Quote of the Post: "Have you ever observed that we pay much more attention to a wise passage when it is quoted than when we read it in the original author?" - Philip G. Hamerton

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Ponderable thought of the day: Malay males call each other "bruder", but no one calls Malay females "sistuh"

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My favourite Engineer sends along this picture, on which she comments: "Disturbing how lecturer's jokes can be so lame..."



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Someone on my retelling of a faux pas:

"?? that don't sound very malicious to me. but you've got a way with people."

Indeed I do, don't I? *g*

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I used to use Miranda on my laptop for my ICQ-ing and MSN-ing needs, but I found that it choked up, and slowed to a crawl when too many messages came in/went out. Worse, it kept telling me that my messages were timing out, when in fact they were going through. The result of which was that some people got the same message from me 6 times, as I kept trying to resend my "timed out" messages.

Xephyris is still a big fan of it, but after my traumatic experience I've shifted to Trillian Pro. Maybe I shall use it on my desktop too.

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solsetur on Boiled Coke in Traditional Chinese Medicine:

"coke is used by voodoo-medicine doctors in certain parts of the world. they do see 'miracles' happen afterwards, eg your ailing grandfather suddenly being able to leap around - which is probably the effect of all that sugar and who knows what present in coke.

I can't remember where I read this from. It was a very long time ago. In those parts of the world Coke is more than just a commercialised trendy drink - it has magical medicinal properties too. I laughed when I read it."

Maybe it's the cocaine. Ah, the power of psycho-somatic healing is wondrous indeed. I wonder if they credit Coke with spontaneous remission of cancer too.

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An acquaintance got his letter published:


PRs and NS: A conflict of interest

Weekend • September 11, 2004

I REFER to Mindef's letter, "PRs can serve NS in other nation, but..." (Sept 10).

Instead of acknowledging the obvious conflict of interest, the response from Colonel Bernard Toh has repeated sections of Singaporean policy. The time will come when Singaporean PRs will have to decide between serving their NS obligations in different countries, for serving more than one is untenable.

Upon serving NS in Singapore, an oath of allegiance needs to be taken, where loyalty and allegiance is sworn to the Republic of Singapore. Why should a foreigner swear allegiance to a foreign state?

I hope that Colonel Toh will offer some insight into the policy regarding this conflict of interest, and if need be, set up a forum to resolve this issue.

Ho Joe-Han

***

Subject: weird number 11

11 has become to be a very interesting number. It could be a forced coincidence, but in any case this is interesting. You decide for your self:

1) New York City has 11 letters.
2) Afghanistan has 11 letters.
3) Ramsin Yuseb (The terrorist who threatened the Twin Towers in 1993) has 11 letters.
4) George W. Bush has 11 letters.

This could be a mere coincidence... (Could it be?)

Now here is what is interesting...

1) New York is the State # 11
2) The first plane crushing against the Twin Towers was flight 11.
3) Flight 11 was carrying 92 passengers Adding this number gives 9+2=11.
4) Flight # 77 who also hit the towers, was carrying 65 passengers Adding this: 6+5=11.
5) The tragedy was on September 11, or 9/11. Adding this: 9+1+1=11
6) The date is equal to the emergency number 911. Adding this: 9+1+1=11

Now we have a very upsetting piece..

1) The total number of victims inside the planes are 254: 2+5+4=11
2) The day September 11 is day number 254 of the calendar year: 2+5+4=11
3) After September 11, there are 111 days more to the end of the year.
4) The tragedy of 3/11/2004 in Madrid also adds to: 3+1+1+2+4=11.
5) The tragedy in Madrid happened 911 days after the tragedy of the Twin Towers.

Spooky!! Read on.....! This is really eerie,,,,, This is something to think about!

Since America is typically represented by an Eagle. Saddam and Bin Laden should have read up on their Muslim passages...

The following verse is from the Quran, (the Islamic Bible).

Quran (9:11) -- For it is written that a son of Arabia would awaken a fearsome Eagle. The wrath of the Eagle would be felt throughout the lands of Allah and lo, while some of the people trembled in despair still more rejoiced; for the wrath of the Eagle cleansed the lands of Allah; and there was peace.

Note the verse number!!!!!


Oh my God! How worried should I be? There are 11 letters in the name "David Pawson!" I'm going into hiding NOW. See you in a few weeks.

Wait a sec ... just realized "YOU CAN'T HIDE" also has 11 letters! What am I gonna do? Help me!!! The terrorists are after me! ME! I can't believe it!

Oh crap, there must be someplace on the planet Earth I could hide! But no ..."PLANET EARTH" has 11 letters, too!

Maybe Nostradamus can help me. But dare I trust him? There are 11 letters in "NOSTRADAMUS."

I know, the Red Cross can help. No they can't... 11 letters in "THE RED CROSS," can't trust them.

I would rely on self defense, but "SELF DEFENSE" has 11 letters in it, too! Can someone help?

Anyone? If so, send me email. No, don't... "SEND ME EMAIL" has 11 letters....

Will this never end? I'm going insane! "GOING INSANE???" Eleven letters!!

Nooooooooooo!!!!!! I guess I'll die alone, even though "I'LL DIE ALONE" has 11 letters....

Oh my God, I just realized that America is doomed! Our Independence Day is July 4th ... 7/4 ... 7+4=11!

- Dave

PS. "IT'S BULLSHIT" has 11 letters also.

[See also: Snopes]

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Friendly Feudalism: The Tibet Myth

In the Dalai Lama's Tibet, torture and mutilation---including eye gouging, the pulling out of tongues, hamstringing, and amputation--were favored punishments inflicted upon runaway serfs and thieves... Since it was against Buddhist teachings to take human life, some offenders were severely lashed and then "left to God" in the freezing night to die. "The parallels between Tibet and medieval Europe are striking," concludes Tom Grunfeld in his book on Tibet.

We are told that when the Dalai Lama ruled Tibet, the people lived in contented and tranquil symbiosis with their monastic and secular lords, in a social order sustained by a deeply spiritual, nonviolent culture, inspired by humane and pacific religious teachings. The Tibetan religious culture was the social glue and comforting balm that kept rich lama and poor peasant spiritually bonded together, to maintain those proselytes who embrace Old Tibet as a cultural purity, a Shangri-La.

One is reminded of the idealized imagery of feudal Europe presented by latter-day conservative Catholics such as G. K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc. For them, medieval Christendom was a world of contented peasants living in a deep spiritual bond with their Church, under the protection of their lords. Again we are invited to accept a particular culture on its own terms, which means accepting it as presented by its favored class, by those at the top who profited most from it. The Shangri-La image of Tibet bears no more resemblance to historic reality than does the romanticized image of medieval Europe.

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Patient dies - " A 56-year-old patient [Jerome Saarines of Ottawa] using an oxygen tank in a room at the VA hospital near Maywood died Monday morning after the cigarette he was smoking ignited the tank Sunday"

Dog Wiggles Paw Free to Shoot Florida Man - "A man who tried to shoot seven puppies was shot himself when one of the dogs put its paw on the revolver's trigger."

Rowboat Veterans for Truth - "Friends and fellow countrymen, it's time to set the record straight. "General" George Washington is no war-hero... Rowboat Vets for Truth is here to share the real story, to correct the misleading use of our images, against our will, in paintings, woodcuts and pamphlets across the colonies. The Rowboat Vets for Truth will counter the outrageous claims made by Mr. Washington and the liberal printing presses in Boston and Philadelphia... It's time to set the record straight."

Can You Be a Pornstar? - "Think you've got what it takes to be a pornstar? We are now casting for 'Can You Be A Pornstar - Season 2!' Click Here to take your first step to $100,000.00 and an Adult Video Contract of your very own! Good Luck!"
Reality TV is getting weirder and weirder.

Torn on porn's net effect - "Pornography is good for people, the academic leading a taxpayer-funded study of the subject said yesterday... 'The surprising finding was that pornography is actually good for you in many ways,' Dr McKee said. 'When you look at people who are using it in everyday life, over 90 per cent report it has had a very positive effect.' Dr McKee said porn users reported it had taught them 'to be more relaxed about their sexuality' and marriages were healthier, while porn made people think about another person's pleasure and made them less judgmental about body shapes. 'The more we try and turn porn into something that's seen to be bad and has to be kept away from families, the more problems we might be causing for ourselves.'"

The Worst Jobs in History - "The history we are taught usually features the lives and times of the great and the good, of the haves and not the have-nots. But the famous aristocrats and monarchs could not have existed without the battalions of minions who performed the tasks that were beneath their masters. In this website, we take you on a journey through 2,000 years of British history and the worst jobs of each era."

Microsoft security chief uses Firefox - "Life is safer that way"

iPod Used In Domestic Homicide

Sun 'bomber' in Commons - "A Sun reporter could have blown up the House of Commons yesterday... Our man posed as a Commons waiter to smuggle in a fake bomb. He exposed shambolic security to get the job with bogus references. And just hours before Wednesday's Commons drama he even served Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott... Commons leader Peter Hain said last night The Sun had done MPs a favour by exposing lax security in Parliament. Mr Hain said: 'This confirms all my worst fears and why I have so determinedly pushed for much tighter security and modern professional procedures in the House. Frankly, The Sun has done the House a favour by exposing the amateurish and old-fashioned culture which is a threat to the very cockpit of our democracy.'"
Of course in Singapore he would have been arrested for trespassing and willful mischief instead of being thanked for his efforts to improve security.

The Catholic Version: Do pro-life policies reduce abortion? Or, Why Good Catholics can be Pro-Choice - "What happened when Poland banned abortions in the 1990s? If pro-life policies reduce abortion significantly, there would have been a spike in Poland's birthrate. But Poland's birth rate remained steady."

Wikipedia article on Singlish - "Is it: Used to form yes-no questions, generic like the French n'est-ce pas?, regardless of the actual verb in the sentence."
Fricatives? Phonemes? Acrolectal? Prosody? Argh! *boggle*

Bush Shoot-Out - I'm lousy. I can't even get past the first level on the lowest level of difficulty.

How to remove chewing gum - They should make all the MRT janitors read this one.

Kohlberg's Stages - "Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987) was a well-known theorist in the field of moral development. He posed moral dilemmas (e.g., Heinz Dilemma) to his subjects then asked questions to probe their reasons for recommending a specific course of action."

Free Music! - "Looking for classical recordings? Share these with your friends, link to me, spread the word! Everything you can get to from here is 100% copyable - it's produced independently of the RIAA, because we love music! This site primarily archives the concerts of the MIT Concert Choir and MIT Chamber Chorus."
Unfortunately, they're not very good. At least not in the few pieces I've heard.

28.571428571428573% of me is a huge nerd! How about you? - Someone: "i got exactly the same as u. this is a sham"

Weird game where you thwack little Cyclopic aliens. A variation of whack the mole.

Fever x 2/7, headache x 2/7. Perennial dry cough.

38.1 degrees. 124/87mmHg, 115/min despite 10 tabs x setamol over 26 hrs.

P2! P2! IV H/M 1L/2hrs.

Chinese Language Policies In Singapore

We are a group of students researching the impact of the declining standard of the Chinese language on society in Singapore as our Project Work assignment. The following survey is part of our research and we would appreciate your help in completing it.

The declining standard of Chinese has manifested itself in several education policies:
- The Chinese Language B Syllabus is an easier exam and syllabus studied by students who are struggling with the language.
- Requirements for taking Higher Chinese have been lowered to make it easier for able students to take the language at a higher level in hopes of producing a bilingual elite.
- University admission criteria have been altered, making it no longer compulsory to include Chinese results in admission scores.
- A new review committee has been set up to monitor and modify Chinese teaching methods in accordance with the ability levels of students.

We would like to know your opinions and views on these changes. Thank you.

Question 9: How would the policies affect you personally?
Answer: Others: I DO NOT TAKE CHINESE ANYMORE. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

***

More insights on what happens at night in the halls of our country's Premier Institution of Social Engineering:

Friend: the guys in my block are looking for girls to drag into the toilets to shampoo. all of us have to lock our doors. what the heck

it's some honour thing lah.... like why tchs guys don't want to get stripped during their birthdays

and it's very difficult to wash clean after tt cos they use A LOT of shampoo

Me: wah lao sounds like they go around raping girls... forcibly pinning them down etc

Friend: close


Witnessing this sounds like it would be more fun than being a voyeur!

Quote of the Post: "Economics is extremely useful as a form of employment for economists." - John Kenneth Galbraith

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Free wireless broadband for Starhub Mobile customers at Changi Airport. Yay.


"Come find out today scientifically why god exists and why jesus loves you at our talk... 14 september, 2pm, LT 27"

Heh heh. This is too good to resist. I love my informants.

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By popular demand, more engineer jokes:


Blind Fire Fighters

A priest, a doctor, and an engineer were waiting one morning for a particularly slow group of golfers.
Engineer: What's with these guys? We must have been waiting for 15 minutes!
Doctor: I don't know but I've never seen such ineptitude!
Priest: Hey, here comes the greenskeeper. Let's have a word with him.
Priest: Hi George. Say George, what's with that group ahead of us? They're rather slow aren't they?
George: Oh yes. That's a group of blind fire fighters. They lost their sight while saving our club house last year. So we let them play here anytime free of charge!

(silence)

Priest: That's so sad. I think I will say a special prayer for them tonight.
Doctor: Good idea. And I'm going to contact my ophthalmologist buddy and see if there's anything he can do for them.
Engineer: Why can't these guys play at night?


The Lost Balloonist

A man is flying in a hot air balloon and realizes he is lost. He reduces height and spots a man down below. He lowers the balloon further and shouts, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised my friend I would meet him half an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."

The man below says,"Yes. You are in a hot air balloon, hovering approximately 30 feet above this field. You are between 40 and 41 degrees N. latitude, and between 58 and 59 degrees W. longitude."

"You must be an engineer" says the balloonist.

"I am," replies the man. "How did you know?"

"Well," says the balloonist, "everything you have told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I am still lost."

The man below says "You must be a manager."

"I am," replies the balloonist, "but how did you know?"

"Well," says the man, "you don't know where you are, or where you are going to. You have made a promise which you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. The fact is you are in the exact same position you were in before we met, but now it is somehow my fault."


Engineers & Accountants on a Train

Three engineers and three accountants were traveling by train to a conference. At the station, the three accountants each bought tickets and watched as the three engineers bought only a single ticket. "How are three people going to travel on only one ticket?" asked an accountant. "Watch and you'll see," answered an engineer.

They all boarded the train. The accountants took their respective seats, but all three engineers cramed into a restroom and closed the door behind them. Shortly after the train departed, the conductor came around collecting tickets. He knocked on the restroom door and said, "Ticket, please." The door opened just a crack and a single arm emerged with a ticket in hand. The conductor took it and moved on.

The accountants saw this and agreed it was quite a clever idea. So after the conference, the accountants decided to copy the engineers on the return trip and save some money (being clever with money, and all that). When they got to the station, they bought a single ticket for the return trip. To their astonishment, the engineers didn't buy a ticket at all. "How are you going to travel without a ticket?" said one perplexed accountant. "Watch and you'll see," answered an engineer.

When they boarded the train, the three accountants cramed into a restroom and the three engineers cramed into another nearby. The train departed. Shortly afterward, one of the engineers left his restroom and walked over to the restroom where the accountants were hiding. He knocked on the door and said, "Ticket, please."


A boy was crossing a road one day when a frog called out to him and said, "If you kiss me, I'll turn into a beautiful princess". He bent over, picked up the frog and put it in his pocket.

The frog spoke up again and said, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful princess, I will stay with you for one week." The boy took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it and returned it to the pocket.

The frog then cried out, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a princess, I'll stay with you and do ANYTHING you want." Again the boy took the frog out, smiled at it and put it back into his pocket.

Finally, the frog asked, "What is the matter? I've told you I'm a beautiful princess, that I'll stay with you for a week and do anything you want. Why won't you kiss me?"

The boy said, "Look I'm an engineer. I don't have time for a girlfriend, but a talking frog is cool."


To the optimist, the glass is half full. To the pessimist, the glass is half empty. To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

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"Dear Offended,

I do not suggest that I may have the privilege of viewing society from a more illuminating angle at all, but there is something that I have learned for myself over the years. I have learned that things/events/words are not offensive; it is the context in which things/events/words are used and accepted.

Why do I use the word “cripple” so readily? It’s partially the shock value, but it is mostly because I feel it is important to practice what I am explaining now. A person who calls me a cripple is not necessarily an asshole; it’s the way he uses it. Actually, I am all for free expression, especially if that expression is blatantly offensive. It makes the assholes stand out.

If you were to shine everything up and remove any potentially offensive bit from all humor, there would be no humor at all. Any joke, even the most innocent joke told by my seven year old niece, has a party being hurt either physically or emotionally. We laugh because it is the only way to express ourselves at the time, empathetic or not.

If you hide what is considered offensive in order not to offend but do nothing about its context, you empower that thing to be much more than it ever was. It’s like using a racial epithet. It’s not the word itself, it’s the racist asshole that’s using it."

(notice on It's a BK Holiday!, flash animation to the MP3 of "Ding Fried Are Done", some Burger King parody to the tune of Carol of the Bells)

***

"USP has an entire block at PGP!!
i guess they want u guys to fuck other scholars
whoops, i mean get to know other scholars"

Heh heh.

Quote of the Post: "There are only two ways of telling the complete truth - anonymously and posthumously." - Thomas Sowell

Random Playlist Song: Westminster Cathedral Choir - Schubert - The Lord is my Shepherd D706

Yay. Another of the songs that I've been looking for for the longest time is now within my grasp. Though I'm not fond of organ accompaniments, since the organ notes, already slightly muffled by their nature, tend to merge into indistinct clumps when you layer voices on top of them.

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Two men met at a bus stop and struck up a conversation. One of them kept complaining of family problems. Finally, the other man said : "You think you have family problems? Listen to my situation."

A few years ago, I met a young widow with a grown up daughter. We got married and I got myself a stepdaughter. Later, my father married my stepdaughter.

That made my stepdaughter, my stepmother. And my father became my stepson. Also, my wife became mother in-law of her father in-law.

Much later, the daughter of my wife, my stepmother had a son. This boy was my half brother because he was my father's son. But he was also the son of my wife's daughter which made him my wife's grandson. That made me the grand father of my half brother.

This was nothing until my wife and I had a son. Now the half sister of my son, my stepmother is also the grandmother. This makes my father, the brother in-law of my child whose stepsister is my father's wife. I am my stepmother's brother in-law, my wife is her own child's aunt [Ed: step-daughter-in-law actually], my son is my father's nephew [Ed: step-cousin-in-law actually] and I am my own GRANDFATHER [Ed: step-grandfather actually] !!!!!!!!!!!!!

And you think you have FAMILY PROBLEMS.............................


Did I correct the familial relations properly?

This story is actually based on a song: I'm My Own Grandpa

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A Rulebook for Arguments


(4) Use definite, specific, concrete language

Write concretely: avoid abstract vague, general terms. "We hiked for hours in the sun" is a hundred times better than "It was an extended period of laborious exertion."

NO:

For those whose roles primarily involved the performance of services, as distinguished from assumption of leadership responsibilities, the main pattern seems to have been a response to the leadership’s invoking obligations that were concomitants of the status of membership in the societal community and various of its segmental units. The closest modern analogy is the military service performed by an ordinary citizen, except that the leader of the Egyptian bureaucracy did not need a special emergency to invoke legitimate obligations. [This passage is from Talcott Parsons, Societies: Evolutionary an Comparative Perspectives (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1966), p. 56. I owe the quotation and the rewritten version which follows to Stanislas Andreski, Social Science as Sorcery (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1972), Chapter 6.]

Yes:

In ancient Egypt the common people were liable to be conscripted for work.


LOL. So much for academic writing - I doubt anyone who writes like in the latter style would be hired, really. It's just the conspiracy of using jargon to exclude others from your inner circle, really.

***

When she was in Egypt for her travel show, Zoe Tay went not only to the Great Pyramid of Khufu, but also the Step Pyramid of Zoser at Saqqara and the Bent Pyramid of Snefru at Dhashur. I'm impressed.


The PVC coated card that I ordered from Kah Keng and Kah Seng at the Science Foyer about 3 weeks ago has arrived! Now I can terrorise everyone with it!


Front


Back


Someone on Wo-hen Nankan:

I totally understand how you feel dude. And I know your secret. It's your mullet combine with your stache. And the shoulder pads... and the obscene vans... and the offensive shirt... and the kensas size ego... somehow, all these elements that are traditionally known to be nothing but bad taste all rolled together with the obscene ego suddenly becomes a new form of retro-chic, making you the sexiest man to the opposite sex, as well as some of the same sex.

it's kinda like a circle. when you go further back enough, you loop around go to the front. Yes, I'm totally jealous, screw you.


An observation about choristers: Many of them are nonchalent about non-modern music. A few of them start to like choral music, though usually only the pieces/genres that they're used to.

Some of them find that they have an affinity for modern acapella, which really is mostly a way of singing pop music without needing guitars and drums, so that's not really counted.

However, it seems that only those who have prior musical background like classical music. Ah well.


Got my ink from a company called "S-Trans". So far it's been ok, only occasionally not flowing properly, in which case I've to reprint the page. At least they delivered the goods, unlike sginkjets!

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As a service towards the world at large, I am hosting the lyrics and mp3 of the unofficial song of the NUS USP: "That's what I call an education", by Don Shiau.

All I will say about this song is to quote someone else: "It's about everything it says it isn't about"

MP3
Don Shiau - That's What I Call an Education! (128kbps, 44khz, 1724kb)


Lyrics:

That's What I Call an Education!
Don Shiau

It's not about money
It's not about grades
It's not about mugging
It's not about brains
It's not about glamour
It's not about elites
It's not about power
Or how hard to compete

Chorus:
It's about diversity
Growing opportunities
Bounded only by imagination
Being in the USP
Building a community
Now that's what I call an education

It's not about money
It's not about bonds
It's not about how much
It's not about how long
It's not about ranking
It's not about power
It's not about living
In an ivory tower

(repeat chorus)

***

What Happened to the Political Sim? - "Read the reviews of countless recent strategy titles, and you’ll find a recurrent criticism: Their diplomatic systems lack depth. The very model of a modern AI general might be supremely challenging in other respects, but when it comes to negotiation, he’s monolithic and stupid. However, this is merely a symptom: The approach of developers to strategy gaming has become so focused on play dynamics that political simulations have all but vanished. Look at the latest batch of strategy releases, and one might think consumers want nothing but relentless action even in so-called brainy releases, and couldn’t give two hoots whether, say, Pope Julius II is depicted with his devious strategic imagination historically intact."
After watching nw.t play Hidden Agenda, I wanted to play it too so I emailed the author of Hidden Agenda, who said he'd send the game to anyone who asked, but I haven't gotten a response after many days.

Alice Law - "Learn Special Relativity and General Relativity with this program. The program shows in an extraordinary way, how and why occur these magical physics laws"

Mothers Against Maddox (mirror - original site here) - This is hilarious. As Maddox comments: "For years, I was under the impression that the only mother who wanted my site shut down was my own. I stand corrected"

Big Burger - "A 6 lb. Burger. Where's the beef? It's at a Pennsylvania pub that serves the world's biggest burger — weighing in at NINE lip-smacking pounds! That's no whopper — you can actually get this meat monster for $23.95, loaded with all the fixings: Two whole tomatoes, a half-head of lettuce, 12 slices of American cheese, a full cup of peppers, two entire onions, plus, a river of mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard."

2nd reason found to check woman's ring finger - "Women whose index fingers are shorter than their ring fingers are more likely to engage in casual sex, a McMaster University psychologist claims... The strongest indicator of high sexual activity, of the seven Clark studied, was the amount of money spent on alcohol."
And I wonder why I'm a teetotaller.

Research Randomizer - "Research Randomizer is a free service offered to students and researchers interested in conducting random assignment and random sampling."
I thought it was faking results for your assignments! *g*

Da Vinci mystery tour piques Paris - "Officials at St Sulpice are annoyed by the onslaught of visitors brandishing the novel and are angered by the book's distortion of history. Staff are so exhausted by demands for information about the Priory of Sion, which Brown links to the church, that they have hung a terse printed notice on a side wall: 'Contrary to the fanciful allegations in a recent best-selling novel, this is not the vestige of a pagan temple.'"

Singapore Political Dissidents (from Carl Parkes, Singapore Handbook, 1st edition, which I doubt is on sale here) - This excerpt has the stories of Chia Thye Poh ("near-holder of world’s record for political detention"), J.B. Jeyaretnam ("Singapore’s most defiant opposition figure"), Vincent Cheng and the Marxist Conspiracy ("few observers thought it possible that this loose collection of lawyers, Christian activists, and theatrical performers comprised some sort of Marxist conspiracy against the Singapore government"), Francis Seow and Chee Soon Juan ("fired by the university on charges that he had spent US$138 of university research funds to ship his wife's doctoral thesis to Pennsylvania State University"), and ends with 2 famous quotes on democracy and freedom, and a sycophantic mass media from MM which, for some reason, you never read in the Straits Times.