After a 13-hour flight with not 1 but 2 screaming babies and a 3-hour bus ride, we arrived at Cambridge. Tired, but very excited.


The bus stopped at Parker's Piece, i.e. a huge green space in the centre of town. We then started to make our way to Cityroomz at Tenison Road. According to Google Earth, that's about 1.26km.

Booked a room with Cityroomz online and it turned out to be relatively bright and new. I think the deceptively sunny weather helped a great deal.


Cute receptionist. =)


After taking a shower and some rest, we decided to take a walk in Cambridge. First stop, we popped into the bicycle shop next to Cityroomz to check out the rates.

We decided that we would rent the bicycles on the 2nd day instead.

Cambridge centre is made up of small-scale houses interspersed with parts of the university. An ecosystem on its own. Couldn't help but to take a pic of this Chinese restuarant.


After 10-15 minutes, we found ourselves at the main gate of Judge Business School along Trumpington Street. The gate carries its old name, i.e. Judge Institute of Management Studies. JBS is a relatively young business school, i.e. less than 20 years old.

We didn't go into the building. Merely peeped a little and wondered what the upcoming interview was gonna be like. Google Earth says Cityroomz is about 1.53km away from JBS. We need to estimate the time required to get to JBS on foot (heels) for the interview on Mon morning.

As we kept treading up north along Trumpington, we got onto King's Parade, where the super grand colleges were. There were many tourists snapping pics. And the students walking around were, I presume, live exhibits.


Feeling hungry, we turned the corner and got onto Market Street and found a cornish shop. The view from the upper floor is great! Sunlight, jet lag and sugar rush don't go together very well. Started to feel a little tired.

Somehow, we decided that we had to visit Fitzwilliam College coz... erm... Lee Kuan Yew was from there.

So we headed up Sidney Street.


Bridge Street.


Then we saw this bit of town and got distracted. I wanted to see the buildings along the river.




And so, we chanced upon the beautiful Jesus Green.



And some charming residential developments adjacent to it. This is probably some college housing because the curtains are the same.

Ooooh... These houses remind of me those we saw in Perth.


How perfect is it for pink-tinted roses to be creeping outside your window?


After half an hour of oohing and aahing, we continued with our search for Fitzwilliam College by heading up northwest. It was a really long walk.

I cannot remember the number of times I exclaimed,"ARE YOU THERE YET?? DID LKY HAVE TO WALK SO FAR?!! ARE WE LOST?? CANNOT OREDI... MY LEGS ARE BURNING!!!"


And then out of the blue, I caught a glimpse of the sign!!!!

A linear and modern dark brick development with the smell of laundry. We must have been standing beside the laundry room window. =))

By this time, my legs were burning so much. And jetlag had set in. I feel the need to find a warm cosy bed.

On our way back, we saw this black cat, and I started calling out to it,"Blinky! Blinky!!" I is mad.

He's like the only cat we saw.

So, our first day in Cambridge, UK.

After walking around for more than 4 hours, I crashed and slept for 9. =)))
Thought I heard a bunch of drunk kids shouting really loudly at night. Cannot be sure...

Read this letter published in the forum.

The author is of the view that Dr Catherine Lim (who earlier wrote yet another letter to the forum) was being patronising by terming those officers involved in the MSK incident "the little people". The author then went on to say something like

"Dr Lim is being very patronising in describing the officers, who have been taken to task, as 'little people'. They are professionals who, also being human, had unfortunately made some mistakes.

We all make mistakes. These officers must not lose heart and must endeavour to do better and learn from this incident. It seems to me that the officers have accepted the disciplinary actions and sanctions imposed on them. I salute them."

Erm... This is all very strange to me. The author sounds more patronising, doesn't he?!

Observing the MSK saga has been mind-boggling.
Freaking black swan pecking some people to painful bits while others point and snigger.

Black Swan: *peck peck* Take this! Take That! *peck peck*

Little People: HELP HELP! Big People! Time to strut your stuff!

Big People: Erm... WTH is that black thing?! According to our well-researched efforts and infallible brain prowess... ALL SWANS ARE WHITE!

Black Swan: *peck peck* Wait till you meet my red, blue and striped cousins!!

.............................................................

Coming back to the ST Forum... I think it has transformed into a 'FLAMING HUB'. (Had to use the very Singaporean term 'HUB' =)) Kind of like a less instant Sammyboy with moderation by ST.

I read something quite crazy some weeks ago too... A parent was complaining in the forum that some schools had increased voluntary work hours benchmarks from 60/70 hours per annum to 100 hours per annum. That MOE ought to do something about this volunteering time hike.

I was like... HUH?!!

Which part of 'voluntary' doesn't this parent get?!

100 hours per annum is equivalent to about 2 hours per week for 1 year. If that's too much a 'price' to pay for an increased chance of the kid getting into this school, then the kid will just have to 'settle' for another school. In fact, if the parents are rational, they should invest in those 100 hours more willingly. Going by their logic, choice schools are supposed to guarantee a better crowd, better education (teachers, grades, knowledge etc) and of course a better future. Conversely, if the kid doesn't gain access to these, he probably has to go for extra tuition and stuff to make up for it. This costs time and money for parent and child. In terms of time, it'll probably go beyond 100 hours.

I am beginning to wonder how such parents contribute to the schools if the spirit of volunteerism is obviously lacking. Do the schools have to spend extra time and effort to manage these volunteers and their expectations? If so, perhaps, it defeats the purpose of having these extra pairs of hands around.
..............................................

in any case... we're at changi airport... gonna make our way to heathrow for a short trip. very exciting!! 'good fren's gonna show me his alma mater. this public terminal has a really yucky keyboard. i need to stop typing like RIGHT NOW!!

'Good Fren' and I watched 'Cashback' on DVD tonight.
It's a feel good movie, but not in the American Disney manner. The soundtrack is great too.

I find the protagonist's obsession with freezing time and imagining the girls naked in the supermarket very familiar. I must have written about this earlier. During extremely long and fruitless meetings earlier in my career, I used to imagine people naked around the table. It started with imagining everyone in T-shirts and shorts. Like how hilarious it would be for serious-looking people trying to make decisions in their homely wear. As the meetings got longer, my imagination stripped them naked. You should try it. Once, I had to fake a cough to swallow my laughter amidst some very poker-faced stalemate situation.

Just yesterday, 'Good Fren' and I were having a discussion about time. How, despite one's wealth and ingenuity, time is the great equaliser. Everyone only has 24 hours a day. I love having discussions with 'Good Fren' because it's a great way to spend time together. Spend part of those 24 hours together. It's great to have a partner.

Some people compartmentalise their time by the hours. E.g. 8 hours of sleep, 1.5 hour to get ready and to work, 10 hours at work, 1 hour to get back from work, 3.5 hours for gym, laundry, dinner, tv, surfing online, read, shower and get ready for bed.

Some people compartmentalise their time by days. E.g. 2 days of conceptualisation, 1 day of drinking + hangover, 3 days to build that model, 1 day of sleep for the week.

Some people compartmentalise their lives by years. E.g. 4 years of studying, 10 years of working, 2 years of family starting, another 15 years of career flight, 2 years of disease-battling, 1 year of remission, 1 year of slow painful exit.

Some people do not compartmentalise at all. Time exists in such abundance that it is a torture.

For more info on the 75th Anniversary Dinner, click on the above mailer to enlarge it.

I know it's a cheongsam theme...
BUT CAN I WEAR MY SCHOOL UNIFORM?! =))

Another person has been arrested for publishing racist remarks on his blog.

What I don't understand is that...

(1) This person's blog is virtually unknown, i.e. the blog on its own doesn't have much of an audience. The content of the entry is unsavory, but the extent of damage of publishing it on his blog is very limited.

(2) Somehow it got picked up by someone else who in turn made use of other online vehicles such as a discussion forum and/or an aggregator to increase the circulation of the unsavory entry and its contents. This created significant awareness of the entry content, and eventually led to the arrest of the blogger.

Creation of such content cannot be condoned.
But what about its distribution?

If A makes something illegal in his basement, and then B comes along and decides to distribute it for whatever reason (for fun, out of spite, for money etc). Someone gets hurt. Isn't B guilty too?

Oh... While we were watching so much TV, I overlooked this article in the Straits Times titled "Are you being served?"

Like last year, a bunch of reporters played mystery callers to a handful of public agencies, posing fake problems to the public officers who picked up these calls, then highlighting the responses of these officers in the papers, e.g. the waiting time and ability to respond to the question posed.

I guess these attempts are ostensibly trying to help improve the public service, but I was wondering whether it was better to not compare in a vacuum. Wouldn't it be more realistic to compare a public agency to say a private company which is just as large? I mean... If the report is trying to suggest that the public service's customer service level ain't high, it would be useful to eliminate all other possible explanations, e.g. that it may in fact be a Singaporean problem, not a Singapore government-specific problem. Or a problem as a result of organisation size, complexity etc? I mean... There is no end to how the methodology can be fine-tuned but that doesn't mean one shouldn't try, right?

Actually, before the sorting out the methodology, isn't it important to state the objectives of such an inquiry? What are we trying to achieve here? To fulfill some kind of KPI or to solve a huge society-debilitating problem?

Ultimately, is the solution to devote more public resources to manning these customer service lines effectively?
Note: If 'effective manning of these lines' include answering all the questions mentioned in the article, some of which involve substantial grasp of policy objectives, the customer service officers are likely to have to be replaced by those involved in such work. In other words, costs will go up. Is one willing to pay that extra SGD3 delivery charge like I would for McDees Delivery, knowing very well that it will easily increase my fast food bill by 20% - 30%?

I personally believe it's a waste of resources for any member of public to make calls to public agencies citing fictitious issues. One must remember that these so-called mystery calls only add to the work load of the front line officers, which include handling prank calls.

Instead, if one requires certain improved levels of service, one can put up a clear and concise proposal in the papers outlining the AIM of the paper, the BACKGROUND of the issue at hand, the CONSIDERATIONS and finally making the necessary RECOMMENDATIONS.

Of course, if implemented, the individual ought to be commended and/or rewarded lah... Hey Hey... What do you mean by saying that this means you are doing the public servant's job? Think of it this way... Like helping to nab a snatch thief or save someone from a burning house... Public-spirited mah...

I was thinking... Perhaps in future, the enquirer could choose from a menu of officers and/or his questions can be sorted and tagged to the ranks of officers according to complexity. This facilitates the implementation of the value-added service.

Caller: Harlow? I want to know why ABC and XYZ...

Operator: ABC is a basic level question. All our officers will be able to provide you with a satisfactory answer. XYZ is an advanced level question. Only Scholars and above will be able to provide you with a satisfactory answer. Please choose the rank of the officer you wish to speak with. Each rank is priced according to its median salary per minute. For an estimated 5-minute response, your current requests amount to a total of SGDXXX.XX. Do you wish to proceed?

'Good Fren' and I cannot take it anymore.
We had dinner in front of the TV and somehow watched a Channel 8 drama with Christopher Lee and Ou Xuan.

FWAH... It's seriously quite lousy.
The story details do not make sense, and the acting is... as usual... crappy.

I can't believe Christopher Lee's character suggested to bring the somewhat depressed chick to a 'place of hope'. I mean... If someone said that to you, wouldn't you run away? I think everybody ought to run away if anyone says something like that to you.

In any case, the 'place of hope' turns out to be a pond where a tossed dollar coin promises the sighting of 'hope'. So... after the slow motion flipping of the coin and like 1 minute of hand-twisting, eye squeezing and lip pursing, she saw her dead ex standing on the other side of the pond. O_0

After that, she went berserk. The usual loud crying and screaming ensued. Such violent reaction, in Channel 8 speak, I think, is called good acting. At this point, Christopher Lee had to restrain her with his big strong arms and body, no less. Ooooooohhhh...

At this point, 'Good Fren' was trying to translate the dialogue into hokkien. It's uber funny. How do you say 'pond' in hokkien?!

Then Christopher Lee reveals that he read her blog, and she got pissed and said he was despicable or something... We were like... WTF? A blog means it's online, isn't it? Unless she had it password-protected but he managed to hack it or... OMIGOSH... read it while she passed out at home. Ooooohhhhh... What are the odds of that?! It must be a Big Black Swan!

The exchange should have been as follows...

Guy: 我看了你的博客.
Girl: 喔! 你好卑鄙! 你怎么可以这样?!
Guy: 那天你生病晕倒了... 我没事做... 所以搞了搞你的电脑...
Girl: 你... 好... 卑... 鄙...
Guy: 博客是写给人看的, 不是写给鬼看的. 你醒醒吧!
Girl: 你!! 你好卑鄙!!

Then it can flow smoothly into the next scene we saw tonight...

Because she was pissed, she ran in front of a car. And of course... in slow motion, Christopher Lee pushed her away and rolled over the bonnet of the on-coming car, up the top and off the back in the most dramatic manner... O_0

While I was trying to suppress my incontrollable laughter, 'Good Fren' asked a rather sober question,"These actors and actresses... Don't they observe the other (better) actors and actresses?"

Except for his brief jogging episode, 'Good Fren' and I were at home all day yesterday. We must have folded 3 loads full of laundry. Also managed to sun the sleep gear (pillows, duvet etc) and to change the covers.

In the evening, we caught 50% of Meet The Fockers. I love this movie. It's really funny. Somehow it reminds me of Father of the Bride. Think it's the family theme. The over-protective father.

By accident, I found Before Sunrise showing on Arts Central.

I've heard plenty about the 2 related films, but have never seen them. PLUS I kept thinking they are called, "Before Sunrise" and "AFTER Sunset". =P
Apparently, the second film is shot 9 years after the first. Just like its story.

Before Sunrise is a film about 2 strangers in their early 20s chatting up on a train in Europe. The guy (American) alights at the next stop and invites the chick (French who (conveniently) speaks English) to join him for 24 hours before he gets on a plane.

And so, they were wondering around in the romantic city of Vienna. Met all sorts of weird characters... a couple of guys in a play (one of them playing the cow), palm-reader, street-side poet, bar owner who gives a bottle of wine etc.

A beautiful city, 2 young and good-looking strangers on a trip with the ability to philosophise, good weather and time constraint.
Ze is puuuuurfect for ze temporal love story.

I must have mentioned this earlier.
People tend to behave extraordinarily when they are "on a holiday". It's like their usual self is on a holiday too. This displacement of self from the familiar. Some tell themselves that because they are not in their own culture, context, country etc, they can 'let loose'. 'Letting loose' becomes the form of the holiday.

I digress...

See... If I had seen both films before I read up on the Sociology of Tourism, I would have bought into the entire "OOorrrrhhhh..." story of these 2 strangers. Now, it's too late. While I appreciate the aesthetics of the film (e.g. the way certain nuances were portrayed, how the scenes were shot etc) which was made on a relatively tight budget, I refuse to suspend my sense of reality. I kept telling 'Good Fren' how dirty it must have been for those two to walk around so much, supposedly engage in sexual intercourse etc... All without showering. Yhew!

I digress again...

In the film, I think Celine said something like,"God is the space between two people." I dunno about God, but it is clear that Magic... is what everyone wants. That sweet mad rush of emotions which weakens the heart and knees.

Imagine being stuck in Stage 2 with a 9-year break in-between, while one practises Stage 3 with others?
Yeah... If these two train-lovers work it out in the end, their in-between partners (wife, long time boyfriend etc) and the attendant experiences (marriage, child etc) had significant contributions.

Now, not so romantic anymore, is it?
Mwahahahaha!!! =P

Ok, I shall explain my fascination with the expression "I personally believe...".

I'm sure many around the world have heard this pretty babe's response to a pageant question in Yr 2007. 35 million hits on Youtube to be precise.

Do watch the subbed version.



Ok, you can try to stop laughing now. We have a discussion to carry out here. This time, read her response in text.

I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, uh, some, people out there in our nation don't have maps and, uh, I believe that our, uh, education like such as, uh, South Africa and, uh, the Iraq, everywhere like such as, and, I believe that they should, our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S., uh, or, uh, should help South Africa and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future, for our [children].

There are many keywords in her response which sound like they belong in a credible pageant Q&A response. 'Education', 'South Africa', 'Iraq', 'Children', 'Build our future' etc. The role of these keywords is to provide the illusion of credibility. But when you string them together in 1 response and listen to it from a 3rd party's pov or with benefit of hindsight, they do not make much sense.

This... my friends... is not an uncommon response. In fact, if you pay attention, you probably realise that there are many many Miss South Carolinas around you. And looks and IQ have nothing to do with it.


This is a typical response by an individual who has NO idea what to say but HAS to say something anyway.

Many people do this, especially when asked about the 'important things'. E.g. "Exactly what does your profession involve?" or "Why are you getting married/having a baby?" The more 'educated' a person, the more keywords/esoteric terms/acronyms he/she throws at you, in hope that you will not be able to question his/her conclusions.

I personally believe that if one is confident of answering a question, a clear answer can be formed in simple English.

So before you burst into another giggling fit because you re-play the video for the nth time, think about how many times you have done a "Miss South Carolina".

It has been a long while since I read Tomorrow.sg. I found this cute entry by a girl called Si Hui. Her entry was featured on Tomorrow.sg. It was an entry on how she felt when she saw some students (apparently from PRC) flipping through the exam question sheet before the invigilators gave the green light to start. Read her entry here.

Her entry reminds me of the numerous exams I have taken in NUS. MPSH2... Multi-Purpose Hall 2! During my undergrad days, I was always worried about leaving my stuff outside the exam hall. What can you do if it went missing? During my post-grad days, the pre-exam problem was always... where is the best smoking + last-minute-revision spot? Coz NUS is supposedly a smoke-free campus mah! =))

I digress...

Back to Si Hui's entry... She has knowing or unknowingly pointed out a problem which is likely to continue to plague her after NUS days. The aunt who cuts your queue at the supermarket, then ignores your "excuse me... i was here first..." The colleague/boss who take credit for your work. The sibling/child who exploit the parent's love (and vice versa). The spouse who abuses. The person who is not pleased with you for cutting his lane, speeds up in front of you, only to jam his brakes in hope to give you a scare and/or that you will ram into the rear of his car and have to pay for the damages.

The problem of witnessing others breaking the so-called rules, and how one is to deal with it.

If you read the comments, there are different responses to the same problem. Some suggested that she could have been the "Whistle-blower", i.e. alert the invigilator. Some thought that if she couldn't beat them, join them. Others simply questioned whether the existence of the 'rule', i.e. no one said the exam-taker cannot read the questions. The invigilator's green light was for writing, not reading.

So, in a sense, when faced with a situation, there are passive and active options.

PASSIVE
(P1) Do nothing. Say nothing. Zilch. Some called this 'Zen'.
(P2) Do nothing. Say nothing... on the spot. But whine (a lot) to a 3rd party later.

ACTIVE
(A1) Confront the person on the spot.
(A2) Alert an 'authority' during/after the incident.
(A3) Learn from the incident and put it into practice.

I think most people will go for (P2) or (A2). Few will deal with the issue directly because one somehow feels helpless and/or doesn't want to get his/her hands dirty.

What's more interesting in the whining syndrome which has been highlighted in the papers recently. It's relatively intuitive to conclude that Singaporeans usually end up whining because we are... simply... erm... whiners? Perhaps alluding to a entire host of childish characteristics, e.g. spoilt.

However, I have discovered that perhaps there is more to this whining phenomenon than the under-development of our ability to be 'mature'. I agree some people whine simply because they like to. To identify these people effectively, one has to observe them over time. E.g. Your ex-colleague from 5 years ago who was most out-spoken (during lunchtime) about how fucked up the office was. Today, he/she is still with the office, while others have moved on, and is still whining about the same problem over lunch to a new audience. The 'problem' these people keep going on and on about isn't really a problem. The problem is them.

Not to be confused with the abovementioned pathological whiners, there is this other basket of people who are reduced to whining only because they blew the whistle and nothing happened. They tried A1 and/or A2, and failed. Zilch. Nothing. *crickets chirping in the still of the night* =_=

And whining can be addictive, especially when one finds an audience or fellow whiners. Hence, the A1s and A2s can slip into P2s. Some may be influenced by the P2s and decide that A3 is the way to go.

Taking a bigger step back, why is this happening?
Why isn't effort met with resonance and fruitful outcomes more often?

I believe this has a name. Apathy.
A disease which has afflicted Man for a long while. Sometimes, Man manages to develop some resistance to apathy after a long exposure, but it is getting harder to do so because winning this battle has become more complex and unpredictable in the modern and ultra-connected era. It's so much easier to slide into helpless and messy chaos, than to be constructive together because the latter requires consensus and trust. Calling it an uphill task is euphemistic. To add salt to the bloody wounds, because groups of human beings progress at different rates and are subjected to uneven distribution of resources and power, the chances of voluntary cooperation are starkly reduced.

Can we treat this disease? Is it something we are born with or it is something we get infected with later in life?

I dunno the answer. But I do think we should not give up on finding a cure. We ought to work on it.

It seems Glenn Ong and the Flying Dutchman have managed to piss off some cat lovers by arguing on their radio show that, along with monkey feeders, cat feeders ought to be fined.

One of them wrote to the forum. Read it here.

Some even remember a comment which the duo made some years ago about sending stray cats to Peru and/or eaten.

Top that off with the duo sniggering on the airways, one can imagine cat lovers' boiling blood and exploding heads like a Brainiac experiment.

Now, everyone knows I have 2 cats which I picked off the streets 10 years ago. I think I may be what they call a "Cat Lover". However, I 'personally believe' (I love this expression these days... Will blog about it some other time... I digress...) that


One can interpret Gandhi's animal quote in many ways.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated”

On one extreme, one can cuddle and lovey dovey the animals, trying to give them the best possible progressive standard of living relative to none other than that of the human race. Hence, you see people treating their animals (pets) like an extension of themselves. Put on clothes in the summer heat, paint toenails etc. I have heard of cat enrichment classes where the cats are taught to explore their "creativity side". I'm sure if they don't do well in that class, private tuition will be available.

On the other extreme, some subscribe to the concept of culling. No cats = No hungry cats = No suffering cats. A clearcut option to population control. This option is usually executed on a massive level by the authorities and occasionally triggered by random events (regardless of substantiated causal explanation), e.g. culling of cats because civet cats (from the racoon, not feline, family) were linked to SARS.

Others go for the in-between solution. E.g. Leaving food around for stray cats. Some clean up after the cats so as to be thought of as 'being civic-minded', others don't. Whether these people feed the cats out of genuine belief that the cats are gonna be hungry without them, or that feeding the cats is a form of gratification for these humans, we will never know for sure.

But it is very clear that feeding stray cats prolong their existence and, inevitably, their suffering, especially when they become dependent on the feeding cycles. For the kitties, it's the Same Shite... Different Day.

I personally believe (there I go again... =))) that if one really loves cats, bring a couple home and take care of them. Give them decent shelter, health care, food and company. Protect them from the weather, hunger, disease and abuse. Then when their time is up, help them leave with minimal or no pain. Give them respect.

Actually, same goes for the treatment of human beings... And yeah... We can't save them all. The next time we attempt to save them all, we need to ask ourselves... Can we do it without politicising? Are we doing this only to feel good about ourselves? Can we really save them all?

Oh... And the opposite of Cat is not Dog!

The opposite of Cat = No Cat.

=_=

I went for a 2 year old's birthday party over the weekend. I know... I know... It's unlike me to go for something like that... I was there as a partner, can?

The crowd was made up of the parents' friends from uni (a few) and colleagues (many). About 20 people. Apart from the parents of the birthday girl, I didn't know anyone. 'Good Fren' went off to chat with some long lost friends, so I was left fiddling with the wine and wine-opener at the dining table.

Yes... I is prescient. I knew I was gonna need some alcohol to help pass time. I even brought my own wine opener. I felt very happy when I took it out of my weekend bag. =)) Salvation!!

As I knew surviving the party was gonna take more than wine, after pouring the SGD45 wine (very good hokay! It's called Newton from Napa Valley!) into those white disposable plastic cups, I offered it to the nearest person, a guy on my left, then to who seemed like his chick on his left. With that, I tried to strike up a conversation. Asked a harmless question like "Are you two from the Public Service too?", because someone else was exclaiming earlier about how everyone there seemed to be from the Service... at least at some point in time.

At first the guy was rather responsive, said something like he wasn't but he knew the rest of the guys were coz they didn't have sideburns... Teachers/Army people people don't have sideburns... blah blah... I thought it was a funny observation and that it was a sign that I would be having at least some entertaining conversation with the wine... Then the chick siong me. Uh oh... End of conversation oredi...

Turning my head to my right, I witnessed a rather curious and somewhat disturbing sight. Some adults brought their offsprings to the party and were all trying to make the kids (probably 2 - 5 year olds) mingle by forcing them to "shake haaaaaand", "hug hug", "hi-fiiiiive", "kiss kiss" and whatever else they could think of. Then going "Ooorrrhhhh..." when the kids do react positively.

Wah lau... There I was trying to find someone to talk to in vain because the adults were sticking to their groups of familiarity, while the same adults were forcing the kids to get out their comfort zones to interact because it is cute.

I wonder what would have happened if 'Good Fren' suddenly took my hand to shake haaaaaand/hi-fiiiiive/hug hug/kiss kiss someone across the room. Then point at the kids and say,"Same what? Wrong meh? Party mah! Interaction mah!"

Someone left comments in the previous entry demanding that I blog about a recent havoc wrecked by Mother Nature and exacerbated by humans. That if I don't, I am merely superficial and materialistic. =)

This person doesn't seem to realise that I could have chosen not to publish his/her comments. Hence, I am, in an indirect manner, 'blogging' about his/her cause.
Oh... Of the invisible and the visible...
........................................................................

Another piece of news has been hogging the international headlines for weeks. A man-made tragedy. So which is more tragic? The doing of Mother Nature or that of Man?

This man, Josef Fritzl, kept his daughter in a cellar for a quarter of a century and had 7 children with her.

Recently, because one of the cellar children got really sick, he brought her to the hospital and the entire scandal came to light.

I am particularly interested in this because it is an extreme example of family dynamics. What happens within a family. The power dynamics. The lying. The exploitation. The coercing of his offsprings. The physical deformation of his offsprings (e.g. a couple of them born and bred in the cellar with a low ceiling have permanent distortion of the body, e.g. a bent back) is merely a manifestation of the extensive damage done by a parent, i.e. someone in power.

I have read up on the many reports on this incident. These words below struck me most. Read them.

On his second family

In reality, I wanted to have children with her [Elisabeth]. Elisabeth naturally had fear of giving birth but I brought her medical books to the cellar, so she could prepare for the Day X. I brought her towels, disinfectants and nappies.

I was looking forward to the offspring. It was a beautiful idea for me, to have a proper family, also down in the cellar, with a good wife and a couple of children. I made preparations for all possibilities. Every time I left the bunker, I would activate a time lock, which would make sure that the doors to the dungeon would open if I would not return after a certain period of time. Had I died, Elisabeth and the children would have been freed.

After [the youngest boy] was born at the end of 2002 I even gave Elisabeth a washing machine so that she could wash the clothes and bed sheets of the children and not have to hand wash them in the basin.

I always knew during the whole 24 years that what I was doing was not right that I must have been crazy to do such a thing, but still it became a normal occurrence to lead a second life in the cellar of my house.

On being a grandfather

Elisabeth has always taken care of things for the sake of the family. I have tried to provide for my family in the cellar as best as possible. Whenever I went to the bunker I would bring my daughter flowers and cuddly toys as well as books for the children. I would watch an adventure film on video with them while Elisabeth would prepare our favourite food and then we would all sit together at the kitchen table and eat together.

READ MORE HERE.

Notice the 'forms', e.g. helping to prepare her for childbirth by providing medical books, bring flowers/toys, sitting together at kitchen table for a meal?
From our perspective, these are (i) sick acts with (ii) perverse intentions. But in his world, such acts made total sense. These acts perfected his world. His second life.
Which he tried to protect and ended up sending his sick offspring to the hospital and destroyed his 24 year old secret world.

Because they sound so natural and genuine, i.e. full of good intentions (although some argue that these words are orchestrated such that he could plead insanity later). I'm sure they sound familiar. These are the actions, i.e. the 'Form', of human beings who truly think they are fulfilling their duty as parents, as spouses etc. Despite consciousness of the sufferings of their actions have caused to others (especially those they call their loved ones), human beings have a way of convincing themselves that they have the best of intentions and so their actions are justified.

What I am trying to say is that we, the so-called normal and sane people, too persist in such 'Form over Substance/Meaning' behaviour. Just that we do it in varying degrees within the so-called 'reasonable realm'. I think naming this realm 'reasonable' is euphemistic. This realm is merely 'grey', i.e. not abominable. Which leads me to another set of questions/theme:


By assuming that every human being has the irrevocable right to bear and raise offsprings without intervention, are we, i.e. the collective called society, being irresponsible or minimally apathetic? Or that the argument is one of difficulty in implementation (See... in this case... nobody knows... she gave birth 7 times in the cellar... no control points etc). Hence, let's just shelve it.

The Fritzl case is merely 1 such case which has come to light. Can anyone confidently conclude that this is an exception?

Lastly, a consequence of this saga. The Governor of Austria thinks this case has affected the image of the country.
Hmmm... I think it's not so clear-cut.
When I think of Austria... I think of Mozart.
Then again... 'Good Fren' associates Austria with Hitler.

'Good Fren' describes Happiness as a downward escalator, i.e. similar to my description above. One requires more or different sources of Happiness to maintain the existing level. He believes that Unhappiness works similarly but in the opposite direction. E.g. First time shit happens, you get pissed. The second time shit happens, you are still pissed, but with some kind of resignation. After a few more hits, one can ultimately get used to shit happening.

Hence, 'Good Fren' comments that the human being is very adaptable. And this is not a compliment. It's merely a stoic observation. He uses the analogy of a piece of cork floating on a body of water. Sometimes it bobs upwards, and other times downwards. But in general, it stays afloat and moves in the general direction of the waves helplessly.

So are we merely pieces of wet cork bobbing up and down?
Would you rather be bobbing in a small and calm pond or in a vast and tumultuous ocean?

'Good Fren' is in the room working his office emails, while I am in the living area... blogging... with Daft Punk and TSINGTAO pumping away in my veins.
2 chicken drumsticks, marinated with lemongrass, rosemary, ginger, honey, pepper and dried scallops, are baking away in the oven at 180 degrees celsius for 17 minutes.

Met up with a customer of mine today. Halfway through the business conversation, he started to talk about his journey with God, which started about 5 years ago. Woah... Didn't see that coming... I guess senior people like to talk to me about stuff. I should work in an old folks' home.

I was re-reading my mother's entry. Her world seems to be made up of blacks and whites. A clear line between this and that. In a way, I think it simplifies life and stuff. Something which my customer highlighted to me this afternoon during the God conversation. I used to think there is a difference between simplification and being reductionistic. After reading literature such as Taleb's Black Swan, I have begun to think otherwise. Instead of blacks and whites, the spectrum of life is colourful and of all shades...

Oh... the drum sticks are ready.
Need to serve them to the hungry.

I had tea with my mother on Friday afternoon. Brought her to Dempsey Hill coz it's one of those "angmoh-pai" places she is unlikely to have gone to on her own.

My mother, like many mothers of our age, is a hardcore subscriber of the traditional notion of what being female (a daughter, a mother, a wife etc) entails. Juxtapose those values against the imperfect scenario of modern work, and human apathy, ego and general helplessness, then add time to get a perfectly concocted intoxicating life lesson. The past 30 years have been a learning journey for me as well as for her. Watching her negotiate (with) life and its random contents is a great lesson for me.

Before you think this is some kind of tragically beautiful real life story published just in time for the upcoming Mother's Day, I need to advise you to hold your dramatic horses. I believe every mother-child relationship is just as dramatic/mundane. The difference is in the eye of the beholder.

Life is not a Mediacorp drama where happiness and unhappiness are both marked by excessive screaming, shouting, tears, facial expressions and lousy theme songs. What I have witnessed, felt and learnt is that, in most cases, the most extreme pain creeps up on you through a series of nuanced events. So silently that it is usually too late when the highly visible excesses as highlighted above take place.

My mother wrote about the afternoon tea in her blog. I will not link it but I will reproduce her entry here for your reading pleasure. Spelling errors are not uncommon for her because she is Chinese-educated. Try to ignore them. =)

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2008年5月3日 星期六

与女儿茶叙

昨 天，和女儿喝茶。她带我去Dampensy Hill一家专营澳洲食品的餐馆去试试茶点。她给我点了个甜菜根西芹饮料，英国的松饼配牛油果酱，无花果奶酪脆饼，南瓜馅饼，橄榄油牛肉片，松仁青菜沙 律。她自己要了杯红莓茶，边吃边谈。生活中的伴侣是不是需要一纸婚约？女儿深不以为然。我还是尝试让她理解社会结构的特殊性：需要别人的认同，尤其处于 “非常时期”更为需要。远的将来不说，近的眼前若有什么变故，名份就是决定的基础。当然从感情的角度来看，两人的默契绝不是一纸婚书栽培得了，长时期得接 触，了解，退让，宽容，朝着一个“家”的目标共进退，是婚姻的过程，也是恋爱开花结果的过程。有的顺顺利利，有的磨难多多，怎么共进退，同艰苦，让两个人 基于同一个信念，牵手走过一生，无怨无悔，是一门大学问啊！

餐后，母女两人步行到大路口，边走边谈。心头别有一番滋味。我多少年从没有机会与孩子 同游，今天女儿已长大，陪着我随意踏步。黄昏的天空，虽不是云霞灿烂，但凉风习习，感觉很好。我又想起老六妹妹的话：有一个可以一起逛街购物的女儿，多好 啊！我打从心里笑了。虽不是购物，但漫步比起逛街还有意思呢！其实，自从她购屋自住后，她心情开朗多了，欢乐自在写在她的脸上，博客里写出了她的生活，对 事对人的看法也明快多了。每当阅读她的部落格，老怀堪慰。只是想替她照顾下一代，好像还远得很呢！一想到她的找个印度女人代怀孕的点子，我不禁摇头：这个 女儿怎么搞的？她是没明白生儿育女是母亲的天职啊！抑或是她爱自己多过爱下一代？？？

Remember 'Good Fren' bought the Appleseed Ex Machina DVD earlier? In the same purchase, was Vexille.


Okay, to be honest, I am not immersed in the Japanese Animation World. Hence, before watching these 2 DVDs, I couldn't tell the difference between Vexille and Deunan. In any case, they look the same. =))

Now... After watching both Appleseed Ex Machina (AEM) and Vexille within the same week, I am beginning to see the differences and similarities, if you will.

Without having to reveal the storyline too much, I will give my two cents' worth of these two very outstanding pieces of work.

DESIGN of CAST
I neither refer to the fictional characters nor the dubbers. I refer to the people behind the story, the animation etc. For AEM, the cast was more intentional. If you watch the documentary in the DVD, it boasts of Japanese (Aramaki), Chinese (John Woo) and Americans. John Woo is already established in Hollywood. This partnership is clearly leveraging on that.

On the other hand, Vexille repeatedly highlights its "Japanese-ness". An 'exotic' authentic Japanese product. And the director, Fumihiko, partners with Paul Oakenfold for the film's music, then brings it to the 60th Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland, gaining a stamp of legitimacy within Europe. Meanwhile, not forgetting that local support is also important, a pretty face, Kuroki, is selected as the voice for the female protagonist, Vexille, despite that she does not take on the role instinctively. Her pretty face is crucial for the launches and interviews. A smart move.

A smarter move is not to dub the film in English at all. Authenticity of Language lends even more legitimacy to the film.

DESIGN of PLOT
In terms of plot, I must say that Vexille is more complex and intriguing. It is the better of the two because of nuances which make huge differences. Imagine consciously smoking a cigarette and eating an apple to keep you human. Neither for physiological stimulation, nor nourishment.

Are we human because we engage in 'human activities' or because we have 'human consciousness'? What are human activities? What is human consciousness? Does immortality dehumanise us?

A perpetual 'human' dilemma between Form and Substance. Perhaps it is the existence of this dilemma which makes us human, and not its contents and discontents.

I digress... Pardon me...

Regardless... Both endings were less than satisfactory. Perhaps I simply do not subscribe to Hope. =)

DESIGN of MAN & MACHINE
AEM has that traditional 'machine' look. I have seen many such doodles in secondary school boys' textbooks, especially the Chinese textbooks. Cult following. No doubt about that.

The machine gear worn by humans in both films look similar. Details are intricate for both films but in different ways. AEM has better looking machines while Vexille has more sophisticated technology in the story.


I find it difficult to explain without having to reveal crucial bits of the films. Hence, it will be best for you to watch them. Yeah... Watch both...

This day, the flock was driven to graze in an unfamiliar area. For the first time in Polly's short life, she saw the blue sky beside the grass. She was trembling with excitement as she trotted towards it. She wanted to get to know the blue sky.

When she was about three sheep away from it, the blue sky begin to wobble. Then, a gaggle of geese sat on it and messed it up real bad. Standing by the broken sky, Polly was devastated as she watched the geese move effortlessly across the wobbly and messy sky. As tears began to roll down her cheeks, she tilted her head back. To her surprise, the clear blue sky was still intact above her. "There are two skies?" she thought to herself. She was very confused and wanted to find out more, but she could hear the barking approaching. With a sigh, she ran half-heartedly to join the flock.

"I saw two skies! I saw two skies!" Polly exclaimed to the ewes. "One is the usual, but the other is special. Not too useful though because it gets broken by the geese... I wonder why there are two skies. Are they really different? Or the same?" No one was really listening to her. A couple of ewes giggled in a corner. "She thinks she is special!" They laughed. "She has lost her hoofs! Baa Haa Haa..." Polly heard those comments and glared at them. "Why am I crazy because I ask?" she thought to herself. "I'll go ask the rams. They are smarter than ewes. They would know!"

"I saw two skies! I saw two skies!" Polly said excitedly to the rams resting under the shady trees. "I want to know why. Do you know why?" The rams looked at her and laughed condescendingly. "Why?" one of them shouted... almost in a bark, except sheep cannot bark. "Ewes do not ask why! Get back to your flock! You know not what you are! You do not ask! You do not ask why!" The others stopped grinding their teeth and joined in. "You crazy ewe! You crazy ewe!"

Polly was taken aback by such a reaction. The rams were barking at her. Well, almost. It was confusing.

As Polly backed away from the ram pack, she could hear the rams saying loudly,"What does she think she is? Asking why?! She needs a good fuck! That's why! I'm gonna give her a good one when she's ripe! Just like the many others I have fucked... Baa Haa Haa... I remember this once..."

With her head drooping, she rejoined the flock.

Taking a break from grazing, Polly looked up at the clear blue sky framed by the white-tipped rocky mountains. "It's beautiful," she thought to herself. "Why is it so beautiful? What makes it so beautiful?"

Fellow ewes were grazing with their heads down, ignorant of their surroundings. The shepherd was nowhere in sight, but Polly could hear the dogs barking in a distant at the young ones. She hated the dogs. Not because they were always growling and showing their teeth, but because they were too eager and disturbingly noisy. Ewes and rams are equally susceptible to the barking... To be precise... any form of loud noises.

Polly's siblings and half-siblings were chatting amongst themselves. The ewes were giggling while the young ones hopped around, trying to steal the latest gossips and showing off their youth. "Oh look what we have here!" exclaimed Polly's half sister. "The one which thinks she is better than us!" A round of baa-ing went off as the group sounded their agreement the only way they knew. The ruckus attracted the attention of one of the dogs, which came running and... barking... of course...

"Shut up! You stupid sheep! You know not what you are!" barked the proud dog with a stumpy tail. "You are disturbing the peace! It is impossible for you to understand! It is impossible for you to understand anything!"

The sheep huddled together and attempted to move away from the tirade. Each time the group moved back, the dog, on his four furry paws, scratched forward. This would go on for about 10 minutes until the dog got tired and/or got distracted.

Squashed amongst her musky woolly mates, Polly, hot and flustered, looked up at the sky and saw that nothing has changed. The sky was still blue. The familiar shapes of the mountains were still intact.