Gee.
D: has just gone missing.
Lucky I backed it up not long ago (on 6th July), so at most I lose my 400+ hours of mp3s (sob!), some pictures I've collected over the years, a journal entry, some movies I don't mind losing and some games you can't download anymore, but which I'll never play anyway. Nothing I can't afford to lose, or which is worth US$200-300 (?) recovering.
Ironically, this is the newer HDD which has spoilt after 3 years. The 5 year old one is still going strong.
A helpful source opines that "tho usually even when ur hd dies the bios will at least indicate it's there. so i guess u gotta check ur connections and tweak". Unfortunately, when I try to enter my BIOS, green lines appear on my screen.
More on brights and banding together as a cohesive, influential group.
Nice poster
Useful service: blogging from your mobile phone, courtesy of Kah Keng and Kah Seng
Hidden Cameras Spy on Your Kids - School children get videotaped in their locker rooms. Parents protest that hidden cameras should be prohibited in locker rooms, showers, restrooms and other areas that could violate students' rights. (The images were reportedly accessible through the Internet.)
Man fined for catching alligator - A Florida man who caught an alligator with a rope because he feared it would attack a woman has been fined for being in possession of the animal.
Man cuts off penis, eats it - *Must* be Ma-laysia.
Burgers are as addictive as drugs
Bizarre Game Targets Women: Hunting for Bambi
Bill Gates' Hotmail Inbox!
Cash for some users of MSN Messenger - Microsoft to award $1,000 an hour in weekly giveaways
This is too geeky even for me
I might nominate my Sec 3 or JC Paper 7 history teachers for the "Outstanding History Teacher Award 2003", but one criterion is "fosters the development of beliefs and values related to National Education", so I said "ptui" to that.
2 more sources for the RJC HPF video (if you are still looking for it):
http://www.motormotive.com/images/andy/hpfterror.zip
http://zakyn.htgk.org/hpfterror.zip
L'origine de Bert
Thursday, July 17, 2003
gynaecomastia is where men grow boobs and other things (female hair pattern, female distribution of body fats etc) in response to hormone imbalances commonly caused by alcohol consumption causing liver cirrhosis interfering with steroid hormone metabolism (oestrogen etc). So drinking isn't so manly after all.
Post ID: 105842912091336208
Sunday, July 13, 2003
Word of the day: "gynaecomastia"
Apparently word of my distress reached higher echelons of our command structure, as I found myself being talked to by my CSM. I was assured that RT is meant to train me, not to torture ("tekan") me. That may be true, but some people make it appear more of a torture than others, and in the heat of the moment, amidst the shouting and screwing, it is hard to remember the putative aim of RT. It's nice to be reminded of the present kinder, gentler, more caring (relatively, anyway) army. From next week, I will supposedly be moved to progressive training, so it won't be so much of a torture, and will actually be *realistic*, and thus more likely to produce results.
My CSM has made it her mission to help me and Christopher pass IPPT, and me to pass SOC - an admirable aim, but, I fear, doomed to failure. So on Tuesday she was running beside me, sans helmet, webbing, rifle, dummy magazines, waterbottles and toggle rope (yes I'm being pedantic here). She is a better motivator than my Ops Sergeant, but I could sense the disappointment in my "lack of effort", and see it in her eyes. I don't know how people judge effort, but to me, not collapsing or stopping totally already shows some modicum of effort. I could always push myself further, but I don't know where injury lies - the fastest 2.4km run I ever ran (15:16), I got injured.
I am supposed to feel a sense of accomplishment after running or RT, but instead I just feel drained, used and empty. Worse, it drains whatever reserves of determination and strenght (both physical and mental) that I have, and a night's rest - or indeed, a weekend's - rarely is enough to recharge me. The end result is that the constant runs are having a debilitating effect. I feel like Prometheus, chained to my rock by my PES Status, and having my liver pecked out by the eagle of RT/runs daily (or almost daily), only for it to regenerate the next day (since I don't get injured permanently). Pain is supposed to be in the mind, and thinking positive thoughts and psyching myself is supposed to help me make it. This is just self-deception. I suppose, if my family were gunned down bloodily (ala my Chinese essays), I could think positive thoughts and make myself believe that it was a good thing. Why can't I be like the people who fake slipped discs, who who take entrenching tools and maim themselves?
RT is evil. It made me so tired on Tuesday that I didn't book out :( I also realise that running more or less ruins the rest of my day, and the thought of a run later throws a dark cloud over the earlier part of my day. Some people don't feel right if they don't run. I don't feel right if I do. So running 4/6 times this last week was really depressing.
Word spreads. A friend told me that one day when he was the guard 3i/c, the guard commander told him about this "Corporal Gabriel" who had a page about army life. How, erm, cool is that? A regular specialist who reads my blog? I am amused. The same friend also supported me in "telling the truth about the SAF". I better watch out for the Men In Black now.
I am proud of the elves. They have initiative, and helped me process 397 recruits' dockets, even when I was not around to ask,
The planets were in an evil alignment on Monday. We had to send 8 people to Tengah to report sick, and of those, 2-3 were sent to NUH A&E. I only slept at 1:30am. But Benjamin only slept at 3:30am, so I got the better straw.
Our book in timing on Monday, Wednesday and Friday has been changed to an unearthly 10:30pm, with no compensation on other days. That will surely shock my brother in law - "We never had any of this '2330' nonsense. Always '2359'". Makes no sense to apply for off on any of those 3 days now.
The cookhouses no longer each cook the food campwide for an entire week. Now they take turns for each meal. I think someone realised that when 42SAR was providing the food, the number of chips dropped into the boxes was abysmally low, so they want to keep us guessing :)
To "improve [our] general knowledge", newspaper articles and pages torn out from "Shoulder To Shoulder - Our National Service Journal" (how that is supposed to help anyone, I don't know) have been placed beneath telk (is that how the plastic wrap is spelled?) at cookhouse tables. Admirable sentiments, but I wonder how often they'll update the quickly-stale news.
I hate my cookhouse's "lor-style" meat. The taste isn't so bad, but they always dump liberal quantities of Star Anise into the food, and I invariably bite on one, to my great discomfort :( Other than that particular gripe, contrary to what one might expect, I am actually a great deal less fussy about cookhouse food than many.
My Secret Garden is not so secret anymore - one day I walked in during lunchtime to find 5 people slouched on 2 of the 3 mattresses, listening to polyphonic ringtones (ugh). And at night, Bob likes to come down and sleep with me.
I wonder when we will be able to stop our SARS measures. The Powers That Be may be slow to move, but they are paranoid to the point of ridiculousness, and slow to end redundant and useless precautionary measures. If you have SARS, you will know - you won't have to wait until a temperature check weeds you out. Perhaps the only good this does is to weed out irresponsible people.
Bob went outfield and got so many bunk breaks that he didn't manage to finish the food he brought. And he still complained about going outfield. Bah.
I read an email saying that with immediate effect, PDAs are now legal in SAF camps if you don't put too-confidential information on it. Curiously, this was not published in the Routine Orders. I sense a conspiracy! Maybe I should call MSD to confirm.
For BMT in 42 SAR, they don't check all the recruits' field packs. They only spot check a few. Wah, so slack. :)
Ban Xiong's fake vegetarianism has been exposed and he now has to eat Meat. Aww.
A reservist told me that in his day (4 years ago), you got a day off for catching a rat. Wah (both for how long the rats have been there and for the incentive). In related news, I entered the pantry one night and one rat climbed up the water cooler pipe, and 3 scurried away from the fridge and into the cupboard. Only they were medium sized, and moved quite slowly. There are going to be more old, big rats soon. Shit.
Bob is more annoyed at my (and others) calling him that than I am at his calling me "Jiabao". Hee hee. It's quite a catchy name, really: "Bob". Bob also cannot figure out how to leave comments on Balderdash. Gah. Do I have to put: "Click here to leave a comment?".
Apparently the maximum punishment for going AWOL is 2 years of DB. So if you escape them for >2 years it might be worth it :)
Apparently Zaixiang told his trainees that he was from Poly. No one believes him. Haha.
My intense disgust with the SAR-vivor rap is such that I now have the perverse fantasy of transcribing it. That's if I can stop the urge to run away screaming when it appears on TV. "And I'm once again impressed by your general do-nothing/do-everything skills." - Tym. Apparently though, a CD featuring it will be on sale soon.
Apparently the reason CISCO is always seen with the Singapore Police is that they are the "National Auxiliary Police Force". Hrmph. Sometimes you see them more often than the real police. Maybe it's because out-sourcing is more efficient. They've already out-sourced so many things (eg SAF cookhouses to SFI, much transport to private bus operators) for greater efficiency - I reckon out-sourcing the whole SAF and the whole police force might bring surprising results! :)
Amidst the hand wringing, condolences and tributes to Laleh and Ladan Bijani, I must note that, oddly, the arguments for their undergoing the operation were very similar to those used by Euthanasia enthusiasts. So why the disparate responses to the two? The twins showed courage to undergo the operation, but does living a harder life not require greater courage? They wanted to live in dignity - terminally ill patients in pain want to *die* with dignity.
It is sad that Malaysia is trying to kill off dialects too now, by dubbing serials in Mandarin. Killing off dialects will kill a part of the Chinese culture, and reduce cultural richness and diversity, all in the name of crass economic considerations of doubtful efficacy.
Perhaps the most side-splitting scene seen in Chemistry so far: Rachel's mother's line dancing pals dancing as a "get well" gesture. My shrieks of combined outrage and delight must have been audible from the next building.
Nok2Phone never imports MIDIs perfectly, and I always have to tweak the result. Grr.
Some people insist on taking the moral high ground, and are "appalled that there is going to be a gay event, the Nation.03 party, on National Day at Sentosa, modelled after the gay Mardi Gras parade of Sydney". They argue that "Singapore society [does not condone] public display of homosexuality at a venue associated with family entertainment", that "Holding such a party on National Day is also an insult to Singapore's independence anniversary", and that "the Nation.03 party glamorises the homosexual lifestyle, something which runs counter to the moral values of most Singaporeans". If people want to be so conservative, they can contemplate the revulsion that many would feel if we were just to substitute the words "malay", "buddhist", "female", "brunette" or even "anorexic" or "short" for "gay". Giving females the vote is immoral! Jews are inhuman!
At the same time, it is sad that everything - Remaking Singapore, the new tolerance for gays - is painted as an economic measure. Perhaps this is a sop to conservatives who will not otherwise be dissuaded, but it is still lamentable that they have to resort to such measures.
Quotes:
[Tengah medic on the night we sent them 8 people reporting sick] Why is Armour giving me so much problems? (many)
The only place you can get pork satay is from Chinese... Or renegade Malays. Or should I say "enlightened" Malays.
Apparently word of my distress reached higher echelons of our command structure, as I found myself being talked to by my CSM. I was assured that RT is meant to train me, not to torture ("tekan") me. That may be true, but some people make it appear more of a torture than others, and in the heat of the moment, amidst the shouting and screwing, it is hard to remember the putative aim of RT. It's nice to be reminded of the present kinder, gentler, more caring (relatively, anyway) army. From next week, I will supposedly be moved to progressive training, so it won't be so much of a torture, and will actually be *realistic*, and thus more likely to produce results.
My CSM has made it her mission to help me and Christopher pass IPPT, and me to pass SOC - an admirable aim, but, I fear, doomed to failure. So on Tuesday she was running beside me, sans helmet, webbing, rifle, dummy magazines, waterbottles and toggle rope (yes I'm being pedantic here). She is a better motivator than my Ops Sergeant, but I could sense the disappointment in my "lack of effort", and see it in her eyes. I don't know how people judge effort, but to me, not collapsing or stopping totally already shows some modicum of effort. I could always push myself further, but I don't know where injury lies - the fastest 2.4km run I ever ran (15:16), I got injured.
I am supposed to feel a sense of accomplishment after running or RT, but instead I just feel drained, used and empty. Worse, it drains whatever reserves of determination and strenght (both physical and mental) that I have, and a night's rest - or indeed, a weekend's - rarely is enough to recharge me. The end result is that the constant runs are having a debilitating effect. I feel like Prometheus, chained to my rock by my PES Status, and having my liver pecked out by the eagle of RT/runs daily (or almost daily), only for it to regenerate the next day (since I don't get injured permanently). Pain is supposed to be in the mind, and thinking positive thoughts and psyching myself is supposed to help me make it. This is just self-deception. I suppose, if my family were gunned down bloodily (ala my Chinese essays), I could think positive thoughts and make myself believe that it was a good thing. Why can't I be like the people who fake slipped discs, who who take entrenching tools and maim themselves?
RT is evil. It made me so tired on Tuesday that I didn't book out :( I also realise that running more or less ruins the rest of my day, and the thought of a run later throws a dark cloud over the earlier part of my day. Some people don't feel right if they don't run. I don't feel right if I do. So running 4/6 times this last week was really depressing.
Word spreads. A friend told me that one day when he was the guard 3i/c, the guard commander told him about this "Corporal Gabriel" who had a page about army life. How, erm, cool is that? A regular specialist who reads my blog? I am amused. The same friend also supported me in "telling the truth about the SAF". I better watch out for the Men In Black now.
I am proud of the elves. They have initiative, and helped me process 397 recruits' dockets, even when I was not around to ask,
The planets were in an evil alignment on Monday. We had to send 8 people to Tengah to report sick, and of those, 2-3 were sent to NUH A&E. I only slept at 1:30am. But Benjamin only slept at 3:30am, so I got the better straw.
Our book in timing on Monday, Wednesday and Friday has been changed to an unearthly 10:30pm, with no compensation on other days. That will surely shock my brother in law - "We never had any of this '2330' nonsense. Always '2359'". Makes no sense to apply for off on any of those 3 days now.
The cookhouses no longer each cook the food campwide for an entire week. Now they take turns for each meal. I think someone realised that when 42SAR was providing the food, the number of chips dropped into the boxes was abysmally low, so they want to keep us guessing :)
To "improve [our] general knowledge", newspaper articles and pages torn out from "Shoulder To Shoulder - Our National Service Journal" (how that is supposed to help anyone, I don't know) have been placed beneath telk (is that how the plastic wrap is spelled?) at cookhouse tables. Admirable sentiments, but I wonder how often they'll update the quickly-stale news.
I hate my cookhouse's "lor-style" meat. The taste isn't so bad, but they always dump liberal quantities of Star Anise into the food, and I invariably bite on one, to my great discomfort :( Other than that particular gripe, contrary to what one might expect, I am actually a great deal less fussy about cookhouse food than many.
My Secret Garden is not so secret anymore - one day I walked in during lunchtime to find 5 people slouched on 2 of the 3 mattresses, listening to polyphonic ringtones (ugh). And at night, Bob likes to come down and sleep with me.
I wonder when we will be able to stop our SARS measures. The Powers That Be may be slow to move, but they are paranoid to the point of ridiculousness, and slow to end redundant and useless precautionary measures. If you have SARS, you will know - you won't have to wait until a temperature check weeds you out. Perhaps the only good this does is to weed out irresponsible people.
Bob went outfield and got so many bunk breaks that he didn't manage to finish the food he brought. And he still complained about going outfield. Bah.
I read an email saying that with immediate effect, PDAs are now legal in SAF camps if you don't put too-confidential information on it. Curiously, this was not published in the Routine Orders. I sense a conspiracy! Maybe I should call MSD to confirm.
For BMT in 42 SAR, they don't check all the recruits' field packs. They only spot check a few. Wah, so slack. :)
Ban Xiong's fake vegetarianism has been exposed and he now has to eat Meat. Aww.
A reservist told me that in his day (4 years ago), you got a day off for catching a rat. Wah (both for how long the rats have been there and for the incentive). In related news, I entered the pantry one night and one rat climbed up the water cooler pipe, and 3 scurried away from the fridge and into the cupboard. Only they were medium sized, and moved quite slowly. There are going to be more old, big rats soon. Shit.
Bob is more annoyed at my (and others) calling him that than I am at his calling me "Jiabao". Hee hee. It's quite a catchy name, really: "Bob". Bob also cannot figure out how to leave comments on Balderdash. Gah. Do I have to put: "Click here to leave a comment?".
Apparently the maximum punishment for going AWOL is 2 years of DB. So if you escape them for >2 years it might be worth it :)
Apparently Zaixiang told his trainees that he was from Poly. No one believes him. Haha.
My intense disgust with the SAR-vivor rap is such that I now have the perverse fantasy of transcribing it. That's if I can stop the urge to run away screaming when it appears on TV. "And I'm once again impressed by your general do-nothing/do-everything skills." - Tym. Apparently though, a CD featuring it will be on sale soon.
Apparently the reason CISCO is always seen with the Singapore Police is that they are the "National Auxiliary Police Force". Hrmph. Sometimes you see them more often than the real police. Maybe it's because out-sourcing is more efficient. They've already out-sourced so many things (eg SAF cookhouses to SFI, much transport to private bus operators) for greater efficiency - I reckon out-sourcing the whole SAF and the whole police force might bring surprising results! :)
Amidst the hand wringing, condolences and tributes to Laleh and Ladan Bijani, I must note that, oddly, the arguments for their undergoing the operation were very similar to those used by Euthanasia enthusiasts. So why the disparate responses to the two? The twins showed courage to undergo the operation, but does living a harder life not require greater courage? They wanted to live in dignity - terminally ill patients in pain want to *die* with dignity.
It is sad that Malaysia is trying to kill off dialects too now, by dubbing serials in Mandarin. Killing off dialects will kill a part of the Chinese culture, and reduce cultural richness and diversity, all in the name of crass economic considerations of doubtful efficacy.
Perhaps the most side-splitting scene seen in Chemistry so far: Rachel's mother's line dancing pals dancing as a "get well" gesture. My shrieks of combined outrage and delight must have been audible from the next building.
Nok2Phone never imports MIDIs perfectly, and I always have to tweak the result. Grr.
Some people insist on taking the moral high ground, and are "appalled that there is going to be a gay event, the Nation.03 party, on National Day at Sentosa, modelled after the gay Mardi Gras parade of Sydney". They argue that "Singapore society [does not condone] public display of homosexuality at a venue associated with family entertainment", that "Holding such a party on National Day is also an insult to Singapore's independence anniversary", and that "the Nation.03 party glamorises the homosexual lifestyle, something which runs counter to the moral values of most Singaporeans". If people want to be so conservative, they can contemplate the revulsion that many would feel if we were just to substitute the words "malay", "buddhist", "female", "brunette" or even "anorexic" or "short" for "gay". Giving females the vote is immoral! Jews are inhuman!
At the same time, it is sad that everything - Remaking Singapore, the new tolerance for gays - is painted as an economic measure. Perhaps this is a sop to conservatives who will not otherwise be dissuaded, but it is still lamentable that they have to resort to such measures.
Quotes:
[Tengah medic on the night we sent them 8 people reporting sick] Why is Armour giving me so much problems? (many)
The only place you can get pork satay is from Chinese... Or renegade Malays. Or should I say "enlightened" Malays.
Post ID: 105810085120778457
Inspiration that came to mind while watching Andrew clothes-shop for 2 hours:
Ban Xiong is incredibly enamored of his $50 Nike Lycra shirt and keeps wearing it. Or maybe it's *because* it was $50 that he is so incredibly taken with it.
Command and Conquer: Tiberian Sun was selling at $64 in Courts Suntec City. Considering it's been 4 years since its release in the later half of 1999, that is such a ripoff.
I tried I Can't Believe It's Yogurt's Non-fat Cheesecake Soft-serve today. Very rich and realistic taste, but I don't want to know what sort of chemicals go into it.
I only saw one person - an upper primary boy - wearing a shirt from Giordano's "Me" line today. I swear, there was a time when you couldn't go out without seeing at least 5 people wearing shirts from that line. So much for the celebration of individualism and uniqueness.
I actually bought clothing for myself today. Wah. And it wasn't my normal type of shoddy, kiam sap clothing. Still being boring though, and not liking funky clothes like Andrew, I settled for a plain cyan shirt from Export Fashion. Its defect was worse than what you usually get, but it was a good price ($17.50), was my size and was soft. My mother was shocked when I pointed out the small hole at the back - apparently she doesn't understand the concept behind how they can let you buy brand-name quality apparel, albeit with the labels ripped out or defaced, at low prices.
The people who sell pirated VCDs at Tiong Bahru Plaza were back there again today. Uncharacteristically, the table was almost totally filled with tasteless XXX (not they produce any other sort, knowing their audience) VCDs today. I wonder what happens if you shoplift from shops selling pirated VCDs / software / pornographic VCDs. They surely can't call the cops on you. Maybe they are in cahoots with the Ah Longs (loansharks).
Updated transcript of the HPF video, courtesy of Mr Dom.
Ban Xiong is incredibly enamored of his $50 Nike Lycra shirt and keeps wearing it. Or maybe it's *because* it was $50 that he is so incredibly taken with it.
Command and Conquer: Tiberian Sun was selling at $64 in Courts Suntec City. Considering it's been 4 years since its release in the later half of 1999, that is such a ripoff.
I tried I Can't Believe It's Yogurt's Non-fat Cheesecake Soft-serve today. Very rich and realistic taste, but I don't want to know what sort of chemicals go into it.
I only saw one person - an upper primary boy - wearing a shirt from Giordano's "Me" line today. I swear, there was a time when you couldn't go out without seeing at least 5 people wearing shirts from that line. So much for the celebration of individualism and uniqueness.
I actually bought clothing for myself today. Wah. And it wasn't my normal type of shoddy, kiam sap clothing. Still being boring though, and not liking funky clothes like Andrew, I settled for a plain cyan shirt from Export Fashion. Its defect was worse than what you usually get, but it was a good price ($17.50), was my size and was soft. My mother was shocked when I pointed out the small hole at the back - apparently she doesn't understand the concept behind how they can let you buy brand-name quality apparel, albeit with the labels ripped out or defaced, at low prices.
The people who sell pirated VCDs at Tiong Bahru Plaza were back there again today. Uncharacteristically, the table was almost totally filled with tasteless XXX (not they produce any other sort, knowing their audience) VCDs today. I wonder what happens if you shoplift from shops selling pirated VCDs / software / pornographic VCDs. They surely can't call the cops on you. Maybe they are in cahoots with the Ah Longs (loansharks).
Updated transcript of the HPF video, courtesy of Mr Dom.
Post ID: 105809645966756817
Melvin points out that http://gssq.blogpsot.com/ (or indeed, any *.blogpsot.com URL) gets one: "Mega site of Bible studies and information.
I am insulted.
I am insulted.
Post ID: 105809612783387852
Courtesy of my sister, who is ever on the lookout for news about evil pussies:
Fishy end for feline sleuth
Russia's only sniffer cat, which was taken on to track down sturgeon smugglers, has been run over and killed, Russian media report.
Fishy end for feline sleuth
Russia's only sniffer cat, which was taken on to track down sturgeon smugglers, has been run over and killed, Russian media report.
Post ID: 105803497739127472
Saturday, July 12, 2003
What's it with girls and toilet shots?
*shakes head*
So this was the previous draft. I was wondering why I had 2 versions of "Little People".
*shakes head*
So this was the previous draft. I was wondering why I had 2 versions of "Little People".
Post ID: 105801924377407063
"The Nazgul have done more than land. The HPF video was the lead story on Channel i News tonight." - ICQ SMS received last night.
Student's ticking-off goes from RJC to Net
'Counselling' for teacher whose tirade in class is recorded secretly and posted online; college investigating incident
By Sandra Davie
WHEN a Raffles Junior College teacher hauled up a student and gave him a thorough ticking-off, she did not know that another student was recording it all on video.
(picture) The teacher tears the student's homework, as seen in this video-grab sequence.
He then posted the three-minute video clip on the Internet.
It shows the General Paper teacher telling a male student his homework was 'outdated and irrelevant' and calling him a 'sly, crafty, old rat'.
When he tries to respond, she tells him: 'You are trying to cover up your insolence, your defiance, your laziness, your apathy, your lethargy and your bad attitude.'
She then tears his homework in two.
The boy who captured it all used a personal digital assistant with a built-in-camera. Calling himself 'bw', he put the videoclip on one website, but over the past month, it has been copied onto several others frequented by students.
After The Straits Times called the school, principal Winston Hodge showed the teacher the videoclip. She is not being named here at the school's request.
Mr Hodge said he spoke to the boy with the camera and his parents yesterday. The boy was 'apologetic' and said he regretted his action.
The school was still investigating, Mr Hodge said.
The Internet posting attracted 12 pages of comments on just one website [Ed: Read the SPUG forums for more views on this issue], including some from students criticising the RJC student for recording the incident secretly.
Responding online, he said the teacher should not have 'crucified' the student in front of the class. He said that the boy being scolded was from China and Chinese nationals tended to be weak in General Paper.
He claimed that he went public with his recording to find out what other students thought, not to entertain people or humiliate the teacher.
His principal yesterday appeared to agree with him that the teacher might have gone overboard and said that she had been 'counselled'.
'In the course of a teacher's work, there are times when there is a need to chastise students for tardy work and attitude,' Mr Hodge said.
'I believe this is what happened here, although based on the video, the teacher did lose her temper and went beyond what was necessary.'
RJC students are allowed to use cellphones and palmtops in school, but not in the library, classrooms, laboratories or lecture theatres.
'Responsible use also means requesting permission of the people being photographed or videotaped rather than to do it without them being aware,' said Mr Hodge.
An Education Ministry spokesman confirmed that schools are free to set the rules on the use of cellphones and palmtops by students.
But teachers who were told about the RJC incident told The Straits Times it was time the ministry imposed a ban.
Said an RJC teacher who declined to be named: 'The policy needed a rethink now that electronic devices have advanced to the point that students can intrude into your privacy.
Defending her colleague, she added: 'A teacher has every right to scold a student if he is handing in copied work or sub-standard work.'
Another junior college teacher said: 'Teachers are already under a lot of stress. And now we have students with snooping devices trying to catch them off-guard.'
I suppose it was inevitable, in this age of fast internet transmission, that the press would get wind of this. I didn't expect it to be blown up so greatly, and to make Page 3 news, though. I suppose the New Paper will be doing a story in greater depth soon.
With my shocking, immoral, hippy-libertarian credentials, it will come as no surprise to many that I largely condone, or at least am ambivalent, about this whole matter. If you want to look at it from the "mature" point of view that people love to take, one has to take responsibility for one's actions. If you dare to call a student a "sly, crafty old rat" and tear up his homework in front of a class, you should dare to call him one in front of the whole world. Oddly enough, this taking of responsibility does not seem to apply often when the Powers That Be are concerned.
Granted, teachers do not like scolding students, but sometimes they go overboard. Perhaps this incident might act as a sort of check. Granted, too, that teachers are due their share of privacy. While the video wasn't of her at her cubicle, hard at work over her next nature poem, relaxing at home or even showering (eeks!), this does constitute an invasion of her privacy. At the same time, though, students also have their dignity. Is it not hurtful to be told that you are "trying to cover up your insolence, your defiance, your laziness, your apathy, your lethargy and your bad attitude"? Not knowing the details of the situation, though knowing something of the teacher, I cannot comment, but this is a rebuke of a great magnitude, and is not very professional of an experienced teacher. Further, I am given to believe that this was most assuredly -not- an isolated incident. Also, a classroom is already a semi-private setting. As a poster on the SPUG forum put it:
"if what teachers do in the classroom is "private"... then why bother to come to class at all? the teacher would probably be better off at her grandfather's house, where he/she can do whatever he/she wants in total "privacy". similarly, teachers should not correct students if they see them doing something wrong, as they would be invading the student's "privacy". isn't that lovely."
People are bound to see the posting of this video as a form of revenge taken upon a disliked teacher by a vengeful student. While I have never been under Ho Poh Fun, I get the impression that she is insufferable, and a quick search will reveal that non-professional/academic references to her are invariably distasteful. At least we can take comfort in the fact that there is a tacit admission that Ms Ho might have gone overboard.
As someone else has put it so eloquently in the aforementioned forum, so sparing me the effort of composing a similar paragraph: "having read the article in today's papers about the incident, i can only say that i'm quite disgusted by the slant towards protecting the teacher as i feel that moe and the government should be open, honest and transparent (just like they say in the social studies textbook) about the incident... instead of trying to cover up and throw their weight around trying to cover up things when their dirty laundry gets discovered. i think singaporeans would have a bit more respect for the education system if they at least knew what was really going on behind it (especially with regard to the dirty laundry bit), rather than having all this lovely, utopic information fed to them from little leaflets with the MOE logo. i'm sure that with so many intelligent and mature people in the society, such frank and possibly stark information should not hurt.
the most ridiculous part was the one where a "fellow jc teacher said" that teachers were already under a lot of stress so students should stop secretly recording all these "off-guard" moments to add to their stress. goodness, imagine what school would be like if teachers simply took out their own "stress" (which i can assure you is exponentially less than the stress placed on today's students) on students and simply dismiss these as "off-guard". of course there will be "off-guard" moments; i'm simply saying that we should not close an eye to it and let it pass. if we do, it conversely would mean that students are entitled to rage, storm, tear up their teachers' and classmates' work and probably stomp on their desks while they were at it, just because they were "off-guard" and "under stress" (since teachers are allowed to rage, storm and tear up students' homework when they are "off-guard" and "under stress"). how lovely. i wish the teacher in question a ball of a time "de-stressing" together with her students and i sincerely hopes she is teaching in a jc where the students are all the "ah-beng" kind and will teach a good sharp lesson in professional ethics 101. if we can't weed out this sort of "i'll scratch your back if you scratch mine" kind of thing, students will have to bear the brunt of all this unprofessionalism. and i'm sure that no 17 or 18 year old wants that."
I think PDAs are going to be banned soon. Looks like they didn't learn their lessons from me and my quotes (though a piece of paper would have been just as, if not more effective, though having admittedly less panache) :)
Meanwhile, Mr Qingru had the impression that it was a video of a RJC teacher screwing a girl that was making the rounds. I suppose when he heard me say "RJC teacher" and "screwing a student", he immediately assumed that I was referring to the carnal type of screwing. *sputter* And I was wondering why he was so interested.
Someone asked why it wasn't Yaodong? :) Other comments (highlight to read - if you are easily offended, as I know many of you are, you should skip this portion): "but she's a kind old lady . ive never never seen her this mad", "i hope u had nothing to do with it.." (am I that notorious?), "the teacher deserved it.", "from a relief teacher's point of view...i can see how some teachers can really lose it at times...", "ouch. i think she was very cruel", "man! she did [deserve it]... what a bitch.... now everyone's gonna think rj students are terrorised by teachers like those. she could eat a few for bfast!", "[Me: she has a long track record] maybe that's why she was targeted..hiayh". Others feel she deserved it.
its precisely cos u "know", or rather, think/believe u know... abt the person and circumstances... that you're biased =P u lack distance from the event and the personalities...
he got to play the "heroic vigilant", and is probly piss-proud of his little self now. not to mention blowing it up on the net. if he were a little older n wiser, he could have lodged a private complaint with Mr. Hodge. but no no no, he has to go and make a scene like some toddler in a supermarket on the other hand Ms Ho shouldnt have gotten so full of herself either
Me: if you just complain, maybe they talk to her. or observe her and she puts on an act but they don't know what she does. no proof
well now uy got proof. the real challenge is showing enough maturity to know what to do with the proof and there the student is at fault. cos he went and did something rash that he's now regretting
Me : so he should have showed the proof to the principal?
yup that's what i meant by "launch a complaint" at least try the official channels before acting smart and shaming everybody including himself remotely connected to RJ... many tragedies happen because one "just wants to show off to friends"...
Me: I don't think it was a "show off" kind of thing
hmm... then, a "righteous exposure" kind of thingy?
Me: possibly. more of a "see what ms ho has done now!"
sounds like the pharisees who caught the woman in adultery and brought her to Jesus... i'm not greatly impressed
Me: *shrug* ahh, people have advanced in their stunts since my day *wistful*
ah well but JC students... arent very mature. oh yeah i'm sure they have... the wonders of technology =P in any case, what's doen cannot be undone...
Zhengfei tells me that Weiyi got into MDC. Haha, I didn't know he made it in!
Student's ticking-off goes from RJC to Net
'Counselling' for teacher whose tirade in class is recorded secretly and posted online; college investigating incident
By Sandra Davie
WHEN a Raffles Junior College teacher hauled up a student and gave him a thorough ticking-off, she did not know that another student was recording it all on video.
(picture) The teacher tears the student's homework, as seen in this video-grab sequence.
He then posted the three-minute video clip on the Internet.
It shows the General Paper teacher telling a male student his homework was 'outdated and irrelevant' and calling him a 'sly, crafty, old rat'.
When he tries to respond, she tells him: 'You are trying to cover up your insolence, your defiance, your laziness, your apathy, your lethargy and your bad attitude.'
She then tears his homework in two.
The boy who captured it all used a personal digital assistant with a built-in-camera. Calling himself 'bw', he put the videoclip on one website, but over the past month, it has been copied onto several others frequented by students.
After The Straits Times called the school, principal Winston Hodge showed the teacher the videoclip. She is not being named here at the school's request.
Mr Hodge said he spoke to the boy with the camera and his parents yesterday. The boy was 'apologetic' and said he regretted his action.
The school was still investigating, Mr Hodge said.
The Internet posting attracted 12 pages of comments on just one website [Ed: Read the SPUG forums for more views on this issue], including some from students criticising the RJC student for recording the incident secretly.
Responding online, he said the teacher should not have 'crucified' the student in front of the class. He said that the boy being scolded was from China and Chinese nationals tended to be weak in General Paper.
He claimed that he went public with his recording to find out what other students thought, not to entertain people or humiliate the teacher.
His principal yesterday appeared to agree with him that the teacher might have gone overboard and said that she had been 'counselled'.
'In the course of a teacher's work, there are times when there is a need to chastise students for tardy work and attitude,' Mr Hodge said.
'I believe this is what happened here, although based on the video, the teacher did lose her temper and went beyond what was necessary.'
RJC students are allowed to use cellphones and palmtops in school, but not in the library, classrooms, laboratories or lecture theatres.
'Responsible use also means requesting permission of the people being photographed or videotaped rather than to do it without them being aware,' said Mr Hodge.
An Education Ministry spokesman confirmed that schools are free to set the rules on the use of cellphones and palmtops by students.
But teachers who were told about the RJC incident told The Straits Times it was time the ministry imposed a ban.
Said an RJC teacher who declined to be named: 'The policy needed a rethink now that electronic devices have advanced to the point that students can intrude into your privacy.
Defending her colleague, she added: 'A teacher has every right to scold a student if he is handing in copied work or sub-standard work.'
Another junior college teacher said: 'Teachers are already under a lot of stress. And now we have students with snooping devices trying to catch them off-guard.'
I suppose it was inevitable, in this age of fast internet transmission, that the press would get wind of this. I didn't expect it to be blown up so greatly, and to make Page 3 news, though. I suppose the New Paper will be doing a story in greater depth soon.
With my shocking, immoral, hippy-libertarian credentials, it will come as no surprise to many that I largely condone, or at least am ambivalent, about this whole matter. If you want to look at it from the "mature" point of view that people love to take, one has to take responsibility for one's actions. If you dare to call a student a "sly, crafty old rat" and tear up his homework in front of a class, you should dare to call him one in front of the whole world. Oddly enough, this taking of responsibility does not seem to apply often when the Powers That Be are concerned.
Granted, teachers do not like scolding students, but sometimes they go overboard. Perhaps this incident might act as a sort of check. Granted, too, that teachers are due their share of privacy. While the video wasn't of her at her cubicle, hard at work over her next nature poem, relaxing at home or even showering (eeks!), this does constitute an invasion of her privacy. At the same time, though, students also have their dignity. Is it not hurtful to be told that you are "trying to cover up your insolence, your defiance, your laziness, your apathy, your lethargy and your bad attitude"? Not knowing the details of the situation, though knowing something of the teacher, I cannot comment, but this is a rebuke of a great magnitude, and is not very professional of an experienced teacher. Further, I am given to believe that this was most assuredly -not- an isolated incident. Also, a classroom is already a semi-private setting. As a poster on the SPUG forum put it:
"if what teachers do in the classroom is "private"... then why bother to come to class at all? the teacher would probably be better off at her grandfather's house, where he/she can do whatever he/she wants in total "privacy". similarly, teachers should not correct students if they see them doing something wrong, as they would be invading the student's "privacy". isn't that lovely."
People are bound to see the posting of this video as a form of revenge taken upon a disliked teacher by a vengeful student. While I have never been under Ho Poh Fun, I get the impression that she is insufferable, and a quick search will reveal that non-professional/academic references to her are invariably distasteful. At least we can take comfort in the fact that there is a tacit admission that Ms Ho might have gone overboard.
As someone else has put it so eloquently in the aforementioned forum, so sparing me the effort of composing a similar paragraph: "having read the article in today's papers about the incident, i can only say that i'm quite disgusted by the slant towards protecting the teacher as i feel that moe and the government should be open, honest and transparent (just like they say in the social studies textbook) about the incident... instead of trying to cover up and throw their weight around trying to cover up things when their dirty laundry gets discovered. i think singaporeans would have a bit more respect for the education system if they at least knew what was really going on behind it (especially with regard to the dirty laundry bit), rather than having all this lovely, utopic information fed to them from little leaflets with the MOE logo. i'm sure that with so many intelligent and mature people in the society, such frank and possibly stark information should not hurt.
the most ridiculous part was the one where a "fellow jc teacher said" that teachers were already under a lot of stress so students should stop secretly recording all these "off-guard" moments to add to their stress. goodness, imagine what school would be like if teachers simply took out their own "stress" (which i can assure you is exponentially less than the stress placed on today's students) on students and simply dismiss these as "off-guard". of course there will be "off-guard" moments; i'm simply saying that we should not close an eye to it and let it pass. if we do, it conversely would mean that students are entitled to rage, storm, tear up their teachers' and classmates' work and probably stomp on their desks while they were at it, just because they were "off-guard" and "under stress" (since teachers are allowed to rage, storm and tear up students' homework when they are "off-guard" and "under stress"). how lovely. i wish the teacher in question a ball of a time "de-stressing" together with her students and i sincerely hopes she is teaching in a jc where the students are all the "ah-beng" kind and will teach a good sharp lesson in professional ethics 101. if we can't weed out this sort of "i'll scratch your back if you scratch mine" kind of thing, students will have to bear the brunt of all this unprofessionalism. and i'm sure that no 17 or 18 year old wants that."
I think PDAs are going to be banned soon. Looks like they didn't learn their lessons from me and my quotes (though a piece of paper would have been just as, if not more effective, though having admittedly less panache) :)
Meanwhile, Mr Qingru had the impression that it was a video of a RJC teacher screwing a girl that was making the rounds. I suppose when he heard me say "RJC teacher" and "screwing a student", he immediately assumed that I was referring to the carnal type of screwing. *sputter* And I was wondering why he was so interested.
Someone asked why it wasn't Yaodong? :) Other comments (highlight to read - if you are easily offended, as I know many of you are, you should skip this portion): "but she's a kind old lady . ive never never seen her this mad", "i hope u had nothing to do with it.." (am I that notorious?), "the teacher deserved it.", "from a relief teacher's point of view...i can see how some teachers can really lose it at times...", "ouch. i think she was very cruel", "man! she did [deserve it]... what a bitch.... now everyone's gonna think rj students are terrorised by teachers like those. she could eat a few for bfast!", "[Me: she has a long track record] maybe that's why she was targeted..hiayh". Others feel she deserved it.
its precisely cos u "know", or rather, think/believe u know... abt the person and circumstances... that you're biased =P u lack distance from the event and the personalities...
he got to play the "heroic vigilant", and is probly piss-proud of his little self now. not to mention blowing it up on the net. if he were a little older n wiser, he could have lodged a private complaint with Mr. Hodge. but no no no, he has to go and make a scene like some toddler in a supermarket on the other hand Ms Ho shouldnt have gotten so full of herself either
Me: if you just complain, maybe they talk to her. or observe her and she puts on an act but they don't know what she does. no proof
well now uy got proof. the real challenge is showing enough maturity to know what to do with the proof and there the student is at fault. cos he went and did something rash that he's now regretting
Me : so he should have showed the proof to the principal?
yup that's what i meant by "launch a complaint" at least try the official channels before acting smart and shaming everybody including himself remotely connected to RJ... many tragedies happen because one "just wants to show off to friends"...
Me: I don't think it was a "show off" kind of thing
hmm... then, a "righteous exposure" kind of thingy?
Me: possibly. more of a "see what ms ho has done now!"
sounds like the pharisees who caught the woman in adultery and brought her to Jesus... i'm not greatly impressed
Me: *shrug* ahh, people have advanced in their stunts since my day *wistful*
ah well but JC students... arent very mature. oh yeah i'm sure they have... the wonders of technology =P in any case, what's doen cannot be undone...
Zhengfei tells me that Weiyi got into MDC. Haha, I didn't know he made it in!
Post ID: 105801105093819416
Strange but Clever Advertising...
On the way to Nags Head, North Carolina from Virginia there is a sign for a seafood restaurant that says, "I get my crabs from Dirty Dicks."
On a hospital door to the colonoscopy unit: "To expedite your visit, please back in."
On a plumber's truck: "We repair what your husband fixed."
On the trucks of a plumbing company: "Don't sleep with a drip. Call your plumber."
Pizza shop slogan: "7 days without pizza makes one weak."
Sign over a gynecologist's office: "Dr. Jones, at your cervix."
Another pizza shop slogan: "Buy our pizza. We knead the dough."
At a tire shop: "Invite us to your next blowout."
Door of a plastic surgeon's office: "Hello. Can we pick your nose?"
At a towing company: "We don't charge an arm and a leg. We want tows."
On a taxidermist's window: "We really know our stuff."
In a podiatrist's office: "Time wounds all heels."
At a car dealership: "The best way to get back on your feet -- miss a car payment."
At the electric company: "We would be de-lighted if you pay your bill. However, if you don't, you will be."
In a restaurant window: "Don't stand there and be hungry. Come on in and get fed up."
In the front yard of a funeral home: "Drive carefully. We'll wait."
At a propane filling station: "Tank heaven for little grills."
And don't forget the sign at a radiator shop: "Best place in town to take a leak."
Amputee wannabes
11 more months to ORD!
On the way to Nags Head, North Carolina from Virginia there is a sign for a seafood restaurant that says, "I get my crabs from Dirty Dicks."
On a hospital door to the colonoscopy unit: "To expedite your visit, please back in."
On a plumber's truck: "We repair what your husband fixed."
On the trucks of a plumbing company: "Don't sleep with a drip. Call your plumber."
Pizza shop slogan: "7 days without pizza makes one weak."
Sign over a gynecologist's office: "Dr. Jones, at your cervix."
Another pizza shop slogan: "Buy our pizza. We knead the dough."
At a tire shop: "Invite us to your next blowout."
Door of a plastic surgeon's office: "Hello. Can we pick your nose?"
At a towing company: "We don't charge an arm and a leg. We want tows."
On a taxidermist's window: "We really know our stuff."
In a podiatrist's office: "Time wounds all heels."
At a car dealership: "The best way to get back on your feet -- miss a car payment."
At the electric company: "We would be de-lighted if you pay your bill. However, if you don't, you will be."
In a restaurant window: "Don't stand there and be hungry. Come on in and get fed up."
In the front yard of a funeral home: "Drive carefully. We'll wait."
At a propane filling station: "Tank heaven for little grills."
And don't forget the sign at a radiator shop: "Best place in town to take a leak."
Amputee wannabes
11 more months to ORD!
Post ID: 105799171837893393
Thursday, July 10, 2003
Hello Andrew!
Dog Adolf in Nazi salute - A racist who trained his dog Adolf to give the Hitler salute outside a school of Asian and Turkish children is facing six months in jail.
Dog Adolf in Nazi salute - A racist who trained his dog Adolf to give the Hitler salute outside a school of Asian and Turkish children is facing six months in jail.
Post ID: 105784527930128707
Sunday, July 06, 2003
SOC Remedial Training (RT) has started, and it is weighing heavily on me. The rundown, the terrifying obstacles, the exhaustion, the shouting and more are all getting to me. People keep saying that it's all in the mind, that SOC is all mental, and that one can do anything if one puts one's mind to it. If that is the case, then I think I had better try flying by jumping off the 4th floor, and ascribing my failure to soar aloft to a lack of willpower. People also say that once you have done something, you will be able to do it again. But then, things can never be used indefinitely, as wear and tear will result in them, ultimately giving way one day. The Final Solution is attractive, but why let the slave drivers take from you more than they have to? What's the point of injuring yourself for the SAF, and especially to boost some unimportant numbers which will be reset the next year?
Adding to my worries has been work. Now is a bad time to be the Docu I/C - the recruits report sick in swarms, and further, I have a lot of referrals to book everyday. I've been doing overtime everyday the past week (and on Friday the previous week too), just to keep my backlog of work still-manageable - a task made ever more onerous by the time and energy taken up by concurrent training and remedial training. What's more, I have the feeling that I am less than competent. I think I'm going mad. Maybe I should have been like Johann and gone mad right at the start - during BMT.
With the combination of these 2 major headaches (RT and work), a whole host of problems-normally-minor-but-suddenly-major-due-to-stress and the cancellation of our company's nights off for the week due to dirty weapons, I just broke down. 3 times in the course of the week, I was reduced to a quivering, quavering, whimpering blob, the worst episode being after the SOC RT where I went to hide in a laundrette, and the recruits probably thought that the cries coming from inside were from the ghosts that haunt the place. I don't think I've collapsed so completely in these 19 months, not even in the first days of BMT (where I cried often, but softly and discretely), nor on the day I booked in after Chinese New Year last year, when a certain unfortunate thing happened to me.
I feel slightly better after seeing my MO and Senior Medic, but I don't know if I will fall apart during the next SOC RT. If worse comes to worst, I can always call the much-talked-about-but-never-used SAF hotline, or declare myself psychiatric. Luckily, I will be getting a Little Elf or two (to my Santa) to help me with work (yeh!), so I can concentrate on running and RT (...). Incidentally, Lenny kindly offered to help me do some of my work on one day, seeing how stressed I was. He also commented that I'd become a great deal less cheery this week, so I guess the stress was really taking its toll on me.
In their latest act of gross, flagrant and baffling stupidity, the Powers That Be have confiscated our extra pillows. That would not be so bad, except that they also took my clearly marked non-SAF pillow, which I had brought from home. What happened next defies belief - they threw the extra pillows away. I am really at a loss for words at the sheer mindlessness of it all. Could it be that, in a vindictive rage, they are just trying to spite us all? But then, making our lives more miserable *is* part of their job description.
This week, we marked SAF day with an observance parade. Meanwhile, I was also commemorating this special day, by re-dedicating myself against the SAF and most of what it stands for - slavery, sadism, disregard for the individual, bullying, anger, stupidity, lust, acting, mindlessness and much more. "Give me liberty or give me death" - Patrick Henry, March 23, 1775. Unfortunately, there are fates worse than death for 2 1/2 year soldiers, and I, being the craven that I am, have not courage such as the Jehovah's Witnesses possess to face them. If only I had been born female, I would not have had to betray my principles by accepting my conscription. Some people like to dress National Slavery in the clothes of honour, duty and patriotism ("Doing NS is a duty and an honour"), but just like the Emperor's New Clothes, these are all illusory. If it is really such an honour, why is the alternative prison, and why do so many loathe it? If there is any honour in it at all, it is the honour accorded to the sacrificial victim, who is feted by all, while everyone secretly rejoices that they were not the one chosen to be sacrificed to the god of the volcano.
We now have our very own Medical Centre puppy, adopted by Max from some litter. Maybe it can help us catch the rats :)
It's not fair. Someone is as fat as I, yet he can wear one set of uniform for the entire week, and though there are white streaks of dried sweat on the back by week's end, it does not stink!
The regimentation we are facing is going up by the day, in tandem with that faced by the recruits. I wonder how much more we can take.
It's really quite a pain to book medical appointments for people at Alexandra Hospital. For some reason, AH wants to know the patients' dates of birth and addresses - maybe they send out birthday cards to their patients every year or something.. The other hospitals don't seem to ask for such silly details, only for contact numbers. Or maybe the other hospitals have linked networks to pool patient information.
The HDB has cancelled its annual cleanest estate competition as it realised that residents were not enthusiastic about it, and the competition was really between the cleaners of the estates. This decision is most wise, and I applaud it. By the same token, the SAF's Best Unit Competition should be scrapped too, as its results just depend on how hard each unit's commanders (and S3 department, especially) manage to push their men, and to play with the system (see: 1st Commandos Battalion). If you ask the NSFs, I'm sure that you'll find that more then 95% do not care whether they are the top combat unit or the last combat unit.
[continued below]
Adding to my worries has been work. Now is a bad time to be the Docu I/C - the recruits report sick in swarms, and further, I have a lot of referrals to book everyday. I've been doing overtime everyday the past week (and on Friday the previous week too), just to keep my backlog of work still-manageable - a task made ever more onerous by the time and energy taken up by concurrent training and remedial training. What's more, I have the feeling that I am less than competent. I think I'm going mad. Maybe I should have been like Johann and gone mad right at the start - during BMT.
With the combination of these 2 major headaches (RT and work), a whole host of problems-normally-minor-but-suddenly-major-due-to-stress and the cancellation of our company's nights off for the week due to dirty weapons, I just broke down. 3 times in the course of the week, I was reduced to a quivering, quavering, whimpering blob, the worst episode being after the SOC RT where I went to hide in a laundrette, and the recruits probably thought that the cries coming from inside were from the ghosts that haunt the place. I don't think I've collapsed so completely in these 19 months, not even in the first days of BMT (where I cried often, but softly and discretely), nor on the day I booked in after Chinese New Year last year, when a certain unfortunate thing happened to me.
I feel slightly better after seeing my MO and Senior Medic, but I don't know if I will fall apart during the next SOC RT. If worse comes to worst, I can always call the much-talked-about-but-never-used SAF hotline, or declare myself psychiatric. Luckily, I will be getting a Little Elf or two (to my Santa) to help me with work (yeh!), so I can concentrate on running and RT (...). Incidentally, Lenny kindly offered to help me do some of my work on one day, seeing how stressed I was. He also commented that I'd become a great deal less cheery this week, so I guess the stress was really taking its toll on me.
In their latest act of gross, flagrant and baffling stupidity, the Powers That Be have confiscated our extra pillows. That would not be so bad, except that they also took my clearly marked non-SAF pillow, which I had brought from home. What happened next defies belief - they threw the extra pillows away. I am really at a loss for words at the sheer mindlessness of it all. Could it be that, in a vindictive rage, they are just trying to spite us all? But then, making our lives more miserable *is* part of their job description.
This week, we marked SAF day with an observance parade. Meanwhile, I was also commemorating this special day, by re-dedicating myself against the SAF and most of what it stands for - slavery, sadism, disregard for the individual, bullying, anger, stupidity, lust, acting, mindlessness and much more. "Give me liberty or give me death" - Patrick Henry, March 23, 1775. Unfortunately, there are fates worse than death for 2 1/2 year soldiers, and I, being the craven that I am, have not courage such as the Jehovah's Witnesses possess to face them. If only I had been born female, I would not have had to betray my principles by accepting my conscription. Some people like to dress National Slavery in the clothes of honour, duty and patriotism ("Doing NS is a duty and an honour"), but just like the Emperor's New Clothes, these are all illusory. If it is really such an honour, why is the alternative prison, and why do so many loathe it? If there is any honour in it at all, it is the honour accorded to the sacrificial victim, who is feted by all, while everyone secretly rejoices that they were not the one chosen to be sacrificed to the god of the volcano.
We now have our very own Medical Centre puppy, adopted by Max from some litter. Maybe it can help us catch the rats :)
It's not fair. Someone is as fat as I, yet he can wear one set of uniform for the entire week, and though there are white streaks of dried sweat on the back by week's end, it does not stink!
The regimentation we are facing is going up by the day, in tandem with that faced by the recruits. I wonder how much more we can take.
It's really quite a pain to book medical appointments for people at Alexandra Hospital. For some reason, AH wants to know the patients' dates of birth and addresses - maybe they send out birthday cards to their patients every year or something.. The other hospitals don't seem to ask for such silly details, only for contact numbers. Or maybe the other hospitals have linked networks to pool patient information.
The HDB has cancelled its annual cleanest estate competition as it realised that residents were not enthusiastic about it, and the competition was really between the cleaners of the estates. This decision is most wise, and I applaud it. By the same token, the SAF's Best Unit Competition should be scrapped too, as its results just depend on how hard each unit's commanders (and S3 department, especially) manage to push their men, and to play with the system (see: 1st Commandos Battalion). If you ask the NSFs, I'm sure that you'll find that more then 95% do not care whether they are the top combat unit or the last combat unit.
[continued below]
Post ID: 105742834722812220
[continued from above]
In the midst of my troubles, some people were still trying to convert me:
- "Why don't you pray - you've nothing to lose". Maybe I (and they) should try praying to Amon-Ra instead - the currently worshipped gods are obviously ineffective : just look at what happened to the dreams and prayers for world peace, so we've nothing to lose by praying to Amon-Ra too!
- "You deserve it." I was perplexed by this. Presumably this is what a "loving" god does to people.
- "Who knows, it may turn out to be good.". I should try getting knocked down by a car. In a way, that would turn out to be good as well.
So my conclusion, in the end, was that when people start talking about their gods, it's time to stop listening, for they have run out of ideas on how to help you with your problem.
It seems that whenever Christians are stressed, it is because their god is "testing" them, or "strengthening" them, and it is all part of the "plan". Conveniently, though, when non-believers are similarly stressed, it is because they have "turned away from god" and have "no peace" because they don't "know god". What dishonest logic.
Religious people always complain when their religious beliefs are offended, but how come no one bothers about the religious beliefs (or lack thereof) or non-theists? Bah. Somehow all this brings to mind Chinx's account of how some well-meaning but still evil people gave this guy a christian burial when he died - something tantamount to sacrilege of the dead. Since he doesn't have permalinks, I'll just reproduce most of the post below (^__^ - normal smilies don't fit well in circular brackets):
"My neighbour died recently.
No, this is *not* going to be a depressing piece. Don't run away yet, y'all. However. What follows is also perhaps the most honest and blunt piece I've written for a while. Sensitive folks will want to avoid this.
Yes, my neighbour died recently. How recently? I don't know. I only knew he died when I saw the wake, and his huge photo staring out at me.
Yes yes, we're horrible neighbours. Yes, yes, we're not close to our neighbours at all, unless you count physical distances. Yes yes. That's not the point of this rant. Shush.
So, as I'm writing this, our neighbours have just finished singing a joyous hymn of praise to our dear lored gawd. Now, this is what really gets me going. See, I may not have known my neighbours very well, but I knew one thing for sure about him- he was not a Christian.
This isn't the 1st time I've seen it happen either. About 2 years ago, an uncle of mine died, well before his time. Our family (with the notable exception of cold-hearted bastard Stranger) reeled from the impact, and was sent into deep mourning. He was well-liked by all, and his death certainly came as a shock to us all. He was, however also not a Christian, but his siblings saw fit to bury him with a Christian ceremony.
This isn't something I take lightly. A funeral is a chance to honour the deceased, to remember the great things that he did, to weep at his passing, and to bid him goodbye. It is NOT an occassion to force your religious beliefs upon him.
I mean, my gawd, he had his entire life to decide if he believed in your gawd or not. If he didn't, why make it as though he accepted it with his last passing breath? Why force YOUR beliefs on him now when he can't fight back? You think you're doing him a favour? You think you're helping him see the light as the darkness claims claims his mortal spark? You think you're saving his bloody soul by singing a few paltry songs while his corpse lays stiff and frozen?
Screw you. Screw you for clothing him upon his death in robes he refused to wear in life. Screw you for turning his death into a vehicle for your preaching. Screw you - you don't say goodbye to someone by corrupting his image. You don't force an 80 year olde grandmother who's just outlived her eldest son to wonder why there's a man from the church to speak at his funeral. You don't make her wonder, as she's sitting there wiping her tears, her heart about to give way, what exactly they're saying about her son when she doesn't speak a word of the language you're praising your gawd with.
Screw you."
"We are born this way and they are born that way, but they are like you and me" - PM Goh on gays. I'm quite impressed.
Coca-Cola Light with Lemon is interesting. I think they're trying to beat Pepsi at their own game.
Quotes:
Gabriel has been looking depressed ever since he became the Docu I/C. [Someone: I've been stressed ever since the recruits came in] [Me: That makes it {my depression} worse]
No, don't call me 'Bob'. Later all 10 [new medics] call me Bob, I boo (pronounced as a dialect work) you.
In the midst of my troubles, some people were still trying to convert me:
- "Why don't you pray - you've nothing to lose". Maybe I (and they) should try praying to Amon-Ra instead - the currently worshipped gods are obviously ineffective : just look at what happened to the dreams and prayers for world peace, so we've nothing to lose by praying to Amon-Ra too!
- "You deserve it." I was perplexed by this. Presumably this is what a "loving" god does to people.
- "Who knows, it may turn out to be good.". I should try getting knocked down by a car. In a way, that would turn out to be good as well.
So my conclusion, in the end, was that when people start talking about their gods, it's time to stop listening, for they have run out of ideas on how to help you with your problem.
It seems that whenever Christians are stressed, it is because their god is "testing" them, or "strengthening" them, and it is all part of the "plan". Conveniently, though, when non-believers are similarly stressed, it is because they have "turned away from god" and have "no peace" because they don't "know god". What dishonest logic.
Religious people always complain when their religious beliefs are offended, but how come no one bothers about the religious beliefs (or lack thereof) or non-theists? Bah. Somehow all this brings to mind Chinx's account of how some well-meaning but still evil people gave this guy a christian burial when he died - something tantamount to sacrilege of the dead. Since he doesn't have permalinks, I'll just reproduce most of the post below (^__^ - normal smilies don't fit well in circular brackets):
"My neighbour died recently.
No, this is *not* going to be a depressing piece. Don't run away yet, y'all. However. What follows is also perhaps the most honest and blunt piece I've written for a while. Sensitive folks will want to avoid this.
Yes, my neighbour died recently. How recently? I don't know. I only knew he died when I saw the wake, and his huge photo staring out at me.
Yes yes, we're horrible neighbours. Yes, yes, we're not close to our neighbours at all, unless you count physical distances. Yes yes. That's not the point of this rant. Shush.
So, as I'm writing this, our neighbours have just finished singing a joyous hymn of praise to our dear lored gawd. Now, this is what really gets me going. See, I may not have known my neighbours very well, but I knew one thing for sure about him- he was not a Christian.
This isn't the 1st time I've seen it happen either. About 2 years ago, an uncle of mine died, well before his time. Our family (with the notable exception of cold-hearted bastard Stranger) reeled from the impact, and was sent into deep mourning. He was well-liked by all, and his death certainly came as a shock to us all. He was, however also not a Christian, but his siblings saw fit to bury him with a Christian ceremony.
This isn't something I take lightly. A funeral is a chance to honour the deceased, to remember the great things that he did, to weep at his passing, and to bid him goodbye. It is NOT an occassion to force your religious beliefs upon him.
I mean, my gawd, he had his entire life to decide if he believed in your gawd or not. If he didn't, why make it as though he accepted it with his last passing breath? Why force YOUR beliefs on him now when he can't fight back? You think you're doing him a favour? You think you're helping him see the light as the darkness claims claims his mortal spark? You think you're saving his bloody soul by singing a few paltry songs while his corpse lays stiff and frozen?
Screw you. Screw you for clothing him upon his death in robes he refused to wear in life. Screw you for turning his death into a vehicle for your preaching. Screw you - you don't say goodbye to someone by corrupting his image. You don't force an 80 year olde grandmother who's just outlived her eldest son to wonder why there's a man from the church to speak at his funeral. You don't make her wonder, as she's sitting there wiping her tears, her heart about to give way, what exactly they're saying about her son when she doesn't speak a word of the language you're praising your gawd with.
Screw you."
"We are born this way and they are born that way, but they are like you and me" - PM Goh on gays. I'm quite impressed.
Coca-Cola Light with Lemon is interesting. I think they're trying to beat Pepsi at their own game.
Quotes:
Gabriel has been looking depressed ever since he became the Docu I/C. [Someone: I've been stressed ever since the recruits came in] [Me: That makes it {my depression} worse]
No, don't call me 'Bob'. Later all 10 [new medics] call me Bob, I boo (pronounced as a dialect work) you.
Post ID: 105742823501188838
Saturday, July 05, 2003
Look what got Screwed Up Girl 44 mails and 345 page views in one day!
I can't believe she actually went to do this. Must be the stress of Common Tests.
The fanmail is damn funny:
"you looks sexy and gergeous..nice photo there"
"n u look lovely too...maybe someday i will see ur lovely face in some magz"
"You are the one look so cute & pretty !!!"
"Hi..How\'s ur life over there?Do you enjoy ur life now?If no..let\'s enjoy wif me together.Life is so short.We need to know how to enjoy our life when we still young.Let\'s start know me from today k.Hope to hear from u soon..See you !!"
"you sound great to be with can i date you out and spend some quality time with you ? maybe have a drink and have some fun? give me your number i will call you"
"Hi, u like singing ??? mmm... U look so cute."
"One thing I have to say is that you look great."
"Phewittt..! Hello Ariella ....U r most beautiful & sweetest when u smile... Hello my gracious beautiful friend... Ariella Please do take a few minuets of your time to read on okay... Please I beg you my friend.. TQ... I would really like to be your friend... To be honest with you... I am seriously & sincerely attracted to you... you are a very very Beautiful & Gourgeous young lady...your lovely sweet smiles & your eyes look cool ... I mean you are very beautiful ...Very beautiful indeed... You really caught my eyes & triggered my instinct to make a move to try to approach you... May be I am not \"Attractive\" enough to become a friend to such a beautiful girl like you...? Or may be I am not up to your standards I guess... Mum always says if you don\'t try... you will never know if you will make it right...? I know that it is sometimes a waste of time or useless to \"layan\" us guys... most girls will assume or think that guys are trying to take advantage of girls... vulnerable as we are, human being like us are trying to protect our own interest in life... who doesn\'t right...? But please do have faith in me... Really hope that I can have your PHONE NUMBER coz I personally will prefer to chat on the phone sometimes... I do know that I am very much still a stranger to you; that giving me your phone number ill be a risk that you might not want to gamble upon... But do have faith in me cause I am not those crazy guys giving missed called & prank calls... Do wish you have faith in me & trust me that I do not have any bad intention on you ... It is really hard to convince you but I hope you will trust me as I am sincere & honest.."
"So, how about u? how r u? May i know more about u? and one question, frankly, are u attached at the moment?:p"
"Would you like to meet SOMEONE ? Someone who care Someone who listen.. Someone who is kind Someone who is gentle Someone who jokes a lot Someone who is romantic Someone who make you smile Someone who make you laugh
Someone who lend you a shoulder to cry on.. Someone who know how to make you feel good Someone who is there when you needed him most If you want to befriend SOMEONE do reply this email…. "
"I started an appreciation for fine art especially those from the early Impressionist period ie Monet, Renoir, Degas and Seurat. I wish one day I could be rich enough to own a genuine masterpiece. " - I think this one is promising :)
"Very nice introduction you have there. As much as I was dazed by your beauty, I was more intrigued by your command of the language and how you project yourself to others. I think you should be a highly intellectual person bubbling with lots of energy to surge forward in life."
"yup...u sound like the typical singaporean bitch. hope you grow up soon to realize that." - Wah. So much for dating via that site.
I wonder where they get these people from. She must be very flattered. Wonder what will happen if her "better" juniors go post their profiles and photos there.
And I wonder what will happen if I set up a profile and put Asian Prince's face there :)
I can't believe she actually went to do this. Must be the stress of Common Tests.
The fanmail is damn funny:
"you looks sexy and gergeous..nice photo there"
"n u look lovely too...maybe someday i will see ur lovely face in some magz"
"You are the one look so cute & pretty !!!"
"Hi..How\'s ur life over there?Do you enjoy ur life now?If no..let\'s enjoy wif me together.Life is so short.We need to know how to enjoy our life when we still young.Let\'s start know me from today k.Hope to hear from u soon..See you !!"
"you sound great to be with can i date you out and spend some quality time with you ? maybe have a drink and have some fun? give me your number i will call you"
"Hi, u like singing ??? mmm... U look so cute."
"One thing I have to say is that you look great."
"Phewittt..! Hello Ariella ....U r most beautiful & sweetest when u smile... Hello my gracious beautiful friend... Ariella Please do take a few minuets of your time to read on okay... Please I beg you my friend.. TQ... I would really like to be your friend... To be honest with you... I am seriously & sincerely attracted to you... you are a very very Beautiful & Gourgeous young lady...your lovely sweet smiles & your eyes look cool ... I mean you are very beautiful ...Very beautiful indeed... You really caught my eyes & triggered my instinct to make a move to try to approach you... May be I am not \"Attractive\" enough to become a friend to such a beautiful girl like you...? Or may be I am not up to your standards I guess... Mum always says if you don\'t try... you will never know if you will make it right...? I know that it is sometimes a waste of time or useless to \"layan\" us guys... most girls will assume or think that guys are trying to take advantage of girls... vulnerable as we are, human being like us are trying to protect our own interest in life... who doesn\'t right...? But please do have faith in me... Really hope that I can have your PHONE NUMBER coz I personally will prefer to chat on the phone sometimes... I do know that I am very much still a stranger to you; that giving me your phone number ill be a risk that you might not want to gamble upon... But do have faith in me cause I am not those crazy guys giving missed called & prank calls... Do wish you have faith in me & trust me that I do not have any bad intention on you ... It is really hard to convince you but I hope you will trust me as I am sincere & honest.."
"So, how about u? how r u? May i know more about u? and one question, frankly, are u attached at the moment?:p"
"Would you like to meet SOMEONE ? Someone who care Someone who listen.. Someone who is kind Someone who is gentle Someone who jokes a lot Someone who is romantic Someone who make you smile Someone who make you laugh
Someone who lend you a shoulder to cry on.. Someone who know how to make you feel good Someone who is there when you needed him most If you want to befriend SOMEONE do reply this email…. "
"I started an appreciation for fine art especially those from the early Impressionist period ie Monet, Renoir, Degas and Seurat. I wish one day I could be rich enough to own a genuine masterpiece. " - I think this one is promising :)
"Very nice introduction you have there. As much as I was dazed by your beauty, I was more intrigued by your command of the language and how you project yourself to others. I think you should be a highly intellectual person bubbling with lots of energy to surge forward in life."
"yup...u sound like the typical singaporean bitch. hope you grow up soon to realize that." - Wah. So much for dating via that site.
I wonder where they get these people from. She must be very flattered. Wonder what will happen if her "better" juniors go post their profiles and photos there.
And I wonder what will happen if I set up a profile and put Asian Prince's face there :)
Post ID: 105741804583288254
The Illustrated Catalog Of ACME Products
"ACME is a worldwide leader of many manufactured goods. From its humble beginnings providing corks and flypaper to bug collectors ("Buddy's Bug Hunt/1935") to its heyday in the American Southwest supplying a certain coyote, from Ultimatum Dispatchers to Batman outfits, ACME has set the standard for excellence.
For the first time ever, information and pictures of all ACME products, specialty divisions, and services (from 1935 to 1964) are gathered here, in one convenient catalog. For more information about any ACME product, simply click on the thumbnail picture. Thanks to Warner Bros. studios and their fine animation department for advertising ACME products in their cartoons!!"
I haven't even seen half of these in action! Tis hard to say what catches my eye, but some of the more outstanding products are the ACME DEHYDRATED BOULDERS, , ACME ATOM RE-ARRANGER, ACME FEMALE ROAD RUNNER COSTUME, ACME ROCKET POWERED ROLLER SKATES, ACME STRAIT-JACKET EJECTING BAZOOKA, ACME SUPER OUTFIT and best of all - the ACME INSTANT GIRL!
I've heard so much about Xenogears, but never found out what the hell it was about. Now, I've found a novelization - though how much of the story it's retold so far I don't know
Lightning Strikes Preacher Who Asked For Sign
Ink more expensive than champagne
"ACME is a worldwide leader of many manufactured goods. From its humble beginnings providing corks and flypaper to bug collectors ("Buddy's Bug Hunt/1935") to its heyday in the American Southwest supplying a certain coyote, from Ultimatum Dispatchers to Batman outfits, ACME has set the standard for excellence.
For the first time ever, information and pictures of all ACME products, specialty divisions, and services (from 1935 to 1964) are gathered here, in one convenient catalog. For more information about any ACME product, simply click on the thumbnail picture. Thanks to Warner Bros. studios and their fine animation department for advertising ACME products in their cartoons!!"
I haven't even seen half of these in action! Tis hard to say what catches my eye, but some of the more outstanding products are the ACME DEHYDRATED BOULDERS, , ACME ATOM RE-ARRANGER, ACME FEMALE ROAD RUNNER COSTUME, ACME ROCKET POWERED ROLLER SKATES, ACME STRAIT-JACKET EJECTING BAZOOKA, ACME SUPER OUTFIT and best of all - the ACME INSTANT GIRL!
I've heard so much about Xenogears, but never found out what the hell it was about. Now, I've found a novelization - though how much of the story it's retold so far I don't know
Lightning Strikes Preacher Who Asked For Sign
Ink more expensive than champagne
Post ID: 105740541103967469
Monday, June 30, 2003
DR MAHATHIR MOHAMMED BLAMES MARTIANS FOR WORLD PROBLEMS
By J. Blair
SOME SOURCES THAT HAVE PROVIDED DR MAHATHIR WITH HIS INCONTROVERTIBLE EVIDENCE ON THE EVIL AND SEXUALLY WANTON NATURE OF MARTIANS
In his latest tirade one week after his scathing attack on Europeans, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed has now targeted a "greater menace to mankind's future, more than the Europeans".
"Yes, it is the Martians." says Dr. Mahathir Mohammed.
"And they have a long history offering incontrovertible proof of their violent, evil and sexually wanton nature." He noted that the Martians have an "advanced civilization, that contained huge canals and cities to upstage earth's and craters that are actually huge missile silos." And he also complimented the Martians by saying that they're "very clever and brave, but also very greedy and have a history of attempting to conquer other planets, as their history will show."
According to Dr Mahathir, the martians have already been attempting to conquer earth by creating a string of natural disasters, including global warming, earthquakes, twisters and floods. "All these have been caused by Martians, who are now far more advanced in their weaponry than we can imagine. Their latest example has been the biological weapon known as SARS."
Dr Mahathir also says that the Martians are a "people of wanton and overt sexuality who have the exhibitionistic tendency of seeming to enjoy showing off their unusually well-proportioned bodies".
The documents that Dr Mahathir produced to reinforce his argument include a book by Edgar Rice Burroughs called "A Princess of Mars" ,a book by HG Wells called "The War of the Worlds", and some short films directed by a man who Dr Mahathir called a "superb Martian authority", Chuck Jones. He has recommended these sources for public patronizing.
"The Martians will not stop until they have taken away everything from us Malays." he concluded as he broke down in tears.
He also added that he is not a "speciesist" or a "planetist", adding that he has many "friends and acquaintances who are Martians."
But, he added, "he would tell the truth about the Martians as he sees fit."
Paradox is disrupting in 2 weeks!
By J. Blair
SOME SOURCES THAT HAVE PROVIDED DR MAHATHIR WITH HIS INCONTROVERTIBLE EVIDENCE ON THE EVIL AND SEXUALLY WANTON NATURE OF MARTIANS
In his latest tirade one week after his scathing attack on Europeans, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed has now targeted a "greater menace to mankind's future, more than the Europeans".
"Yes, it is the Martians." says Dr. Mahathir Mohammed.
"And they have a long history offering incontrovertible proof of their violent, evil and sexually wanton nature." He noted that the Martians have an "advanced civilization, that contained huge canals and cities to upstage earth's and craters that are actually huge missile silos." And he also complimented the Martians by saying that they're "very clever and brave, but also very greedy and have a history of attempting to conquer other planets, as their history will show."
According to Dr Mahathir, the martians have already been attempting to conquer earth by creating a string of natural disasters, including global warming, earthquakes, twisters and floods. "All these have been caused by Martians, who are now far more advanced in their weaponry than we can imagine. Their latest example has been the biological weapon known as SARS."
Dr Mahathir also says that the Martians are a "people of wanton and overt sexuality who have the exhibitionistic tendency of seeming to enjoy showing off their unusually well-proportioned bodies".
The documents that Dr Mahathir produced to reinforce his argument include a book by Edgar Rice Burroughs called "A Princess of Mars" ,a book by HG Wells called "The War of the Worlds", and some short films directed by a man who Dr Mahathir called a "superb Martian authority", Chuck Jones. He has recommended these sources for public patronizing.
"The Martians will not stop until they have taken away everything from us Malays." he concluded as he broke down in tears.
He also added that he is not a "speciesist" or a "planetist", adding that he has many "friends and acquaintances who are Martians."
But, he added, "he would tell the truth about the Martians as he sees fit."
Paradox is disrupting in 2 weeks!
Post ID: 105690911932680133
On idealism and liberalism:
Rationally Speaking: A monthly e-column by Massimo Pigliucci
N. 28, September 2002: Why bother? Why being liberal is not a lost cause
Quote of the month:
"What used to be called liberal is now called radical, what used to be called radical is now called insane, what used to be called reactionary is now called moderate, and what used to be called insane is now called solid conservative thinking." - Tony Kushner
I am what most people in the United States would describe as an idealist, a progressive, a liberal, a social democrat, or worse. Consequently, the question that a few of my friends and I often ask ourselves is: why bother? Let me explain. The world some of us would like to see, and are fighting to help bring about with our actions and writings, is one in which more people will use reason to make their decisions; fundamentalist religion will be seen as silly at best, and profoundly misguided and dangerous at worst; the environment will be thought of a real priority; war will not be possible because of a truly civilized international system of police and tribunals (you know, just like modern societies are an improvement over the law of the jungle?); and human beings will engage not in the search for profit or shallow consumerism but in the pursuit of true happiness and fulfillment. Scary, eh?
Now, the world in which we actually live is apparently characterized by rampant superstition and nonsense; fundamentalist religion is seen as a respectable, even enviable, way of life; the environment keeps taking a beating notwithstanding international conferences and political pledges; wars are been fought all over the planet and more are in the planning; and many of our society’s role models are among the shallowest (movie and sports stars) and meanest (corporate executives) people one can think of.
I repeat: why bother? I mean: in order to be a liberal freethinker one has either to be a masochist or a hopeless optimist, completely out of touch with reality. We are bombarded with bad news every day and from every corner. Yes, we had eight years of Clinton, blessed be the memory of his presidency, but he wasn’t really a liberal or a progressive. Rather, he was a fairly moderate Republican (yes, you read correctly), and hardly slowed down the onslaught of corporate interests and environmental catastrophe that has been the hallmark of this country’s policy since Reagan. To make it even worse, now we have a president who was not elected democratically (hey, I thought that happened only in Third World countries!), who keeps showing a callous disrespect for the environment and an equally abominable close tie to big business, and of whom (for some reason) most people keep approving because he has “character” (by which they must mean that he is able to lie about his past better than Clinton did).
All of this sounds hopeless, and no matter what my friends and I write or do, it will likely not change perceptibly during our lifetime. Then again, before yielding to depression and committing suicide or, worse, going on annual pilgrimages to DisneyWorld, we should consider the idea of different temporal horizons of activism. You see, all that I have described so far happens at what I think of as the mid-time horizon, i.e., stretches of time that can be measured on the order of a human life. But there are at least two additional horizons to consider if you are as stubborn an optimist as I am.
First, there is the near-time horizon. This is the here and now, in which we can make a huge difference at the local level. Our doings and writings can touch people in countless ways. It’s true: I get testimonials via email every week. Our actions can make a difference between a school board adopting a textbook that teaches the nonsense of creationism and another based on the best science available. This will affect thousands of kids, immediately! True, a protest at the local nuclear plant may go completely unnoticed; but other causes, like the No-Global movement, have made themselves heard the world over (despite the obvious irony intrinsic in such success…). Furthermore, things do change in major ways, from time to time. Let’s not forget that the Soviet Union and the Berlin wall crumbled in front of our eyes after having been apparently unfaltering symbols of oppression for decades. Equally surprisingly, Nelson Mandela went from political prisoner to head of state in South Africa, and the Milosovic government in the former Yugoslavia disappeared. These things don’t happen if we leave the field entirely to conservative and regressive forces.
Then there is the long-time horizon. I know most people think history is boring, but that’s a pity, because they would find that things do change during the course of human history and, often enough, for the better. A few decades ago it would have been perfectly acceptable to enforce racist laws in the United States; today this is unthinkable. Not long before that, women were not allowed to vote, while now all political parties consistently court them. Slavery was sanctioned in Western countries until the 19th century, but it is now actively fought everywhere in the world. Religious fundamentalists may have a large influence on the cultural and political life of the United States and the Middle East, but that is a far cry from the absolute dominance of religious bigotry that characterized several centuries of Western history deservedly referred to as “the dark ages.” And the environment wasn’t even an issue until the second half of the 20th century. These long-term changes, like the short-term ones listed above, were made possible by the continuous action of people who kept protesting, marching and writing to further human flourishing in the broadest possible sense. Most of them saw no perceptible change for the better during their life times, but they believed it would eventually come if they kept up the struggle. They were right.
I am under no illusion that this column or anything I do will change the world, but I do know that people are positively affected by what is written and done in the here and now. And I know that it is because of my friends and colleagues who keep protesting against nonsense, greed and repression that we can conceive of a better future for humanity. Indeed, to some extent, that future has already happened.
Rationally Speaking: A monthly e-column by Massimo Pigliucci
N. 28, September 2002: Why bother? Why being liberal is not a lost cause
Quote of the month:
"What used to be called liberal is now called radical, what used to be called radical is now called insane, what used to be called reactionary is now called moderate, and what used to be called insane is now called solid conservative thinking." - Tony Kushner
I am what most people in the United States would describe as an idealist, a progressive, a liberal, a social democrat, or worse. Consequently, the question that a few of my friends and I often ask ourselves is: why bother? Let me explain. The world some of us would like to see, and are fighting to help bring about with our actions and writings, is one in which more people will use reason to make their decisions; fundamentalist religion will be seen as silly at best, and profoundly misguided and dangerous at worst; the environment will be thought of a real priority; war will not be possible because of a truly civilized international system of police and tribunals (you know, just like modern societies are an improvement over the law of the jungle?); and human beings will engage not in the search for profit or shallow consumerism but in the pursuit of true happiness and fulfillment. Scary, eh?
Now, the world in which we actually live is apparently characterized by rampant superstition and nonsense; fundamentalist religion is seen as a respectable, even enviable, way of life; the environment keeps taking a beating notwithstanding international conferences and political pledges; wars are been fought all over the planet and more are in the planning; and many of our society’s role models are among the shallowest (movie and sports stars) and meanest (corporate executives) people one can think of.
I repeat: why bother? I mean: in order to be a liberal freethinker one has either to be a masochist or a hopeless optimist, completely out of touch with reality. We are bombarded with bad news every day and from every corner. Yes, we had eight years of Clinton, blessed be the memory of his presidency, but he wasn’t really a liberal or a progressive. Rather, he was a fairly moderate Republican (yes, you read correctly), and hardly slowed down the onslaught of corporate interests and environmental catastrophe that has been the hallmark of this country’s policy since Reagan. To make it even worse, now we have a president who was not elected democratically (hey, I thought that happened only in Third World countries!), who keeps showing a callous disrespect for the environment and an equally abominable close tie to big business, and of whom (for some reason) most people keep approving because he has “character” (by which they must mean that he is able to lie about his past better than Clinton did).
All of this sounds hopeless, and no matter what my friends and I write or do, it will likely not change perceptibly during our lifetime. Then again, before yielding to depression and committing suicide or, worse, going on annual pilgrimages to DisneyWorld, we should consider the idea of different temporal horizons of activism. You see, all that I have described so far happens at what I think of as the mid-time horizon, i.e., stretches of time that can be measured on the order of a human life. But there are at least two additional horizons to consider if you are as stubborn an optimist as I am.
First, there is the near-time horizon. This is the here and now, in which we can make a huge difference at the local level. Our doings and writings can touch people in countless ways. It’s true: I get testimonials via email every week. Our actions can make a difference between a school board adopting a textbook that teaches the nonsense of creationism and another based on the best science available. This will affect thousands of kids, immediately! True, a protest at the local nuclear plant may go completely unnoticed; but other causes, like the No-Global movement, have made themselves heard the world over (despite the obvious irony intrinsic in such success…). Furthermore, things do change in major ways, from time to time. Let’s not forget that the Soviet Union and the Berlin wall crumbled in front of our eyes after having been apparently unfaltering symbols of oppression for decades. Equally surprisingly, Nelson Mandela went from political prisoner to head of state in South Africa, and the Milosovic government in the former Yugoslavia disappeared. These things don’t happen if we leave the field entirely to conservative and regressive forces.
Then there is the long-time horizon. I know most people think history is boring, but that’s a pity, because they would find that things do change during the course of human history and, often enough, for the better. A few decades ago it would have been perfectly acceptable to enforce racist laws in the United States; today this is unthinkable. Not long before that, women were not allowed to vote, while now all political parties consistently court them. Slavery was sanctioned in Western countries until the 19th century, but it is now actively fought everywhere in the world. Religious fundamentalists may have a large influence on the cultural and political life of the United States and the Middle East, but that is a far cry from the absolute dominance of religious bigotry that characterized several centuries of Western history deservedly referred to as “the dark ages.” And the environment wasn’t even an issue until the second half of the 20th century. These long-term changes, like the short-term ones listed above, were made possible by the continuous action of people who kept protesting, marching and writing to further human flourishing in the broadest possible sense. Most of them saw no perceptible change for the better during their life times, but they believed it would eventually come if they kept up the struggle. They were right.
I am under no illusion that this column or anything I do will change the world, but I do know that people are positively affected by what is written and done in the here and now. And I know that it is because of my friends and colleagues who keep protesting against nonsense, greed and repression that we can conceive of a better future for humanity. Indeed, to some extent, that future has already happened.
Post ID: 105690585937618204
Sunday, June 29, 2003
The 6th Mono-Intake has come to the Cutting Edge (my unit)! It's time for all of us to practise uttering the sentence: "Never mind, whole lot knock it down!", or variants of the above. Some time before they came in, 2 posters went up on 2 facing walls. One says: "BMT. It's not what you leave behind. It's what you gain in the days ahead". Below, you see this forlorn guy and his sad-looking girl friend. So I suppose the message is you lose your girlfriend, and you get a bad haircut, courtesy of the 42SAR barber and friends. The other poster says "Welcome to 42SAR". I think a good subtext for that poster would be: "You die. All die." People say that BMT at a unit is more slack than at the Isle of Doom, and this seems to be borne out by the fact that the recruits aren't confined at the start of BMT!
We've gotten 10 new medics. This unexpected generosity has us overwhelmed. For once we will be at (sorta) full strength. Unfortunately, none of them are my juniors. All of them are privates, so the 2 1/2 year soldiers (most of them) will get to go through everything with the just-enlisted recruits, and ORD together with them. Joy! Meanwhile, people like me will get to skip ATEC :)
Now that the recruits have come, life has gotten worse for us. Perhaps it's to set the standards for the recruits, or so that they don't complain. For one, we can't sleep in bunk during lunch time anymore. So one of the few advantages of having a bunk is now gone, and we have even less reason to leave our work places.
I returned from NCC cover to discover that my Secret Garden had been desecrated! Argh. It took me all of a few minutes to re-sanctify it and re-consecrate it, so now it's back to normal.
The promising initiative whereby we could choose what meals to eat in order to save taxpayers' money has been killed in its prime. People will continue not to eat, regardless. More's the pity.
We've been made to purchase these "Free Singapore From SARS" combination lucky draw/scratch and win tickets issued by Singapore Pools at $3 each. The top prize is $1 million - maybe it's what they decided to do with the surfeit money is the Courage Fund. Now, how buying lucky draw tickets is supposed to kill SARS is a mystery. I don't think throwing yet more money at this particular problem is going to make it go away any faster. Anyhow, the tickets proclaim that all proceeds will go to "SARS-related community causes". This is a marvelously vague term. I suppose it could mean that the money is used to subsidise the purchase of floor disinfectant bought by Community Centres. Or maybe it goes to helping MOE and MINDEF pay for the thermometers that all pupils and soldiers got :) Now, all of this wouldn't bother me all that much, but for the fact that we've been -forced- to buy these tickets. Now, I remember that, a few weeks ago, some guy wrote in to the Straits Times forum asking why his son was forced to collect money for the Army Half Marathon. Colonel Bernard Toh, Director of Public Affairs at Mindef, naturally wrote in to assure everyone that no, servicemen are not forced to collect money for AHM. They're just given "targets". So now, with this dirty business made public, I assume that all servicemen are no longer forced to reach a target for AHM collections - hell, it came out on my unit's Routine Orders. The trouble is that, while AHM donations are no longer compulsory (unlike last year), the "Free Singapore From SARS" tickets are still being forced down our throats. Now, I could be a jolly chap and write in, like the father of that serviceman, and complain to Colonel Bernard Toh, and shame the SAF again. However, seeing my history of having letters rejected by the ST, and how, if they're feeling nasty, they'll invoke the Official Secrets Act and throw me into DB, I suppose that might not be such a wise course of action. Maybe I should just call the SAF Hotline :) 1800-6278-0022.
I felt a sudden urge to opine on Singapore's own Day of Infamy (a la Pearl Harbor, December 7th, 1941), while my feet were collapsing during the SAF Day parade rehearsal, but I find that it isn't really suitable.
The SAR-vivor rap is so bad that it will forever be seared into my mind, causing my untold horrific nightmares for all eternity.
I really should be careful when deleting CLSIDs from my Registry. I've had to re-install Windows twice already because I cocked something up.
Travelling on the new North East line gives me a feeling of deja vu. The stations are massive, multi-levelled and cavernous and you have to walk a lot to get to and from it from the old MRT lines. In the trains, you have signs reading "Mind The Gap". The air in the trains and stations isn't very cold, and smells slightly stale, with a little of the tunnel about it. And to complete it all, you have the Circle Line coming up in a few years.
One of the stated aims of the Circle Line is to let commuters bypass the crowded city. Somehow, I don't think building a new line will have much effect. For one, the stations bypassed by the new line aren't very many. Also, looking at the North East line and how much you have to walk to transfer to it, it is likely that any time saved by bypassing the City stations will be lost both to walking and waiting for the connecting trains.
I saw this device to give you a flashing belly button. It was advertised as being "for girls of all ages". Wth.
I finally saw a Scarlet Ibis (after which a short story I did in Sec 1 for Lit was named after) at the Zoo/Bird Park exhibit in Orchard.
In Korea, getting a tattoo gets you out of their conscription. People also try other ways of getting downgraded. Looks like Singaporeans aren't the only ones who detest being slaves.
Patriotism is, among other things, an urge to do what is best for one's country. However, in Singapore, the country is inextricably bound up with the government. To criticise or distrust the government is almost to be unpatriotic. In fact, the paper that people are forced to sign upon enlistment, and the oath that they swear (invalid, of course, under duress), contain copious references to the Government. So the question is: what happens when the Government is not acting in the interests of the country, and true patriots will be obliged to defy it?
I look into a crystal ball, and I see nothing. That's bad.
Quotes:
[On my observation that his hair had gained in volume during his ORD leave] You know why you're so fat? It's because you're so full of shit.
Only Ah Bengs like to go to Pasar Malams. Then they can buy their "No Fear" shirts.
We've gotten 10 new medics. This unexpected generosity has us overwhelmed. For once we will be at (sorta) full strength. Unfortunately, none of them are my juniors. All of them are privates, so the 2 1/2 year soldiers (most of them) will get to go through everything with the just-enlisted recruits, and ORD together with them. Joy! Meanwhile, people like me will get to skip ATEC :)
Now that the recruits have come, life has gotten worse for us. Perhaps it's to set the standards for the recruits, or so that they don't complain. For one, we can't sleep in bunk during lunch time anymore. So one of the few advantages of having a bunk is now gone, and we have even less reason to leave our work places.
I returned from NCC cover to discover that my Secret Garden had been desecrated! Argh. It took me all of a few minutes to re-sanctify it and re-consecrate it, so now it's back to normal.
The promising initiative whereby we could choose what meals to eat in order to save taxpayers' money has been killed in its prime. People will continue not to eat, regardless. More's the pity.
We've been made to purchase these "Free Singapore From SARS" combination lucky draw/scratch and win tickets issued by Singapore Pools at $3 each. The top prize is $1 million - maybe it's what they decided to do with the surfeit money is the Courage Fund. Now, how buying lucky draw tickets is supposed to kill SARS is a mystery. I don't think throwing yet more money at this particular problem is going to make it go away any faster. Anyhow, the tickets proclaim that all proceeds will go to "SARS-related community causes". This is a marvelously vague term. I suppose it could mean that the money is used to subsidise the purchase of floor disinfectant bought by Community Centres. Or maybe it goes to helping MOE and MINDEF pay for the thermometers that all pupils and soldiers got :) Now, all of this wouldn't bother me all that much, but for the fact that we've been -forced- to buy these tickets. Now, I remember that, a few weeks ago, some guy wrote in to the Straits Times forum asking why his son was forced to collect money for the Army Half Marathon. Colonel Bernard Toh, Director of Public Affairs at Mindef, naturally wrote in to assure everyone that no, servicemen are not forced to collect money for AHM. They're just given "targets". So now, with this dirty business made public, I assume that all servicemen are no longer forced to reach a target for AHM collections - hell, it came out on my unit's Routine Orders. The trouble is that, while AHM donations are no longer compulsory (unlike last year), the "Free Singapore From SARS" tickets are still being forced down our throats. Now, I could be a jolly chap and write in, like the father of that serviceman, and complain to Colonel Bernard Toh, and shame the SAF again. However, seeing my history of having letters rejected by the ST, and how, if they're feeling nasty, they'll invoke the Official Secrets Act and throw me into DB, I suppose that might not be such a wise course of action. Maybe I should just call the SAF Hotline :) 1800-6278-0022.
I felt a sudden urge to opine on Singapore's own Day of Infamy (a la Pearl Harbor, December 7th, 1941), while my feet were collapsing during the SAF Day parade rehearsal, but I find that it isn't really suitable.
The SAR-vivor rap is so bad that it will forever be seared into my mind, causing my untold horrific nightmares for all eternity.
I really should be careful when deleting CLSIDs from my Registry. I've had to re-install Windows twice already because I cocked something up.
Travelling on the new North East line gives me a feeling of deja vu. The stations are massive, multi-levelled and cavernous and you have to walk a lot to get to and from it from the old MRT lines. In the trains, you have signs reading "Mind The Gap". The air in the trains and stations isn't very cold, and smells slightly stale, with a little of the tunnel about it. And to complete it all, you have the Circle Line coming up in a few years.
One of the stated aims of the Circle Line is to let commuters bypass the crowded city. Somehow, I don't think building a new line will have much effect. For one, the stations bypassed by the new line aren't very many. Also, looking at the North East line and how much you have to walk to transfer to it, it is likely that any time saved by bypassing the City stations will be lost both to walking and waiting for the connecting trains.
I saw this device to give you a flashing belly button. It was advertised as being "for girls of all ages". Wth.
I finally saw a Scarlet Ibis (after which a short story I did in Sec 1 for Lit was named after) at the Zoo/Bird Park exhibit in Orchard.
In Korea, getting a tattoo gets you out of their conscription. People also try other ways of getting downgraded. Looks like Singaporeans aren't the only ones who detest being slaves.
Patriotism is, among other things, an urge to do what is best for one's country. However, in Singapore, the country is inextricably bound up with the government. To criticise or distrust the government is almost to be unpatriotic. In fact, the paper that people are forced to sign upon enlistment, and the oath that they swear (invalid, of course, under duress), contain copious references to the Government. So the question is: what happens when the Government is not acting in the interests of the country, and true patriots will be obliged to defy it?
I look into a crystal ball, and I see nothing. That's bad.
Quotes:
[On my observation that his hair had gained in volume during his ORD leave] You know why you're so fat? It's because you're so full of shit.
Only Ah Bengs like to go to Pasar Malams. Then they can buy their "No Fear" shirts.
Post ID: 105689834309704594
4 days at NCC:
I finally prevailed upon Ban Xiong to send me to Amoy Quee to cover NCC courses over 4 days the past week, so I got to stay out for 4 days and have fun slacking over there. I and Bob were assigned to cover the Specialists' Course for Boys for the Central district, so we didn't get to shake our heads much at how girls' NCC is much slacker (for one, on the occasions you are in No 3, you can't get knocked down!), though what little I saw from the other contingents already confirmed my suspicions. Meanwhile, I was entertained and enlightened by Bob's many profound observations on life, the universe and everything.
After observing NCC training, I am more perplexed than ever about why young schoolchildren would want to spend a day or two each week, and more during the holidays, being tortured. Especially the boys. Aren't 2 to 2 1/2 years of full time bondage more than enough? Maybe it's all the masochists who join NCC, so they can perversely rejoice in their suffering. Or maybe they're just channeling their innate and hormonal urges to play at being soldiers, the same way children play with toy soldiers, tanks, planes and what not.
In some ways, NCC is even more regimental than the SAF. When the cadets sit on the floor, they adopt a posture reminiscent of the lotus position, sitting cross-legged with straight backs and stretching both arms out to rest on their knees. They then have to ask their ICs permission to relax and adjust themselves or to drink water. Why the ICs don't give this permission every now and then as a matter of course, or just ask the superiors for carte blanche permission for the cadets to rest, is beyond me. Hell, even their eating is regimental! The ICs are also very fierce, even though they are the same rank as their men. Maybe it's all the vying for recognition so they can get promoted faster, or get the title of Best Trainee. Anyhow, everything can probably be summed up in one word: "discipline" (read: stupidity). Of course, they have their home, their parents, their siblings, a soft, fluffy bed and lots of soft toys waiting for them at the end of the day (or the week, at most), and if worse comes to worst, they can always quit.
In some ways, too, it seems the NCC cadets learn more than we did during BMT. For example they learn how to search people at rifle point. But then they have even less practice than us, so.
I've always wondered why the SAF needs medics to cover all sorts of trivial things. In fact, in the past, I have even had to cover a *reception*. I don't know, maybe they feared some General would choke on a fishball, or something. In the first two days of my NCC cover, people managed to cut themselves while loading magazines into and stripping rifles, so I suppose we were there to stop parental complaints. Anyway, the Police and just about everyone else (schools, organisations holding outdoor activities and more) manage to get by without medical cover, so I suspect maybe they're just finding work for SAF medics to do so we don't become too slack.
I saw what should be all of the Army Recruitment Posters in the "who has the ~" series! I tried to think of spoofs of each, but I didn't succeed. Results of my brainstorming below:
- "Who has the spirit?" -> "Who has flagging spirits?". Picture will show soldiers after a 40km route march - shagged, demoralised and close to exhuastion.
- "Who has the firepower?" -> "Who has insufficient firepower?". Picture will show a M1A2 Abrams beside an SM-1.
- "Who will keep us safe?" -> The lack of tenacity, will, patriotism and determination of many SAFs (and not a few regulars) is well known. Nonetheless, I could not come up with a counterpart to this poster.
- "Who has the motivation?" -> "Who has no motivation?". Picture will show the miserly pay that NSFs get every month. "You pay me peanuts, you get a monkey". What else can be added to show why NSFs lack motivation?
- "Who has the vigilance?" -> "Who has no vigilance?". Picture will show people slacking and sleeping during guard duty, or sleeping at various other places, like in a tonner.
- "Who has the courage?" -> "Who has no courage?". Picture will show someone (me?) hesitating at the high ramp.
Quickies:
Shit rolls downhill. Officers get specialists or officer cadets to do their dirty work, specialists get enlistees or recruits, and enlistees get NCC cadets (if available) :)
There was this short SCGS girl who put her bag near ours, flashed a shy smile and walked away. Gah. I actually felt tempted to throw her bag at her. There should be a law to regulate people's acting cute.
As some NCC specialists were marching past Bob, who was eating Ikan Perdas, I was looking for the guy who was chanting the traditional "loop, loop, loop right loop". To my great shock, it was the person mentioned in the above paragraph! Looks like Raffles Guys is not the only institution which provides this sort of training.
Somehow, this quote from BMT came to mind while watching the NCC ICs count strength: "[Recruit to sergeant while counting strength: X and X blank files, IC!] Fuck. I go to SISPEC for 5 months, come out and become IC. Knock it down!"
In the NCC office, there was this Army recruitment poster claiming that girls got turned on by guys in uniform. Hmmph. Even if there are people whose heads are so easily turned, you won't get to meet many of them in uniform!
It was relatively easy to tell the NCC Cadets from KC apart from the other female cadets (ahem). Oddly, though, some wore a T-shirt which said, at the back, "KC NCC Land Girls". I didn't know there was a boys' contingent in that school.
You always hear people talking about when the weather status "Cat 1" (lightning), but you never get to hear of the other categories - kind of like Hongkong movies, in fact. You always hear about Cat III movies, but never about Cat I, Cat II, Cat IV and Cat V movies. Anyway I found that Cat 2 means that it is raining, and Cat 3 indicates sunny weather.
Some of the older NCC females were wearing green boots with a splash of black. They don't use these anymore nowadays. Interesting. I wonder what the rationale for green boots last time was anyway. Guess SAF wanted to save money.
Amoy Quee seems like a nice, empty, relaxed, slack camp to be in. And it's near civilisation too.
Amoy Quee provides lockers for you to put prohibited items in, but you are "advised" not to put valuables in there. Right. So what could be prohibited without being valuable? Diskettes? CDs? Pirated/pornographic VCDs?
Bob likes to walk so fast. He walked so fast, in fact, that I got abrasions on my left toes, and became all sweaty. Bah.
Sign seen at 20th Singapore Artillery: "Safety habits need to be grilled". Wth?!
I think 20SA's cookhouse can clinch the coveted prize of "Worst Cookhouse In The SAF".
Since it's their lull period, people from 2SIR get to book out daily after their Company Runs. Looks like we in 42SAR really got shortchanged. Hell even 46SAR company line people are stayout during lull.
Strangely (or otherwise) enough, it was rather nice to be addressed as "Sir". I never knew I took even a smidgen of delight in such shallow and trivial things.
It's nice to be able to change your uniform daily.
The NCC song in its full horror! You can (naturally) listen to the mp3 too.
There's actually a further incident that I would put here, but someone accused me of being sick, so I won't talk about it :)
[continued below]
I finally prevailed upon Ban Xiong to send me to Amoy Quee to cover NCC courses over 4 days the past week, so I got to stay out for 4 days and have fun slacking over there. I and Bob were assigned to cover the Specialists' Course for Boys for the Central district, so we didn't get to shake our heads much at how girls' NCC is much slacker (for one, on the occasions you are in No 3, you can't get knocked down!), though what little I saw from the other contingents already confirmed my suspicions. Meanwhile, I was entertained and enlightened by Bob's many profound observations on life, the universe and everything.
After observing NCC training, I am more perplexed than ever about why young schoolchildren would want to spend a day or two each week, and more during the holidays, being tortured. Especially the boys. Aren't 2 to 2 1/2 years of full time bondage more than enough? Maybe it's all the masochists who join NCC, so they can perversely rejoice in their suffering. Or maybe they're just channeling their innate and hormonal urges to play at being soldiers, the same way children play with toy soldiers, tanks, planes and what not.
In some ways, NCC is even more regimental than the SAF. When the cadets sit on the floor, they adopt a posture reminiscent of the lotus position, sitting cross-legged with straight backs and stretching both arms out to rest on their knees. They then have to ask their ICs permission to relax and adjust themselves or to drink water. Why the ICs don't give this permission every now and then as a matter of course, or just ask the superiors for carte blanche permission for the cadets to rest, is beyond me. Hell, even their eating is regimental! The ICs are also very fierce, even though they are the same rank as their men. Maybe it's all the vying for recognition so they can get promoted faster, or get the title of Best Trainee. Anyhow, everything can probably be summed up in one word: "discipline" (read: stupidity). Of course, they have their home, their parents, their siblings, a soft, fluffy bed and lots of soft toys waiting for them at the end of the day (or the week, at most), and if worse comes to worst, they can always quit.
In some ways, too, it seems the NCC cadets learn more than we did during BMT. For example they learn how to search people at rifle point. But then they have even less practice than us, so.
I've always wondered why the SAF needs medics to cover all sorts of trivial things. In fact, in the past, I have even had to cover a *reception*. I don't know, maybe they feared some General would choke on a fishball, or something. In the first two days of my NCC cover, people managed to cut themselves while loading magazines into and stripping rifles, so I suppose we were there to stop parental complaints. Anyway, the Police and just about everyone else (schools, organisations holding outdoor activities and more) manage to get by without medical cover, so I suspect maybe they're just finding work for SAF medics to do so we don't become too slack.
I saw what should be all of the Army Recruitment Posters in the "who has the ~" series! I tried to think of spoofs of each, but I didn't succeed. Results of my brainstorming below:
- "Who has the spirit?" -> "Who has flagging spirits?". Picture will show soldiers after a 40km route march - shagged, demoralised and close to exhuastion.
- "Who has the firepower?" -> "Who has insufficient firepower?". Picture will show a M1A2 Abrams beside an SM-1.
- "Who will keep us safe?" -> The lack of tenacity, will, patriotism and determination of many SAFs (and not a few regulars) is well known. Nonetheless, I could not come up with a counterpart to this poster.
- "Who has the motivation?" -> "Who has no motivation?". Picture will show the miserly pay that NSFs get every month. "You pay me peanuts, you get a monkey". What else can be added to show why NSFs lack motivation?
- "Who has the vigilance?" -> "Who has no vigilance?". Picture will show people slacking and sleeping during guard duty, or sleeping at various other places, like in a tonner.
- "Who has the courage?" -> "Who has no courage?". Picture will show someone (me?) hesitating at the high ramp.
Quickies:
Shit rolls downhill. Officers get specialists or officer cadets to do their dirty work, specialists get enlistees or recruits, and enlistees get NCC cadets (if available) :)
There was this short SCGS girl who put her bag near ours, flashed a shy smile and walked away. Gah. I actually felt tempted to throw her bag at her. There should be a law to regulate people's acting cute.
As some NCC specialists were marching past Bob, who was eating Ikan Perdas, I was looking for the guy who was chanting the traditional "loop, loop, loop right loop". To my great shock, it was the person mentioned in the above paragraph! Looks like Raffles Guys is not the only institution which provides this sort of training.
Somehow, this quote from BMT came to mind while watching the NCC ICs count strength: "[Recruit to sergeant while counting strength: X and X blank files, IC!] Fuck. I go to SISPEC for 5 months, come out and become IC. Knock it down!"
In the NCC office, there was this Army recruitment poster claiming that girls got turned on by guys in uniform. Hmmph. Even if there are people whose heads are so easily turned, you won't get to meet many of them in uniform!
It was relatively easy to tell the NCC Cadets from KC apart from the other female cadets (ahem). Oddly, though, some wore a T-shirt which said, at the back, "KC NCC Land Girls". I didn't know there was a boys' contingent in that school.
You always hear people talking about when the weather status "Cat 1" (lightning), but you never get to hear of the other categories - kind of like Hongkong movies, in fact. You always hear about Cat III movies, but never about Cat I, Cat II, Cat IV and Cat V movies. Anyway I found that Cat 2 means that it is raining, and Cat 3 indicates sunny weather.
Some of the older NCC females were wearing green boots with a splash of black. They don't use these anymore nowadays. Interesting. I wonder what the rationale for green boots last time was anyway. Guess SAF wanted to save money.
Amoy Quee seems like a nice, empty, relaxed, slack camp to be in. And it's near civilisation too.
Amoy Quee provides lockers for you to put prohibited items in, but you are "advised" not to put valuables in there. Right. So what could be prohibited without being valuable? Diskettes? CDs? Pirated/pornographic VCDs?
Bob likes to walk so fast. He walked so fast, in fact, that I got abrasions on my left toes, and became all sweaty. Bah.
Sign seen at 20th Singapore Artillery: "Safety habits need to be grilled". Wth?!
I think 20SA's cookhouse can clinch the coveted prize of "Worst Cookhouse In The SAF".
Since it's their lull period, people from 2SIR get to book out daily after their Company Runs. Looks like we in 42SAR really got shortchanged. Hell even 46SAR company line people are stayout during lull.
Strangely (or otherwise) enough, it was rather nice to be addressed as "Sir". I never knew I took even a smidgen of delight in such shallow and trivial things.
It's nice to be able to change your uniform daily.
The NCC song in its full horror! You can (naturally) listen to the mp3 too.
There's actually a further incident that I would put here, but someone accused me of being sick, so I won't talk about it :)
[continued below]
Post ID: 105689737514795016
[continued from above post]
Quotes from and about NCC:
Just hang yourself around here (around)
[On adolescence] It's natural for a girl to act cute, c'mon, especially at that age.
Ask her to take a seat and have an interview with us. [Me: What interview?] Medical checkup. [Me: ...]
[On items in the Medical Orderly Pouch being useless during peace time] The girl comes to you. "Sir, can you spare me one FAD?" [Me: For what? Padding ah?] Yah.
[Me on NS breakups: A lot, especially during BMT. That's if the girls are fickle.] Girls are all fickle, come on.
Platoon 3, on your berets - up! (put on)
[On screwing NCC cadets] Look at it this way. They enjoy being tortured, otherwise they won't be here... Those who don't like to be tortured would have quit after the first week.
All so ugly... How come I don't have luck this time?... No nice bodies, no nice faces, no nice features.
[Me on why the gender ratio is not demoralising: Because Singaporean men are shit] Yes, just like you and me... Those who are not shit are bastards.
I conclude that girls who join NCC aren't very feminine.
Wah kao, I saw a girl with muscular legs. *walks off* I like girls with well-toned legs. I don't like girls with masculine legs.
Quotes from and about NCC:
Just hang yourself around here (around)
[On adolescence] It's natural for a girl to act cute, c'mon, especially at that age.
Ask her to take a seat and have an interview with us. [Me: What interview?] Medical checkup. [Me: ...]
[On items in the Medical Orderly Pouch being useless during peace time] The girl comes to you. "Sir, can you spare me one FAD?" [Me: For what? Padding ah?] Yah.
[Me on NS breakups: A lot, especially during BMT. That's if the girls are fickle.] Girls are all fickle, come on.
Platoon 3, on your berets - up! (put on)
[On screwing NCC cadets] Look at it this way. They enjoy being tortured, otherwise they won't be here... Those who don't like to be tortured would have quit after the first week.
All so ugly... How come I don't have luck this time?... No nice bodies, no nice faces, no nice features.
[Me on why the gender ratio is not demoralising: Because Singaporean men are shit] Yes, just like you and me... Those who are not shit are bastards.
I conclude that girls who join NCC aren't very feminine.
Wah kao, I saw a girl with muscular legs. *walks off* I like girls with well-toned legs. I don't like girls with masculine legs.
Post ID: 105689115739335421
The Secret Garden - I Heard Someone Crying
[LILY]
Oooooooooooh
[MARY]
I heard someone crying
Who tho' could it be
Maybe it was Mother
Calling out, come see.
Maybe it was father
All alone and lost and cold
I heard someone crying
Maybe it was me
[LILY]
Ooooooooh
[ARCHIBALD]
I heard someone singing
Who tho' could it be
Maybe it was Lily,
Calling out to me
Maybe she's not gone
So far away as I've been told
I heard someone singing
Maybe it was she
[MARY]
Maybe it was someone I could
Find and have a cup of tea
Maybe it was someone who
Could bring the tea and come find me
[LILY]
Ooh
I heard someone crying
Tho' I can't say who
Someone in this house
With nothing left to do
Sounded like a father
left alone his love grown cold
I heard someone crying
Maybe it was you
[MARY AND ARCHIBALD]
Maybe I was dreaming of a garden growing far below
Maybe I was dreaming of a life
That I will never know
[MARY (LILY)]
I heard someone crying
Who tho' could it be
Someone in this house (Ooo...)
Whom no one seems to see (Ooo...)
Someone no one seemed to (Ooo...)
Hear except for me(Ooo...)
I heard someone calling
Maybe it was he
(Ooo...)
(Ooo...)
[ARCHIBALD]
Lily, where are you, I'm lost without you
I can't walk these halls without you
Lily, where are you, I'm lost wihtout you
I have searched the world but you're not there
Come and tell me why you
Brought me home if you're not here
My Lily, where are you, I'm lost without you
Lily, I am lost
Without you
[MAJOR HOLMES]
I heard someone crying
Who else could it be
Surley it was Mary
Why can no one see
[ROSE, CLAIRE, ALICE]
Crying for her mother
For the life she's never known
[ALBERT]
So lost
See her lying
In her room alone
[LILY]
Ooo...
[LILY]
Oooooooooooh
[MARY]
I heard someone crying
Who tho' could it be
Maybe it was Mother
Calling out, come see.
Maybe it was father
All alone and lost and cold
I heard someone crying
Maybe it was me
[LILY]
Ooooooooh
[ARCHIBALD]
I heard someone singing
Who tho' could it be
Maybe it was Lily,
Calling out to me
Maybe she's not gone
So far away as I've been told
I heard someone singing
Maybe it was she
[MARY]
Maybe it was someone I could
Find and have a cup of tea
Maybe it was someone who
Could bring the tea and come find me
[LILY]
Ooh
I heard someone crying
Tho' I can't say who
Someone in this house
With nothing left to do
Sounded like a father
left alone his love grown cold
I heard someone crying
Maybe it was you
[MARY AND ARCHIBALD]
Maybe I was dreaming of a garden growing far below
Maybe I was dreaming of a life
That I will never know
[MARY (LILY)]
I heard someone crying
Who tho' could it be
Someone in this house (Ooo...)
Whom no one seems to see (Ooo...)
Someone no one seemed to (Ooo...)
Hear except for me(Ooo...)
I heard someone calling
Maybe it was he
(Ooo...)
(Ooo...)
[ARCHIBALD]
Lily, where are you, I'm lost without you
I can't walk these halls without you
Lily, where are you, I'm lost wihtout you
I have searched the world but you're not there
Come and tell me why you
Brought me home if you're not here
My Lily, where are you, I'm lost without you
Lily, I am lost
Without you
[MAJOR HOLMES]
I heard someone crying
Who else could it be
Surley it was Mary
Why can no one see
[ROSE, CLAIRE, ALICE]
Crying for her mother
For the life she's never known
[ALBERT]
So lost
See her lying
In her room alone
[LILY]
Ooo...
Post ID: 105685174578176161
Saturday, June 28, 2003
Whee.
Hotmail Popper has been updated to version 2. It finally supports SMTP, and it's still free. It seems faster than what seems to be its only competitor, Izymail, and the company coding the latter has recently been making its standalone application more and more expensive and crippled so people take out a subscription to its online service, thus ensuring the company a continuous cash flow. Cunning.
Other POP3/SMTP gateway clients (only the AOL one is not free) for Yahoo and AOL available on the same page I found out about Hotmail Popper 2.
Remote Operating System Build in Netscape (Robin) is
"a window manager using DHTML, Javascript, XUL and some crazy hacks". With it, you can play, among other things, XulMine, Mozteroids, Pagman, Snake, Xultris and MozInvaders.
A new twist on an old concept. I first heard the WAV many years ago, in Lower Secondary if my memory serves me right. All thanks to Tim, of course.
Oh, and apparently the artist is this guy called Dennis Leary. I always knew it wasn't Monty Python (just like many of those "Weird Al Yankovic" mp3s aren't by him), but I never got down to finding out who that guy with the sonorous voice was.
The Straight Dope on 2B, B, HB and other types of pencils.
Harry Potter and the Meaning of Life - Gah. It's just a book. Just like The Matrix is just a movie.
I can't believe there is anyone who can read this (An Interview With Ann Coulter) without cringing or feeling sick. Many forms of conservatism are just sick.
A virtual glass ceiling in 'EverQuest'?
Hotmail Popper has been updated to version 2. It finally supports SMTP, and it's still free. It seems faster than what seems to be its only competitor, Izymail, and the company coding the latter has recently been making its standalone application more and more expensive and crippled so people take out a subscription to its online service, thus ensuring the company a continuous cash flow. Cunning.
Other POP3/SMTP gateway clients (only the AOL one is not free) for Yahoo and AOL available on the same page I found out about Hotmail Popper 2.
Remote Operating System Build in Netscape (Robin) is
"a window manager using DHTML, Javascript, XUL and some crazy hacks". With it, you can play, among other things, XulMine, Mozteroids, Pagman, Snake, Xultris and MozInvaders.
A new twist on an old concept. I first heard the WAV many years ago, in Lower Secondary if my memory serves me right. All thanks to Tim, of course.
Oh, and apparently the artist is this guy called Dennis Leary. I always knew it wasn't Monty Python (just like many of those "Weird Al Yankovic" mp3s aren't by him), but I never got down to finding out who that guy with the sonorous voice was.
The Straight Dope on 2B, B, HB and other types of pencils.
Harry Potter and the Meaning of Life - Gah. It's just a book. Just like The Matrix is just a movie.
I can't believe there is anyone who can read this (An Interview With Ann Coulter) without cringing or feeling sick. Many forms of conservatism are just sick.
A virtual glass ceiling in 'EverQuest'?
Post ID: 105678455282784384
Thursday, June 26, 2003
More Search Referrals
8 year old singaporean kid makes porn site - That's a big young, isn't it?
"raffles girls" "lesbian" - I thought it was the franchise school that was famous for this sort of thing.
"Muslims want to take over the world"
muhammad satanic paedophile
pictures of young girl drinking one liters of cum - Won't she choke?
"ong chiau jin"
"rosie smith" ri - :)
zaogeng
what does zaogeng mean - Interestingly, this is no longer the only coherent site you get when you search for "zaogeng". Guess everyone likes to talk about it nowadays. Maybe they got inspired after searching for zaogeng and finding little of relevance. Also, some psycho set up a poll about which HCJC girl zaogengs the most - "We all know jc gals like to zaogeng a lot! Dun be selfish! Let's share with us all your peeping experiences from your 2 yrs in hjc!!!". Right.
bestiality and sars - That's a really sick thought.
pretty rgs girl
Seven Habits of Ah Beng - Erm. 1. Scratching their ears with their little fingers 2. Wearing gold chains 3. Perming their hair 4. Speaking bad english 5. Squatting 6. Perpetually walking around on the handphone, or with the hands free set draped around their necks 7. Beating people up
sweaty scgs uniform
uniform fetish scgs - I'm not surprised
HPFterror.mov - It's spread so quickly.
tomoko fuck - Interestingly, a new version of Hentai Simgirl is out. They've completed one of the girls and added 2 more. Anyhow, I gave up after a while. I couldn't find a way to talk to the girl they'd finished.
naked sundal - I believe "sundal" means "prostitute" in malay or some Indian language.
serbee rjc culottes - See! I'm not the only one who noticed!!!
Argh, somehow the Ho Poh Fun video played at the same time as "Mountain Battle II" from Baldur's Gate II. Strangely appropriate. Or maybe not :0
8 year old singaporean kid makes porn site - That's a big young, isn't it?
"raffles girls" "lesbian" - I thought it was the franchise school that was famous for this sort of thing.
"Muslims want to take over the world"
muhammad satanic paedophile
pictures of young girl drinking one liters of cum - Won't she choke?
"ong chiau jin"
"rosie smith" ri - :)
zaogeng
what does zaogeng mean - Interestingly, this is no longer the only coherent site you get when you search for "zaogeng". Guess everyone likes to talk about it nowadays. Maybe they got inspired after searching for zaogeng and finding little of relevance. Also, some psycho set up a poll about which HCJC girl zaogengs the most - "We all know jc gals like to zaogeng a lot! Dun be selfish! Let's share with us all your peeping experiences from your 2 yrs in hjc!!!". Right.
bestiality and sars - That's a really sick thought.
pretty rgs girl
Seven Habits of Ah Beng - Erm. 1. Scratching their ears with their little fingers 2. Wearing gold chains 3. Perming their hair 4. Speaking bad english 5. Squatting 6. Perpetually walking around on the handphone, or with the hands free set draped around their necks 7. Beating people up
sweaty scgs uniform
uniform fetish scgs - I'm not surprised
HPFterror.mov - It's spread so quickly.
tomoko fuck - Interestingly, a new version of Hentai Simgirl is out. They've completed one of the girls and added 2 more. Anyhow, I gave up after a while. I couldn't find a way to talk to the girl they'd finished.
naked sundal - I believe "sundal" means "prostitute" in malay or some Indian language.
serbee rjc culottes - See! I'm not the only one who noticed!!!
Argh, somehow the Ho Poh Fun video played at the same time as "Mountain Battle II" from Baldur's Gate II. Strangely appropriate. Or maybe not :0
Post ID: 105663632585428979
I've finally been moved to Dano. It's looking good. Yeh!
On those ridiculous OB markers (though I wonder why there's a need to refer to the economic aspect of stifling free thought and speech in the headline):
TO PROMOTE ENTREPRENEURIAL DRIVE AND CREATIVITY...
Why have OB markers?
I REFER to the Insight articles on OB markers revisited (ST, June 21). What concerns me are the consequences of having out-of-bounds, or OB, markers.
In such an environment, is it any surprise that there is a stifling of entrepreneurial drive? The idea that some things cannot be challenged is surely not the mentality of a risk-taker.
Sterility and a lack of creativity are surely tied to the decision to tell people what they can and can't think about. Not to mention a feeling of being an alien in one's place of abode.
Are apathy and lack of awareness among the public not clearly linked to being told what one can or cannot think about? After all, if you are not interested in what I have to say about the most important of issues, why should I bother saying anything at all?
Shall I limit my comments to bus-fare hikes and the new train line? Indeed, these are the sort of discussions which engage the nation presently.
Is a lack of social cohesion a surprise? Avoiding public discussion of what are considered explosive issues only means that the society never gets a chance to grow in understanding. How long are people supposed to be protected from their own supposed irrationality?
The idea that one should not think about some things because otherwise there will be trouble stems from a patronising view of the mass of society. Maybe it is valid. I really can't say I know.
But again, not discussing things openly does not mean that people don't have opinions. It does not mean that issues will go away. All it means is that there is an artificial environment of people living beside each other but not with each other.
Strange ideas grow in strength because they are not challenged in open discussion. For what is not aired in open discussion will be whispered among like-thinking people in corridors. Woeful it will be when somehow these ideas gain momentum despite attempts to control the ideas that can be circulated.
When I think about the basis for a belief in the need for OB markers, what comes to mind is a father with a brood of children who aren't really able to think straight and make the right choices. So the father draws lines and says, thus far but no farther.
Whether this is a true portrayal of Singapore society, I cannot say. I do know that I am not a child and have little interest in discussing things when treated like one.
As for the rest of the society, as long as the father goes on treating them as children, he can only expect that they will behave like children. To treat them as children and then expect them to be creative, entrepreneurial individuals with passionate opinions on issues seems misguided to me.
THOMAS KOSHY
On those ridiculous OB markers (though I wonder why there's a need to refer to the economic aspect of stifling free thought and speech in the headline):
TO PROMOTE ENTREPRENEURIAL DRIVE AND CREATIVITY...
Why have OB markers?
I REFER to the Insight articles on OB markers revisited (ST, June 21). What concerns me are the consequences of having out-of-bounds, or OB, markers.
In such an environment, is it any surprise that there is a stifling of entrepreneurial drive? The idea that some things cannot be challenged is surely not the mentality of a risk-taker.
Sterility and a lack of creativity are surely tied to the decision to tell people what they can and can't think about. Not to mention a feeling of being an alien in one's place of abode.
Are apathy and lack of awareness among the public not clearly linked to being told what one can or cannot think about? After all, if you are not interested in what I have to say about the most important of issues, why should I bother saying anything at all?
Shall I limit my comments to bus-fare hikes and the new train line? Indeed, these are the sort of discussions which engage the nation presently.
Is a lack of social cohesion a surprise? Avoiding public discussion of what are considered explosive issues only means that the society never gets a chance to grow in understanding. How long are people supposed to be protected from their own supposed irrationality?
The idea that one should not think about some things because otherwise there will be trouble stems from a patronising view of the mass of society. Maybe it is valid. I really can't say I know.
But again, not discussing things openly does not mean that people don't have opinions. It does not mean that issues will go away. All it means is that there is an artificial environment of people living beside each other but not with each other.
Strange ideas grow in strength because they are not challenged in open discussion. For what is not aired in open discussion will be whispered among like-thinking people in corridors. Woeful it will be when somehow these ideas gain momentum despite attempts to control the ideas that can be circulated.
When I think about the basis for a belief in the need for OB markers, what comes to mind is a father with a brood of children who aren't really able to think straight and make the right choices. So the father draws lines and says, thus far but no farther.
Whether this is a true portrayal of Singapore society, I cannot say. I do know that I am not a child and have little interest in discussing things when treated like one.
As for the rest of the society, as long as the father goes on treating them as children, he can only expect that they will behave like children. To treat them as children and then expect them to be creative, entrepreneurial individuals with passionate opinions on issues seems misguided to me.
THOMAS KOSHY
Post ID: 105662152454890812
Wednesday, June 25, 2003
What is whichbook.net?
whichbook.net gives readers an enjoyable and intuitive way to find books to match their mood.
Instead of starting from the overwhelming choice of books available, whichbook.net starts from the reader, and enables each individual to build the elements of that elusive 'good read' we are all looking for but don't quite know how to define.
The standard way of organising books for choice, on shelves in a library or a bookshop, or on the web, starts from the products available - the authors, titles, publishers or genres. Using innovative software from Applied Psychology Research Ltd, whichbook.net enables, for the first time, the choice of book to start from the individual reader and what he/she is looking for...
Instead of looking for a crime novel, you can look for a book that is unpredictable, very romantic and a little bit sad. Or a challenging book that's also funny with plenty of sex. whichbook.net will find titles which match your preferences. If you don't fancy any of the books offered, change your choices and try again - there are 20 million different individual permutations possible!
whichbook.net gives readers an enjoyable and intuitive way to find books to match their mood.
Instead of starting from the overwhelming choice of books available, whichbook.net starts from the reader, and enables each individual to build the elements of that elusive 'good read' we are all looking for but don't quite know how to define.
The standard way of organising books for choice, on shelves in a library or a bookshop, or on the web, starts from the products available - the authors, titles, publishers or genres. Using innovative software from Applied Psychology Research Ltd, whichbook.net enables, for the first time, the choice of book to start from the individual reader and what he/she is looking for...
Instead of looking for a crime novel, you can look for a book that is unpredictable, very romantic and a little bit sad. Or a challenging book that's also funny with plenty of sex. whichbook.net will find titles which match your preferences. If you don't fancy any of the books offered, change your choices and try again - there are 20 million different individual permutations possible!
Post ID: 96012202
He Who Must Not Be Named is really insufferable.
Not content with the various little niggly ways in which he spreads Death, Famine, Plague and Prestilence throughout the world, he has this annoying habit of seeking to ruin people's enjoyment of various things that they have not yet seen. Case in point: Star Wars 2, Harry Potter 5.
Now, I am by no measure a rabid fan of either of these over hyped series, but at the time at which he spoilt them for me, I was planning to getting down to watching/reading them.
I am sorely tempted, at this juncture, to block him, to prevent further aggravation as well as pictures of nude sumo wrestlers, but he does provide some small measure of amusement on lonely winter nights when the coals in the fireplace have gone out. I was also tempted to reveal - horror - his name, so his adoring fans can go adore, stalk and lynch him, but I decided, at this juncture, that it wasn't quite the time to do so.
Anyhow, the castigation and ostracism that he has enjoyed, is enjoying and will be enjoying in the Past, Present and Future, are sufficient punishment for him - though I suspect that, like a true-blue masochist, he revels in flagellation, and especially in griping about his sad tales of how he is despised.
For those who are eager to find out how lucky they are not to be bothered by said person, a transcript (of sort) follows below (highlight the text to read it):
mindgame: have you read order of the phoenix?
kimberly: no
should I?
mindgame: i have
kimberly: how?
no don't spoil
mindgame: during my sojourn in singapore, i had some spare time
kimberly: in that 'spare' time you finished all of it?
mindgame: so i guess you don't want me to tell you that ron weasley dies:)
i read fast.
and borders has comfortable seats
kimberly: i hate you
anyway that's a rumour that was quenched by a friend
her friends flipped to the end and found that he was still talking
mindgame: oh fine, fine.
it was mcgonagall.
kimberly: whatever
for all I know it could have been draco
aww. no more slash stories
kimberly: anyway I'm not a rabid fan
and anyhow, you wonder why people dislike you?
hmmph
mindgame: hahah
okay. seriously it was sirius black. he got nailed by the Death Eaters at the climax when the prophecy about Voldemort being Harry Potter's uncle was revealed.
bwahahahaaha
i have been enjoying myself telling rabid fans at my office who died
kimberly: I should put you on ignore or something
anyhow I won't let you spoil what's left of my day
hmmph
mindgame: bwahhahaha
once again, darkness has prevailed over light
kimberly: I know what I will do
I will shame you publicly
mindgame: *shrugs*
slander me on your website, if you will
it doesn't change the fact that aunt petunia is actually a witch in denial
Not content with the various little niggly ways in which he spreads Death, Famine, Plague and Prestilence throughout the world, he has this annoying habit of seeking to ruin people's enjoyment of various things that they have not yet seen. Case in point: Star Wars 2, Harry Potter 5.
Now, I am by no measure a rabid fan of either of these over hyped series, but at the time at which he spoilt them for me, I was planning to getting down to watching/reading them.
I am sorely tempted, at this juncture, to block him, to prevent further aggravation as well as pictures of nude sumo wrestlers, but he does provide some small measure of amusement on lonely winter nights when the coals in the fireplace have gone out. I was also tempted to reveal - horror - his name, so his adoring fans can go adore, stalk and lynch him, but I decided, at this juncture, that it wasn't quite the time to do so.
Anyhow, the castigation and ostracism that he has enjoyed, is enjoying and will be enjoying in the Past, Present and Future, are sufficient punishment for him - though I suspect that, like a true-blue masochist, he revels in flagellation, and especially in griping about his sad tales of how he is despised.
For those who are eager to find out how lucky they are not to be bothered by said person, a transcript (of sort) follows below (highlight the text to read it):
mindgame: have you read order of the phoenix?
kimberly: no
should I?
mindgame: i have
kimberly: how?
no don't spoil
mindgame: during my sojourn in singapore, i had some spare time
kimberly: in that 'spare' time you finished all of it?
mindgame: so i guess you don't want me to tell you that ron weasley dies:)
i read fast.
and borders has comfortable seats
kimberly: i hate you
anyway that's a rumour that was quenched by a friend
her friends flipped to the end and found that he was still talking
mindgame: oh fine, fine.
it was mcgonagall.
kimberly: whatever
for all I know it could have been draco
aww. no more slash stories
kimberly: anyway I'm not a rabid fan
and anyhow, you wonder why people dislike you?
hmmph
mindgame: hahah
okay. seriously it was sirius black. he got nailed by the Death Eaters at the climax when the prophecy about Voldemort being Harry Potter's uncle was revealed.
bwahahahaaha
i have been enjoying myself telling rabid fans at my office who died
kimberly: I should put you on ignore or something
anyhow I won't let you spoil what's left of my day
hmmph
mindgame: bwahhahaha
once again, darkness has prevailed over light
kimberly: I know what I will do
I will shame you publicly
mindgame: *shrugs*
slander me on your website, if you will
it doesn't change the fact that aunt petunia is actually a witch in denial
Post ID: 95984747
Tuesday, June 24, 2003
Woah. Word spreads fast.
No less than Mr Brown has now highlighted the Ho Poh Fun video.
Methinks the subject of the video has heard of this by now! Good luck to the camera man. Maybe he can film part 2 :0
No less than Mr Brown has now highlighted the Ho Poh Fun video.
Methinks the subject of the video has heard of this by now! Good luck to the camera man. Maybe he can film part 2 :0
Post ID: 95977281
Since my 6 months' excuse (given thanks to a certain MO) has ended, I have run SOC twice - once in clean fatigues and the second with everything on, under test conditions. My regression since last October or so is clear - my balance, confidence and fitness are all much worse now, resulting in greatly magnified agony, and greatly decreased performance when throwing myself against this figurative brick wall. Hell hath no fury like my Ops Sergeant when confronted with a definite IPPT/SOC failure with no way to exclude him from the rankings. I trust that fate will lead me to the prophesied Final Solution. As do the Powers That Be - for some reason, they scheduled me for the SOC test -before- I'd passed IPPT, even though it is definitely harder to pass the former.
Being a cheapskate in some areas and not really caring about how my hair looks, I risked the 42 SAR barber again. Only this time, I caught him napping. Now, I wouldn't have wanted to wake him, but a drill lesson was scheduled later in the week, and I had no care to trudge up to his shop again, so I woke him up as gently as I could. He shaved around my ears and trimmed a little slope at the back of my head, then proclaimed the job finished. Feedback from someone: "A bit wai1... Here a bit short, here a bit flat". Now, even for my wretchedly low standards, this sort of haircut is unacceptable, so in my disgust, I did not tip him $2 as I was about to do, more out of pity than anything else.
I am surprised that MINDEF came clean to the public about 1st Commandos being disqualified for this year's Best Unit Competition (one of the worst ideas to sprout in the SAF ever). Actually, on a closer reading of the tell-all article, one can intuit why - the Defence Correspondent heard the rumour on an internet chat room and then queried MINDEF, which didn't have the heart or the wherewithal to stonewall. I wonder how many more open "secrets" are going to leak out next! Considering that everything is given a security classification one level above what is sensible, it probably wouldn't be much of a loss. As a reservist told me, "Restricted stuff will embarass the SAF if it is leaked". Or as I put it, "Restricted stuff is just classified for the heck of it".
Ever since moving bunk, we've had the same number of people in fewer bunks, with fewer toilets and corridors. Infuriatingly, however, our area cleaning chores have multiplied like the heads of a Hydra. We now have to clean all sorts of odd, faraway areas. For example, I (and I alone) got saddled with the canteen and the corridor above the squash courts which is shrouded in darkness in the morning, so nowadays I might as well go for breakfast.
It seems there are 2 Inet terminals in my canteen and 1 in my cookhouse, but they're never open. Tut tut. In other news, the food stall at my canteen - All Ranks Canteen - has opened again, in anticipation of the new recruits. I wonder how long it'll be before the recruits realise that the 42SAR canteen definitely isn't the best canteen to spend your canteen breaks in.
My cookhouse served "Spanish Omelette" one day. Intrigued, I tried to make enquiries, but no one had anything useful to tell me, the most I got out of the SFI staff being, "The Spanish Omelette was cooked by Spanish people". (...)
I bought, for $1, an artificial potted plant to brighten up my Docu Table. Now we know how $1 shops make money. Meanwhile, I came to work one day only to find that my trusty fly swatter was broken! I assume people were hitting each other with it too often. Oh well, it's only $1. At the same time, the pin of my fragile and lousy Number 3 "Agagooga" nametag fell out, so I can't pin it to my black slingbag anymore. Gah.
Our ceiling fans were spirited away one day, leaving us with only 2 standing fans that our CSM kindly acquired for us. As such, the bunk was a furnace at night. Yet, someone could still sleep with a blanket on. Argh. Thank god for my Secret Garden.
Some time ago, I meditated and got a revelation about the Holy Trinity, the Holy Trinity that keeps all of us safe, protected and out of trouble. Simply, no one Knows, no one Checks and no one Cares. May it always be that way :)
Irritating quotes seen inside a toilet in my unit:
"The significance of a man lies in not what he attains but rather what he longs to attain" : In that case, madmen and megalomaniacs would be very significant. Or how about if I aspire to be a god? Ahh, then I would have lots of significance, wouldn't I?
"The thoughtless are rarely wordless" - Howard W Newton : So by implication, those who speak the most are the most daft. How about those who have a "meaningful" or "inspirational" quote for every situation, and then some?
Melvin and I finally saw one of Ban Xiong's unspecified friends! He went off with her for half an hour, then came back looking pleased - a "quickie", according to the former. At least one of them is now specified. Unfortunately, he will continue to shroud his actions in an impenetrable cloak of secrecy, meeting unspecified friends in unspecified locations at unspecified times for unspecified periods of time doing unspecified things (Ooh, delicious line).
It seems RI has changed their PE T-Shirt again. Not satisfied with giving all the boys left nipple abrasions with the ironed on crest (as opposed to the former printed one), it seems that the Powers That Be have now decreed that the word "Raffles" on the back of the T-shirt, with the black bars be moved higher to be near the neck of the wearer. Eech!
I was killing time in Choa Chu Kang Community Library and I noticed that it was awfully noisy. I think the former RJ librarians should be sent there - they'll go nuts.
I was playing Dungeons and Dragons, Shadow Over Mystara for the first time since I completed it with Marc at Segaworld Sydney (free play is the -only- way to go for this sort of game unless you're filthy rich!), and I realised that it's more complex than I thought. For example, you can whack enemies who are prone on the floor. And I found out how to Turn Undead! Only problem is that there's some key jamming problem - sometimes when one player presses his magic/use item button, the other player's magic is activated. Oh, and Synn has this cheapskate move where, in dragon form, she can deplete your full health bar, and she does it 2-3 times.
Quotes:
[Me to an RP: Do you want to see my camp pass?] No, I want to eat your Long John's
[Fellow medic to me: Where is the coastal margin?] Let me see... Costal margin. 'Coastal' is by the sea
[Someone on the Documentation Room: All the other tables, don't have zhar bor {pinned underneath the glass}] Wang cannot. Wang put there, jialat. Everyday sit there and wank. Grab the table.
Being a cheapskate in some areas and not really caring about how my hair looks, I risked the 42 SAR barber again. Only this time, I caught him napping. Now, I wouldn't have wanted to wake him, but a drill lesson was scheduled later in the week, and I had no care to trudge up to his shop again, so I woke him up as gently as I could. He shaved around my ears and trimmed a little slope at the back of my head, then proclaimed the job finished. Feedback from someone: "A bit wai1... Here a bit short, here a bit flat". Now, even for my wretchedly low standards, this sort of haircut is unacceptable, so in my disgust, I did not tip him $2 as I was about to do, more out of pity than anything else.
I am surprised that MINDEF came clean to the public about 1st Commandos being disqualified for this year's Best Unit Competition (one of the worst ideas to sprout in the SAF ever). Actually, on a closer reading of the tell-all article, one can intuit why - the Defence Correspondent heard the rumour on an internet chat room and then queried MINDEF, which didn't have the heart or the wherewithal to stonewall. I wonder how many more open "secrets" are going to leak out next! Considering that everything is given a security classification one level above what is sensible, it probably wouldn't be much of a loss. As a reservist told me, "Restricted stuff will embarass the SAF if it is leaked". Or as I put it, "Restricted stuff is just classified for the heck of it".
Ever since moving bunk, we've had the same number of people in fewer bunks, with fewer toilets and corridors. Infuriatingly, however, our area cleaning chores have multiplied like the heads of a Hydra. We now have to clean all sorts of odd, faraway areas. For example, I (and I alone) got saddled with the canteen and the corridor above the squash courts which is shrouded in darkness in the morning, so nowadays I might as well go for breakfast.
It seems there are 2 Inet terminals in my canteen and 1 in my cookhouse, but they're never open. Tut tut. In other news, the food stall at my canteen - All Ranks Canteen - has opened again, in anticipation of the new recruits. I wonder how long it'll be before the recruits realise that the 42SAR canteen definitely isn't the best canteen to spend your canteen breaks in.
My cookhouse served "Spanish Omelette" one day. Intrigued, I tried to make enquiries, but no one had anything useful to tell me, the most I got out of the SFI staff being, "The Spanish Omelette was cooked by Spanish people". (...)
I bought, for $1, an artificial potted plant to brighten up my Docu Table. Now we know how $1 shops make money. Meanwhile, I came to work one day only to find that my trusty fly swatter was broken! I assume people were hitting each other with it too often. Oh well, it's only $1. At the same time, the pin of my fragile and lousy Number 3 "Agagooga" nametag fell out, so I can't pin it to my black slingbag anymore. Gah.
Our ceiling fans were spirited away one day, leaving us with only 2 standing fans that our CSM kindly acquired for us. As such, the bunk was a furnace at night. Yet, someone could still sleep with a blanket on. Argh. Thank god for my Secret Garden.
Some time ago, I meditated and got a revelation about the Holy Trinity, the Holy Trinity that keeps all of us safe, protected and out of trouble. Simply, no one Knows, no one Checks and no one Cares. May it always be that way :)
Irritating quotes seen inside a toilet in my unit:
"The significance of a man lies in not what he attains but rather what he longs to attain" : In that case, madmen and megalomaniacs would be very significant. Or how about if I aspire to be a god? Ahh, then I would have lots of significance, wouldn't I?
"The thoughtless are rarely wordless" - Howard W Newton : So by implication, those who speak the most are the most daft. How about those who have a "meaningful" or "inspirational" quote for every situation, and then some?
Melvin and I finally saw one of Ban Xiong's unspecified friends! He went off with her for half an hour, then came back looking pleased - a "quickie", according to the former. At least one of them is now specified. Unfortunately, he will continue to shroud his actions in an impenetrable cloak of secrecy, meeting unspecified friends in unspecified locations at unspecified times for unspecified periods of time doing unspecified things (Ooh, delicious line).
It seems RI has changed their PE T-Shirt again. Not satisfied with giving all the boys left nipple abrasions with the ironed on crest (as opposed to the former printed one), it seems that the Powers That Be have now decreed that the word "Raffles" on the back of the T-shirt, with the black bars be moved higher to be near the neck of the wearer. Eech!
I was killing time in Choa Chu Kang Community Library and I noticed that it was awfully noisy. I think the former RJ librarians should be sent there - they'll go nuts.
I was playing Dungeons and Dragons, Shadow Over Mystara for the first time since I completed it with Marc at Segaworld Sydney (free play is the -only- way to go for this sort of game unless you're filthy rich!), and I realised that it's more complex than I thought. For example, you can whack enemies who are prone on the floor. And I found out how to Turn Undead! Only problem is that there's some key jamming problem - sometimes when one player presses his magic/use item button, the other player's magic is activated. Oh, and Synn has this cheapskate move where, in dragon form, she can deplete your full health bar, and she does it 2-3 times.
Quotes:
[Me to an RP: Do you want to see my camp pass?] No, I want to eat your Long John's
[Fellow medic to me: Where is the coastal margin?] Let me see... Costal margin. 'Coastal' is by the sea
[Someone on the Documentation Room: All the other tables, don't have zhar bor {pinned underneath the glass}] Wang cannot. Wang put there, jialat. Everyday sit there and wank. Grab the table.
Post ID: 95949259
Sunday, June 22, 2003
Completed Age of Mythology. Very fun. Of course, now I've had enough of Real Time Strategy Games for at least 3 months.
I think one reason they've moved to 3D engines is to save money on cut scenes - you can just manipulate the game engine and add narration for your 'cutscenes'. Bah.
I've also taken a fancy to "A Cat Named Mittens" (the main theme).
I bought action figures of the Black, Pink and Yellow Space Rangers on impulse in times of yore. Sadly, Cassie lost her face piece some time back. On the up side, the toy makers endowed her and Ashley with unnatural bosoms.
Become Smarter by Bombarding your Brain with Electro-Magnetic Waves (New York Times, registration required)
I think one reason they've moved to 3D engines is to save money on cut scenes - you can just manipulate the game engine and add narration for your 'cutscenes'. Bah.
I've also taken a fancy to "A Cat Named Mittens" (the main theme).
I bought action figures of the Black, Pink and Yellow Space Rangers on impulse in times of yore. Sadly, Cassie lost her face piece some time back. On the up side, the toy makers endowed her and Ashley with unnatural bosoms.
Become Smarter by Bombarding your Brain with Electro-Magnetic Waves (New York Times, registration required)
Post ID: 95914475
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