybe it's because the wave of new technology at that certain time in the 1990s. At least I am comforted that there other people in 'my' generation as bewildered as me that all those people born in 1984 or after have blogs.

About My Incapability to Dominate the Conversation on Skype

2006-09-28T06:20:00.000+08:00

This post is dedicated to you, Mr Gideon Tan, because of your ridiculous comment to me on MSN.

Gideon serapuff.blogspot.com says:
hehe
Gideon serapuff.blogspot.com says:
i call you using
Gideon serapuff.blogspot.com says:
skype
Gideon serapuff.blogspot.com says:
i c how u dominate
Gideon serapuff.blogspot.com says:
*giggle

*

Gideon, you and I both know I have no mike connected to my computer. So it would seriously be freaky if I managed to dominate the conversation on Skype.

Arise from thy Slumber, Blog of Malcolm

2006-09-28T01:03:00.000+08:00

This is Malcolm's blog, and like all the other blogs I've managed to invade, I have this feeling that the majority of the posts are going to be from me. Not only majority, but bulk as well. Yes. I do have this tendency to talk too much. I find that in 1-to-1 conversations I usually dominate the other party. Especially if this is over the phone. So I guess if I am actually quiet in a conversation with you, there is a high probability that there is something wrong, either with you, or with me.

Possible Reasons Why I am Quiet Instead of Talking
1. I have nothing to say to you.
2. I think you are talking crap, and if I open my mouth, I will get into an unwanted argument with you.
3. You have repeated that same story to me 1 million times, and since nothing I could say the other
999 998 times could shut you up, I'm keeping quiet.
4. I am thinking of what to blog about. Or my experiments. Or some bridge hand. Or some DOTA
game. In short, for some for some reason or other, I am not really in the conversation.

Oh well, since Malcolm won't be the first to prod some life into his blog, I have started by writing this post. All the previous posts by me are actually backups from another blog, of which the owner may soon kick me out of. And Malcolm still wanted me to delete his one and only post. Goodness. No matter what it says, it's your ONLY POST. Ecks. Still want me to delete.

Anyway the reason why I'm posting on other people's blogs is simple. On the start of my own blog, I will go and fiddle with the template for days on end, 1. neglecting my lab (not that I actually pay it much attention to begin with) 2. losing my precious sleep (not that I do sleep much anyway) 3. getting totally utterly frustrated with the stupid programming languages 4. screwing up the entire template such that I can't even blog anymore/the blog looks totally utterly bizarre 5. finally fixing it by reverting to some original thing, and in the end, being too tired and sian to finally write anything at all. Since it's someone else's blog, I'd just tinker with the template here and there, but won't bother too much with the layout because it's someone else's blog after all. Malcolm has already shown me that what I predicted from the starting of my own blog could be possible by himself editing the template for hours on end, and posting up only one post so that he can view his handiwork. And he already has the advantage of having a degree in Computing.

So hopefully I've injected enough life into this blog to awaken it. I'll try to post more soon because spewing out all the nonsense floating around in my head is actually more fun than leaving it to rot and disappear into oblivion.

DOTA Allies in a Class of Their Own

2006-09-27T00:06:00.000+08:00

Trash talking DOTA Allies come in many forms. The most classic are the noobs, who come in and talk, well, nonsense.

Noob Example 1

Noobs who proclaim to the world that they have lost the last game because their team refused to buy wards, and hence got pawned by some hero with an invisiblity skill, e.g. Stealth Assassin, and thus cause the game to be lost. Sees that same hero in the game they are currently in, scream that we had all better get wards, proceed to get a 0-4 kill-death ratio with a hero that has an escape mechanism (e.g. Bone Fletcher), then quit the game.

Noob Example 2

Noobs who proclaim to the opposing team that they are going to own them, proceed to die to the opponent's hands many times, call them 'lucky', and proclaim that they are going to start feeding because they have a noob team. They usually then tell the opps they will be able to own them with some other hero, usually Bone Fletcher (why I still have no idea), invite you to come to their game to get trashed, blame the loss of the game on their teammates, and quit the game.

Yes, there is the easy way to ignore these allies, by using /squelch. But pubs are sometimes already so boring, and some of these trash talkers can actually be rather entertaining. Like one of the noob example 2s who kept going 'I'm going to trash you fuckers'. So now we all know the reason for his behaviour is coz he is sex deprived, and needs to take it out on people who can get what he cannot have.

The other type of trash talking ally is usually those who think they know what they are doing, and when they lose, proceed to blame you and the rest of their team for their loss. It doesn't matter if you haven't been feeding, are a late game hero, or actually even have some kills. It just takes you to do something they don't approve of (e.g. agrue with another ally about non-DOTA related matters) in the game for them to blame you for their loss. These type of allies tend to critise your play style, e.g the items you bought, did not buy, and the skills you took. It does not matter that they may have bizarre builds themselves, like Lina having a Blink Dagger as one of the first items (My friend suggested it was so the finishing move could be a really stylo one where Lina blinks in and Lagunas the opponent; I thought it COULD be to help aim the area stun properly by blinking in and stunning the area around herself - either way, bizarre as it may be, I don't critise you on your build because unique builds are the one that make the game more interesting).

These allies will ask you why your Sven doesn't have any lifesteal or a BKB (doesn't matter that you left Sven to solo the middle lane with lion as 1/2 of the opponents for 3+ levels, or that your hero is only level 14 and doing quite well even with the early game capping). They may also scold you for not turning on Metamorphosis with Terrorblade to fend off the incoming creeps, when you had already done that a few minutes ago and the spell is on cool down. I just don't play with them anymore. Amazingly, these usually turn out to be friends of my friends. I have no idea why. Do guys younger than me, especially those in NS, really have immaturity problems?

But of course, in the long course of playing DOTA, you will meet allies who are really in a class of their own. I just met one today. My friend on the same team (yup, the same one who suggested the use of the Blink Dagger for Lina) nicely helped my team find out how strange some people can get, by accidentally sharing control of his hero with that ally. As expected, that ally took 2 of his items, and had to be bugged to return them. He immediately returned the 1st item, but obstinately refused to return the 2nd item. He kept insisting he didn't take it. The whole team kept telling him he had it, but he kept protesting. Finally, approximately 20 minutes later, after being constantly bugged and followed around by my friend, he suddenly says 'it wd'. Another friend playing on the same team controlling the Witchdoctor friend messages us and said 'he give to me for fish!'. So we are all thinking crap this noob, can't even return the item to the right person.

But then that guy suddenly scolds my friend (and us all I guess) for his 'wrong accusation', and says that the Witchdoctor took the item in the first place. 'Next time see properly then say.' I almost died of laughter.

As expected, he leaves shortly after, having suicided again for the millionth time. But not before making friends with the guy who shared the same lane with him in early game. Some allies are really. In a class of their own.

Of MapHacking and DOTA

2006-09-26T23:59:00.000+08:00

Ok I am putting my baby picture here coz I think I look so cute. And ya la I said I was moving out of this blog, but I have to say something about the ridiculous things opponents on Bnet say about MapHacking on a site which may actually have traffic (haha as opposed to any blogs I could start, or that stupid friendster one. I ABANDON YOU FRIENDSTER BLOG YOU SCARE THE CRAP OUT OF ME).

So with more and more people Dotaing, hacks such as MH will find their way into common usage. To me, opponents using MH are juz minor irritants, and usually those who MH in obvious ways are noob enough such that they lose eventually. Not a big deal. But it is amazing to see how many people accuse opponents of MHing just because of a successful kill. Ok so say you randomly got ambushed while farming neutral creeps, and you type on all 'MH! Teal! you MH!'. That I understand. No MH probably, but possibility is always there.

But it came to the point yesterday that I suddenly realised that even though many people have played Dota for more than a year, they are still very, for a lack of a better word, noob. The point came when I was Treant, and one opponent still accused my teammate of MHing. I immediately responded with 'Hello, I am TREANT.' To which he replied 'but i slowed and he still avatar', or something to that effect. It took me some time to figure out that he actually wanted to say was 'But I cast frostbite on Sven and he still could cast godstrength (and kill me)'. He then proceeded at a point later in the game to insist that Sven was MHing.

Some opps deserve to be squelched because of their ridiculous insults. Some allies too. But this opp. He was in a class of his own. Ok I'm laughing again thinking of it.

I guess I can take opps MHing. In pubs, if it will help them stay that much longer, if it will help the game be that much more interesting coz of a challenge, so be it. But what I really don't like is opps randomly accusing you of MHing when you are in plain sight of everyone, have sentries (esp if you have a treant on your team and have unlimited free sentries....), or just happen to be so suay to be there at the wrong place at the wrong time.

I shall go think of an appropriate thing to say to opps who accuse me or my teammates of MHing. Just to make DOTA that much more amusing =D.

Girls in Toilets

2006-09-26T23:57:00.000+08:00

Woot bout of insomnia again! What's new... I wonder if YIH carries sleeping pills at a discount to students... heehee... But I digress....

Amusing post on handicapped toilets I have just read on Xiaxue's site. (Ya I do read her blog *gigglez* how else could I entertain myself at 5am... Lee Weiming, I blame you! heehee..) http://xiaxue.blogspot.com/2005/10/i-am-hungrrrrrry.html.

What amuses me about that post is that I do use handicapped toilets all the time. Especially in one shopping centre in Orchard. While I don't exactly agree with what she has to say about the rights of the handicapped and the toilets 'assigned' to them, I rather agree with the reasons on why she thinks it is alright to use them. Ok.. REASON, not reasons - it is unlikely that a handicapped person would need to use the toilet in that space of time in which I am in it. And yes, like her, if a handicapped person actually appeared, I would so definitely let him/her use the toilet first.

And this brings me to the point of this post. I really don't know what girls do in the toilet that makes the queues in the ladies so much longer than those in the gents (apologies to one of my ex-profs, but no matter what you say, I seriously don't think people could ever call the gents, erm lords.... =P). It is beyond me. I usually take like 1 min in there and am out. The only time I take longer is when I am having that girly thingy, and even when I do, it sometimes still takes only 1 min. Ya la... I tested as male on that silly gender test (http://community.sparknotes.com/gender/) every single time I took it, and the testers are more sure than I am male than everyone on my friend's list, with the exception of one person (thankfully, anatomatically male). But what DO girls do in there that takes them so long? Can't possibly be putting on makeup in the cubicle right? I also don't think having to sit on the bowl makes it that much longer >.<. So for efficiency's sake, I use the handicapped toilets, markedly those that are the unisex ones outside the male/female toilets, simply coz there is no queue, and the most a geniunely handicapped person would have to wait would be 2 mins. Now that the shopping centre I referred to previously actually managed to spawn like 20 cubicles in the female toilet (I don't know how they did it! But I am so happy!), I have not gone to their handicapped toilet (on that floor at least haha). That post on Xiaxue's blog and the comments about the handicapped toilets have, however, caused me to wonder. There are obviously people who think that since there are so few handicapped people as compared to nonhandicapped people, it is a waste of resources to for the nonhandicapped ones to use the handicapped cubicles when they are not being occupied. I vaguely agree with this. So following this argument, we girls should just use the male toilets which are usually so empty with no queues. Ok la, let's face the fact. I've actually never thought of doing that before in a crowded shopping centre, mainly based on the fact that some polite guy will probably usher me out of the toilet. Risk of that happening when using handicapped toilet near 0. But I think now that the idea has been planted, I will probably try some day xD.

Don't worry guys, I promise not to peek at you in the urinal.

Preview Post

2006-09-25T15:37:00.000+08:00

That one post that is needed to view.