Trying out blogspot for a while. Here's the link. http://10joules.blogspot.com/

5 seconds of horror for discovering that my bus leaves 45 minutes earlier than expected ---- check
15 minutes of desperate packing measures ----- check
10 hours bus ride ----- check
3 hours of classes effectively skipped ---- check

..and here I am, back in Penang^^

I took it upon myself to take a read through some blogs yesterday and realised that : they are at it again - Ben and Jason on happiness. True, they involve rather old posts, and most probably I would've just missed them had it not been for xtine's mention of it on one of her blog posts. But then again, that in turn is a rather old post too, and arguing along the same lines, I would've missed THAT too.. =S *speechless**grabs a readily-available pineapple tart(that's what I love about home~)*

Basically, with my lack of enlightenment in the art of putting across arguments(and not to mention my phobia of large large chunks of words) I gather that Jason is advocating breaking free from the socially imposed constructs which most human beings have taken to be yardsticks to self-worth and identity; Ben on the other hand contends that things are easier said than done. You might also want to checkout xtine's post on this too, where she brought in issues about religion, Maslow's cliched, but still insightful needs hierarchy and her GP tutor.

Don't look at me. It's the 2nd day of Chinese New Year and I'm not about to make blocks out of characters on my laptop. On the contrary, despite me enjoying the flurry of thoughts inspired by post of such nature, at the end of the day, when the reasoning cease and the arguments from both sides drain from this tired boy's mind, what is left is usually always the feeling of preturbance(insecurity if you'll have it).

Perhaps my mind is not meant for great things(thoughts). Like Paint vs. Photoshop or like Gameboy vs. Gameboy Colour or 80486 vs P4 .. =S *speechless count : 2**grabs 2nd pineapple tart~* But I AM disturbed. Disturbed when I'm told that everything in life, in this case, self-worth and identity, from which stems happiness, has to have a reason attached to it.

Sometimes, I really like to think that things we do are just.. well, things we do. Let's keep it at that and not slap labels and reasoning onto them I say. Take that plate of sinful, no doubt cancer-causing and artery clogging, Char Kuey Tiow for instance. Taking a plate of that yesterday just killed reason and instinct(assuming the reason is survival of the fittest and instinct is self-preservation). And yet I am happy doing so without thinking about why I need to have that plate of noodles in the 1st place. I would probably flip if someone came up to me and tried to convince me whether or not in some profound way that eating Char Kuey Tiow is in fact a measure of self-worth and identity imposed by society on Penangites ;)

I came home last Friday to welcome a new member in my family -- a cute lil' puppy dog. It's only a month old and can barely stand(nothing needs to be said about it's 'sanitary' habits ;) ). We have to take turns feeding it milk through a syringe every few hours and when he starts yelping in hunger in the middle of the night. And it greatly disturbs me that the happiness that I derive from having to wake up at ungodly hours to syringe-feed it(and not to mention have it pee on my legs) has to have some reason attached to it. God forbid the day when the motivation behind feelings like LOVE and AFFECTION. Thank you, but emotions to me, can and should only be just an inherent part of ourselves, and I intend to keep them that way.

Building on these two examples, this is perhaps why I am indifferent over the arguments floored by both gentlemen in their blogs -- It is a debate that I rather not have/feel that I don't need to have in my life. Motivation - me, myself and I; My life, my will, my principles, my destiny. 

Speaking of which, lil' yet-to-be-named-puppy-dog just shitted on the floor again.. better clean it up before mum sees it =P bah.. these blocks of word are starting to intimidate me anyway.

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! I'll post a photo of our puppy later. And for those that are taking maths term test on Monday, enjoy solving your surface integrals and differential equations governing your flow of angpau money ;)  firecrackersboomboomboom^^

yeah.. so here I go again about my age and how old I look and feel =)

Things that make one feel old :-

1) Putting your age down as 2X instead of 1X on forms.

2) 3 out of 3 teammates asked think that you are at least a 3rd year undergraduate(in other words, a 25 year-old if one is a Singaporean)

3) Weird people try to sell you savings/insurance plans on the streets

4) Even weirder people trying to arrange an interview for you with their companies on the streets.

5) You have trouble hearing the high pitched "Ringtone-that-only-kids-can-hear" (yes, it's true.. it's barely audible to me now T.T)

6) Your own cousin thinks that you look 28.

oh man.. I think i'm gonna need to stock up on facial whitening creams and anti-wrinkle products soon xD

no prizes for guessing my real age.. well, except for a gracious hug and a big "THANK YOU!" hehe..

go on ahead guys, don't wait up for this here ol' bag o' bones xD

I'm sure most of us have been there before -- so here's a few of them disruptive behaviors that you'll grow to hate and love throughout your campus life :-

1) The Talkers - common family of parasites in the lecture theaters. Species range from the whisperers (who usually discuss and seek clarification from friends beside them in whispers about what's being thought by the lecturer) to the downright irritating gossipers(endless gossip in during lecture without any relation to what's going on in lecture, with no attempt to keep their voices).

Lecturers should really just be firm and chase them gossipers out of the theater since they are obviously not interested in what's being thought. Outside the theater would be even better a place for their small talk. I'd say it's a win-win situation for all of us;)

2) The Cinema go-ers -- Totally irrational behavior. Watching movies/anime in class with earphones on.. beats me why they are in lecture in the 1st place. Additionally, they are potentially distracting if they are sitting right in front of you in class.. especially if it's anime that they are watching;) .

3) The modelling head-hunters -- hehe, got this from Chin Seong. Imagine a guy in front of you checking out photos of models on his laptop while sitting right in front of you, then you start to compare their excellent feminine figures with the lecturer's male, middle-aged body.. xD well, this is for guys only anyway ^^

4) The food connoisseurs -- ah, this last type of distraction attacks your sense of smell, people munching away happily at some hot pastry/cake in class -- a smell that is enough to make your legs go weak and your mind a blur. *shudders* Most may bot realise it, but this is perhaps the most selfish and underhanded behavior possible in lecture. Think about it. The guy/girl with the food is slowly savouring his/her food while listening to the lecturer while poisoning the people around him/her with the ecstasy-causing aroma. That's plain sabotage if you ask me, lol. And the worst part is that, most of them choose to savour every bite and make the food last as long as possible instead of finishing it as soon as possible. I totally understand the wish to maximise the satisfaction from the food, but if only they knew the cost of that=) . But then again, these are just the rantings of a guy who often thinks with his stomach, so you might have to pardon some of my exaggerations on the matter =P.

And for that reason, I totally love my programming lecturer, Gary Tan, and his warning on the first day of his lecturing, " If you want to eat during my lecture, make sure that you bring enough for the whole lecture group.. " xD xD

hehe.. but ultimately, hate them as we may now, I guess we'll only start to miss them after graduation..

but for now, ZERO TOLERANCE! ;)

And here they are, my preeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeccccccccccious ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^

 

Too bad i'll have to cook them sooner or later =P

Dammit! SOMEONE STOLE HALF OF MY EGGS that I just bought on Sunday!! Whatever reason you have for taking my eggs, know that what goes around comes around -- you WILL get your retribution, you wait and see!

Muscle and fitness War was held last Saturday, where Wei Ming from the team got 1st in the IVP level and 2nd in opens. He won hands down of course =)

here's a photo of him in action, although one can't really tell which one is him from the photo xD i think he's the one furthest to the right ;) congrats ya!



Went to have my laundry done on Monday, saw this notice on the laundry room door calling users who flood the machines "cheapo asses" because they refuse to put enough money for a complete wash of their clothes. I couldn't agree more and i can understand why he or she is so frustrated -- imagine 10 out of 20 washing machines not working because some university level idiots are trying to beat the system by putting less money than it is required for a complete wash. I have half a mind to go down to the laundry room with a marker and write "hear hear" at the bottom of the notice tomorrow, lol... well, here's part of the notice as taken from my phone ;)




ahh.. just got back form our night rowing session.. now, when was the last time that i went for one? Almost 2 months ago, i reckon.. no wonder we were all, as Veejay puts it, "fantastically frantic" in our rowing.. time for us to improve ya ;) together we can do it..

ok, homework time.. 1st half of semester is perhaps the only time where Iit's actually possible for Tan Jo to be ahead of his class in tutorials, and I plan to fully capitalise on that. Sorry for the brief post ;)

Tan Jo out.

2nd week into the 2nd semester, and it's finally dawning upon the NUS student community that happy days are almost over - from a pessimist point of view that is ;) Tutorial classes officially start next week, marking an official end to the relaxed pace of life which lingered since the end of last semester.

The 1st week of the semester was fraught with rain - mind you, not the kind of soak-you-ups but rain here in Singapore ravages and drowns(only now do I understand the importance of all the "banjaran" or mountain ranges that we've studied in Geography classes in high school).

Naturally, to the non-lover of rain, this spate of wet and cold weather provides a rather irritating distraction to my everyday life. Thoughts of my umbrella filling up every corner of my mind, making me more absent-minded as ever. Lets see, I forgot to do things like helping chin seong bring his gym shoes to gym, attend my physics lab session.. etc.. YEAH, you are probably right. I'm just making lame excuses for myself -- those things could've happened anyway regardless of the weather. That's me alright^^.

Anyway.. it might be the weather, or it could be some significant alignment of the celestial and astral bodies, but I am convinced that the past week is some sort of bad-mood day in Singapore, or NUS at least. Somehow I feel that people are extra touchy these few days. Lets see, I somehow get the feeling that I've offended some of my dragonboat teammates with some of my regular jokes - something that has never happened before. Canteen stall owners are especially disgruntled in serving me on a few occasions this week.

The economic rice stall uncle gave me record little amount of food last weekend and even grumpily hurried me while i was ordering, when there wasn't even anyone queueing up behind me waiting to order. That was ok, since he was usually not in such a good mood.

The usually very friendly owner of the Western Food Stall at the business faculty canteen lost his temper at me for asking for a change of side dishes when it was his own mistake at serving me a wrong order of side dishes. "..you could've stopped me when i gave u the wrong stuff.. but NO, you were too engrossed in your conversation with your friend to bother.. your conversation was MUCH more important.."

WTH! I was so outraged by the incident that I couldn't think straight throughout lunch and the hour after! Firstly, I asked him clearly whether it would be all right to have my pick of side dishes other than the conventional on the menu, and he said okay. Then I pointed out that the side dishes that I wanted and he acknowledged and signaled to his helper in the kitchen to prepare the dish. I admit that occasionally if one wanted to, one would be able to catch a glimpse of what was going on in the kitchen. And it is true that I was chatting with Chin Seong at that time, but 3 things about the whole things really made me fume.

First of all, COME ON, who would've known that chicken chop with the wrong side dishes was for me?! There was a long long queue of people behind me for crying out loud.

Secondly, that stall has been in business for almost 12 years now. Who would've expected you as the owner to make such an unprofessional mistake?! You are the expert here, and you acknowledged my order, and yet you blame me when you messed up my order. Somehow I find the stream of logic hard to flow here. >.>

Thirdly, even knowing that I am in the right, seeing him as an elder person and the owner of Chin Seong's food stall, I chose to try and be more respectful and humbly apologise in front of the whole queue of people behind me instead of humiliating him, and what did he do? He raised his voice at me, reprimanded me in front of all the people in the queue -- humiliation at it's best. I shall not even dwell on the fact that he charged me extra for that particular meal. I should've just refused to pay up! *feels great need for profanities here*

The day I decided to spend more than two times the normal amount of cash on lunch was spoilt all because of him. My 1st time in this semester at his stall, my last ever in my 4 years at NUS.

Bad mood week huh? =) Well, I reckon it should be over by now. Rainny weather is slowly residing. Lovely and warm sunshine is back. Jeff thinks that i'm cute(dun comment, lol), lihui realised that i'm more than just a blur person, hahaha and Sara was kind enough to show me how powerful my trusty calculator is(no more solving 3 simultaneous eqns by hand!! muahahahaha) My horoscope says that my love life is hopeless this year. I still suck at long runs with the team and i'm going rowing extra early tomorrow.

and now, off to dinner here's a photo of the dreaded "chin-up bar of death" at the Sports and Recreational Center. 10 more to 20 good ones!! jiayou jiayou!

sighs.. school starts tomorrow.... it's not as bad as people say.. right? lol

Anyway, feeling lost, I spent my afternoon sitting at a shady spot under a tree overlooking the campus field, studying the clouds on thehorizon while enjoying the lovely sensation of the cool afternoon breeze caressing every inch of my exposed skin.

I love looking at the sky.. It reminds me of how small and insignificant I am -- like how at the same point in time, there might be another unknowing person, just like me, is looking at the same piece of cloud grazing lazily in the afternoon sky; I like how, beyond the deep blueness, hang the stars.. and between us and them, we have space,infinite volumes of space and emptiness.. by looking up and the vast emptiness, I might even be meeting the gaze of another person on another planet and not know it -- I like that feeling.

And on very special days like today.. the clouds would as if "open up", letting me spot faraway clouds so near the horizon that it feels like they must be hovering directly above another continent(ok, exaggerating,maybe another country perhaps?^^)

And then I blinked, and it's gone.. all good things must come to an end^^ i'm just glad i enjoyed it while it lasted. Just like the hols and just about everything else in life, no? ;)

Well, if i can remember clearly, it looked something like this..





the simplified skyline is just to give the picture some perspective =P No prizes for guessing what's the building at the middle of the picture. hehe

Newton's 3rd law of graduation :- "For every action towards graduation, there is an equal and opposite distraction."

and as a result of it being the last day weekday before my 2nd semester in NUS begins, I came up with this treat for my dear ex-roommate victor-sama..



full-sized image on my deviantart site.. happy last weekend of hols everyone! Fasten your seatbelts everyone! Here we go again^^

With the departure of the year 2006 and the start of 2007, I like to take this opportunity to post a short review of last year, with all of its ups and downs.

Before I start, I just want to say that it was a mistake to have made my trip down to Singapore on New Year's Eve. I should've just stayed one extra day and spent it with my parents. I did not even get a chance to say a proper goodbye to them yesterday as I rushed for the bus headed or Singapore. Bad bad call on my part. T.T Man, this is the 1st time I am so saddened by saying my goodbyes, or rather, not getting to say a proper goodbye. Although its true that I've spent the whole morning travelling down to KL with my parents, but I expected that we would at least have the chance to have lunch together 1st before boarding a bus to Singapore, but alas, there was only one seat available - "sekarang!" as the ticketing lady puts it. (I should've just come back the next day). *sobs* and for that mistake, I spent my new year's eve in regret.

Well, what's done is done. This senario still hasn't changed the fact that 2006 was a swell year for me, filled with many things which I am thankful for. ;)

Lets see. To sum it all up, I got most, if not all that I wished for in 2006.

1) I wanted to get a scholarship to continue studying in Sinagpore(altho, I really wouldn't mind studying in the UK or US)-- i got it. Thank you.
2) I secretly wished that I'd find a very special girl -- i did.(To an extent^^) Thank you!
3) I wanted to row on a dragon boat team again. -- I did, and my team won the Singapore men's open this year^^) Thank you!
4) I wanted a very good friend who understands me. --brought forward from last year^^ Thank you!
5) I hoped that I could be more religious and understand some things in life better -- to a satisfying extent I did. Thank you!
6) Had the crazy idea of taking the NUS shuttle bus to the Bukit Timah Campus(simply because it's free?^^) Did that too =P Thank you!

The list goes on, but these are a few of the things that I am most thankful for in 2006. Although I dare not claim that 2006 is without it's downs, but I guess what I am most thankful for, is for the wisdom that is bestowed upon me to dwell not on the downs, but instead, indulged on the ups, ups and ups that make 2006.. truly wonderful. Thank you all for making 2006 a year to remember.

and here's some photos from the final months of 2006 for ya ;)



Family of squeaking ducks staying in my room^^ up for adoption.. call me =P


hehe, a perverted maniquin guy goosing around in public, trying to grab some of that ass xD


What i found in my cluster kitchen the day before I moved out.. some ppl were desperate to get rid of stuff apparently ^^

A few days ago there was a unforeseen turn of events in the political milieu - the Federation of Squirrels, consisting of member squirrels co-habiting with us humans in the compound of the house, declared a state of hostilities with the Tan family.

Yesterday, around 0400 hours, an espionage attempt was successfully carried out, as a incursion team of squirrels gained access to the house through the metal grills covering the corridors on the 2nd floor of the house. They then proceeded to descend down to the food storage on the 1st floor and successfully extracted a whole loaf of bread from a sealed container, which was to be our family's form of sustenance for the following morning.the remains of the loaf of bread was found a few hundred meters from the house the next day. - Intel reports.

No one is sure what is the cause of this sudden act of hostility, but it is suspected that negative feelings arose when our family's 4-kg-carpet-of-a-cat, Mimi, caught and ate a squirrel in the compound, leaving nothing behind except for it's bushy tail. "Disgusting," as baby sister, and witness, Tan Wan, puts it.

On a separate incident, xtine's dog, Floss, caught a rat once, but intel doubts that these two events are in any way linked, so this matter shall not be pursued any further.

However, demographics shows that there is a family of raccoons staying near the house, but we are at this point in time unable to confirm whether they have a part to play in Wednesday's raid.

Tan family's spoke person and mum, Mdm Lim assured us that tighter security measures and better, more impregnable containers will be used to fend of any future onslaughts.

Mimi, the cat however is nowhere to be found. the family expects it to return during the weekend.

(continue from previous post)

Terms like the white man's burden, aphateid system, and probably most of the forms of racial and gender discrimination or even plain abuse probably have this " 5 cents" mindset rooted in somewhere. Think about it. The conflict/injustice usually begins when one 50cents coin is perceived to be worth much more than ten 5 cents coins in the same currency - in other words, the roles and contributions of certain parties are intentionally underplayed such that it's value is lower vis-a-vis what it should've been.

Additionally, this kind of the-worthless-5-cents-coin mentality probably explains why the turn up rate for elections in a lot of democracies(with specific reference to the US) is so low. I shall make a generalization that the reason for most of their no-show is that they are stuck with the idea of the insignificance of their vote against the whole sea of voters in the democracy. Although the analogy between 50cents and 5cents coins maybe inapt for us to picture - we probably need, say, a $5000 note to 100,000 5 cents coins comparison, but the underlying concept is still very much the same. Your 5cents can make a difference!

Relationships are like plants. You have to constantly water them to keep them alive(although I do recognise that there are cactus plants out there too -- hardy and prickly eh? xD). But how often have we fallen victim for the fallacy of one-50cents-coin-over-ten-5cents-coins worth of 'watering'? I admit that the definition of friendship may hold different meanings for different people, but to me, it means a lot to me that both parties mutually care about each other and pay due attention to the little things. For instance, being around when I really need you, for all things big or small, is certainly worth more than any expensive gifts that I might receive from you once in a while as a token of our 'friendship'.(Although that doesn't mean I'll turn them down^^). I guess at the end of the day, it all boils down to people looking for consistency in relationships. So, think about it. If you really want to improve a relationship that you have with another individual, perhaps it's time to make every opportunity to drop 5cents into the relationship bank count. ;)

For another thing, this mentality is also present in areas like ethics. I am an advocate for the kind nature of man. So I shall assume that every human being out there wants to do good deeds and help the less fortunate. But I admit that sometimes I too have fallen for the fallacy of forgoing perhaps a chance to donate to charity based on the notion that my 5 cents will probably not be able to make much difference in the overall picture of poverty eradication. We know that 10 coins will make 50cents, 100 coins will make 5 dollars and so on. But somehow it's difficult to convince ourselves that we CAN make a difference. The same applies to good deeds as well. A good samaritan should never give up a chance, however insignificant it may seem, to show some kindness in this world. My theory is that the problem with the, often termed, "cold city dwellers" is just that they feel that it is insignificant to show some kindness in their everyday lives, cause, the kindness that they show on the streets will probably be done unto a stranger whom, they think they'd probably never even see again for the rest of their lives(contrast this to a suburban town). So what do they do about their drive to sow their unused kindness? They join the peace corps, work for reputable charity organisations, etc - a place where they can see their efforts bear fruit and bring joy to the recipient on the other end of the stick. But unknown to them is that every little act of kindness will increase the pool of happiness, although one might not be able to see it directly, in society. If everyone starts to make every 5 cents worth of love count, this world could possibly be such a better place. Where is the love? It stored in 5 cents coins in our pockets, waiting to accumulate into a big $500 note before we think it's worth showing it. ;)

Moreover, this worthless-5-cents-mentality is perhaps one of the reasons why so little is being done to tackle regional or global problems. Take the issue of global warming for instance. Nations spent years arguing that larger economies are in a better position to tackle the problem because they are in a position to make a significant change in course in global warming. Take the Kyoto Protocol for instance, emission cuts for green house gases are proposed only for developed countries wheres developing countries were spared the potentially-damaging-to-the-economy cuts. Although the developing countries indeed cannot afford to spend so much funds initially intended for development to tackle environmental issues, but that doesn't mean that they are exempted from contributing at all - every 5 cents counts towards the goal. This is also one of the reasons I use to convince people around me to do their bit to conserve energy and protect the environment. Every unused device/charger unplugged/turned-off is a step into curbing global warming. I shall be frank to my readers out there, you do your bit too, ok? And hopefully there are enough people in this world with enough sense to slow down when they see that they are charging towards the end of a cliff such that our little 5cents will add up to make a BIG difference for us, our children and our children's children.

In a nutshell, this concept applies to many other things in life, of which I think would be a bore to the reader if I list them out one by one. So, just before I wrap up my super long-winded post, my advice to my readers out there : give your 5 cents due credit - be thankful for every little bit that you receive and every little bit that you can give. You will make yourself and many others happy in the process.

Finals, finals.. 2 papers down(take it literally if you want), and 3 more to go. I know that I probably shouldn't be posting anything here now, but I shall make an exception for this.

I had my 1st paper last Monday. For all those unfamiliar with my habitational patterns, I am a hostelite, staying in the slums of NUS - PGP(ok lah, I'll give it to them - it is still a place i call home in this otherwise foreign land).

Monday's was a evening paper, so naturally I, the guy who has tendencies to think with his stomach, needed a snack prior to the paper. Uhmmm umm.. a sandwich ought to do the trick. But there was one problem, I have been almost literally confining myself in my hostel for the sake of my studying - or attempts to study, if you prefer to call it that^^ ; My cash is running low without access to an auto-teller-machine for almost a week now. I messaged Chin Seong about the price of a sandwich at the canteen and found it to be a dollar each. *Looks in wallet* -- 20cents left T.T .. Aha, but out of desperation and knowledge of my money(and just about everything else)-misplacement-patterns, I managed to come up with a dollar's worth of 10cents and 5cents coins(for those unfamiliar with the Singaporean currency and denominations, 5 cents is the smallest value one can get from a coin-the government discontinued 1 cents quite some time ago). So this is roughly what I had to work with:



10 five cents coins, 5 ten cents coins, a button from my favourite shirt that fell off ><, a super cute piggy and a medal(Sorryyy.. couldn't resist gloating a bit=P).

So anyway, I jubilantly marched down to the canteen only to find, to my horror and disgust, that the sandwich stall owner would not have my 5 cents coins!! Unheard of! I was totally disgusted!! She reasoned that it's very troublesome for such a small scale business as hers to manage 5 cents coins. OMGWTFBBQLASERGUNPEWPEWPEW! Duh! that's why i'm PAYING you for the trouble?! Your sandwiches are 25% more expensive than the other campus stalls in the respective schools?!

But that's perhaps, what is wrong with the majority of society nowadays- we just don't care about 5 cents worth of something. My experience gives an example of how this discrimination of denomination exists in the business sphere, but if one would care to think about it, one would find that this trend of human behavior is veering its ugly head in many other areas, like in our relationships with other people in ethics and even mankind's handling of worldly issues.

(read my super long next post if you are interested in my evaluation of this;) )

*Munch munch munch*

ahh.. OREOs.. I haven't had one since before I left home to start my my semester here in NUS.

*Looks jubilantly at stack of de-filling-ized OREO cookies beside the laptop* ^^

oh man.. them oreos are making me miss home. This is the first time I'm getting all sentimental over my food. LOL! What am I doing?! The next you know, I'd be telling you that i can't bear to eat the cookies that I've so diligently emptied. No way! That's the best part about oreo cookies; no way am I gonna leave these around for the ants and cockroaches(not that I'm implying that there's any in my room!!). xD

*Munch munch*

Sigh! Home has always been so, so, abundant. And mind you, it's not just about the food that I'm referring to. I miss mum and dad and my siblings. I miss my grandmother. Note to oneself: Call home extra early tomorrow to catch her before she retires to bed. I want to be there when my sister brings home her 1st boyfriend, then I can spend hours lecturing him over what to do and what not to do over lunch(his treat, of course!).. LOL, nah.. kidding! My sister would disown me as a brother if I ever did that=P.. I miss the extra noisy but reassuring sound of the state mosque just across the road. And I plan to give dad all the rides in the car(while his heart can still take this driver xD). I don't want to sleep alone! At home I had 2 roommates, in Oldham Hall i had 4.. Now, I only have FAT Pikachu(no offense ya pika pika?). Nights are just not the same anymore. At least I had Jason's reassuringly loud snoring back in my JC days. May god have mercy on the ears of his neighbour and pray that he will grow to appreciate his snoring too, like us H3-26 ppl last time^^. SIGH! Libras are so miserable when left alone. I wonder what's so nice about getting your own room. I want a roommate! 3 weeks till I'm home bound! I'll probably hint mum to check the stockpile of oreos and chips-mores at home..

which reminds me, I still have left over curry from yesterday.. oh dear, hope it doesn't spoil..

Summary of past week:
1. Got stuck in lift with Chin Seong at SRC - Team captain Teddy, who was working out at the gym too attributed this to bad karma for being lazy and trying to take the lift in a 2 story building >< Chin Seong is utterly convinced that weird things only happen to him when he's around me T.T

2. I sat for my programming practical exam.. and missed the time or submission by seconds! OMG.. I'll never trust the desktop clock again! That's soo stupid of myself to do so. STUPID! Taking the super-difficult make up test next wednesday(OK!, I want flowers, lavender and tulips for my funeral xD xD )

3. Definition of the market economy:- The endeavors of men to transfer wealth from other people's women to their own woman. ^^

4. A girl in class, Claudia, whom we thought 'casually' commented that the superman in our CQ video was cute a few weeks ago showed an apparent interest in him today in class and even asked for his phone number. Hahaha, amazing what a pair of red coloured underwear worn on the outside can do huh? What's with chicks and superheros? xD xD xD

5. A PRC girl asked for my dear, charming and can-be-quite-flirtatious roommate, Shin Hung's phone number in his class today. He's studying in Imperial now by the way.. No wonder he's ignoring many of us online nowadays la!

6. My results sucked for my Statics and mechanics quiz. Time to wake up Tan Jo!



24th River Regatta

It's a tough world out there and there can be little sympathy for a country that prefers to argue about how to divide wealth rather than get on with the job of creating it.

The long-held aim is for 30 per cent of corporate equity to be in Malay hands, but the figure that the Government uses to justify handing over huge swathes of public companies to Malays but not to other races is absurd. It bases its figure on equity valued, not at market value, but at par value.

Many shares have a par value of say $1 but a market value of $12. And so the Government figure (18.9 per cent is the most recent figure) is a gross underestimate. Last month a paper by a researcher at a local think-tank came up with a figure of 45 per cent based on actual stock prices. All hell broke loose. The paper was withdrawn and the researcher resigned in protest. Part of the problem is that he is Chinese.

"Malaysia boleh!" is Malaysia's national catch cry. It translates to "Malaysia can!" and Malaysia certainly can. Few countries are as good at wasting money. It is richly endowed with natural resources and the national obsession seems to be to extract these, sell them off and then collectively spray the proceeds up against the wall.

This all happens in the context of Malaysia's grossly inflated sense of its place in the world.

Most Malaysians are convinced that the eyes of the world are on their country and that their leaders are world figures. This is thanks to Malaysia's tame media and the bravado of former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad. The truth is, few people on the streets of London or New York could point to Malaysia on a map much less name its prime minister or capital city.

As if to make this point, a recent episode of The Simpsons features a newsreader trying to announce that a tidal wave had hit some place called Kuala Lumpur. He couldn't pronounce the city's name and so made up one, as if no-one cared anyway. But the joke was on the script writers — Kuala Lumpur is inland.

Petronas, the national oil company is well run, particularly when compared to the disaster that passes for a national oil company in neighbouring Indonesia. But in some respects, this is Malaysia's problem. The very success of Petronas means that it is used to underwrite all manner of excess.

The KLCC development in central Kuala Lumpur is an example. It includes the Twin Towers, the tallest buildings in the world when they were built, which was their point.

It certainly wasn't that there was an office shortage in Kuala Lumpur — there wasn't.

Malaysians are very proud of these towers. Goodness knows why. They had little to do with them. The money for them came out of the ground and the engineering was contracted out to South Korean companies.

They don't even run the shopping centre that's beneath them. That's handled by Australia's Westfield.

Next year, a Malaysian astronaut will go into space aboard a Russian rocket — the first Malay in space. And the cost? $RM95 million ($A34.3 million), to be footed by Malaysian taxpayers. The Science and Technology Minister has said that a moon landing in 2020 is the next target, aboard a US flight. There's no indication of what the Americans will charge for this, assuming there's even a chance that they will consider it. But what is Malaysia getting by using the space programs of others as a taxi service? There are no obvious technical benefits, but no doubt Malaysians will be told once again, that they are "boleh". The trouble is, they're not. It's not their space program.

Back in July, the Government announced that it would spend $RM490 million on a sports complex near the London Olympics site so that Malaysian athletes can train there and "get used to cold weather".

But the summer Olympics are held in the summer.

So what is the complex's real purpose? The dozens of goodwill missions by ministers and bureaucrats to London to check on the centre's construction and then on the athletes while they train might provide a clue.

Bank bale outs, a formula one racing track, an entire new capital city — Petronas has paid for them all. It's been an orgy of nonsense that Malaysia can ill afford.

Why? Because Malaysia's oil will run out in about 19 years. As it is, Malaysia will become a net oil importer in 2011 — that's just five years away.

So it's in this context that the latest debate about race and wealth is so sad.

It is time to move on, time to prepare the economy for life after oil. But, like Nero fiddling while Rome burned, the Malaysian Government is more interested in stunts like sending a Malaysian into space when Malaysia's inadequate schools could have done with the cash, and arguing about wealth distribution using transparently ridiculous statistics.

That's not Malaysia "boleh", that's Malaysia "bodoh" (stupid).

ahh.. such is not the normal feedback you get about Malaysia nowadays, at least not in our local media. the Abdullah administration would've been severely undermined if we have our media spotting these kind of opinions. I am a bit embarassed that once I used to look up in awe at our very own Petronas Twin Towers, but Mr. Backman here puts forth some very valid points, like how this tasteless squandered funds could've served to make the lives of many Malaysians much better off, compared to just getting a very expensive bit of decors for the capital city skyline to make it look more pleasing in the eyes of Malaysians in the vicinity.

Perhaps one of the things Mr. Backman hasn't giving full credit to is the issue of politics. Political arguments are sadly, not confined to deviding the economic pie amongst the races. Even within the largest component party in the ruling coalition, UMNO, the political dissention is rampant. And the saddest part is that most if not all of this political hoohah have little or nothing to do with the economy. Malaysian politicians are obviously more concerned with their own personal quarrels and grudges with each other. But then again, I dare not say that this is not true of most politicians around the world. But man! At least have some concern towards the economy and where the country is heading while you fight it out amongst yourselves. Sometimes.. sometimes i think.. the only politician that I ever hear talking about the economy. 81 years old, and the ex-premier still has more sense than most of our 'wise' leaders in the current administration.

The political milieu is Malaysia is an embarassment(enjoy this). ALL, i say ALL of them lack  maturity. But then again, that's why we are termed a developing country. Compared to some developing countries, I must admit that we have must to be thankful for, but to traverse the gap of developing and developed country status, Malaysians still have a long long long way to go. Perhaps it's time we realised that the last lap to Vision 2020 is not just about industrialization, instead, it's also about creating a political and business milieu that can sustain our endeavors to become a developed state. It is unhealthy to be ONLY comparing one's performance with ppl who are doing worse off than yourself. Look upwards Malaysia, and see how far you are behind and not at how far you are ahead.

ahh.. forgive me for the belated post, but I was rather caught up with the 24th Singapore River Regatta 2006 last weekend.

For the uninitiated, the River Regatta is a national level dragon boat racing event held annually along the Singapore River. This is the 2nd time I am racing under the banner of teamNUS, and even with 2 years of rowing for the Chung Ling team back in high school, I gotta admit that it is rather exciting.

For completeness sake, (and not to mention save myself from having to type out another post=P), this post will now bring you, the reader back to the day before the race - Friday.

Friday :
ahh.. call me crazy, call me quirky, but I always get this overwhelming need to go have my hair cut on the eve of any dragon boat competition, to literally shave, or rather, cut-off the extra weight. (To all of those who have their eyebrows raised at this point in the post:- It's a mental thing ;)) So I've decided to go to the hair saloon which I normally go to when I'm in Singapore - the one at Rochor Center. Since I was in the neighbourhood, I figured I would drop by the Kuan Yin Temple to pray - the world is in a such a mess nowadays. Besides world peace and wisdom for mankind, a few prayers or two to keep the participants safe during tomorrow's race wouldn't hurt i thought. Ahh.. by virtue of the rainy season, heavy rain began to fall even before I alighted at the Queenstreet terminal. Good thing I had my umbrella with me, else I can't even begin to imagine what would happen to my laptop that I had with me at that time(I left straight after class you see..) *hugs laptop* (glad that you are safe and sound! =)) *whistles* My goodness, the rain was so heavy at the Bugis area. I had to hug my laptop while walking around with my umbrella just to keep it from getting drenched. Just when you think things can't get any worse, they do. My umbrella started to leak=P good thing it wasn't too bad.. in fact, I was quite amused by my predicament at the moment in time.. hahaha

hmm.. a lot of interesting things happened to me that evening.. Quite a few people actually approached me to fetch them over to another building and such. With my tiny umbrella, the presence of other people with bigger umbrellas in the vicinity, I am lost as to why I was approached of all people.. Perhaps I have the face of a guy who just can't say no.. hahaha, konon! But I enjoyed helping out nevertheless, so I guess I have no complaints to that! =) Anyway, I managed to get myself to the temple despite the rain. As I was leaving the temple for my haircut, I saw a ice-cream stall uncle, you know, the type who sells ice-creams by the road side, manning his stall. What caught me was that he was still stubbornly manning his post despite the heavy rain(we all know that most people won't go anywhere near ice-creams on cold rainy days, right?). At that instance in time, I was like, filled with awe and respect at the resilience of ice-cream sellers in Singapore. Wow, that's dedication, man.. As I was pondering over the matter while walking hurriedly down the road in the rain, I suddenly realised that all the other ice-cream stalls in the area were already closed.. I was like OMG OMG! RESPECT! That ice-cream stall uncle was really something. In the end, after contemplating in the rain for a while, I decided that I shall go make the uncle's day. Sooo, it's all the way back to the temple for me, rotten umbrella and all=) Ahhh.. the uncle was so surprised to see me coming back for ice-cream. I told him jokingly that I enjoy the 'kick' of eating ice-cream on cold days and we both laughed. I'm glad that I could offer him a bit of cheering up on his rainy day. Besides, it was the eve of an important sports event, I needed the excuse to have some otherwise taboo-to-my-captain ice-cream xD Making one's day is easier than you think, no? ;)

ahh.. so I finally went back to the hair saloon.. but something was wrong with their circuit board, the power kept tripping at every flash of lightning. So I left my umbrella at the saloon and went to 7-11 to get something to drink. I chatted with the cashier at the counter and he was teasing me about me getting a half-cut hair on one side of my head if there was a black out in the middle of my haircut.. so bad, lol.. at any rate, back at the saloon, I sat down with the aunties and ladies outside the shop, waiting for the power to get back on, and somehow they almost managed to convince me that I should have my haircut along the corridor in front of the shop.. LOL.. the younger trainees at the studio was like giggling away at the idea la.. Wth la! I am your customer you know! hehe.. anyway, the power went back on just as I was on the verge of becoming a publicity stunt for the saloon, so we all moved back in.. PHEW! xD

So.. all went well for friday huh? ;) ahh.. contented

Saturday & Sunday:
Man, I'm so lazy to continue typing.. I guess that's the bain about doing late posts >.>
Oh well, I guess I shall just give you guys the highlights.. My boat, NUS Boat B came in 1st in the men's open grand final, beating 3-year-champion Singapore Canoe Federation(SCF) and even our team's own Boat A! What a jaw-dropper! I don't really know how we pulled that one, but I'm very happy for all of my brothers.. Man, this is what I mean by the fairytale in dragon boating in one of my previous posts here. I'm glad that all of us got here together.. I love you guys!;) NUS did quite well, in this River Regatta-- 3rd in women's open, 1st in men's open, 1st in Tertiary education institutes category, and 1st in plate finals for the mixed team. It was a very touching journey for all, and I am glad to be there beside them all as we created history and achieved immortality. Cheers NUS! As my captain, Teddy, fondly referred to as the Teddy Monster by the team, puts it, "..medals and trophies are but to garnish our journey in dragon boating as friends and brothers..it's the friendship and camaraderie that makes each and every stroke, worth it." ;)

btw, I still can't believe Teddy plotted a graph from the tide tables to determine the current conditions at the race site in order to adapt our strategies accordingly.. now that's an engineer for ya.. hahaha

Signing off with an aching back, breast and shoulder, this is Tan Jo, dragon boat rower, friend, brother.. human. Peace.







Just a token to garnish our friendship and camaraderie.

Ahh.. i promised my worn-out braincells that i'd keep this short, so here goes..

I cooked dinner for Rui Hoong and Victor yesterday^^ Four edible dishes(and no burnt ones, to all of those who are waiting anxiously for news of me burning something and setting of the fire alarm at PGP xD)..

Cooking is so much work. Especially when you just don't have all the necessary equipments and kitchenware which were invented to make life easier in the first place! Oh man, what would i give to have a vegetable grater and a chopper board in my pantry.. But, on a 2nd thought, that would probably mean more stuff to move out of my room end of this year, not to mention the arduous journey all the way from clementi back to hostel carrying a newly bought chopper board =)

Victor was my good ol', self-proclaimed professional onion dicer and Rui Hoong worked wonders with the vegetables. Even Lin Sien came down and helped with the preparation. Arigato to that. Having a rowing session prior to that really gets one tired ;) It was a whole two hours before dinner was ready to be served, no thanks to the weak electric stove that we have in PGP. NODS. That probably explains why we gobbled down the food before anyone could remember to take photos of it^^. But nevertheless, it was overall a success. We managed to churn out 4 dishes, 2 of which were my favourite and was learnt during my years of apprenticeship with my mum.. Thanks mum! The other two were ripped from the internet and surprisingly, they were not THAT sensational tasting =P So basically this is how the menu looked like.

1) Honey & ginger braised carrots
2) Spanish omellette
3) White melon cake
4) Sweet & Sour Pork

ahh.. sry for the lack of photos.. I promise not to think with my stomach next time ><

hmmm.. Victor thinks that my room will be full of junk! Hah! I sure showed him alright;) But it's true. I love to collect junk. I think i have a post on this last year, lol.. But i guess it's only been a few months since i moved into my room, so technically I haven't had enough time to accumulate my 'wealth' yet^^..

ahh.. nap! good night peeps!