BNL Blog

Wowee...waddafind. Didn't realise that the Barenaked Ladies has a blog ! . Goody good.

Tomorrow Sunday, and I WILL BE working. Bummer.

Today's Thinkabout

The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.
-- Ben Franklin

When I am Already Dead

One day when I am already dead, when I've kicked the bucket and joined the Choir Invisible, I would like to send this poem to all those I love so much. Those who have put meaning into my life and laughter and smile on my face, every other time when life is but a dreary toil of existence. This is from Mary E Frye.

Do not stand at my grave and weep;
I am not there, I do not sleep;
I am a thousand winds that blow;
I am the diamond glints on the snow;
I am the sunlight on rippled grain;
I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds circled in flight.
I am the soft star that shines at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there,
I did not die
~ Mary E. Frye

zippy zippy day

The heat was not as punishing as yesterday and the days before. You can tell that by the moist-ness of your armpit. Spend the whole day zipping (as in travelling fast and furious) between places like Paya Lebar (Eazi Printers), Suntec City (food tasting...hmmm yummy yummy), Ang Mo Kio (NCS), Office (Changi). Paya Lebar again, Pasir Ris (WhiteSand) and back to office just in time to "off" the 'puter and go home.

Tired, but felt a sense of accomplishment. But those are "extra-curricular activities". Am glad that my design for the Promotion Ceremony Invitation cards was accepted and will go into print. Put a lot of effort there. yay!

I made this...


guess which country i am referring to!

SIA vs meritocracy

Singapore Airlines in hot soup again. While cabin crews took compulsory no-pay leaves, pilots (as represented by their Union) are refusing to accept cost-cutting measures to keep the airline viable. Even at the behest of the Government (though the "gahmen" is not going to step in).

Alpa-S represents 1,600 Singapore-based pilots. They are refusing to take 10 to 12 days of compulsory no-pay leave every two months and want SIA to first release 120 foreign pilots based overseas.

Meritocracy seems to have taken the plunge out of the airplane without parachute. Though I feel the need to defend Singaporeans' job in Singapore, shouldn't the underlying principle of meritocracy applies even (& especially) under these trying times? I am not sure actually. Do we keep the best & most productive workers because they are the best and productive or do we want them because they are merely Singaporean? Or cut only those contract workers? I am still not sure, but I am sufficiently piqued.

wohoo~ still very hot outside. nice and crispy.

Hot Hot Days
A casualty of the heat:

even in death it looks so humble.

Culling of Cats !
Reality (a forumer at Knapsack Pub) posted : "Humanity takes another stumble yet again" regarding the culling of stray cats recently "exposed" in Singapore news media. Though I do not share her view to the extreme (that the logic for the culling will extend to the homeless, beggars and other sick / old people) I am equally disturbed - about the culling and also that AVA "admitted" to these. Were there accusations floating around? Was AVA doing this secretly that now they have to "admit"? (sounds like confession to me).

The Cat Welfare Society of Singapore must be very disappointed especially in view of all the sterilisation project they have supported.

One pleased Pasir Ris resident, Harleen Kaur, 18, said: 'I'm scared of cats, so I'm glad they're going to round up strays. It'll be a relief not to have stray cats around getting in my way and spreading diseases."

Getting in your ways??? You must either be ridiculously lazy or overly stupid to be blocked by cats most of your walking hours!

Cats are not allowed to be kept in HDB flats, and now they will be killed if found OUTSIDE around HDB Flats. This must be the brainchild of one truly anal-retentive and a knee-jerk reaction from one stupid civil servant!

Arrgh <-- thats anger

I am getting terribly upset with Blogger for this screwy Blog! My Archive index (listing) at the right here are missing! Tried all that they suggested in their Help page but to no avail. Arrgh!

Matrix Revisited

This is interesting. Got this from Matrix Essays Blog. Kinda put things in persepctive now. Read also about the Sociological aspect of Matrix Reloaded....about how we are always plugged into machines (i.e computers, emails, systems) just as how the human are plugged into the Matrix (that cable thingy sticking into the back of their head).

Neo is a program. When he voluntarily puts something into or against his mouth, his program gets altered. Morpheus gives Neo a pill to swallow. The Oracle keeps giving him food, first a cookie and then candy. ("The Oracle has a way of changing people". Neo: "yeah, she does.") And Persephone wants a loving 'voluntary' kiss from Neo.

Ever notice that Morpheus talks exactly like Agent Smith? He was given an obsession. He's following his 'programming', if you will. Morpheus is probably a program, too. I'm also guessing that Trinity is a program. Her obsession is love for Neo. She can also reprogram him a bit at a crucial moment with a kiss (at the end of the first movie). Neo, Morpheus, and Trinity have all visited the Oracle, and all three probably received code updates in the form of food. Morpheus with "religion" (religion is the opiate of the masses; morphine is an opiate), and Trinity with love.

Why? As per the Architect, humanity sometimes rejects the Matrix. When that happens they go to the secondary Matrix 'shell' which they think of as Reality or Zion. (~"most of us are here because of our affinity for disobedience"~) In this shell, they appear to have greater choice, They keep living, and are therefore still part of the Matrix instead of just being dead. Which pill again? You have to choose to leave the Matrix. Not a real choice, as you never move an inch, but "on some subconscious level" you have made the decision, and so still accept the program.

The second shell (reality/Zion) also cleans up another Matrix mess: humans generate electricity through body heat. We all think this is nuts, and maybe it is. Neo, and even Morpheus didn't believe it "until I saw it with my own eyes" So the matrix may not even exist to keep human minds busy. Maybe the Matrix and the Matrix's second shell exist for an entirely different purpose that we can't even guess at.

There is a social commentary of sort in this movie. Meanwhile, I am sitting still with my popcorns and enjoying the eye candies that is The Matrix.

Morning Salutation

Me: How do you do?
Friend: Do what?

I was motivated to give him another salutation in Hokkien. But i refrained, which is good. One brownie point for me.

My Friend Jack
I was told, by Jack (not his real name, his real name is Tan Chee Beng), that you are in deep shit if your in-laws started calling you "The Thing That Married My Daughter". Or so he claimed. Jack (still using this cloak of anonymity, to protect Tan Chee Beng) told me of how his high lofty status of "My Son in Law" got demoted to "Things That...". While i share his emotional trauma and sadness of his predicament, I can't help but to tell him that he too, had an active role in this entire...fiasco?

Jack was a high flying executive in one MNC and was married for about a year or so when trouble hit paradise. while he and wifey decided to delay having an offspring, they were having a jolly good time with the freedom of being childless - travelling and doing many great things. and signing in credit many great cards too. So when George-freaking-Bush decided to invade Iraq and when SARs hit Singapore like a stinging boxers' uppercut, and when the whole economy started to bite the dust via dwindling profits, high cost of businesses and great uncertainties, Jack and wifey's high wheeling and dealing life came to an abrupt stop.

Wifey somehow became pregnant. And Jack loses his job. Of cos, to a normal couple, this is a blardy loud alarm that called for damage control, especially in term of finance. But hell no, Jack is not a normal person. He gambled more, spend life OUTSIDE from home more and turn to spiritual advice in the form of Johnny Walker and Jim Beam. Thats how he became The Thing That Married My Daughter.

I paid for Jack's drink (vanilla coke) and did not dispense any advice other than "you are like totally messed, manz...". I don't really know how to help him.

I began to look inward. Into myself. These things always have that kind of effect on me. Guess I got some kind of a telling that I should appreciate my life as of how I am living it today. Amen. God Bless. Alhamdulillah.

Matrix Reloaded

watch this much anticipated movie (only me is much anticipating) with Lena yesterday. its was like "woweee great show, great effects" but something is missing...mebbe because i was expecting (and hoping) for an exciting battle between human and machine of sort....then again mebbe that is for Matrix Revolution?

so Oracle is actually a programme, a code running in the matrix against the machine? and is Neo a code too? if Neo is a code then how could he be manifested in human flesh? ...am still trying to figure out much of what have been seen in the movie....hmmm...need to go for a second viewing (hey, we want to really understand the story don't we?)...hehe...Lena woke up just in time to read the credit roll at the end of the movie.

UT 2003!

having been deprived of the male species' need for blood and gore, coupled with an overflowing testosterone of late, i decided to fire up my Unreal Tournament 2003 and shoot, disembowel and shred to pieces other similarly deprived male in this first shooter game.

as if the real world's violence and mayhem is not enough (damn you Saddam & Bush!), UT2003 gave me the thrill of victory and the satisfaction of killing others without even shifting my bum off my chair...why do i seek (or need) such gratification?

this fun. UT2003.

women...duh!

on the way to work...

L: i think prisoners should be given specific, technical skills rather than going for BEST or WISE classes.
me : yah
L : and they should also go for other non academic skills courses like manicure, dress making,hairdressing...
me: yeah
L : and why should they take O or A level in prison just to pass time and then forget about it after their release?
me : true...true..
L : are u mocking me?
me: uh?
L : why are you agreeing with me totally?
me: ummm...u are correct?
L : you ARE patronising me arent you?
me: uh? how did we get to this?
L : i am NOT talking to you now...just drive!

(i was SO looking out for trees that i can drive INTO...)

SuperOSIM Man!

here's me testing out the OSIM eye massager....me need a cape and an outfit in primary colours and up up and away!!!


got this free with the Body Massager bought for Mom on Mothers' Day. Incidently was having some mild headache, the thing send tiny, soft, piercing vibrations through my craniums and was definitely NOT making it any better....my ear still ringing now....

Today's Thinkabout

My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular.
-Adlai E. Stevenson Jr.

mothers' day

this entry is a bit late, but hey, was kinda busy with...ummm...u know...work?

brought mom to OCC for mothers' day lunch, with lena & mikail of cos. so-so kinda indonesian cuisine but nice place, overall. so-so becos i cannot really recall what exactly did i stuff into my mouth, nor can i recall any good taste that usually lingers in your taste buds if it was really that good. i am like going off tangent here. the topic is about mom's day.

neway, bought her an OSIM massager...the one that looks like Star Wars rebels' fighter craft but got this steam coming out from the back...NO Mom, you CANNOT steam your hair as well...hopefully Dad will know how to operate it.

bought for wife...no...i don't want to mention that thingy from MANGO which, adding salt to injury, is two size smaller than she could wear. (was feeling really, really awkward browsing through things at MANGO....MANGO is where no guys should be seen alone....and if you are with your significant others, you are allowed to carry handbags and wait, smiling-ly, for her to waaah...woooh...at the discounted goods. she appreciated (well, she always do) what i got for her....saying something like "this will go nicely with IF i have THAT things from TIFFANY yah?"

ummm... HAPPY MOTHERS DAY all! To all the mothers, mothers-to-be and mothers wannabees.

I am back
would have said good morning except the morning isn't that good.

on a brighter note, Mothers' Day is coming (tomorrow) and will bring her to OCC (thats Orchird Country Club) for makan (thats eating). have NOT bought anything for her yet....hmmm....

at work now and so looking forward to leave this mind numbing cubicle....