I am the guy who kills memes (and this one for more than one reason).


Addendum: I'm That Salesman: "I'm the salesman you said I wasn't listening to your needs. I'm the salesman you neglected, and added that my company's profit margin is unbelivably high, and I'm making a huge sum out of you when I'm only earning $20 per set. I'm the salesman you referred to as not paying attention to your needs because you didn't know that I was busy with my other customers."

(For those who catch no ball: We're that blogger)

Friend on it raining cats and dogs on the morning of the DBS NUS Heritage Run (ie now): "Damn.Even god doesn't want heritage run to be held"

***

It seems the Digital Life article featuring me has been archived on NUS's Media Coverage page. Given that unlike the rest of the stories there, that particular one had nothing to do with NUS except for mentioning that I study there, why this is so is puzzling.

Interestingly, only Straits/Sunday Times articles are archived there, so maybe they have an agreement with them to archive articles mentioning NUS on their site. Either that or no one subscribes to Lianhe Zaobao.

"With Epcot Center the Disney corporation has accomplished something I didn't think possible in today's world. They have created a land of make-believe that's worse than regular life." - P. J. O'Rourke

Random Playlist Song: Bach - Concerto for 3 harpsichords D minor BWV.1063 - 02 - Allegro

***

Someone: anyway, take this the suffering [core economics modules] u have to go thru to do the good stuff.

Me: what good stuff
more maths ah

...

Someone: macro is actuallyvery fun
maybe your lecturer got carried away with her phd education
econs phds are very mathematical

***

The new Friendster layout displays very clearly what the relationship status of the person whose profile you're viewing is.

Tsk tsk, as if it wasn't obvious enough.


Why do people always choose black and white photographs for their funeral pictures, looking so sombre and formal in them?

For my putative funeral, I want to have a colour photo of me doing something wacky.
It's how I wish to be remembered.

(Then again, someone informs me that she's never seen black and white photos at funerals, and sometimes the people are smiling. Hmm.)


Since truffles are located/dug up by pigs or dogs, does that make them haram?

***

Catholic Church recruits more student exorcists

"Applications are invited for exorcism training at the Vatican's Rome university, the Athenaeum Pontificium Regina Apostolorum. The 10-week course includes sessions in exorcism rites, how to talk to the Devil, the tricks he uses to fight back and signs of the occult hidden in rock music and video games.

Students also attend classes in psychology so that priests can distinguish between "real cases" of satanic possession and illnesses such as schizophrenia."

I found a furry pink scrunchie on the floor in LT11 and someone dared me to wear it. Everyone seemed to think it was very amusing.

A message from my Head Honcho:

"The FCINUS would like to hear from all current or past ACJC students who are freethinkers, to solicit their views of the allegedly compulsory attendance of sermons on certain days of the week. A recording of one such service would also be greatly appreciated.

willing contributers may wish to be anonymous if they so desire. willing parties please email u0200722@nus.edu.sg"

***

Third person charged with sedition for racist remarks on blog site

"A third person has been charged under the Sedition Act with promoting feelings of ill-will and hostility between different races of Singapore.

Gan Huai Shi, 17, faces seven charges of posting racist remarks on his blog site."


They're not even sparing minors. Sigh.

I would have a nice rambling post here about, among other things:

1) The parallels between suppressing racist sentiments and suppressing the political aspirations of the Arab street, and how the latter has led to Islamic terrorism

2) How Singapore is uniquely easy to manage/engineer, so it should be taken as an exception rather than proving a rule

3) The difference and relationship between thought, words and action

4) How just as infant industries never grow up, infant populaces don't either and no one can be blamed but those protecting them

5) Thoughtcrime and why we should not fear evidently erroneous ideas

6) How and why the police and judiciary seem to be too free, and why they should ignore frivolous complaints

7) The fallacy of conflating the entire governmental edifice into a single-minded entity


However, I have been, am and anticipate that I will still be, struggling with among other things:

1) Robinson Crusoe, coconuts and a schizophrenic producer/consumer

2) The microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic models

3) Multiple variables flying all over the place (Yes, kids, you've been conned. Economics in University is full of maths. Run away while you still can!)

4) Rescuing my sister from her folly (again)

5) A spot of Planescape: Torment


As such, I shall just dump my scribbled notes here for perusal. As a bonus, this may give readers an insight into my thought processes as I come up with my polemics: no, they do not spring fully-formed from my mind, contrary to what some seem to believe.

I also draw on Tym's encyclopedic knowledge of US Prime Time shows to bring this tidbit from The West Wing, in response to a gay teenager being beaten to death in a hate crime:

C.J.
They made him say “Hail Mary’s” as they beat him to death. This was a crime of entertainment.

LEO
C.J....

C.J.
Beyond the crime itself is a manifestation of racism, or sexism, or anti Semitism or
homophobia that are only a tip of the iceberg of the pathology troubling this country.

LEO
I’m aware of all that. I’m just not sure it’s right to legislate against how someone thinks.

And later: C.J.
Don’t you think imposing additional penalties for hate-motivated crimes is a powerful
statement by society against tolerance?

DANNY
No. A crime is a crime. One murder isn’t any better or worse than another.

C.J.
Boy, was that the wrong answer.

DANNY
Punishing people for their beliefs is, the beginning of the end. Once more you agree
with me.


Scribbled notes:

Suppress dangerous thoughts and ideas never work
in mid east, political discussion considered sensitive, suppressed. In end, what we have - islamic terrorism

political vs racist? Though some see former as legitimate expression of political hunger, latter abhorrent. Both expression of sincerely held opinions. Both opposed to existing paradigm (idealised in latter case). Both continue even if suppressed.

spore unique - small, fully urbanised. Easy project power on complaisant populace. In this sense dream country to rule. Like simcity, all care about city. No hinterland to care about w/diff, varying concerns. No pesky local governments work countervailing direction

uk strict anti racism law. Check since when, how vigorous prosecute. Yet still - racism, riots. Most britons believe racism wrong. So not because not vigilant.

thoughts lead to words lead to actions. [Addendum: But what we really fear - actions] Since not (yet) possible to control/monitor thoughts, target words. So which words lead to undesirable actions? Fiery rhetoric, cursing & swearing, irrationality.
One guy allegedly criticise islamic law? what's wrong with that (check details of 2 buggers' offences). Islamic scholars also analyse islamic law and look at it critically.
unless the quicksand that is our OB markers is drained, many will be running around like headless chickens

What's happening now - any mention race religion, savages take out parangs hack each other to bits. 40 years of education and development, bringing us from a Third World Country to First, has not changed anything. Except the pol correct, govt approved line.
Refusal to discuss issues means that we will always NOT be ready to discuss these issues. infant industries never grow up - look at Proton. If Singaporeans are not allowed to think and care for themselves, they will never be able to, and no one to blame except those "protecting" us.

some groups and some topics more sensitive than others. Good for those with thicker skin

at the end of the day, Han observes: "the irony of this whole situation is that there will probably be more singaporeans who are racist... I know of many racists who openly condemn racism but possess subtle prejudices"


punishing people for their beliefs is controlling thought; create concept of thoughtcrime.

some say speech is an action. incitement to violence, unpleasant matters. but if speech is action, then "grumbling" on the populace's part instead of entering the political arena is acceptable

if you disagree with someone, you refute him, not silence him. if nothing else, it's intellectually dishonest, and drives the objectionable idea out of the public arena and public consciousness. why fear something that is obviously bad and false?


only because someone filed a police report. too free. just like person who complained MHA about the racist blog on tomorrow. complain, have to do something about it. we police ourselves.
you think the authorities don't monitor the net? if sporeans have nothing better to do but complain about everything it's no wonder the police look so free (investigating white elephants).
why not ignore all this rubbish
spore being as big as it is, there'll always be one idiot who'll complain. pander to them all?


is a clear signal is being sent out
The gahmen is not a cohesive, monolithic entity. Not everything takes place with the knowledge and consent of everyone in the cabinet. What this case qualifies as is left as an exercise for the reader, since I have no answer
though from outside appear to act as one entity

http://crookedtimber.org/2005/01/06/the-problem-of-evil-hits-the-papers/

"After twelve years of therapy my psychiatrist said something that brought tears to my eyes. He said, 'No hablo ingles.'" - Ronnie Shakes

***

How Girls Waste Time

38. a) Playing games involving slapping/biting with each other

126. Living life by the adage: 'If you have it, flaunt it. If you don't, bitch about those who do.'


And of course, there're the usual addenda to existing entries.

***

I hate using toilets where, as you reach under to clean up, you feel a sudden wet sensation and, if you are unlucky, some floating particles. MRT station toilets are particularly guilty of this.

Apparently the reason modern animation looks so sloppy is because of a cut in budgets: they have less detail so each cell is easier to draw.

***

At one Swedish library, you can borrow books—and a lesbian - "A Swedish library, realizing that books are not the only things being judged by their covers, will give visitors a different opportunity this weekend—to borrow a Muslim, a lesbian, or a Dane."

***

Quotes:

In Singapore you can buy canes in the market... Little curly plastic handles. I'm sure you remember. I'm sure you're very familiar with this.

People might say caning was unacceptable when confronted with a member of the Singapore Children's Society, but think in private that it was okay.

In Hong Kong... a woman was prosecuted, and there was prosecution by the social services, for making the child study excessively.

[On facial features of children inhibiting parental anger] It's difficult to be angry and aggressive to something that is cute

[On a piece of concept tissue with the word 'Reserved' on it] A science person would not be fascinated by that. [Other student: Science people do not question. They just except.] ... [only] in Physics. You should come to the Evolutionary Biology lab. The people there...

"An author is a fool who, not content with boring those he lives with, insists on boring future generations." - Charles de Montesquieu

***

Conditioned Fear of a Face: A Prelude to Ethnic Enmity?

"Brain imaging studies show that both fear conditioning and implicit negative attitudes to outgroup faces correlate with activity in the amygdala even when the faces are masked from conscious recognition. Thus, negative emotional responses to members of a different race are independent of conscious mentation, which may make such responses relatively immune to rational persuasion."

Unfortunately the studies do not rule out socialisation, so ambiguity still exists in this area.

***

"No more has any estate the breadth of soul that identifies itself, even for a moment, with the soul of the nation, the geniality that inspires material might to political violence, or that revolutionary daring which flings at the adversary the defiant words: I am nothing but I must be everything. The main stem of German morals and honesty, of the classes as well as of individuals, is rather that modest egoism which asserts its limitedness and allows it to be asserted against itself. The relation of the various sections of German society is therefore not dramatic but epic. Each of them begins to be aware of itself and begins to camp beside the others with all its particular claims not as soon as it is oppressed, but as soon as the circumstances of the time, without the section’s own participation, creates a social substratum on which it can in turn exert pressure. Even the moral self-feeling of the German middle class rests only on the consciousness that it is the common representative of the philistine mediocrity of all the other classes. It is therefore not only the German kings who accede to the throne mal à propos, it is every section of civil society which goes through a defeat before it celebrates victory and develops its own limitations before it overcomes the limitations facing it, asserts its narrow-hearted essence before it has been able to assert its magnanimous essence; thus the very opportunity of a great role has passed away before it is to hand, and every class, once it begins the struggle against the class opposed to it, is involved in the struggle against the class below it."

- Karl Marx, Introduction to A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right


I understand the words, but have no idea what the sentences mean. Now I know what my lecturer was talking about when he observed:

"When I was an undergrad like you I used to spend my holidays reading Karl Marx... Marx is very difficult to read. Most people read Karl Marx in jail... no one spends their holidays reading Karl Marx."

***

I have been linked from The (Unofficial) Singapore Apple Blog. Irony, thou art dead. Heh heh.

Seattle UFO / Paranormal Group and Seattle Museum of the Mysteries: Mystery of Orbs Solved! - "Museum member Maryann Synder's claim that orbs are simply cellulose particles of a very small size or small water droplets reflecting back the flash from digital cameras appears to be confirmed by tests. The museum believes orb testing can be confirmed by photographers and other paranormal investigators and encourages independant testing."

***

Someone: if you're in an AC school, you'll be subjected to two kinds of brainwashing
the first kind instils in you a crazed loyalty to the mutant hybrid genetic mistake on the crest
the second kind makes you think there is a God
where I'm concerened, the first one took, but the second one was ignored completely

I've lost Atheist Allies (tm) that way [brainwashing].
they starts out Atheists
then they go Agnostic
and the next thing you know they're bloody Methodists.

Me: ah. I will observe a minute of silence for their souls

Someone: there's this thing we used to do to piss off the Christians
I mean they all know we're non-believers who'll burn in hell, yaddayadda
we make sure they know
and then during Chapel service we'd sing the songs especially loudly, with as much gusto as we could muster
while at the same time making it sound like something a drunk would sing.
objection through extreme participation, we called it.
nowadays we just stand and stone.

Me: why consent to go to where you're forced to participate
no one objects to this religious coercion?

Someone: no one dares
well, actually most of them are part of the religious coercion
the rest of us grin and bear it
here's the best bit-in ACSi, if you skip Chapel, you get a demerit
because apparently it's the same as skipping class.

Me: I believe religious coercion is unconstitutional
oh well
who cares

Someone: in ACJC they let the muslims and other religions go to LT2 while everyone else prepares themselves for worship
freethinkers and atheist or agnostics have to stay though
because "our souls can still be saved"
oh joy.

Me: ???
that's even worse!!!

Someone: I know!
imagine how much more I can accomplish by taking that time to do more fulfilling stuff

Me: so why not profess a religion
pastafarian

Someone: the atheists and non-believers in ACJC satisfy ourselves with discreetly mocking the christians
also. Chapel sermons are always good for GP. analysing and tearing apart the arguments.

I don't have empirical data to back this up, but am pretty sure that the people who were ranting about what a stroke of genius the iPod Shuffle was because it had no screen, randomness was good, that 512MB/1GB was just right for a flash-based MP3 player, and that no sensible person would want/need any flash-based MP3 player apart from the iPod Shuffle are now gushing their hearts out over the iPod Nano.

(insert customary refrain)

I remember my brother-in-law, a Mac whore, observing that the best product doesn't always win. He was referring to the Mac vs Wintel market share figures, and pointed out the VHS vs Betamax affair.

I guess you might say the same about the iPod. The Cult of Mac doesn't particularly care about the actual product itself.


Someone: you question maccies?
they will gush over anything that steve jobs produces
only apple can take a function [shuffle] that has existed for all time on cd players and mp3 players and turn it into a fugging lifestyle option

Someone else: that's the magic of apple. macham jedi mind trick.
Steve Jobs can shit in a bag, put it in a white box and sell it.

Someone (2): seriously..ipod doesn't even look nice :P


Someone else (2): no
because the battery still sucks

Me: nono
mac whores don't care about that


Usability consultant: I would say that iPods are 40% hype and 60% usabiliy
features matter little and Apple has proven it time and again

Creative refuses to get it
Why? Cos they are staffed by Engineers
Their boss is an Engineer
Their Marketing Dept is an Engineer
And having worked with Engineers alot I find I have to explain a lot to them why doing things from a User-centric POV is impt

Me: hahahahahaha
that's why Singapore CMI in the new economy
we have too many engineers

Usability consultant: not enuff humanities trained folk too
becos gahmen say science and engineering mo impt

then one day Indian and china came along and said
look! We got many of those and cheap too

Me: Do Science and Engineering, they said! Be a productive member of society and earn money they said! I'd rather be doing Liberal Arts!

***

Someone: me n some frens plan to set up a clothing biz
gonna call it M N G S T N
to jibe at all the mango apparel


Someone else on maths in a US university: some of the sample questions they give to me is so difficult i can't solve it

and there is a lot of stuff here they teach and test that is out of the syllabus in singapore like convergence and divergence of series...
groups.. blah blah.. even the fundamental theorems of calculus i've never seen before one lorh!

sg we assume differentiation.. here everything must prove by limits and sequences of summation

Me: haha
first principles ah
actually understanding the damn thing

in singapore we're engineers and technicians
there they're scientists and thinkers ;)

Someone else: they are not so concerned about the right answer or by the correct method.. more like using as many different possible methods to get the same answer

alot of stuff is based on proof.. deduction.. and assumption.. so its like.. stuff that even f maths is hesistant to test upon

its been interesting and eye opening

Search Referrals:


nipples singapore heritage

scgs sex stories

RJC girls porn

tuan anh productions

acjc sweat bra

frugal power ranger birthday party

nus orientation camp, activities, babes

ISD B9 TAXPAYER

NUS "arts orientation" "engin

erotic cpr resuscitation pictures

halal catering companies in singapore? - Not like there are many that aren't.

mosquito bite tits anorexic rib cage

asian schoolgirls in toilet - This is easy to find, given that they all - Singaporeans at least - love taking pictures in the toilet.

any hostelite girl wanna have a sex with men - Probably not with those who search for this.

disgusting shoes

can you fuck with garter belt

dikir barat song on total defence

cosplay tailor katong - Make it yourself! Getting a tailor defeats the point of Cosplay.

circumcised and shaven women - But won't that make it less fun?

guinness stout, abortion

emma watson peeing - Twas only a matter of time before I got Emma Watson golden showers searches.

"expansive hand gestures" personality disorder

Of Lust and Slut, and the Girl in the Tudung - This actually exists on "A Short Compilation of Short Stories and Fictions" including the work "Skandal Melayu"

"fat man sleeping "

sex, environmental, kinky

bloggers looking for sex in singapore fuck

r@ygold judaism

"scrotal infusion" sperm - How much would you need?!

piano notation for existentialism on prom night

"kotor 2" +romance +lesbian - I didn't think the Juhani thing in the first was very lesbian-ish.

scgs bolero - People actually search for this?!

emma watson's changing chests

deny me and be doomed hedwig screencap

girls pick guys up in this bangbus ripoff

raffles guys school - Never thought I'd see someone else searching for this.

jcgirls christianity

"flip flops" "sperm count" myth

why girls have bleeding after serval interval?

hairy unshaven fat "yahoo group"

sexy indian aunties scenes

blog geraldine yeo chij toilet gang

rjc nerds bimbos

sggirls changes room

blog geylang prostitute - Written by one or about visiting one?

belly male frontal nudity

berated during hockey practice sprints as punishment

menstruation blog acjc - Could they be looking for the evil plot that a certain someone had about looting the sanitary napkin van?

masterbate testimonial

sarsaparilla+healing+haitian

how long do fused hair extensions stay in - They fall out? Wah, shit.

a picture of someones body

SAR-21 singapore airlines document

restless bikini acjc

cigarette smokers cough fetish - After "fetish girls wheelchair stuck mud", nothing fazes me anymore.

hair rebond effects during breastfeeding

disadvantages of eating roti canai - Must be the palm oil.

violent poem generator

sleeping with bra on to preserve perkiness - It doesn't work! Kiddies, don't be tricked!

haram "raffles institution"

HR Porn Slideshow for Warcraft 3

Romantic stories for post op transexuals

"long hair" pillon

scgs girls e-mail list

nanyang MBA shit harvard

difference between giving 500ml iv fluid and giving 1000ml iv fluid?

magna defender adult costume

emma watsons breast are growing - She's a teenager, I don't see how they could be becoming any smaller.

scissor door modification at johor

haircut with pictures - medium length,separated layers, angled bangs

Kimberlies big hole

non-pecuniary vagina damages

orgies acjc

petticoat discipline spoof comics - They spoof this kind of stuff?!

"new paper new face" ugly

tomatos+sperm count

ponytail fetish

2005 christian millionaires ladies in norway with guestbook

200 word essay on how the US changed scince 9/11

Voldemort jesus

"school uniform" rape socks

hee-hee-hee.wav

remedies for dark armpits

"girl with muscular legs" gallery

SIA stewardess PhD engineering

nape shaving pictures

eyebrow plucking in islam - Apparently it's haram.

procodin breastfeeding

"I had an epiphany a few years ago where I was out at a celebrity party and it suddenly dawned on me that I had yet to meet a celebrity who is as smart and interesting as any of my friends." - Moby

***

Someone was calculating the cost of our education. For Academic Year 2005/2006, we pay $5930 per annum. This works out to $2965 per semester and $228 a week. Assuming 5 modules a semester and 3 hours per module per week (2 hours of lecture, 1 hour of tutorials), we're paying $15.20/hour. Although this excludes examination fees and billing for the time the staff spend on us and our work outside of class hours, it is partially compensated by mid-lecture/mid-tutorial breaks and classes ending 15 minutes before they officially end. Damn, in Science we'll get better value for our money!

In Secondary School, for some subjects, we weren't given notes and were told that "You won't get notes in University and JC" and that "Taking notes is an important skill". And so we had to copy like mad, resulting in sometimes illegible handwriting. In JC, for some subjects, we weren't given notes and were told the same, with the same results. And now that we're in University, we get notes uploaded to IVLE. [Addendum: Many/most of us supplement the handouts with our own annotations and scribbles, of course. Oh, and we're told, in some modules, that "taking notes is an important skill".] Oh well.


Quotes:

[On my Shameless-o-Meter] Well, there's one thing clear. You have too much time.

[On proposed styling of an allegedly ah lian hairstyle] We['ll] take a picture of you with a few strands of hair around your face... Call it 'Revenge of the Ah Lians'

[Student on parallels between cupboards on the Island of Doom and KL taxis: You give them pork, then the taxi will shake.] Before you give them pork the taxi is shaking because it is very lao pok. After you give them pork, the taxi will become like Herbie: Fully loaded.

I wasn't racist until I started working.

I wasn't racist until I went to KL.

[On people asked how important intelligence was for various types of relationships] The male graduates, who seemed particularly unconcerned about the intelligence of hypothetical casual sex partners.

[On monkeys with brightly coloured external testicles] There were some species of monkeys which really really embarrassed my aunt, because she was a prim and proper lady... These were the early days of colour television.

Men tend to be very hung up about the size of their organs... Few people have showed it is really important. People leaving their lover because of their organs.

[On sharing the fruits of evolutionary psychology with the world] I think this should remain an academic thing, because if everyone knows then I can't use this to go and get girls.

[On penis envy] Shouldn't men have breast envy?

What does Freud say about religion? He says: Religion is...? [Me: Religion is the universal neurosis.] Where is it? Did you bring your text? [Me: No] So nice of you to remember. You're like a lit major. Memorising texts.

Philosophers - they sat in their desks. (at)

[On Marx, the base and superstructure] Let us think of this in terms of University life. Let me say first of all that I do not think you are being exploited... These extra-curricular activities make it possible for you to stand going to lectures. Not that I think lectures are boring.

That's what that data point mean (means)

[On the law of iterative expectations] Imagination does not provide you information, unless you are psychic,

[On why he keeps slowing down to keep pace with the previous lecture group] The previous lecture group got very confused. I learnt from their mistakes... That's why I can teach more efficiently after my lecture on Tuesday. I feel a bit sorry for the Tuesday lecture group. (my)

[On the professor] I love her man. Happily drawing on her textbook.

From this point on, there will be less math. Most of the math is done... Some people sound happy.

You can use Walras's Law (Walras')

tunder ties (thunder thighs)

[On drawing a curve as a straight line for simplicity] I don't want you to spend time going: 'Ah, it's going to look like this'.

Now we come to the grand finale. All you have done from the time you first saw me to this week ends in - this 4 lines. And it took you 5 weeks.

Don't pack your things yet. I've a stupid story to tell you. Your tutorial 2 - that's not the stupid story...

I've installed SimpleAway for Miranda. Take that, M$N IM and your WMP-only feature!

Meanwhile, for those still on MSN Native, there's hope yet, with: MSN 7 Universal Patcher++ v0.8. This baby lets you run multiple instances of MSN Messenger (so you can use multiple accounts, or harass people as you wish), as well as remove banner ads, tabs, MSN Search and the Actions Pane (tested on MSN Messenger 7.5 Build 0299). It's supposed to be able to remove the Ad Bar also, but I couldn't get that feature to work.

***

"Computing Club Mooncake Fesitval Activity
NUS Computing Club

*How Anonymous Mooncakes work?

->It all starts when you send a mooncake with the Anonymous Mooncake Option.
->Notification will be sent to your receipant that they have an Anonymous mooncake.
->When the person recieves the notification, there is only one way to find out who sent the Anonymous Mooncake
->They have to send an Anonymous Mooncake of their own to the person(s) they like.
->If all goes well, the person they send the Anonymous Mooncake to will be you and that is a match!
->Details of matches (if any) will be revealed when you collect your mooncakes."


If that wasn't clear enough, the way it works is that you send your crush an anonymous mooncake. If your crush also sends you an anonymous mooncake, they inform both of you of the other's identity.

There was a website which did this via email some time back, but it failed because people just entered their whole address book because they wanted to find out who had entered their emails. So I predict the whole thing fell apart because people just used "I was just trying to find out who liked me" as an excuse when they got cold feet. Or people being what they are and having 10,000 email addresses each entered the wrong email so people weren't matched. Or some such reason.

With this, you have to pay $2.50 for a Tung Lok mini mooncake, so you can't send them to everyone you know. Besides which, it doesn't identify you via email, so you will definitely be notified if there's a match.


Han, in a characteristic stroke of genius: but why mooncake? of all things?
might as well be turd

Be not put off by the photo of what looks to be a very ugly transvestite

I was invited today to the press conference for Citylights Chicago 2006: Return to Beauty World - the University of Chicago's Singaporean and Malaysian Students' Union's forthcoming production of Michael Chiang and Dick Lee's Beauty World on 15th April 2006. For some reason, I was ushered to the Press row - probably someone on top's idea of a joke.

The musical will be directed by Andy Tan, and Adela Foo, Fang Yihan and Ng Weiyi will be in the musical directorial team. Lighting will be done by Chan Suven and makeup by MAC Cosmetics.

At this time, the people involved in the production, the makeup company, the legal advisors and the sponsors are all from Singapore, which made me wonder if this was going to be another product of the ghettoization of Singaporean students in the Mid-West: quintessentially Singaporean, by Singaporeans, for Singaporeans. My fears were partially allayed by information that they are currently seeking sponsorship on the American side too and working the ground there too.

Just like sneaky NUSSU and NUSPA, their Singaporean And Malaysian Students' Union (SAMSU) co-opts all incoming Singaporean and Malaysian freshmen into it, so they have an impressive paper strength of 80. However, not only are there people like My Favourite Misanthrope, not everyone can sing, dance and more importantly, do both at the same time (which is needed for a musical). Perhaps partially due to this, casting will be opened to all, but priority will be given to those who look and act the part, so it seems Singaporeans will fill the roles, followed by Asian-Americans and then those of non-Asian descent (Caucasians will supposedly only fill the chorus roles). Racially blind casting is still not universal (perhaps because a disproportionate amount of theatrical talent is still white), so this factor can probably be overlooked.

Maybe the year after next they can do something Malaysian for a change. In the meantime, if you're in Chicago on 15th April 2006, I can think of worse ways to spend US$10.

***

Chicago has a lot of tests. For one module, someone told me there were 3 mid-terms (hah!) and 1 final exam. Squeezed into 10 weeks, that's an exam every 2 1/2 weeks.

"All of us learn to write in the second grade. Most of us go on to greater things." - Bobby Knight

***

Seen in the IVLE...

A: On further thought, religion does serve many functions. Besides the three stated above, I believe that religion also serves as a social system which increases the unity of similar religious groups. Human cannot be a lone creature, and similar beliefs and practices will unify people and make them feel a sense of belonging to a group

B: many things that exist in this world have some functions, even faeces of human serves the function of providing food for the flies. but at the same time they may also cause some problems to others besides that benefitted group...but the functions may not be the reason for their existence...like faeces existed not because we wanted to feed the flies...but then again, perhaps the intelligent design wanted to feed the flies...

***

"The clavichord, popular from the 15th to 18th century is the simplest and quietest of all the keyboard instruments. It is for personal use and not for concerts. To approximate its true sound your playback level must be very low. While rock music resides in the upper injurious levels of human hearing, the clavichord occupies the lowest levels. The instrument however has a wide dynamic range; its lowest levels are barely perceptible, while the upper levels can reach an audience in a small room who are intently listening."

***

Stop using the lousy excuse that we are helpless citizens - "Singaporeans are not speaking up: A survey taken by the SPH in 2000 found that 93% were fearful of speaking up on government policies that they disagreed with. But can you blame us? Singapore has made good examples of those who dare make their voices heard... And our reach extends beyond our citizenry. Look at how we silence the foreign media, the Asian Wall Street Journal, Asiaweek, Time, The Far Eastern Economic Review, and International Herald Tribune. All these titles that have international reputations for accuracy and credibility but all have spent millions of dollars defending and losing libel actions brought against them by members of the ruling party"

New Trojan Swaps Porn for Koran - "Koran message chastises user when browser title bar shows something 'objectionable.'"

***

In the beginning there was the Flying Spaghetti Monster

"In an open letter to the Kansas Board of Education in July, Mr Henderson wrote: "I think we can all agree that it is important for students to hear multiple viewpoints so they can choose for themselves the theory that makes the most sense to them. I am concerned, however, that students will only hear one theory of Intelligent Design.

"I and many others around the world are of the strong belief that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster."

He ends his letter with the telling comment: "I think we can all look forward to the time when these three theories are given equal time in our science classrooms across the country, and eventually the world; One third time for Intelligent Design, one third time for Flying Spaghetti Monsterism, and one third time for logical conjecture based on overwhelming observable evidence."

To support his account, he added a crudely drawn picture of the deity "creating a mountain, trees and a midget" and, as an afterthought, posted the whole thing on his website.

Barely three months later, Mr Henderson has discovered that he really has created a monster. His website - www.venganza.org - receives as many as two million hits a day. It has been featured on several widely read blogs, one of which is offering a $1 million (£545,000) prize for "proof" that the Flying Spaghetti Monster does not exist."

There's a wealth of opinions online about the Sedition Act charge, I've more original things to blog about, have other things to do and have already blabbed on earlier, so all I will add, given what I know is:

The hundred flowers are being sprayed with herbicide. Be afraid. Be very afraid, for now merely the act of speech invites reprisals. Especially since no one will ever know exactly what constitutes sedition, since to cite the offending phrases would be seditious in and of itself.

Any people willing to immolate themselves in public if/when a/the crackdown begins should start signing up.

[Addendum: I thought this was important. Quoting the alleged seditious lines may be seditious, but S 3(2) of the Sedition Act states that (this is set out in full):

"any act, speech, words, publication or other thing shall not be deemed to be seditious by reason only that it has a tendency

(a) to show that the Government has been misled or mistaken in any of its measures;

(b) to point out errors or defects in the Government or the Constitution as by law established or in legislation or in the administration of justice with a view to the remedying of such errors or defects;

(c) to persuade the citizens of Singapore or the residents in Singapore to attempt to procure by lawful means the alteration of any matter in Singapore; or

(d) to point out, with a view to their removal, any matters producing or having a tendency to produce feelings of ill-will and enmity between different races or classes of the population of Singapore,

if such act, speech, words, publication or other thing has not otherwise in fact a seditious tendency."]

Two bloggers charged under Sedition Act for racist remarks

"For the first time in Singapore, two bloggers have been charged under the Sedition Act for making racist remarks.

They are 25-year-old Nicholas Lim Yew and 27-year-old Benjamin Koh Song Huat.

A subordinate court was told that both their blogs had content that cast aspersions on the Malay community."


Die liao. This does not augur well. The Sword of Damocles has fallen, and though it has only struck the twain, it might as well have struck us all.

I suspect that these were the people who did the Second and Third Holocaust blogs, which were extreme even by Singaporean online standards (even on the Sammyboy forums, the most people call for is for racial discrimination, not for them to be racially cleansed).

Even so, this is not going to do anything to calm the nerves of our (justifiably?) paranoid populace. If these 2 could be (and were) tracked down despite their almost-certain attempts to conceal their identities, no one is going to harbour any more illusions.

No climate of fear in Singapore? The jury has just come closer to reaching a conclusion, and it is not the same as the one which we have been told to accept.

The consequences of saying something that is challenged may not be to be locked up in jail, disappearing in the middle of the night and not coming back, but to risk-averse Singaporeans substantial jailtime and a hefty fine isn't much better. Nobody wants to be a chicken, so everyone becomes a monkey ("杀鸡警猴").

Of course, the majority of responsible Singaporean bloggers have nothing to fear, being righteous Party-fearing people, but then as Tym points out: "A seditious tendency is defined under the Act as one to raise discontent or disaffection among the citizens or residents and to promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between different races or classes of the population of Singapore.”

Am I the only one who still doesn’t really get what a “seditious tendency” is? If it’s anything that raises discontent or disaffection, or promotes feelings of ill-will and hostility, how does that differ from any number of casual remarks made by a person—- whether it’s Joe HDB or an esteemed Minister—- in the course of a given day?" Indeed, Malay children not having to pay primary school fees and not being allowed to wear tudungs to school would qualify under this definition, as would the raising of the prices of HDB flats (since the upper classes don't live in them). Or any discussion of said issues, even in Parliament.

But then, we supposedly need flexibility to be able to deal with all kinds of situations, so I guess it's good that the law be so vaguely phrased in the first place. Might as well just abolish the law and institute rule by fiat - then they'd have ultimate discretionary power, and wouldn't be prevented from doing what was best by such pesky things as a Constitution.

Better by far to stick to infantility, I say.

Someone: essentially girls from arts are not pretty. they just spend a damn lot of time and money on clothes make up and plastic surgery

Me: plastic surgery?!
hahahahahahaha

Someone: haha well, how do they ALL manage to look the same?

the makeup clothes and whatever make them NOT dowdy
i can't imagine how arts girls can look dowdy
they will have to go rent a costume to look dowdy


Someone else on NUSSU: nussu ppl have this v strong sense of SELF IMPORTANCE
they jus sucks
and they dun listen
i was telling [someone] ppl are unhappy becos u guys dun seem to be receptive abt students' complaints and he's like this is a thankless job
u shld be glad that NUSSU is ard
and it's diff for e admin and everyth so we shld be more understanding

wtf?
NUSSU has e mentality of e bureaucracy
they are in e same league as e admin
so they shld represent students anymore wad
cos they feel so much for e admin
and they got so many chances to go abroad
all e opportunities go to them
i think it's quite unfair to say the truth
and that strong sense of self-importance can get quite irritating

[there's] an email to tell us like which student leader is going where for conferences/workshops
and e whole list of things is dominated by NUSSU

i dunno y such opportunites aren't open to other ppl
it's quite unfair
not really top secret i guess
anyways
when u go to munchie monkey
and u see e monkeys on display
they r bought by NUSSU exco members who flew overseas on wadever trips for NUS and each one of them got to buy one monkey each and maybe u can go count e number of monkeys there
maybe they can throw out some furniture to accommodate the increasing number in future

The God Who Wasn't There

"The movie that has been astounding audiences in theaters around the world is now available on a high-quality, feature-packed DVD.

In this provocative, critically acclaimed documentary, you will discover:

The early founders of Christianity seem wholly unaware of the idea of a human Jesus

The Jesus of the Gospels bears a striking resemblance to other ancient heroes and the figureheads of pagan savior cults

Contemporary Christians are largely ignorant of the origins of their religion

Fundamentalism is as strong today as it ever has been, with an alarming 44% of Americans believing Jesus will return to earth in their lifetimes

And God simply isn't there

The generous bonus materials on the DVD include extended interviews with: Richard Carrier (Sense and Goodness Without God), Alan Dundes (Holy Writ as Oral Lit), Sam Harris (The End of Faith), Robert M. Price (The Incredible Shrinking Son of Man) and many others.

The DVD also includes special audio commentary tracks with Richard Dawkins (A Devil's Chaplain), Earl Doherty (The Jesus Puzzle) and The Raving Atheist (ravingatheist.com)."


Considering it only opened for a week in 5 (?) states, I'd hardly say it astounded "audiences in theaters around the world". Non-christian reviews say it's mostly good and considering there's free US shipping I'm tempted to buy the DVD and the poster (to hang in my room) and have it sent here via vPostUSA the next time I buy something from the US. Most likely stuff from Despair, Inc. Speaking of which, the first 4 demotivators for 2006 are out!

Wishes - When you wish upon a falling star, your dreams come true. Unless it's really a meteorite hurtling to the earth which will destroy all life. Then you're pretty much hosed no matter what you wish for. Unless it's death by meteor.
I think it'd be better as: "Wishing upon a star never solved your dreams. Unless it was to end all life on earth with a meteorite collision.

Inspiration - Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration, which is why engineers sometimes smell really bad.

Beauty - If you're attractive enough on the outside, people will forgive you for being irritating to the core.

Effort - Hard work never killed anybody, but it is illegal in some places (photo of Paris)

***

Southern governors declare war on divorce

"The Bible Belt states are topping the national charts in divorce.

In fact, according to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics, four of the five states with the highest resident divorce rates in the country are in the Deep South, where families pray together but, apparently, can't stay together.

Metropolitan states like Massachusetts and New York, supposed havens of marital dysfunction, actually have comparatively low divorce rates. Instead, marriage is failing in what should be its natural habitat, the land of fire, brimstone and the sky-blue tuxedo....

Marriage as a morally correct panacea for all social and personal ills is the philosophical crux of the marriage movement.The idea here is that if Connie and Dwayne would just tie the knot, they'd raise median incomes, improve life expectancies and virtually eliminate child abuse -- even if Connie is on crystal meth and Dwayne resolves conflicts with a baseball bat....

What young adults need to know, according to Popenoe and Whitehead, is that cohabitation puts couples at increased risk for divorce if they marry. Unfortunately, neither the sociological literature nor Popenoe's own professional colleagues support this position.

For example, professors James Sweet and Larry Bumpass of the University of Wisconsin, who wrote the academic paper that found a correlation between cohabitation and future divorce say that Popenoe and Whitehead have made "selective and inappropriate use" of their findings. Marital therapy researcher Andrew Christensen of UCLA says Popenoe and Whitehad have published "a classic error -- interpreting correlation as causation."

Most important is the simple fact that divorce rates have leveled off even as cohabitation rates have skyrocketed. If the Popenoe and Whitehead conclusion were correct, both cohabitation and divorce numbers would rise together.

To clarify the issue of cohabitation, Christensen cites well-documented sociological literature that proves "there is a huge component of self-selection" for less permanence among cohabitors, meaning that people who choose to live together often don't want permanent romantic arrangements. In fact, a sociological study published in the Journal of Family Issues in 1993 uses empirical evidence to conclude that couples who cohabit in preparation for marriage are no more likely to divorce than those who do not live together before the wedding."

Charlotte's anti-fundie meme (Or something to that extent)

"Venue: Outside Eng Wah Cinemas / The Rock @ Suntec City
Time: 1030 am
Date: Sep 11, 2005

Requirements:
Participants should bring along a book that promotes freethought, or ones with a similar spirit as those in the list below, and read it outside Eng Wah cinemas at the time above. They may also have to join the queue.

Only atheists, apostates, and people with a death wish of being beaten half to death by New Creationists screaming "Hallelujah!", "Die, heathen scum!" and "God is good!" amidst a hail of "amens" / so-called tongues need apply.

Note: Participants will not be required to actively de-convert / counter-evangelise, only to read their books peaceably and reply if challenged or preached to.

Recommended readings:
Why I am not a Christian - Bertrand Russell
Candide - Voltaire
Age of Reason - Tom Paine
The Last Temptation of Christ - Martin Scorsese
Atheism: The Case Against God - George H. Smith

Sign up today!"

To add on to her disclaimer: Neither Balderdash nor Insaintly Yours condone stirring up religious violence. This post is not meant to be taken seriously. We are not responsible for any loss of life, limb, or extremities, should you attempt to carry out any of the aforementioned actions

And yes, I'll be there, since I haven't seen Charlotte for a while. For all you Charlotte fans out there, she says she might be there "depending on her schedule", so it's a rare chance to meet her instead of stalking her from afar.

I went to "Steven Osborne Returns" at the Esplanade on Friday night with My Favourite Misanthrope.

Britten - Young Apollo, Op. 16:
The soloist was very animated. There's something about these soloists which makes them like to show off with their playing style. Parts of the score reminded me of the flight of a mosquito or some such flying insect.

Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 12 in A Major, K414:
The Mozart was a pleasant change. Some would call it banal, but then that apocryphal curse does go "may you live in interesting times". Interesting music is not necessarily pleasant or good. Besides which, the soloist didn't get to show off much with this piece. Perhaps the nature of Mozart piano concertos prevents virtuosic playing.

Me: No women throwing their underwear at him.
My favourite misanthrope: They'd probably get arrested... It's very hard to get excited by Mozart, much less sexually aroused.

Brahms - Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68
I'm mostly ambivalent to Brahms. The piece was generally alright, except that the SSO brass was too whiney and the standard went down after the first movement or two ("[They're] wrestling a monster they can't contain"). I think it is because I like my music more thematic and structured than Brahms, which is sad because we don't get much Baroque music in Singapore, probably due to the lack of harpsichords.

For a more musically rigorous review, please look to my favourite misanthrope. I really should do my homework next time by listening to the pieces before the concert.

My favourite misanthrope also informs me that while in Europe, audiences cough a lot, and in the US, they cough a little, here in Singapore we don't cough much during concerts. So in at least one of the graciousness ratings we rank highly. Though maybe that has something to do with the age of the audiences.

Unfortunately, the night before I'd let someone talk me into sleeping at 2am. I really should stop sleeping late the night before concerts.

Just when I thought I'd seen it all, I was pointed to: Swearing is too risky for S'poreans

Still, I think this isn't as bad as the one on skydiving.

Speaking of which, one of the many, many comments (many from the same IP address) left by the Red Guards on that post reads that "it was NOT INTENDED to be a serious forum letter, just a bloody ASSIGNMENT, dont u people get it." Which brings us to the questions of:

- Why it was sent in if it was not a serious letter (Why are school teachers flooding the ST forum with this sort of rubbish? Why not return to the days when students wrote mock letters instead of actually sending them in for publication and only good ones were sent in? If it's an assignment, I hope it's marked for content as well as for language.)
- Why he didn't just write a letter thanking a taxi driver (Maybe it was in the assignment guidelines.)
- Why the letter was approved in the first place (Are the rejected letters even worse than this?!)
- What the raison d'etre of the Staits Times Forum is (To show that "Singapore people are intelligent and mature. And I think they can make their own judgement... But there may some who are not sufficiently discerning and if one day something goes wrong, then we will have to repair the damage."?)
- Whether the letter was a post-modernistic satire/tribute to the inanity/deplorability of the bulk of published submissions (I doubt it, given the grafiti left by the Red Guards)
- Why I got hit by the aforementioned bully boys (I hope it wasn't with the letter writer's connivance)

The default assumption when seeing a letter published in the Forum is that the letter writer means what he says and sent in the letter voluntarily because he is concerned with or passionate about the issue. Since he has chosen to be published in a public forum, fair comment is thus welcomed and encouraged. If this was not the case, I express my apologies, though I still think that it is the worst letter ever.

I would segue into a homily of "I am ashamed to have come from the same school as the Red Guards, for when I was their age, I didn't set on other people at the drop of a hat", but not everyone agrees that running around screaming with brooms and umbrellas is a better use of one's time (though at least that involved semi-consensual interactions between adolescents, and did not preclude fair comment).

"The criteria for selection of letters in Online Forum remain as vigorous as the printed version's". And I am as handsome as Wo-hen Nankan.

Land Of The Walking Marriage - Mosuo people of China

"Marriage as other cultures know it is uncommon among the Mosuo; they prefer a visiting relationship between lovers--an arrangement they sometimes refer to in their language as sisi (walking back and forth). At about the age of twelve, a Mosuo gift is given a coming-of-age ceremony, and after puberty, she is free to receive male visitors. A lover may remain overnight in her room but will return in the morning to his own mother's home and his primary responsibilities. Children born from such a relationship live with their mother, and the male relatives responsible for helping to look after them are her brothers. Many children know who their fathers are, of course, but even if the relationship between father and child is quite close, it involves no social or economic obligation. And lovers can end their relationship at any time; a woman may signal her change of heart by simply no longer opening the door. When speaking Chinese, the Mosuo will call the sisi arrangement zou hun (walking marriage) or azhu hunyin (friend marriage, azhu being the Mosuo word for friend); nevertheless, the relationship is not a formal union.

... we asked A Long what he thought about the sisi system. "`Friend marriage' is very good," he replied. "First, we are all our mother's children, making money for her; therefore there is no conflict between the brothers and sisters. Second, the relationship is based on love, and no money or dowry is involved in it. If a couple feels contented, they stay together. If they feel unhappy, they can go their separate ways. As a result, there is little fighting." A Long told us that he used to have several lovers but started to have a stable relationship with one when she had her first child."

Islamic [In]Justice (on Sharia courts in Western countries)

"That is exactly the problem with the racist concepts of multi-culturalism and cultural relativism. It promotes tolerance and respect for so-called minority opinions and beliefs, rather than and often times instead of respect for human beings. Human beings are worthy of the highest respect but not all opinions and beliefs are worthy of respect and tolerance. There are some who believe in fascism, white supremacy, the inferiority of women. Must those beliefs be respected? There is a big difference between the two.

Multi-culturalism always gives precedence to cultural and religious norms, however reactionary, over the human being and her rights. And it always sees communities as having one homogeneous belief and opinion – often times taking the most reactionary segment of that community – the imams and elders’ beliefs - as the belief and culture of the whole.

Multi-culturalism’s promotion of respect for beliefs and opinions is so strong that even when rights are violated, women mutilated and killed, girls victimised, respect for those beliefs and norms take precedence over individual and universal rights. There is a real contradiction between cultural relativism and multi-culturalism on the one hand and individual rights on the other."

***

Smart Fraction Theory II: Why Asians Lag

"The spectacular visuospatial ability of NE Asians, while accounting for their high IQ scores, does not necessarily make them good capitalists. Hunting strategies have little to do with wealth production. And a new tool, irrespective of point of origin, is now soon available worldwide. The structure of NE Asian intelligence did not come about in response to pressures to be attorneys or editors or production managers or copywriters or salesmen or programmers or systems analysts or insurance adjusters or purchasing agents or account executives. The harsh prehistoric Siberian climate did not select for capitalist alleles."

I'm trying to decide if this is supposed to be a joke.

***

Ego trumps equity

"In 1996, Nominated Member of Parliament, Kanwaljit Soin, made a valiant attempt to equalise the alimony law between men and women. PAP members of parliament either kept quiet or resisted. The Minister for Community Development, Abdullah Tarmugi, could not offer anything but the lamest excuse why he would not accept her proposal which might even have saved taxpayer money.

It's interesting to revisit this episode as it reveals a lot about the mindset of our ruling party and government...

The minister indicated his disagreement. He said, "Call me old fashioned if you will; call me a male chauvinist if you must, but my upbringing and my background tell me that it is the duty of the husband to maintain his wife."

... a PAP member of parliament, Kenneth Chen, spoke against her proposal. He said that "in Singapore, husbands are deemed to be the head of the family and are responsible for looking after the welfare for their wives and children."

A number of PAP backbenchers chorussed their agreement.

Then Abdullah Tarmugi, the Minister for Community Development, once again refused her suggestion, saying that when the Women's Charter was first passed in 1961, "maintenance for husbands was never in the Act and nobody made any squeak about it," implying that she should shut up now, and that "the general view is that.... it is the husband's duty to maintain his wife morally and legally."

"And I think this is shared by many men outside this House," he added for emphasis."

This must take the cake for Worst. Straits Times Forum letter. I have ever read Ever. Even its being awarded a prize, a medallion, a badge, a plaque, a ribbon, a trophy as well as a certificate would be insufficient to recognise the enormity of the situation.

Letters thanking taxi drivers, insignificant queries to government agencies, odes to Kim Jong Il MM Lee, letters from irate Malaysians angry that certain dubious honours (linguistic or culinary) have been erroneously (in their book) awarded to Singapore, notes from expatriates or tourists singing Singapore's praises and wondering why people are so critical and paens harkening to the days (10 years ago or so) when the writer wrote his last Forum letter all cannot compare.

I would parody it, but in the words of the late Molly Meek: "she lost her job because things became so ridiculous that there was no longer a need for satire. Then the level of propaganda went beyond the point of human capacity to handle—every single atom out there was given a propagandistic charge. That was the last straw for Molly Meek. At least Molly died laughing"


Skydiving is too risky for S'poreans

I refer to the article about skydiving that appeared not too long ago in The Straits Times.

I believe that skydiving is too dangerous a recreational activity to be made available to the people.

Even the safety of professionals cannot be guaranteed, let alone the people new to the sport.

Roger Nelson, founder of the Skydive Chicago was an accomplished skydiver. Yet he died in a freak skydiving accident in June 2003.

Even an instructor, who has dived several times, could not free himself from malfunctioning equipment. What chance of survival would a student have facing the unknown? Roger Nelson is not the only case.

Several people have lost their lives in skydiving.

Skydiving's an intricate process. When one tiny malfunction in the equipment occurs, it causes a chain reaction that effectively seals a person's fate.

A spare parachute may help to reduce the risk but if it was really that effective, why are so many people still dying due to freak accidents?

Also, if we factor in weather considerations, we would have a lot of problems to contend with.

Steering the parachute while airborne is not as simple as it looks. It's even harder when unpredictable winds blow the skydiver in all directions. These winds can occur instantaneously without any warning.

After overcoming these two problems, we still have one more to take care of - landing. Just one slight mistake could cost you a trip to the hospital.

Recently, a commando injured himself while rehearsing for the National Day Parade as a result of landing problems. The commando was a veteran.

I hope you can see why I do not think skydiving is a safe sport.

Cheong Fu Ginn


Others express their shock for me:

A: "cheomg fu ginn has never heard of static line jumping, tandem jumps and 'the tower'. obviously he has also not factored in the fact that more pple are likely to die in car accidents.

much more precaution goes into parachuting than does all the other stuff that might kill u in daily life
not to mention, cheong fu ginns pathetic attempt at a convincing and persuasive argument ultimately fell short of the target because of its amateurish and primary school composition tone.

probably wouldnt take the bus for fear of contracting meningitis from the wheezing coughing old man next to him"


B: "I shall write a letter: "WRITING FORUM LETTERS TOO RISKY FOR SINGAPOREANS"

I believe that writing is too dangerous a political activity to be made available to the people.

Even the safety of trained writers cannot be guaranteed, let alone the poor people forced to read their drivel."


C: anti-govt
govt approved the skydiving carnival
time to call him for kopi session @ cantonment


He's only 15. But still?!

"Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book." - Ronald Reagan

Random Playlist Song: Riku Nuottajarvi - Mycon (A racial theme from Star Control 2's 3DO version)

***

I finally went for the Vatican exhibition, and my sister gave me a tour. Apparently the tint of the CHIJ pinafore is the same as that of the cloak that the Virgin Mary is always depicted as wearing. Hurr hurr.

Me to NYGH girls on their working on ACM brochures: Is this for CIP?
NYGH girl: Sort of. How you know ah?
Sister: He was from Nanyang also.
NYGH girls: Huh?! *puzzled looks*
Me: Primary.

Carl's Jr was chock full tonight. It seems Singaporeans are willing to pay a premium for real burgers (with bacon inside), and I think they realise this, with the motto for their breakfast combo reading: "Real bacon, real eggs, real delicious!" My brother in law says he's still recovering from the rush of having tasted a real burger in Singapore ("This is so unlike any burger in Singapore").

Given that alcohol has been and is made from such things as potatoes, rice and grape resin, I'm surprised no one has tried making some from soya bean.

Someone tells me that Steven Lim gets his supply of barely legal girlfriends from City Harvest. Ho ho.

***

I caught part of an episode of Villa Wellness on TV Movile (I thrice typed "TV Mobile" as "TV Movile", so I think this is an incontrovertible signal from my subconscious mind). One team left a team member behind while running, and were punished with 10 pushups. However, these were done while the team members placed their hands on a log raised to about waist level. Gah. Meanwhile the girl who had been left behind had started walking, and they had to send someone back to look for her. Reminds me of 42SAR's 16km Army Half Marathon (AHM) training session, with me in her plae, naturally.

The show is very sanitised, especially considering it's reality TV. You'd think that putting 12 girls in 2 opposing teams would make them more bitchy. Maybe the producers of the show didn't realise that reality TV is supposed to be scripted to make it more exciting. Contrast that with the scene where one girl fainted during America's Top Model: a horribly contrived-looking scene I was subjected to ad nauseum thanks, once again, to TV Movile.

***

My brother in law's theory about why people think food in Malaysia tastes better than in Singapore: because of the Malaysian smell. I elaborated on the theory. The smell throws your olfactory senses off so the food seems to taste better. Either that or in contradistinction to the smell the food tastes very good.

Possibly also they cook food in smaller portions instead of mass producing it, so it comes out better..

***

Pinquan on a conversation he had:

"German: So how long is your military service?
Me: Two and a half years.
German: Two and a half years? You have so many enemies?"

Since we're in a musical mood...


WE’RE HERE BECAUSE UREA
(Tune: “The Bold Gendarmes’”)

The endogenous repletion of water in the sea
Lets nitrogenous excretion proceed quite easily
For ammonia though toxic is quickly washed away
So fish excrete (4 times) the ammonotelic way (repeat)

But new terrestrial creatures to survive where it was dry
Developed metabolic features in order to detoxify
Since urea is quite soluble and its doesn’t make you sick
We each excrete (4 times) as a ureotelic (repeat)

When protein breakdown is induced (to make new glucose, say)
Amino acids thus produced give nitrogen away
Keto acids are acceptors; and oxaloacetate
Transaminates …….. giving rise to aspartate

Glutamate too may be produced from oxoglutarate
And now that it’s been introduced deamination is its fate
For inside each mitochondrion of every liver cell
Is GDH ….. (reducing NAD as well)

Ammonia that’s thus set free combined with CO2
Utilising ATP (and an extra squiggle too)
The effector of the synthetase is acetyl glutamate
The product formed …… carbamoylphosphate

Two amino acid oddities now enter on the scene
The essential commodities, ornithine and citrulline
Ornithine starts in the cytosol, citrulline in mitos, free
Then they exchange …… electrogenically

Carbamoylphosphate carbamylates the ornithine
So we get a kind of steady state generating citrulline
Citrulline now is exported, then combined with aspartate
And generates ….. argininosuccinate

That Schiff base condensation utilises ATP
But there is now elimination and fumarate’s set free
Fumarate through citric cycle yields oxaloacetate
That then in turn ….. gives another aspartate

That cleavage mentioned just before also yielded arginine
And what this pathway’s called a cycle for can now readily be seen
For arginine is hydrolysed regenerating ornithine
Which can exchange ….. for another citrulline

That arginase reaction then also yielded urea
(Aspartate gave one nitrogen, one from ammonia)
And we thus complete the cycle that let us leave the sea
Sing urea …… which set the people free


"Scientists are people too. So when they go to the bar, they sing these songs"

Some may recall that My Little Bird had written up lyrics to a little ditty about freethought / freethinking / secular humanism. On Monday, having finished the tune, he graced me a live demonstration (several, rather) and we did a demo recording.


Mirrors:

My Little Bird - Our Thoughts Are Free.mp3 (YouSendIt.com - valid for 7 days, 25 downloads or until someone sabotages it)

My Little Bird - Our Thoughts Are Free.mp3 (Filecloud)

My Little Bird - Our Thoughts Are Free.mp3 (MegaUpload)

My Little Bird - Our Thoughts Are Free.mp3 (Rapidshare.de)

I doubt this is going to be downloaded much, but additional hosting is always welcome.


Our Thoughts are Free

1. We've ventured on a long journey
Uncharted yet by most
To forge a brand new destiny
Without deities or ghosts

2. We'll stay the course right to the end
And light the path of truth
No need for intangible beings
To tell us what to do

Chorus:
So let's move into the future
Because our thoughts are free
So let's celebrate together
Because our thoughts are free

3. No more shall we tremble with cold
Amongst the lies of old
We'll grasp the future with our hands
To end the age of cant

4. Unbounded by blind fantasy
Yet filled with hopes and dreams
With every move we'll strive forward
Until truth stands supreme

Chorus:
So let's move into the future
Because our thoughts are free
So let's celebrate together
Because our thoughts are free

I saw someone in the toilet with a copy of "The media enthralled : Singapore revisited" by Francis T. Seow from the NUS library. Heh heh.

In Economics, we are pseudo-Science faculty people. We have a lot of maths, a lot of us look like science people, we have no readings outside the textbooks (at least so far), our gender ratio is atypical of Arts and we have a lot of foreign talent staff whom we have difficulty understanding. On the other hand, we have no lab and only 1 lecture a week (though we have more tutorials), so.

It says something when you learn more from 3 minutes reading the textbook than from 2 hours in a lecture.


Quotes:

[On the superego] If a person had sexual desire and wished to go out and have intercourse with another person, he wouldn't be able to do it. Depends on which country you're in, I suppose.

sample evident (evidence)

Bay sing school (Bayesian)

Y bar dah'byou (w)

[Professor: There's nothing new here.] 'There's nothing new here, there's nothing new here'. If there's nothing new here, why're you teaching us this?

I haven't tell you how to compute the Standard Error (told)

[On an erroneous formula] I still see some people using this formula, which I didn't teach. That's not good.

the task score (test)

[On asking questions in lecture] If you shake your head, I won't recognise you outside class, so it's okay.

It is a very standard assumption in macro[economics] to have a representative consumer. If you don't like it, just look at it a bit longer and you will like it.

So now we are going to go to the funky part of our model.

I have office hours from 10-12. I'm normally very bored, because students don't come. Or students come for only 10 minutes. And then I'm bored for 1 hour and 50 minutes.

If the garment has this ability to redistribute the endo'ment (government, endowment)

It seems very powerful but it is actually very simple (the two are not mutually exclusive)

leader time (leisure)

If you have a lot of engines / asians / indians (agents)

We'll have a breek here (break)

2 indians. Robinson and [Man] Friday. (agents)

their utility is dependang (dependent)

giving up the seem amount of coconuts (same)

in ardour to increase (order)

no one bet off (is better)

increase in the input of one goose (good)

two diminishal graph (dimensional)

[Said during week 4] See you next sem (time)

The reason why my skirts are so short is not for guys to see. It is because if a short girl wears a long skirt she will look even shorter.

We have 2 Sharons... I [will] call you Sharon 1. Is it okay?

Consumption cannot be 0 because if consumption is 0 then you will die.

Consumption is, in this case, indo'jair'ners (endogenous)

[On tutorial answers] If you want me to write it - you are giving me a blank look, so I will have to write it.

It's very easy to slip into the stereotype that women only want long term relationships and men only want sex.

[On the inherited proclivity for men to seek a variety of sexual partners] I don't think anybody seriously argues that you learn at your mother's knee, if you are a boy, that it is desirable to have a variety of sex partners.

People have conducted research, not in Singapore, sending attractive research assistants around campus asking members of the opposite sex if they'd like to have sex with them... 75% of men said yes. The rest were apologetic about it [their declining].

To explain is not to justify... Next week I'm going to be talking about the biological reasons for child abuse. Anybody who thinks I'm advocating child abuse...

[On women not being turned on visually] There were attempts in more enlightened economies than this one to push out a magazine. Pin-ups for women... I can't remmeber its name, since I wasn't interested in it.

[On romance novels vs pornography] Go away and read some of this stuff. it is very, very different.

Women tend to orgasm more and retain more sperm with short term partners... Biologically, the female orgasm is unnecessary.

It's bay'ter (better)

How to tasle the unbiased (tell the unbiasedness)

That is the po view we are going to use (program)

It is the time of the year when the various faculties and ECAs hold elections for committees for the new academic year. A good deal of such elections are uncompetitive or only marginally so (ie There're only 1-2 more candidates than posts) due to students' apathy and lack of engagement due to university (and in particular NUS) life being personally uninvolving. Furthermore, even if elections are held, turnout is appalling. I am told that last year the USP club (USC - I can't spell it out or I'll cringe) elections had a turnout of over 200 (of 800 - around 25%), and I think that this figure is already quite respectable. Luckily there're no clauses (IIRC at least) in the constitution annulling the results of elections if turnout is below 50%.

So it was pleasant to find out that we got to vote in this year's USC elections. The downside was that campaigning was going into full swing. The level that we saw last year was still tolerable, but this year there was an all-out assault over levels 3, 5, 6 and 7 of Block ADM. I was quite miffed by it all, and so decided to have my very own Shameless-o-Meter measuring the amount of advertising each candidate took out. In the process of drawing it up, I had to recognise all the candidates' faces, so I asked around for the identity of one unfamiliar one who had neglected to put her name on her material, and was asked if I was voting for people based on looks ( !@#$%^&*() ).

My weighting system was as such: Each quote put up by a candidate got him one ostrakon. A group photograph got each person in the team one ostrakon, and an individual photograph got the candidate two ostraka. Other publicity material got a pro-rated number of ostraka based on how shameless it was. I gave discounts for combos; for example 3 photographs and 1 quote got the candidate 5 ostraka instead of 7. There was publicity material in the toilets as well, but since I was unable to enter the female toilets and doubted that I would be able to find a willing accomplice of the appropriate gender, publicity material in the male toilets did not count towards the Shameless-o-Meter either.

Seeing my meticulous data gathering, one person asked if I was going to see if there was a correlation between the amount of publicity a candidate had and whether he got into the management committee. That was an excellent idea, a stroke of genius on his part. If I can I am going to run a regression of votes garnered on Shameless-o-Meter score.

In the end, of the 12 candidates, although I was eligible to vote for up to 8 of them, I ended up voting for the 4 who got a score of 8 or less on the Shameless-o-Meter. Oh well.


After the elections, internal elections are held - instead of being elected to a post, candidates are elected to the management committee. Jockeying for posts then results, and politicking, rather than the sovereignty of the electorate, determines the final power map. This does not sit well with me.

Cowboy Caleb has an impressive bevy of statistics about the failure of cohabitation:

• The risk of divorce after living together is 40 to 85% higher than the risk of divorce after not living together. In other words, those who live together before marriage are almost twice as likely to divorce than those who did not live together (Bumpass & Sweet 1995; Hall & Zhao 1995; Bracher, Santow, Morgan & Russell 1993; DeMaris & Rao 1992 and Glen 1990).
• If a couple abstains from sex before marriage, they are 29 to 47% more likely to enjoy sex afterward than those who cohabit . Sexual satisfaction rises considerably more after marriage (Hering 1994:4). More women cohabit than men, but men are more likely to cohabit serially (Bumpass & Sweet 1989; Teachman & Polanko 1990).
• Cohabiting women have rates of depression 3 times higher than married women (National Institute for Mental Health).
• Four out of every 10 cohabiting couples have children present and of children born to cohabiting couples, only 4 out of 10 will see their parents marry. Those who do marry experience a 50% higher divorce rate (Horn 1998).
• Marriage is the social glue that bonds fathers to their offspring. When marriage and fatherhood come unglued, father involvement weakens, with many dads disconnecting completely from their children.

He concludes: "If you are currently cohabiting with your partner, I urge you to get out of your comfort zone and signup for couple counseling or a marriage preparation course. You both deserve better then this."

Since my Han-inspired comment was so long, I decided to post it here:


"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." - Benjamin Disraeli

I suspect spurious correlation.

In any case, most of the people who are committed will get married in the first place, rather than cohabitate. Thus, if you do not control for initial levels of commitment, the statistic doesn't mean very much. It's just like a study that shows that blacks are paid less than whites - neglecting to mention that 90% of the blacks in the study are poor and lowly educated. In fact, controlling for education, blacks earn as much as or more than whites, so one cannot conclude that they are discriminated against/dumber/less able. Of course, commitment is a hard thing to measure, but this is an important thing to remember. Other things to control for are attitudes to divorce (those willing to cohabitate are more likely to be willing to consider divorce in the first place) and past marriages (some cohabiters have been divorced before, which is why they distrust marriage).

Furthermore, why is divorce a bad thing? Staying in a loveless marriage just because you are married does a great injustice to both parties. In fact, staying married for the sake of the children might be worse if the parents hate or abuse each other. Far better to grow up in a loving single-parent household.

Marriage is not an end in itself; it is a system meant to promote love, commitment and a conducive environment for child rearing (if you are so inclined). If cohabitation can provide that - why not? Furthermore, signing a piece of paper does not prove commitment; any idiot can sign a contract, but to live up to it - without any chains holding him down to boot - is a true sign of commitment.

"I would rather be a beggar and single than a queen and married." - Queen Elizabeth I


Incidentally, polygyny was practised and endorsed by many renowned Old Testament figures. It was polyandry (with everything else) that they denounced as vile and practised by beasts.

Model organisms: Caenorhabditis elegans

"Caenorhabditis elegans is a soil-dwelling nematode worm about 1 mm in length that feeds on bacteria...

The C. elegans genome is 97 million base pairs in length and contains about 20 000 genes. Many of these genes appear to have functional counterparts in humans [Ed: apparently up to 83% of the proteome is homologous], and whole pathways are often conserved. This makes C. elegans a useful model for human diseases. For example, the insulin signalling pathway is fully conserved between humans and nematodes so mutant worms impaired for insulin signalling are useful models of type II diabetes."

***

Nintendogs (Nintendo Dogs) - the next best thing to getting a real dog. Of course you need to get a Nintendo DS first...

***

The Coolidge Effect

"President Calvin Coolidge and his wife visited a government farm one day and were taken around on separate tours. Mrs. Coolidge, passing the chicken pens, inquired of a supervisor whether the roosters copulated more than once a day.

"Yes," the man said. "Dozens of times." "Tell that," Mrs. Coolidge replied, "to the president!"

Some time later the president, passing the same pens, was told about the roosters - and about his wife's remark. "Same hen every time?" he asked. "Oh, no, a different one each time," the supervisor replied. "Tell that," Coolidge said with a sly nod, "to Mrs. Coolidge."

[Thus the term "Coolidge effect" to describe the re-arousal of a male animal by the introduction of a new female.]"

***

Some time back...

Girl: Why do you want to keep your hair long?

Me: Everytime I tell people, they don't believe me. I want to tie my hair in a ponytail, jerk my head and hit the person beside me with my hair.

Girl: *laughs* So what's the real reason?

Me: See?!


I'm sick of the above happening. I've half a mind to just demonstrate to people when they ask by going up to them and jerking my head. Not quite what I'm aiming for, but the idea is there.

The latest version of Intel PROSet/Wireless (drivers and wireless connection client) that NUS provides is a nightmare.

For one, the profile for connecting to the NUS network comes pre-installed. This would be a good thing, except that without the administrator password, the profile is immune to modification, deletion or moving (ie Other profiles cannot be prioritised over it, even if one uses one's home wireless network 90% of the time and the school's only 10%. This results in a longer time taken to connect to non-NUS networks.)

Even more irritating is how Single Sign-On is enabled (and can't be disabled). What Single Sign-On does is to connect to the wireless network when one logs into Windows. This theoretically saves the user some time/effort but in practise it is a horrible idea which just makes startup incredibly slow (which is why I suspect most people just click "cancel"). Best of all - you guessed it - this "feature" cannot be disabled without the administrator password.

Finally, the Intel client cannot be disabled and the default Windows client used. A minor point, yes, but an annoying modification made by NUS all the same.

In the end, I just downloaded the generic version of Intel PROSet/Wireless available on the Intel site and all was well once more.

"Anything not worth doing is worth not doing well. Think about it." - Elias Schwartz

Random Playlist Song: Cambridge Singers - Poulenc - Chansons francaises - 1. Margoton va t'a l'iau

Margoton va t’a l’iau avecque son cruchon.
La fontaine était creuse, elle est tombée au fond,
Aïe, Aïe, Aïe, Aïe,
Se dit Margoton.

Par là passèrent trois jeunes garçons
Que don’rez vous la belle qu’on vous tir’ du fond
Tirez d’abord dit elle après ça nous verrons
Quand la belle fut tirée commence une chanson
Ce n’est pas ça la bell’ que nous vous demandons
C’est votre petit coeur savoir si nous l’aurons
Mon petit coeur messir’s n’est point pour greluchons

Aïe, Aïe, Aïe, Aïe,
Se dit Margoton

No, I don't have any idea what that means either. But using French is a great way to project an appearance of sophistication.

***

This beats the recent puerile insults that have been flying:

A: At a recent poetry reading I had the opportunity to meet up with someone who recently joined a state agency, or as I like to put it, the dark side. When I said something like 'you're so selling out like in that DC talk song from five years ago' I was told that they were changing the system from within. I'm sure they honestly believe it too. And a few years down the road your interests align with the system, like any bureaucrat you don't want to make your job obsolete, you internalize the propaganda you manufacture, the doublespeak becomes truth and you live a comfortable stable banality-of-evil lifestyle, until the revolution comes (haha) and you are tried for complicity, and your excuse will be something like I'm sorry I was part of something that made it harder for people like me to do the right thing, or I was waiting for the right time and it never came, and neither will fly, so why not just keep backpacking from place to place until you find paradise? Anyway I hope they get that cryo thing figured out so I can wake up when everything's been figured out. SENS and all.

B: As they said about Mussolini:

'He was out of touch with the reality on the ground, despite -- or more probably as a result of -- reading the newspapers everyday.' - random A level history book.

Me:
>I'm sure they honestly believe it too. And a few years down the road
>your interests align with the system, like any bureaucrat you don't
>want to make your job obsolete, you internalize the propaganda you
>manufacture, the doublespeak becomes truth and you live a comfortable
>stable banality-of-evil lifestyle,

Actually it's amazing how they justify it to themselves and other people. They tend to use one or more of the following arguments:

1) You are horribly naive and don't know how the world works.
2) You are cossetted and spoilt and have no right to make such remarks.
3) Faux moral/political equivalence
4) The Argument from Bravado

For example, I was recently told mockingly that the US Supreme Court is not independent since the 9 posts are political appointments. No matter that they are not beholden to the current political system, being in the post for life: they are still beholden to the apparatus that appointed them.

I was also told that, since US congressional districts are gerry-mandered, their elections are as undemocratic as in places where candidates are prohibited or impeded from standing by other means.

With this sort of moral/political equivalence, what does it matter if I smuggle in 0.0001 gram of pot or 10 kg? I deserve to hang anyway.

Ooh, look. China sells the unclaimed bodies of executed prisoners to Gunther von Hagens. Therefore we are justified in doing the same thing.

For that matter, since wage costs are rising worldwide, it doesn't matter if ours rise too, so there's no point trying to keep them down to maintain our national competitiveness. Why strive to have the best airport in the world? In the end it's all the same anyway, especially since being in the top 50% is the same as being the top. Subjective perceptions, it only matters if we're among the best and all that jazz.

Ah, what is truth?


Addendum: B:

For example, I was recently told mockingly that the US Supreme Court is not independent since the 9 posts are political appointments. No matter that they are not beholden to the current political system, being in the post for life: they are still beholden to the apparatus that appointed them.

Er this point is particularly risible: the system was intentionally designed in this way so that all three branches will check each other. So, the Supreme Court can check the legislature by declaring laws unconstitutional, while the executive can check the Supreme Court by appointing its members (who remain independent because they have security of tenure and because politicians are not allowed to comment on cases which are being heard) and so on.

I was also told that, since US congressional districts are gerry-mandered, their elections are as undemocratic as in places where candidates are prohibited or impeded from standing by other means.

And in any case, the gerrymandering which occurs in the US (which is actually quite serious I think it makes a significant proportion of House of Rep seats uncompetitive) is a reason to believe that more, not less, checks on the govt should be established to ensure that this does not occur. To say 'oh it happens in the US too' is just childish. It's like how in primary school we used to say 'It wasn't me; and anyway, he did it too!'