panda

Christmas Flyer

2006-12-06T05:35:00.000+08:00

Did this flyer for fun. Hope it will be useful for the upcoming Christmas. :P

Initial D

2006-11-21T01:52:00.000+08:00

I got someone into trouble yesterday... Here it goes...

My car and I were travelling on TPE (Tampines Expressway) on the right most lane yesterday. Since there was not much cars on the stretch of road, we sped at 110 km/h... Then... I saw them... The Man in WHITE. Nope... not anyone from PAP, rather the traffic police ahead of me, on the road shoulder some 400 m away. I glanced at the rear mirror. Some bugger was tailgating me. I am now left with 3 choices.

1. Slow down by stepping on the brakes and risk being kissed in the butt by the car tailgating me.
2. Continue travelling at 110 km/h and risk being booked by the Traffic Police.
3. Filter to centre lane and slow down.

At the split second, option number 3, the safest option did not come to my mind. Thus, I chose 1 and hope that the car tailgating me will slow down also.

Brakes were stepped. I was honked by the driver behind (that should have attracted the attention of the traffic police). The car that tailgated me sped past me from the left and overtook me at the speed of 110 km/h.

The lights from the Traffic Police went off. The car that overtook me was ordered to pull over at the road shoulder. To the driver who overtook me, here is an insincere appology. Sorry, I thought you noticed the traffic police. Sorry, I did not warn you of Traffic Police. Sorry for not filtering to the centre lane as I was too slow minded and did not think of that as a viable option.

Rats, I should have waved to the driver as I drove past him at the road shoulder where he was stopped.

7 hours of KTV

2006-11-15T12:58:00.000+08:00

Sang 7 hrs of continuous KTV with my buddy. haha... We will be chionging 11 hours next time :P

I'm still here!

2006-10-25T04:28:00.000+08:00

due to varied reasons, i was not able to be connected online and was too busy to be online also. so.. i will post whatever i want to post now. no particular topic.

saw this in nie. creepy... how big is this spidey? look at your mouse. roughly that size (with the legs).

eh... i cannot find the key ley...

Biology rawkz :D

2006-10-12T04:44:00.000+08:00

No insult to other sciences, but my opinion is it is so much easier to make biology relevant to the lives of students compared to other science (once again, no insults to other sciences). While Physics explains physical phenonmena, Chemistry explains chemical observations, to me, the most intriguing is the part in which Biology explains (or sometimes, din even bother to explain) certain observations pertaining so some interesting animals. Here are some of them.

1. pandas eat bamboos, yet, they are carnivores.
2. human beings are the only "animal" observed with the ability to laugh.
3. it is impossible to tickle yourself.
4. the human brain has far more capacity than any super computers built so far.
5. it is possible to survive with half the brain.
6. dolphins dun sleep.
7. though the vital organs are irreplacable, we are created with some "spare parts". e.g. we need only one kidney to survive, but given 2. one eye is enough to see, but 2 eyes give a stereovision. when what was known as vestigial organs (there aren't any now) are removed, our body responds by doing the work the vestigial organs used to do.

Panda

2006-10-10T16:12:00.000+08:00

My friend drew this. Many thanx to him. (: I lurve pandas :D

Contraindications

2006-10-08T03:21:00.000+08:00

Juz came back from watching movie, Project B with my fren. 2 things they did are medically wrong. juz to poinyt out, for the farn of it :P

1. wrong procedure: they draw blood from an infant using sygringe and needles. the needle punctured the the calf of the infant.
correct procedure: blood is normally draw form an infant by a lancet and capillary tube. the side to be chosen is usually at the heel.

2. wrong procedure: Jacky Chan tried to use a defribillator on the infant. the electric source is from the engine of the car. the makeshift defrib pads are the fingers of both hands of Jacky Chan, with the fingers of the right hand of Jacky placed on the Left chest wall of the infant and the fingers of the left hand placed on the bright chest wall of the infant.
correct procedure: there is no such thing as a correct procedure to defrib an infant as the procedure is not normally performed on an infant. But given the scenario, Jacky did not establish that the infant is not breathing and the heart of the infant is not beating before performing the defrib procedure. using the car engine as the electrical source is dangerous as the highest energy that can be delivered is noramally 360 J to any human being (i think much less ot an infant). next, the positioning of the makeshift defrib pads is incorrect. one should be placed at the left side of the patient’s chest just below and to the side of the left nipple and the placement of the anterior pad on the front of the patient slightly to the right of the patient’s sternum.

as mentioned, i am only writting for fun. :P no intentions to say that it is a lousy movie. in fact, i think it is a great movie! :D highly recommended! :D

Wired Differently from Others

2006-10-05T02:24:00.000+08:00

I am talking about myself. Sometimes I really think I am wired differently from others. Uniqueness if perhaps part of God's plan for me and for everyone else. But frankly, I cannot find anyone quite like me. Here are some ways that I think I am different from others.

1. I cannot sit in front of the TV and watch NKF shows and other charity shows that depict the misfortunes of patients and the less fortunates without feeling a strong tug in my heart. Just how strong is it? To the extent that I can really weep for them. Everyone of them. Just ask other guyz how much does it take for a guy to shed a tear, and the guy would probably answer: a lot. In contrast, when I watch the so-called moving movies, the tugging of the heartstrings don't go to such extent.

2. I cannot stand modern war movies. I sleep in them. I fell asleep when watching "Saving Pte Ryan". I had the opportunity to watch "U571" twice, and just cannot watch it without falling asleep. Meg Ryan starring in "Courage under fire"? I watched it twice. Once feeling almost nothing over it while most of my frens commented that it was an excellent movie. The 2nd time? Yes, u guessed it, I dozed off.

3. I dun usually watch soccer. I guess that is quite atypical of a Singaporean guy. Having said that, if I want to, I can watch. I followed the world cup quite closely earlier this year.

4. I can only study and perform intellectually stimulating tasks fruitfully in the wee hours. That explains y some of my frenz noticed I look exhausted by mid-day.

5. I am a very stubborn person. Convincing me of something I was not convinced of in the 1st place could very well be the most difficult task. But once convinced, I dun usually waver in my convictions.

6. I dun like structure even though i agree that structure is good in some situations. I prefer to be more spontaneous. Hence, I dun agree to the saying, "If you fail to plan, u plan to fail".

7. I dun usually plan meticulously in the finest detail. I usually have an overall plan then execute it.

8. I am by nature, a person who is not very excitable. I want to change this aspect of me.. but not sure how... hmmmz...

I will be Here

2006-10-04T23:20:00.000+08:00

Steven Curtis Chapman meant this as a sad song. Somehow, it made its way into the Holy matrimony of many couples. Here's the lyrics :)

I Will Be Here
Tomorrow morning if you wake up
and the sun does not appear
I will be here
If in the dark, we lose sight of love
Hold my hand, and have no fear
'Cause I will be here

I will be here
When you feel like being quiet
When you need to speak your mind
I will listen
And I will be here
When the laughter turns to cryin'
Through the winning, losing and trying
We'll be together
I will be here

Tomorrow morning, if you wake up
And the future is unclear
I will be here
Just as sure as seasons were made for change
Our lifetimes were made for these years
So I will be here

I will be here
And you can cry on my shoulder
When the mirror tells us we're older
I will hold you
And I will be here
To watch you grow in beauty
And tell you all the things you are to me
I will be here

I will be true to the promise I have made
To you and to the One who gave you to me

Tomorrow morning, if you wake up
And the sun does not appear
I will be here
Oh, I will be here

Steven Curtis Chapman

2006-10-04T23:14:00.000+08:00

My Buddy and I agreed that the song is truly refreshing to the soul. Here's another of Chapman's song.

The Great Adventure
Saddle up your horses

Started out this morning in the usual way
Chasing thoughts inside my head of all I had to do today
Another time around the circle try to make it better than the last

I opened up the Bible and I read about me
Said I'd been a prisoner and God's grace had set me free
And somewhere between the pages it hit me like a lightning bolt
I saw a big frontier in front of me and I heard somebody say "let's go"!

CHORUS
Saddle up your horses we've got a trail to blaze
Through the wild blue yonder of God's amazing grace
Let's follow our leader into the glorious unknown
This is a life like no other - this is The Great Adventure

Come on get ready for the ride of your life
Gonna leave long faced religion in a cloud of dust behind
And discover all the new horizons just waiting to be explored
This is what we were created for

(Chorus)

BRIDGE
We'll travel over, over mountains so high
We'll go through valleys below
Still through it all we'll find that
This is the greatest journey that the human heart will ever see
The love of God will take us far beyond our wildest dreams

Yeah... oh saddle up your horses... come on get ready to ride

(Chorus)

For the Sake of the Call

2006-10-04T03:10:00.000+08:00

This song constantly tugs the heartstrings of mine. Sung By Steven Curtis Chapman, coupled with wonderful melody. It never fails to refresh my heart with an extra dose of strength to go on for the sake of His call. Here are the lyrics.

We will abandon it all for the sake of the call
No other reason at all but the sake of the call
Wholly devoted to live and to die
For the sake of the call

Nobody stood and applauded them
So they knew from the start
This road would not lead to fame
All they really knew for sure was Jesus had called to them
He said "Come follow me" and they came
With reckless abandon they came

Empty nets lying there at the waters edge
Told a story that few could believe and none could explain
How some crazy fishermen agreed to go where Jesus lead
With no thought for what they would gain
For Jesus had called them by name and they answered

We will abandon it all for the sake of the call
No other reason at all but the sake of the call
Wholly devoted to live and to die
For the sake of the call

Drawn like the rivers are drawn to the sea
No turning back for the water cannot help but flow
Once we hear the Savior's call we'll follow wherever he leads
Because of the love He has shown
And because he has called us to go we will answer

We will abandon it all for the sake of the call
No other reason at all but the sake of the call
Wholly devoted to live and to die

Not for the sake of a creed or a cause
Not for a dream or a promise
Simply because it is Jesus who calls
And if we believe we'll obey

People whom I just cannot communicate with...

2006-09-20T02:31:00.000+08:00

I think I am a person who remembers misgivings in the past. To the extent when I will be apprehensive if a person has somewhat exhibited communication characteristics which put me in a dead end before, I will not be very interested in talking to him/her again. Below of some examples. This post will consist largely of dialogues I had with another person (not necessarily the same person even though it CAN be the same person) to illustrate the instances at which communication breakdown took place. Comments from me will be added at the end of each dialogue to show how apprehensive I am when communicating with this person until now. For the purpose of anonymity, letters from alphabets (they do NOT represent initials of the other party!) are used to represent the other party and "ME" will be used to represent me, duh!

Example 1
People who put me down immediately.
A: What are you studying?
ME: Biology
A: So CRAP!
ME: -.-|||
Period. end of story. Biology has been the field of my studies until now, probably medicine in the future. I deleted the person from my HP after this instance. (a bit drama hor?) I din even bother to argue with it (notice the use of the pronoun "it" normally used for animals and inanimate objects) In my opinion, the other party has EQ so low that the use of pronouns used exclusively to separate human beings (like "him/her") from animals is not necessary. Wait a minute, dogs do have EQ... Hmmmz...

Example 2
People who use God/faith as a tool in communication.
*In the midst of discussion*
ME: I feel that it is aganist all odds to do this.
B: Despite of that, I still think that we should do it by faith. God told me this will work in my prayers.
ME: =__=|||
Eh... In my opinion, there is no need for discussion if God has already told the other party what to do. This God has been telling him/her what to do for everything he/she does, next time dun nid to ask me for opinions. God must be right one mah... When you bring God/faith in to discussion, there is no more room for discussion.

Example 3
Unforgiving and judgemental people.
C: The church is utter rubbish.
ME: how come ley?
C: Worship refers to the state of heart Christians adopt in approaching God.
ME: uh huh?
C: Look at what they printed. They call the people who lead in singspiration "worship leaders". They should be called song leaders.
ME: so?
C: So this church is rubbish. The sermon is rubbish.
Wahseh... so serious one ah? use one word "sala" then kena condemned. Liddat I cannot communicate with him/her lar... too stressed. One "sala" word used kena left right centre. Too scary.

Example 4
Arrogant People
D: Look, I dun nid your advice.
ME: OK.
D: All my friends have been advising what I am doing is wrong.
ME: Hmmmz... if all your friends tell u u r wrong, can it be the case that you are wrong?
D: How can I be wrong?
OK lor... you are right then. No need to talk liao...

Example 5
Saying the obvious (for a lot of times).
*in the lift, at top floor*
E: Going down?
ME: *duh, we are at the top floor. is there any other direction?* Ya...
E: Go where?
ME: hawker centre.
E: buy food?
ME: *duh* ya...
E: eat lunch?
ME: *my watch show 1 pm, double duh* ya
E: weather very hot hor?
ME: ya...
E: that's y everybody wear shorts now
ME: *cannot take it anymore*
eh... this conversation has degraded to an extent too insulting to intellect beings.

Example 6
People who open the conversation with insults and keep on insulting non stop for jokes that I cannot appreciate.
*Upon seeing I am reading a book by Ben Carson*
F: Ben Carson... sounds like ben4 car1 chng1 (stupid backside in Mandarin and Hokkien) *burst into uncontrollable laughter*
ME: Hey, Ben Carson is a brilliant person!
F: car1 chng1 *burst into monstrous laughter*
ok lor... laff all u want lor... I read all I want

Example 7
Obnoxious pseudoscholars who think they know a lot.
ME: Euthanasia... I think I know more than the lecturer!
Notice I am in this example, I am referring to myself. I think I should watch this aspect of me b4 I degrade into another arrogant animal.

Example 8
People who keep repeating
H: No one understands me...
*after listening for 15 min*
H: No one understands me... (another cycle of 15 min repeating almost similar issues)
*after 15 min*
H: no one understands me...
ME: eh... sorry, I need to go liao...
hmmmz... i think i too cruel lar... i hate to admit that I simply dun have patience for this, I think I need to improve on listening, even if it means listening to the same thing over and over again. Apply what I learnt from "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus". Hmmmz.. luckily John Gray din use pluto when he wrote the book.

Transpiration

2006-09-20T01:32:00.000+08:00

I took these pictures while walking back to my hostel after a heavy rain. Nope. The pictures are not taken anywhere outside Singapore, even though they are taken at an obscure corner of Singapore. Note the "clouds" that I ringed out on the pictures. They are really clouds. They are evidences for transpiration as the trees in the background give out water vapour to the atmosphere. Because of the cold temperature and the dusty *ahem* environment, the water vapour the trees gave out condensed on the dust particles. Although the pictures are static, the "clouds" are really moving. I thought it was an awesome sight even though the pictures are not that awesome... ha...

Emergence of Proper Verbs

2006-09-18T00:44:00.000+08:00

I remember back in my days when I was in NUS, the first essay that I was given to write upon is - "While we know there are proper nouns in English, is there such a thing as a proper verb in English Language?"

To start off, here are some examples of proper nouns. The first letter of the words for the proper nouns are are usually capitalised, like National University of Singapore. They can be abbreviated. e.g. NUS. They are very specific. e.g. there is one and only one NUS in the whole world. In case you are looking for the model answer for the essay, the model answer is, "No, there are no proper verbs."

Alas, back in those days, I argued for the presence of proper verbs. I argued that there ARE indeed proper verbs in English Language. Though not rampant, I argued that there ARE proper verbs. In addition, I stated that I expect more proper verbs in time to come.

To start, I shall qualify what I mean my proper verbs. Using the same measure, I think it is reasonable to state that the first letter of words that make up proper verbs can be capitalised, they can be abbreviated, and must refer to a very specific act. I gave the examples of SMS as in "I SMS-ed him just now" To pin it down, we see a tense inflection usually seen for verb, the word SMS is given the suffix -ed to denote past tense. Need more examples? Yahoo websites asked people, "Do you Yahoo?" with "Yahoo" occupying a position where a verb should occupy. In each of the case given, the proper verbs refer to a specific act. SMS is specific verb, in addition, it is abbreviated. Yahoo is a specific verb, in addition, the 1st letter for the word is capitalised.

Nowadays, I see proper verbs getting more and more rampant. I hear people asking people to google over something, mrbrown made this remark in his recent post "When you IMF-ers are done IMF-ing" with inflecting IMF with a continuous tense typical of verbs and verbs only.

Notice a trend? I expect to see more of proper verbs in future as out society progress. Another trend I want to point out is such proper verbs are almost used only exclusively to describe some new actions which the dictionary does not have. Because of the emergence of new actions, there is an emergence of proper verbs. In short, I expect proper verbs to keep abreast with new actions. Co-incidentally, such proper verbs that I have pointed out are related to computer and technology.

Just in case you are wondering how much did I get despite of not adhering to the model answer, I got a A-. Rats~! I think I deserve an A+! hahahaha... just joking. :P

entertainment prevails b4 a fall

2006-09-16T02:48:00.000+08:00

Ben Carson made a statement in his book. The sports and entertainment industry got blown out of proportion today. So much so that the minority (and I shall emphasize, small MINORITY) will say they see someone like Isaac Newton as their role model to sucess. ~~Aris-tortoise~~Aristotle? A great thinker (but that does not necessarily means he think of the right thingz). What is that? Can eat one? How about Hippocrates? The Father of modern Medicine. The last Nobel Prize winner? Beats me (and I mean it, I really dunno).

Let's try another approach. Last world cup champions? Italy. How about the world cup before? Brazil. Last season NBA MVP? Steve Nash, back to back MVP for 2 seasons. NBA champions? Miami Heat, with Dwayne Wade being crowned as the Finals MVP.

I agree with Ben Carson. Sports and entertainment stole the limelight. Carson is not saying (neither am I) that sports and entertainment are not important, its that that they are blown out of proportion. If we look at history, when a country gets focused more and more on the entertainment and starts neglecting knowledge, the fall of the country is almost eminent. Babylon, once a great centre of learning, notable for the Hanging Gardens, fell when its people stop seeking knowledge. Egypt, notable for the pyramids, collasped. Greece another centre for learning took a similar turn in fate, not too long after they started building colosseum in the name of entertainment. The wisest man in the face of the Earth, too, fell when he chose to forsake his knowledge
and forsook The Most High.

According to Carson, K in the acronym "T.H.I.N.K. B.I.G." stands for Knowledge. I guess I will focus more on knowledge seeking from now on. Sports and entertainment are important and good. But I think I have to remember overdose of any tonic becomes toxic. When sports and entertainment occupy ijn the right proportion, they do good. Similarly, too much knowledge can be detrimental. The Bible says Knowledge puffs up, and love builds up. I guess I need to watch out of that also. (:

Brain Teasers

2006-09-16T01:14:00.000+08:00

Here are 2 maths Brain Teasers. Perhaps I should not have warned readers in advance. Ha... anyway... here they are

Brain Teaser 1
You travelled from Town A to Town B at 30 km/h and arrived at Town B at 5 pm.
You travelled from Town A to Town B at 20 km/h and arrived at Town B at 7 pm.
What speed must you travel to get to Town B at 6 pm?

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If you answered 25 km/h, you are WRONG~!

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The answer is 24 km/h. Go ahead and prove it if thou have time using the algebraic skills thy maths teacher has ~~imported~~ imparted unto thee.

Brain Teaser 2
There are 8 sticks. 7 sticks are identical with the 8th stick marked. The sticks are mixed thoroughly in a bag. You are among 8 people who are to draw one stick from the bag each without looking. The 8 persons are to draw the sticks out of the bag one after another without replacement of the stick into the bag. The person who drew the marked stick get a forfeit. Does the first person to draw the stick have less probability of drawing the marked stick?

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No. All have equal probability (1/8) of drawing the marked stick regardless of whoever go first. Go ahead and prove it if thou have time using the probability skills thy maths teacher has ~~imported~~ imparted unto thee.

Arrogance

2006-09-13T03:38:00.000+08:00

A story was told when a lady heard that a driver is driving against the traffic flow on a road over the news. Anxiously, she called her husband and cautioned him. The husband answered, "on the road that I am in now, everybody else but me is driving against the traffic!"

In my opinion, arrogance is the mental state at which a person is blind to his own mistakes. When being told of his mistakes, not only does the person refuse to see this as his mistake, he accuses of everyone else of being wrong.

I have a friend whose name shall be kept anonymous for obvious purpose. He thinks he knows a lot about the Bible. In fact, he thinks he knows more than his pastor, his mentors, his cell group leaders. Full of himself, he refuses to seek and follow the advice of others. When his friends leave him one by one, he accuses them of not being a true friend as a true friend will stay with him no matter what happens. To some extent, he is true. I am not saying I am correct nor say he is wrong. Yes, a friend should stay with him. Beyond a certain threshold, I will think it is only logical for the friend to leave him. For example, let us just assume X sees Y swimming in a river. X knows that a current is coming and Y will be swept away if Y continues to waddle in the river. In love, X tells Y to get up the shore and tells Y that a current is coming. Y insists that it is only right for him to remain in the water and X should come and join him. By now, the current is just a few kilometres upstream. X tries to pull Y up, Y refused and accuses X of meddling with his life. At this juncture, I will think its only logical for X to leave as it is foolish for X to jump in and join Y knowing both will be swept away.

Chances are, this friend of mine will not read this. Even if he is to read this, it is very likely that he does not even know that I am talking about him. Nonetheless, I pray that he will be moulded by God the way God wants him to be. As far as I can see, he is definately not living the life God has intended for him to be and showing no intentions for change. Granted, I may be seeing things from my human perspective, but here are the evidences.

1. He claims that he knows the Bible. He believes that those who knows the Bible can judge. Thus, it is justifiable for him to pass judgement on anyone even when Jesus says he passes judgement on no one in Jn 8. (If he reads this, he will say I am quoting Jn 8 out of context. Frankly, I don't see how have I quoted this out of context from the little human wisdom God has given me). Christ urged us not to pass judgement, as if we pass judgement on others, the yardstick that we used to judge others will be used against ourselves (Matt 7). In my understanding, if he claims that he uses the Bible to judge, none will stand, including himself.
2. Friends around him urge him to change his mentality as they see him going against the traffic. Instead, he claims that his friends are the ones going against the traffic. Only he is right.
3. When his church adopted a model for growth, he claims that the church is instilling secular management theories in the church. This is not Christ-like. But if you look at the model the church adopted, it is Christ centred in every aspect, at least in my opinion. The model beseech members to pray more, adore Christ, read the Bible, give sacrificially, etc. He mean these are not Christ-like? Then what is?
4. When people make mistakes, he is unforgiving.
5. When he thinks he is hurt, he turns defensive and is out to seek revenge. In fact, he made the following remark, "... be sure that I will return you tenfold" when he feels threatened.
6. He thinks everyone else is wrong. The ministry is going the wrong direction, the church is going the wrong direction.

In case you are wondering, I already given up talking to him. Frequency very different. In fact, most of his friends have given up. To show how different our frequencies are, below is a snippet of our conversation.

Me: Can I have the contact of C? (In case you are wondering, C is a lady)
Him: No.
Me: Why?
Him: I need to ask her before I give to you.
Me: *thinking its fair enough* OK
*5 minutes later*
Him: Her email. ABCDEFG@HIJK.LMN
Me: thanks bro
Him: Enjoy, she online, knock yourself out bah, dun bully her.
Me: *Huh???* nah... just chat
Him: whateva, means nothing to me.
*then he logged off*
*few days later*
Him: I am glad I was generous to you.
Me: Huh?
Him: I generously gave u her email when you asked for it.
Me: *double huh?* what you mean?
Him: nvm

eh... liddat very hard to communicate ley... dun u think so?

Mentors

2006-09-12T19:21:00.000+08:00

I have several mentors in my life of 25 years so far. Interestingly, I had not met a handful of them face to face. Perhaps I should get the word “mentor” properly defined. With respect to this post, the word “mentor” is used to describe persons who have impacted my life, positively.

David Robinson. A man of God, a MVP in NBA, officer in Navy. Having accomplished much, Robinson is still a humble man. After he retired from NBA, he continues to be actively involved in community work. So much so that any NBA sportsman who makes significant contributions to the community gets the David Robinson award. Because of him, I continue to support San Antonio Spurs.

Mama. A brave woman who takes difficulties as they come. She brought up me and 3 other siblings singlehandedly. She’s a woman with taught me what perseverance mean. Of course she is not perfect. At times, she is naggy. At other times, she feels lost and dunno what to do with us. Nevertheless, she remains to be a woman of amazing personality to me.

Jesus, who else can impact my life more positively from what he does and what he had already done?

Various leaders in my church with special mention of Uncle Keng Seng, Uncle Barry, Uncle Jeremy Ponniah and Benjamin. Despite of holding high positions in the secular world, they are among the most humble persons whom I have encountered.

Dr. David. He showed me shrewdness in handling difficult patients when I was a medic.

Dr. Kevin. He is ever encouraging to me. When people generally discourage me from taking a path less taken, he is the one who encourages me to go where I want to be.

Dr Low. CEO of a certain company. A humble man of God who affirms what he learnt from the word through the actions he does. Integrity is the top of his value when it comes to doing business. To me, that is admirable to a businessman cum doctor like him.

Dr Benjamin Carson. I am currently reading his 3^rd book. Being a Black born in US, he is often ostracised. Yet, he succeeded in life by holding onto the values his mother instilled in him – to do his best in whatever he does. T.H.I.N.K. B.I.G. will be the acronym that I hold on to from now on.

Robert Kirosaki. Most have heard of his book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”. He taught me the way money should be handled with proper risk management.

Dr Michael Lim. A Christian doctor who does his best in leading medical teams to the less privileged countries for humanitarian works.

Pastor Derek. He showed me what the word “perseverance” means by the most practical way through his example. In spite of difficulties faced in some areas of work, he continues to persevere.

The names mentioned here are by no means in order of recognition.

Smoked out

2006-09-12T02:28:00.000+08:00

I was smoked out. On 10 Sept, 2006, 0500 hrs, I was awoken by the smell of smoke. Thinking that its someone burning joss papers, I went back to sleepz. At 0530 hrs, I was awoken by an explosion sound. By now, I can no longer convince myself that its someone burning joss papers. I went out of the apartment and saw thick smoke. After waking my mama up, we assembled at the field downstairs.

Picture taken at the stairway between the 3rd and the 4th storey.

Picture taken at the stairway between the 4th and the 5th storey.

Nope, none is injured in this fire.

Role Models

2006-08-28T02:38:00.000+08:00

Strange enough, none of the people whom I known long enough really become my role model at any point of my life... Perhaps I have seen the people whom I am close with long enough to know that they are not perfect. Perhaps I have seem them long enough to come to a conclusion that their short comings are so weighty that I should not impose my perception of role model on them. Of course, to me, Jesus is the perfect role model for everyone. But I figured that I need some other people to serve as the milestone to punctuate my life journey for me to set my eyes upon in the life long journey of becoming more and more Christ-like.

I still remembered how my brother's friend (not my brother, mind u) became a role model for me. Top me back then, he was tall, strong, smart and with a good sense of humour.

Then came Patch Adams, a reowned doctor. A doctor who worked with people, not sickness. His punchline is, "there is nothing wrong in death. when you work with disease, you win some, you lose some. when u work with patients, you can only win".

Then came a few of the leaders in my church. I see them is the epitome of humility, wisdom and perseverance.

The lastest one, Ben Carson. Many thanks to a friend of mine who wrote a bit about Carson's book - Gifted Hands. If you are reading this, a big thank you to you... You should know who u r. Because of what she have wrote, I became interested in the book and bought a copy of it. Ben Carson, a reowned neurosurgeon. Ostracised since young because of skin colour, he worked hard to achieve what he has achieved. His remark on Romans 8:28 was inspiring. For some strange reasons, what he have learnt in classical music somehow became useful in helping him to enter John Hopkins Uni and became a convenient conservation topic between he and his wife (girlfriend back then). Its interesting to see how God weave his live and see how what he does now has an impact on what he do in future. I see Carson's life as an example for us, especially for me...

For instance, I have no clear idea why am I going the way I am going now. Becoming trained as a teacher but yet my heart is with the medicine field. I will nevertheless follow what Carson said (or more precisely, what Carson's mum said to him), "Nothing learnt is ever wasted. You never know when u needed them." I pray that this statement be with me for these years. May God bless me in help me in learning what I need to learn in this time as I go through these years to prepare me in what I will be doing in future.

"Gifted Hands" totally captivated my heart. My heart is gripped with the "strangely warm feeling" as I read the pages of the book. Though I have never met you, but I really would like to tell Ben Carson next time, should we see each other in future, be it this life or in heaven, your book left a postive impact on me. I am clearer of my direction in life after reading your book. Becoming a doctor is what my heart tells me to do now. May God show me His way.

*Off to read again, Carson's 2nd book, "Think BIG"* (:

2006-08-16T17:09:00.000+08:00

I am in a NIE lecture theatre now, as you can see, I am trying to test the wireless next work.

OK, that aside. The picture u see is the mascot for the upcoming learning festival. For some strange reason, the mascot reminds me of Happy Tree Friends. After you take away the "heart shaped mane", I think it can qualify itself as a happy tree friends character. Hmmmz... mebbe it has an implied meaning... :P

For undisclosed reasons, I shall not elaborate on my point. :P

Learning How to Teach (by negative example)

2006-08-10T01:52:00.000+08:00

Head Knowledge. Period. I have no doubts that the lecturers in possessed head knowledge where education is concerned. However, head knowledge remains as head knowledge, it is not transduced to practice. Some of the lectures I have attended so far were delivered by non-engaging lecturers. Ironically, they are the ones supposed to teach us how to make the lessons interesting... Some contradict what they taught by doing the very things they cautioned us NOT to do...

Taboo Number 1
Thou shall not read from your power point slides. Yet, some of the lecturers are reading from the slides.

Taboo Number 2
Thou shall prepare your lessons. Yet, some of the tutors in NIE gave me the idea they did not know what to do with the class. To pull off a 2 hours lesson, we are given 1 hour to introduce ourselves...

Taboo Number 3
Engage your class in the lessons. They did this area well, by reminding us that class participation takes up 10% of the course. Hmmmz.. I feel a bitz threatened. If I am not engaging, then I will forgo the 10% and be labelled as uncooperative... So... I need to talk. Perhaps I should do this in the school that I will be posted to also.

Martians and Venusians

2006-07-31T12:28:00.000+08:00

Yes folks, you guessed it. Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus is the book that I am reading now. Call me a slow coach if u like as I understand that this book is first published in the year 1993, I am at least 13 years late. Despite of the fact the book is a bitz old and hardly edited ever since the first edition is published, it is not outdated. :) I still can identify with many things that is described in the book. Yes, call me a hard core Martians if you like. Just as I was typing this post, I committed a mistake, and what is commonly seen as a sin by a general Venusian. Here it goes...

*Mama went to have the egg beater fixed for $3, and decided to text the function of the egg beater by baking a cake*

Me: you baking a cake?
Mama: yup. testing the functionality of the egg beater.
Me: *clap clap*
Mama: what is that for?
Me: you want to test the functionality of the egg beater, u could have just crack an egg and try it out, why go through the hassle of baking a cake?
Mama: -.-|||

There I go again as a pure bred Martian offering "better" solutions instead of listening to my mama, a pure bred Venusian and making her feel cherished.

*what it could have been if i put what I have learnt in the book into practice*

Me: you baking a cake?
Mama: yup. testing the functionality of the egg beater.
Me: Great! Does that mean I have cakes to eat after I come back? *grins*
Mama: ok, I'll save some for you.
Me: ^^
Mama: ^^

That way, both mama and I will be pleased. Hmmmz.. I guess I still have a long way to go to inculcate that "appreciative, cherishable, and listening" nature in myself ya? cheerios for me. ^-^ At least i realised that i made a mistake now. Had it been 1 week ago, I will still be scratching my head, not knowing why mama is pissed. ;P

Thanks folks, You Folks are the Reason

2006-07-29T07:43:00.000+08:00

Before I lose it (whatever "it" is), I thought I better document down some encouraging moments of teaching. Not that I intend to stay in teaching, but I guess I will need this for me to last through my remaining time as a teacher. 1 more year to go as an NIE trainee, and 2 years 4 months more to go after training.

To start off, I thank all you folks whom I have taught for the past few months. Sorry I cannot mention names as anonymity is the utmost concern as mentioned in the first post of this blog. You folks gave me the "wrong impression" that teaching is easy by being the most angelic students I have taught.

Here are some pictures of the best work that I have so far. I am impressed. I wouldn't have done any work of this quality.

Also... thank you folks for the cards and the memorable gifts that you have given me. Thank you folks. You folks are the reason why I teach. (:

Cheated

2006-07-27T01:54:00.000+08:00

Today's briefing is said to be compulsory for all taking Bio, Phy and Chem as the CS. As Bio is my CS1, I thought I had better go...

Briefing started at 10 am.

"Briefing for Physics... blah blah blah" *ok.. i shall switch off, since it does not concern me...*

"Briefing for Chem... blah blah blah" *ok.. i shall switch off, since it does not concern me...*

"That's the end of the briefing. Thank you for coming"

I look at my watch. 1030 am.

No Bio, I come for 30 min briefing for what? travel to and fro for 4 hours for a 30 min briefing that does not concern me...

I feel cheated

NIE adventure

2006-07-26T03:39:00.000+08:00

It all started out with in fresh day, with a freshman (me), in a fresh semester, at a fresh chapter of my life. After a series of useless briefings with the standard, yet useless introduction to lectures, I decided to have my administrative things done up by checking into my hostel, and here it goes…

I am supposed to pay $320 upfront at the office of finance as a gesture of acceptance to the hostel I was allocated. Hence, I went to the office of finance…

“OH~! You are an NIE trainee, this is not the place you should come! You should have gone to thee NIE office of finance, this is the NTU office of finance.”

Fine.

*at the supposedly NIE office of finance*

“OH~! They have shifted place! Quite long already, you didn’t know about that?”

*OH~! You mean as a freshman, I am supposed to know?”

“OH~! I din know that… this is my 1^st day in sch…”

By this time, its already time for another round of useless briefings. I decided not to be late for the briefings and do up the stuff after briefings.

*4.30 pm. Briefings ended. AT the office of finance, I see a signboard*

CLOSED

SIANZ~!! In a fresh day in a fresh semester at the fresh chapter of a freshman, I feel totally rotten.

Guys are not that simple… hello???

2006-07-23T03:59:00.000+08:00

Guyz, imagine this scenario. An environment with this gorgeous lady. She is looking seductively at your direction. As she approaches you, you see that her eyes are longing for a passionate kiss… And as fallen human beings, you cannot help but to oblige. Both of you soon engage in necking… And this sets the scene of a commercial advertising for…

COFFEE MAKER.

Dots… Dorts of all dorts… I nearly fall off the chair when I saw this. Well done, whoever the advertising manager is. Come on… I admit that most guys are simple, but definitely more complicated than that can? You wanna sell beer to us guyz, you find gorgeous ladies. Wanna sell cars, you find bikini babes. Want guyz to come to your pub? No problem, the answer is to find bikini babes and dance on the dance floor. Now wanna sell coffee maker? Yes, you guessed it, use a lady appearing to enjoy the process of necking as the advertising picture for the coffee maker. Same tactic applied to market different products. Where is the creativity? What is the logic?

As I was discussing with my colleague, we came out with some possible logics.

1. Women are coffee makers, kids are coffee.
2. Coffee makers are like women, Men generally long for them.

Neither of the logics seems to explain that. Perhaps my mind is too small to be able to conceive the logic behind it…

Is it by any chance that the coffee maker shown in the pic is has a metallic tube (see red circle) squirting white foam in the coffee cup done deliberately?

Thanks. Whoever the advertising manager is. You made my imagination run wild. As I have always told students. Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge builds on what we can understand, and imagination builds on what we cannot understand”

I cannot understand…

Minor accident...

2006-07-21T11:16:00.000+08:00

For the benefit of those who did not know, I met a minor accident last week. For some strange reasons, most listeners to the story will find the events leading to the accidents more amusing than terrifying. And the story goes...

Once upon a time, I am blessed with this hamster. Her name is Jolin. Ever since Jolin come into my life, she has been sharing the same room with me. Life has been tough for me and her. Nonetheless, I continued to provide for her. Her accommodation, her daily needs, etc. One day, as I come back from work, I discovered Jolin is no longer in her cage. Jolin escaped~! I searched the house for her but did not manage to put her back to her comfy home. Jolin went missing from then...

The one day, mama called me to tell me Jolin was found. But Jolin is no longer the same Jolin who can run the wheel, Jolin can no longer give me the curious inquisitive look whenever I walk past her and Jolin can no longer run in her favourite hamster ball. Jolin died of exhaustion, hunger and thirst...

As I was driving my friends van then, I thought of how Jolin look. I remembered her pinky button nose. I remembered her perky whiskers.

*PIANG* Before I know it, I bwang-ed my friend's van in the midst of thinking of Jolin.

That's it… Jolin is gone. $300 is gone for bwang-ing my friend's van for repairs.

U will always be remembered, Jolin, occupying the ever special place in my heart which no other hamsters can take over... *sniff*

Abide in Christ

2006-07-18T00:09:00.000+08:00

Did this for fun. The theme? "Abide in Christ", literally. The word "abide" in the word "Christ" :)

What Happened to the playground????

2006-06-27T02:50:00.000+08:00

Picture taken at a playground near my place.

I cannot help but to say the "playthings" in the playground near my place looks exactly like the toys I bought for my hamster. My hamster has also a tunnel and a bridge for her to walk on.

Eh... are chew ren nowadays becoming so pampered that they no longer play on slides, see saw (the wooden plank ones) and swingz?

I vividly remember the dayz when I was much younger when I jumped from the top of the slide with a perfect landing on the sand below. I remember the days when I lept off from the see saw as I was going down (because I was heavier) and my friend at the other end got a nasty shock on his butt as he come crashing down (we ran around the playground chasing each other after that). I remember the dayz when we compete among ourselves on the swing to see who can swing the highest (with an undescribable apprehensiveness of going one full circle on the swing. We always heard of people swinging one full circle on the swing, but I have not seen it nor experienced it). And of course, the sand that makes up the ground of the playground for us to build sand castle (and throw sand at one another). And a stone horse that sits there (and do nothing) as we climb over the horse and "ji kor beh".

Gone are those days. Sand replaced by bouncy rubber. Slides replaced by the hamster tunnels. Wooden see saws replaced by plastic ones, not to mention that there are gigantic springs at the pivot to dampen the motion and dampening the spirit of playing see saw (where is the fun when the motion is dampen?). Stone horses are replaced by miniature horses, rabbits, and all sorts of funny animals mounted on a gigantic spring for chew ren to ride on (where the parents will shout at their kids not to swing too much, coz its "dangerous". With the gigantic spring on, how to swing "too much"?).

Mebbe the govt should install a gigantic hamster wheel for chew ren to run on to make the set complete.

Hardest Question Ever~!

2006-06-23T14:57:00.000+08:00

What is the hardest question ever? Nothing to do academically. It’s the question from mama, “Are you staying home for meal?”

Day 1
Mama: Are staying home for meal?
Me: Yes.
*1 h later, abt 10.30 am*
Mama: I am cooking fish porridge later for lunch, you eating?
Me: Ya
*1 h later, abt 11.30 am. I am going out for a haircut and take some reference books from school*
Me: Going out liaoz. Coming back in an hour’s time.
Mama: I thought you said you will be home for lunch?
Me: -_-||| Yes… I will be back 1 h later.
Mama: oh
Me: -.-|||

Day 2
Mama: Are you coming home for dinner?
Me: No.
*6 pm, I just reached home. The activity ended earlier than usual. Because I had told mama I will not be home for dinner, I had mine b4 I reach home outside*
Mama: I thought you said you will not be home for dinner?
Me: Ya, I had mine outside liaoz.
Mama: Why did you have your dinner outside when u are home at 6 pm?
Me: The program ended earlier.
Mama: u should have called home to tell me you will be in time for dinner!
Me: =.=|||

Day 3
Mama: Are you coming home for dinner?
Me: No.
*5 pm, because the program ended earlier than usual, I called home*
Me: Me coming home for dinner.
Mama: Now then tell me. Din prepare yours.
Me: |||-_-

Day 4
Mama: Will u be home for lunch?
Me: Oh ya, dun prepare my lunch. I watched soccer last night. Will sleep through lunch time.
*12.30 pm, I was sleeping*
Mama *shaking me from my bed*: Wake up and have your lunch.
Me: -___-|||

Calculated Risks 1

2006-06-23T09:59:00.000+08:00

There is a disclaimer here to make before I start. I am NOT encouraging gambling by this post. The rules of gambling is quoted here just as an example to illustrate my point.

In the book that I have been reading recently, the author made the remark – Winners plan to lose as part of the winning game, while losers only plan to win and have no room for failures in any game. Let us consider the game of gambling. Suppose the chances of winning a gamble are 1:10 (out of 10 times, the gambler only win once). Yet, the rewards for winning in the gamble are 1:100 (you bet $1 and the $1 has the potential to win you $100). The winners will plan to have enough money to lose at least 9 times before winning the 10^th one. The gamble is worth it for the winners as the risk to reward ratio is 1:10. A quick calculation will reveal that if the winners have $10 to start, losing $9 is part of the plan before winning the final $100. However, the loser will bet whatever they have and if they lose once, they call it off. In short, the losers will bet all the $10 that he has, and call it off if they lose it all (more conservative losers will bet amounts less than $10, and if they lose, they call it off). Yet, there is another class of people who are intimidated by the low chances of winning, commonly known as 十赌九输 in Mandarin and are not even willing to try.

Are there risks involved in the winners’ plan? Definitely. As most people with a good grasp of statistics will know, the winner may or may not win at the 10^th try even though the odds reveal that if he tries hard enough, he will definitely win one day. In other words, if the winners do not win at the 10^th try, he will bankrupt. This is the risk. Sitting on the fence not betting sounds to be a good idea to most people.

My point? Nope, I am definitely not gambling. I am investing. What is the difference? Gambling takes uncalculated risks, while investing takes calculated risks.

Once again, I am NOT encouraging gambling. For those of you who are thinking of betting in the World Cup, allow me to say that as much as I know about the winners’ mentality, Singapore Pools know better. Do not venture into unfamiliar grounds, that’s uncalculated risks. That’s gambling, definitely not investing.

Native Speaker to Teach English?

2006-06-19T02:56:00.000+08:00

Our very own Education Minister made the remark that MOE is going to employ native English speakers in an attempt to teach Singaporeans perfect English.

While that sounds to be a good idea, I am apprehensive of

How perfect the English of what is so-called native English Speakers can be.
Define what you mean by native English speakers.

For point number 1, perhaps it is important to point out that the evolution of language from what was known as English to a more colloquial form, known as a creole (in the case of Singapore: Singlish) is NOT unique to Singapore. Even in what are so-called Native English speaking countries, there is their own unique form of creole. To illustrate, let us assume that England is the perfect example of native English speaking country. Examine the simple word – weed. Most of us will be able to point out that the term weed is used to describe an unwanted plant growing in the midst of a harvested crop. However, in colloquial usage in England, the word weed also means marijuana. Does that mean that for those who do not know that weed also mean marijuana are poorly informed as the alternative meaning of weed should is also perfect English? After all, the term comes from a Native English speaking country, so, weed to mean marijuana must be correct and perfect English? I beg to disagree if that is what you think. If Native English speaking countries sets the standards for what is so-called perfect English, it means that Native English speakers cannot be wrong as they speak only perfect English. Whatever comes out of their mouth is perfect English. That assumption, obviously, is invalid. Obviously no matter how native a speaker of English may be, he is still capable of making a statement that is not perfect English.

What exactly is a native English Speaker? Do they belong to a special breed of human beings from America or England? Perhaps. So, Americans and Bristish should understand each other perfectly since they both speak perfect English. If you think this is the case let me offer a counter example. If one from England made the following remark, “Sir, please queue up.” in USA, most Americans will not understand what the one from England means. The remark, “sir, please queue up” consists of four words, grammatically correct. It contains a noun – “sir”, contains a verb – “queue up” and it satisfies what is so called perfect English in a grammatically sound, perfect sentence. So, why is the American unable to understand what the British means? To me, queue up and line up are both as easy to understand. In any sense, queue up is neither a more obscure version nor a more difficult version of English to me. It is because in USA, they don’t use “queue up”, rather, they use “line up”. Which is correct? Do I hear you people saying both are correct? If the remark is both are correct, then can I ask who sets the standards for what is so called perfect Language of English? Is there a double standard here? If both are correct, should we as Singaporeans learn both perfect English since we are… ermz… more… kiasu?

In other words, my position is we do NOT need native speakers from native countries to teach us perfect English. If we think native speakers teaches native perfect English, allow me to say that we are ~~native~~ naive.

The Land of White Elephants

2006-06-17T03:32:00.000+08:00

Buangkok, commonly and notoriously known as the Land of White Elephants to native Singaporeans, will be the home of me soon.

That being said, below is the little transcript of the dialogue between me and mama. The setting is the afternoon sun shines into my room in my new home, making my room intolerably hot in the afternoon. So, to solve the problem, I contemplated in pasting a dark “glass paper” on the windows to prevent sunlight from getting in.

Mama: The “glass paper” costs about $500-$600 to be pasted.

Me: Huh? So expensive? Then dowan lor…

Mama: You know, its very expensive, u still want?

Me: dowan

Mama: $500-$600 is very expensive for your room, you still want?

Me: *very irritated* How many times must I say that I dowan?

Mama: Talk talk a bit become so impatient, then next time dun need to talk lor!

Me: -.-|||

Eh… what can I say right? Yes, I agree I am impatient, and it seems that conversations between me and mama had degraded to a stage when it becomes meaningless repetitions of the same answer with rephrase of the same question in different (in this case, 3 different) ways.

Angels and Demons

2006-06-10T03:21:00.000+08:00

I just finished reading Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. The expectation of the book was somewhat tuned up as I had read the infamous Da Vinci Code by the same author prior to this. Summary of the book… *warning: Spoilers ahead*

Robert Langdon discovers the location of the scene of murder before the murder took place and rushed there, hoping to deter the murder from happening. But was too late…

Robert Langdon discovers the next location, and rushed there, but was too late…

Robert Langdon yet discovers the next location, yet was too late again…

Robert Langdon discovers the supposedly the next scene of murder, yes, you guessed it, it was too late…

The 4 somewhat repetitive plots took up like the first 400 pages (out of 500 pages) of the book… What the… Like cheat money liddat… one plot occurring 4 times. Waste my time. In short, I was really bored by the first 400 pages. After the 150^th page, I literally struggled to read further, knowing how the story will progress…

To give Dan Brown some credit, the story did take an unexpected twist later on in the book. I was literally caught off guard. The book is a good read if u have nothing much to do. Not really intellectually challenging.

Rating: ***1/2

An Outlet for Expressions

2006-06-04T20:15:00.000+08:00

The purpose of this blog is an outlet for the expressions of my thoughts and nothing else. I kinda closed down my original blog a few months ago as it has attracted a lot of unwanted attention. For this very reason, anonymity is a the topmost priority in this blog.

As mentioned, the purpose for this blog is to provide an outlet for the expression of my thoughts. After my blog was closed down a few months ago, I kinda feel "pressurised" with a lot of issues bottled up within me. This has perhaps led to a disinterest in a lot of things which I used to find interesting in the past. Hence, the reactivation of my blog. Hopefully, I will start to move on after this. (: