Constructive Deconstruction

February 14

Today is the 14th February.
It’s Thursday.
It’s just like any other day.
In fact, it could actually be worse than other days.
I think I can start to go fly kite already.

[Reproduced] Sealed Lips

I got this from a friend’s blog. I don’t know if right to link to her so i’ll just reproduce it here…

———————————-

You gain experiences as you grow older. In fact, the more exposure you have to different situations, the more knowledge you would have accumulated.

Your lips are sealed.

Tanjong Beach

the waves softly caressing the beach
a sustained moment of rhythmic crashing
the breeze in everyone’s hair
running her fingers while softly undressing

silent giggle from afar
loud passionate moments abound
lights in the distance
do more to blind than astound

trees dancing to the midnight music
shaking, swaying…moving
a natural backdrop to a picturesque moment
capturing a peace of love
and a slice of lust

-Ridz
3.07am

Divine Photographer

I was leaving the house when it started to rain. Soon, lightning flashes emerged. I couldn’t help but think that perhaps once in a while God, too, takes pictures of the world…

Would you like a Flickr account, sir?

Musicovery…an alternative to pandora

Just found out from a friend about Musicovery.com

While I still prefer pandora, I think this is something i’ll be using for quite some time… =)

Saved my morning…and because it’s monday, it might have just saved the week too =)

How I Spent Christmas 2008

For some reason, today, I woke up early. In fact, I woke up many times. There was a problem though…I had nothing to do. Ok, I have work to do but I refused to do work today - at least not while everyone else is celebrating one of the most popular holidays ever.

Even if you weren’t christian, it’s become such a huge day that it’s a day you can’t escape.

So how did I spend my day?

I slept. And I slept a lot. I woke up just in time to have breakfast with parents afterwhich I turned on the TV and caught some show about 2 kids who had their bodies switched. After 10 minutes, it started to get cliche(although the girls were quite cute) so I switched it off and lay down on my bed. I promptly fell asleep.

When I woke up again, I decided to spend some time trying to ask if anyone would wanna grab a cup of coffee. For a brief moment, I was determined not to sleep my day away. Alas, I’m here blogging at 6.20pm so you can guess how that went.

But I had an interesting dream after I slept once again after that try-to-get-coffeemates session.

I dreamt I rushed to some hotel where Fenghong was having some huge gathering and catered the FishNCo people. I got there just in time after they’ve all packed so I just shook his hand and said, “Thanks for organising.” Then immediately after that, I fell asleep(yes I was even falling asleep in the dream!). There, some other JC Council friend of mine woke me up and was cautioning me against driving home…so guess what I did?

I checked into some kickass hotel. The valet took my car and I was ushered up to some room with a heavenly huge bed! And they served me food too! I was…the biggest, most tasty, crispiest fried chicken ever! It was so big and so nice I just had to share it with someone. But there was no one to share it with. The streets were empty and everyone seemed busy(i think i had this impression in my dream because of the coffee thing) So there I was eating this divine piece of fried chicken when it struck me…”Shit. How much is this one night stay in my own country - just so I could sleep in - cost me?”

I decided to sleep first and in the morning I gave the reception a call on the pretence of wanting to know how much cash to prepare…and she said so matter-of-factly, “$6600″. omfg!

after what seemed like 10 secs of emotional rush, I woke up.

What a dream.

Amongst some interesting sights in my dream:-

1. Orchard was devoid of people. Not a single soul except me.
2. The hotel I stayed in had like 8 elevators servicing my level. And when you pressed the button, it only calls for the ones to its immediate left and right. So I had to walk down the corridor and press 7 buttons…although pressing 4 would have sufficed.
3. There some old angmoh guy in my dream. He smiled when I came for Fenghong’s party. I have no idea who he is
4. The bellhop at my hotel was this Indian fellow…superbly nice guy. If anything in the dream was worth that $6600 fee, it would have been him.
5. There was no Internet anywhere in my dream. Haha
6. There was a genuine fear of not having enough money to pay.

So there, That was how I spent my xmas day….Dreaming.

I’m back!

Ok. So i’ve been back for a few days now. But i’ve been so tired that i spent most of my time either sleeping or trying to clean the equipment and uniforms that I used. I never knew I had THAT much stuff!

How was ICT? It was full of nonsense. While I may never get the experience of running an ICT the way I want to run it, I think the leadership could do with some new command philosophies. Perhaps they should read a bit more into millitary history or something.

I won’t comment much here because I’d have to bring up specifics for it to be meaningful to the readers…and of course, that would be a breach.

So…yeah…I just wanted to say I’m back. Oh…and for all the complaints I spew about reservist…I got a letter of commendation for what I think must be good service. Haha

Merry Xmas y’all!

I. Aye. Eye.

It’s 4am. 4.20am to be exact. And
I can’t sleep.

I’ve tried lying down.
I’ve tried walking around.
I’ve tried sleeping on the table
I’ve been on the bed, on the floor.
I can’t sleep.

It’s too cold without the blanket.
It’s too warm with it.
I’ve tried wearing a jacket
It just doesn’t cut it.

I’ve watched TV
I’ve tried to create a video
I’ve tried picking up Japanese.
I’ve tried listening to music

I can’t sleep.

I’ve got a full day ahead.
I’ve got a head that’s feeling quite full.
I’ve got shivers running down my spine.
I’ve got this tingling sensation all over.
Is that why I can’t sleep?

I want to sleep. I do.
Bleagh.

"Stop Whining!" Should We Be Evaluating Ourselves Based on Others?

There was a short discussion on twitter earlier today about the state of public transport in Singapore. There were many who were disappointed but later on some individuals mentioned that the system here is actually better off than many other transport systems overseas.

This made me think again about how we evaluate things here. It also made me think about how we should be evaluating ourselves.

Truth is, there have been many people who have stated many times how efficient our system is. And I agree with them. Compared to all the horror stories that i’ve heard from my friends who are overseas and the few experiences that i’ve had eons ago, we’re doing pretty well.

The truth is also this : That while we should be thankful for what we have, this should not be a basis for lowering expectation. Let me give you an example.

If we were in a classroom environment and we both scored a 49% making us the top 2 students in class and the person ranked next scored a 22%. Effectively, everyone’s failed(Assuming the passing mark is 50%). Should our parents then be disappointed because they harboured the expectation of at least a pass? Would it be right for us to say to them, "Hey, look. Everyone else got 22% or lower. Back off, will you?"

At the end of the day, I think we should really be measuring ourselves against…ourselves. And when it comes to a lot of local issues. These couple of months have shown us many price hikes without an equivalent improvement of services. Is that justified? I don’t think so.

We are lucky compared to many other nations. Yes, we truly are.
But just because we are doesn’t mean that that should be a universal reason that overrides the expectation for fair consumer treatment.
…I suspect the 3 lines above this one applies to many other things in Singapore too.

I usually stand on the side that Singaporeans whine too much. So, for once I say…

"Whine on!"

What’s wrong with me using facilities for the handicapped?

I’ve been meaning to write this for some time but only got the impetus to write it after reading Jean’s entry.

I’ve more than once bumped into articles of people saying how evil it is for us normal people to use handicap facilities(like toilet cubicles) and sit on seats for the elderly. In fact, the articles i’ve read in the past seem to give off that vibe of utter shame for committing such things myself.

Yes. I sit on those special seats and I oh-so-love to use the cubicle that’s meant for the wheelchair bound because they’re oh-so-wonderfully spacious I could probably have a picnic in there(ok, maybe not a picnic.).

But the question is…”What’s wrong with that?!”

Obviously, money was spent to build such facilities so why should they only receive a utilisation of like 2% everyday? (i’m plucking numbers from the air here) As far as I rationalise it, it just doesn’t make sense. The common arguments that are provided are that either people who use the seats pretend to be sleeping(in the case of seats) or there’s someone in the cubicle and the handicap don’t have alternatives in the toilet(there’s only usually one of such).

My reasoning is simple. If you’re pregnant, or crippled or on crutches or have any real need for such seats and there’s some bugger that’s ’sleeping’. Do the following:

1. Tap the guy on the shoulder
2. If he doesn’t wake up, grab his shoulder and shake him till he does.
3. Upon his return to the conscious world, say, “Excuse me, sorry for waking you up, but i really need the seat. Do you mind if I have it?”
4. If he gives it up, that’s one up for being proactive and having a civil and understanding society.
5. If he doesn’t, you now have the right to snap his photo and embarass that asswipe on the internet. and newspapers. and every other known medium for embarassment.

And in the case of the toilet, i don’t mean to offend you(if you fall in the class that need such toilets) but just knock on the door and ask the guy to hurry up. Don’t need to curse and swear and accuse him of being insensitive. He probably genuinely just needed to shit and that was the only available cubicle then.

Other than the graciousness of society as Jean pointed out(which i wholeheartedly agree with)…if you want to think about this as a pragmatic issue, it only makes sense to have maximum utility for every facility that is built and just give priority for the people who really need them. And there are people who genuinely fall asleep in trains and buses. If you just keep quiet and don’t ask them to give their seat either, then you have no right to accuse them of being insensitive.

Be proactive a bit la.