Sam's

Chirac, Chirac, Chirac...

2006-04-01T07:05:00.000-08:00

Hey! It's been really long since the last time, and I've gotta learn to be more, umm (what's the word?), impulsive, I guess. Writing's always been like that - or at least for me, it has.

I've thought about certain things and I've come to this conclusion: many things that are happening around us are simply moral questions, political questions, or just both. I don't write much about political stuff, because most of the time, it's just BOOOOOOOORING - elections, rallies, Bills, laws, et cetera (oh, just bite me) - but I'll make an exception... =P

Just take a look at the recent Parisian protests. Chirac had better do something about it, and quick, because otherwise, the repercussions would just be too huge to even contemplate. French PM De Villepin's saying that the employment bill's gonna boost the flexibility of the French workforce and, hopefully, attract more foreign investors, and that if President Chirac doesn't back him up, he's gonna resign. But, then, there's a catch to it (the new law): the bill (known as the CPE) will allow employers to hire and fire workers who are 26 and below at any time during their first two years of employment for any reason. Right, so it boosts employment... but what about job security? So it's a question of politics and, more importantly, morals. Is it really fair and, for this matter, practical to approve of a law which on one hand, could (the operational word being, "could") boost employment but on the other hand, will most definitely pulverize any form of job security that the younger generation possesses?

And that's not all. Chirac then is slapped right in the pucker with, yet another predicament: De Villepin's issued his ultimatum - either Chirac supports him full on and not call for any ammendments to the law because, apparently, it would effectively kill the goddamn policy, or he resigns. Wow, what a "great" threat! But losing De Villepin would mean losing his (Chirac's) "politcal son" (yeah, whatever) and chosen heir to presidency. So there's his dillema... Personally, I'd do the Math first before making any stupid decisions if I were him: he's got ONE De Villepin threatening to resign and tens, even hundreds of thousands of young, rash and impulsive French protestors who could potentially, cause a complete, general standstill in France. Now, that's what you call a no-brainer! But what does Chirac do?

Well, according to the CNN, this is what he does: "French President Jacques Chirac has said he will sign the controversial youth job law despite weeks of protest against it, but promised amendments that would weaken two of its most disputed reforms."

Ah ha! So basically, in other words, Chirac has just done the impossible - he's sat on the barbed-wired, E-LEC-TRIC fence that separates the moral from the political issues. How uber smart of him! Maybe he's just growing senile... (oh well, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt) This, essentially, narrows the Chirac's fate to just TWO painful situations: 1.) Chirac falls off the fence so hard, he becomes a paraplegic, or 2.) he's gonna have a SMOKIN' (literally) crotch with hundreds of puncture wounds.

There's your double whammy.... Hehe.

FIX ME!

2006-01-30T09:11:00.001-08:00

Before I say anything, I thought you guys might wanna check this out: http://2006.bloggies.com/
It's the Sixth Annual Blogging Awards and the blogs there are really spot on and fantastic. Go have a read before you take a look at my crummy one... =P

31st January 2006

I haven’t been completely honest with myself and this isn’t very pleasant for me to say. But yes, I’m insecure, of course I am (isn’t every teenager my age?) and yes, I’m afraid to write and submit my short story because I’m afraid of rejection, of not knowing or having anything to say. I’m frightened of the darkness of the unknown, the abyss of the undiscovered. I don’t want to venture too far in only to realize there’s no way out other than straight through. It’s too much for me to handle; I’m only 15.
The many things I’ve written before this have sounded somewhat [by the way, I would STRIKE this word out if I knew how, but blogger just doesn't seem to have it] (okay, okay…) very pretentious. I’ve tried being precocious but it defeats the whole, goddamn purpose; I sound absolutely ridiculous and pompous even, when I try too hard. Writing really comes from the inside; it’s impulsive, and that’s the beauty of it all.
I’ve taken less than three minutes to write these two short paragraphs when it would’ve taken me 15 if I actually ‘tried’.
Being honest with myself, for myself, is really a breath of clean, fresh air… I’ve been deceiving myself for ages now and I’ve gotta tell you, the air there really is fucked (pardon my French) up – it’s hot and (OH MY GOD!!) smells of armpit hair. Yuk…
No one really cares about me more than I do myself. I believe this applies for everyone else. If you don’t start being honest to yourself, you’ll never learn to love yourself. You’ll just live off your family’s love, your friend’s care, your partner’s affection, et cetera. And I’m not saying those are bad. It’s just if you don’t start giving yourself some well deserved TLC, you’ll feel out of place no matter how much love you receive, until of course, part of that ‘looove’ comes from yourself.
FYI: I’m not trying to be some Aunt Aggie – man, that name just pushes my buttons – or whatever you call her, giving crappy ‘looove’ advice in some repulsive tabloid. I just felt the need, that sudden, uncontrollable impulse to write. Screw Aunt Aggie, really. =P
They say people change, and I totally agree with that: Nice people just become complete dicks (and my German) while bloody meatheads morph into angels, complete with white, feathered wings and incandescent (wait, that didn’t sound right… oh heck!) haloes. I think I’ve changed as well – I learnt to accept my imperfections.
And FYI2: I’m not trying to glorify all the shit (and my Italian…) I’ve done or the fact that I’ve come to grips with myself. I just feel happy, and that strong, overwhelming desire to write – again…

Looks around, grabs a passer-by by the eyebrows, shakes him hard and yells, “OY! Are you sure there’re no pills for this?”

Fix me dammit, fix me. Geez… And if you wanted to know (which I seriously doubt so) about this writing zeal that I’ve sort of ‘contracted’, it came from these two sites – there’s this really great vibe from them, I mean really, really great:
Karen Cheng – www.karencheng.com.au
Girl with a one-track mind – www.girlwithaonetrackmind.blogspot.com

Okey dokey, I’m completely zonked – It’s 1:31 AM and I haven’t caught a bloody wink… Cheers.

Sam

Sexual Slavery

2006-01-09T09:30:00.000-08:00

I saw an episode on Oprah about child trafficking and I had sometthing to say .

I can’t understand how people can live through such hell without ever going insane. Maybe they’re already broken into a million little pieces on the inside, but on the outside, they’ve gone completely numb – brutalized by the relentless sexual abuse.
Child trafficking is without a bloody doubt, the worst manmade disaster that can and already has happened to the world; and it’s the closest thing to the Gates of Hell one can ever get – alive. No one deserves this kind of torment. No goddamned one.
But its very existence points out something too absurd to comprehend: people are letting our children, the Children of the World, to go through such torture.
Poverty strikes yet again, driving impoverished families to their very limits, so much so that they have to sell their daughters as sex slaves for money, some as young as five! A billion people are getting by on less than a dollar a day, and this has driven them to the brink of their desperation.
But whatever the reasons, there are no excuses or justifications to sell your own flesh and blood to sick perverts to satisfy their twisted, sadomasochistic desires.

These perverts, have they no conscience?
They obviously know it’s wrong but derive pleasure from the taboo of it all.
These freaks of nature, have they no hearts?
They’re sick, demented men who seek enjoyment from the cries and screams and pleas of helpless children born to sex slavery.

Worst, these crackpots claim that having sex with young children will boost their sex drives. What bullsh*t!
If they think shagging a five-year-old would actually give them anything, then I’d say have a nice trip to Hell because the only thing they’ll be receiving is the torture of the damned.
And considering the pain, the trauma and the psychological damage they’ve caused to all those children, they should be thanking their lucky stars because a one-way beeline trip straight for Hell will be a damned gift.

Sexual slavery is among the sickest, most inhumane creations of Mankind and it frustrates the sh*t out of me. It’s a savage monster, growing sickeningly and steadily in strength every time a child becomes a sex slave. Children (boys and girls) as young as six are literally deceived into giving ‘blowjobs’ – oral sex – to adult men, thinking they are some kind of a game.
The most disgusting and heinous thing of it all is the people who con them into doing this: their mothers, sisters and aunts.
To think there would be some kind of a sense of sisterhood between the girls and their families to protect them from the trauma and emotional strain…
To think they would resort to humiliating themselves and exploiting their children and their safety to earn money…
I know they’re desperate and hard-up for money, but this is plain immoral.
There’s definitely got to be some other sources of income. There has to be…

Sexual slavery is prevalent in South Asia and an estimated two million youths there are sexually abused and sold. This is seriously utter bullsh*t. Parents should be the ones to protect their children from abuse and exploitation, not expose them to it.
In Cambodia, hundreds of 12-year-old girls are prostituted every day and serve as many as 30 to 40 customers per day, in makeshift brothels made of straw and wood in the bushes. Imagine the risk of them contracting HIV – poor, helpless innocent girls being raped 40 times a day. This will continue as long as there is a driving force behind all of this sh*t.

And the inconceivably corrupted judiciary system of many third-world countries doesn’t help make things much better. You can be charged with several counts of rape and molestation, but bribery there never fails to works its magic – give the judge a fifty and you’re a free man again. Court adjourned.
Screw those people. They are truly the gravest mistakes of Creation, ever; the scum of the earth.
Their hearts are made of hard, black coal and their guts of dirt, grime and dust and nothing but a greed for money. It is these people who are making the lives of the abused children even more miserable, because they have no one else to turn to now that even the law is messed up.

I pray that these children break free from the grip of the sick, twisted and manipulative and get to start all over.

Sam

Ana, The Evil...

2005-12-18T00:31:00.000-08:00

Anorexia/Anorexia Nervosa (noun): a mental illness that makes a person stop eating

I know I’ve written something like this before here, but I just feel that some people really need a slap in the face for some inkling of reality to sink back in. But even reality sinking back in sometimes seem to pose a problem now.
Fashion magazines and the media have been sensationalizing the ‘perfect’ body for so long, that the intense desire to achieve this non-existent body seems to have been hardwired into teenage girls’ minds. But what they don’t know is that most of the time, the flabby arms or the chunky thighs of the models are photoshopped away, so they look absolutely fabulous – or ‘perfect’. Seeking for this ‘perfect’ body is somewhat like looking for a carnivorous mailbox, I suppose. Never ever are you going to find it – not on this planet at least. Still, many teenage girls or even boys are on the quest for the elusive ‘perfect’ body. Seriously, I think the odds of finding Merlin are much bloody higher, really. I’m not trying to judge anyone here, but sometimes, I think that they’re either bloody darn stupid or completely delusional that they can’t, or don’t want (for this matter), to separate fact from fiction. I’m thinking the latter…
Literally, they starve themselves and exercise excessively to lose weight, or basically just purge themselves by digging their throats after a meal. This IS a mental illness, and yet some self-dubbed ‘pro-ana’ (short for pro-anorexia) sites deliberately trick themselves and other anorexics into believing it’s another way of life. What irks me even more is that these anorexics actually allow – or even WANT – themselves to be deluded into thinking this way. What they bloody need is proper psychological help, not further psychological diversion or delusion.

These are, however, just the handful of those who delude themselves, but many anorexics recover before it’s too late. Pro-ana/mia sites are complete trash, in my opinion, because they’re promoting a sickness, instead of preventing people from falling into the abyss. They’re NOT your friends. Friends don’t give you tips to be pro-ana, or egg you on to losing more weight than you body will permit. They don’t leave you hanging by a thinner thread every time you seek their advice. Get yourself as far away from those monsters as you can get, because they’re hurting you.
Whether you’re skeletal, waif-like, rotund, rubicund, fat, thin, morbidly obese, or severely underweight, it’s still your body. Learn to embrace it, to love it, because you’ll only have this one body for the rest of your life.
I cannot (and probably never will be able) to comprehend what’s it like to be on the pursuit for perfection, because I’m not an anorexic. But I know for a fact, that it’s not easy to accept that you’re suffering from an eating disorder, that it’s not fun to hide an illness like that from your family or friends, and most importantly, that you’re not at all alone… I used to think people with eating disorders are somewhat crazy, but then I sat down and thought: well, they’re still human – all they have is a problem, one that can be treated.
People tend to stigmatize those who have eating disorders (E.D.), whether it is bulimia, compulsive overeating, or anorexia. They (ones with E.D.) then feel neglected and unwanted, or even ostracized and plunge deeper into the depths of depression and their condition often deteriorates. Sometimes, when things get so bad, they self-harm and cut or burn themselves. Many people think they do that as a way to verify the fact that they’re still alive. Or that it is a way of punishing themselves for the guilt they feel. I’m not sure of the reason why they inflict pain on themselves, but I’m sure it’s never good. Think about it, if they actually NEED a reason, a way to verify their existence, it means only one thing: they don’t feel that their life is worth living after all…

I’m just calling out to those who have E.D. to make a decision to save your own life and seek professional help, and for those who know people with E.D., to give them all the moral support and encouragement they need to pull themselves out of the abyss.

Sam

P.S.: This is a very interesting piece of writing about Anorexia. It’s written in first person, with Anorexia Nervosa as the person speaking. It’s in the Ana Writings section (From Ana)

http://lookingglasssupport.com/StarvingForPerfection/Ana/AnaIndex.html

Balancing Precariously on the Brink of Insanity

2005-11-18T23:48:00.000-08:00

Writing’s a very impulsive thing, and there are times when certain things inspire you so much you feel the need to put it down in words. Simple Plan’s ‘Crazy’ video is one of these things.

I’ve never really liked Simple Plan and their songs, but this is, really, an exception.

I’ve seen countless music videos with absolutely no meaning whatsoever – or so they seem – except that it’s ‘cool’ to walk on the streets with all that ‘bling bling’ hanging off your neck. Seriously, I just call those dumbasses fresh, bloody ‘meat’ for hungry prides of muggers. But ‘Crazy’ is really just a video about the many paradoxes of life.

“Life is unfair.” I’m dead certain that everyone has had this thought at one point in his or her life. To be perfectly honest, I still hold on to this notion – and possibly will for the rest of my life. Food, money and water are just so unevenly distributed around the world. People at one half of the globe are dying of poverty, of starvation, while at the other, we have grossly obese people – and not of medical reasons, but of choices.

Just compare Singapore and Africa. Here, we eat greedily, we indulge extravagantly and we practically ‘throw’ money away every single day. And I still haven’t gone to our wants.

There, they have to hunt for food and comb for water. Their notion for survival is just so deceitfully simple: if we have food and water, we live for yet another day. But have you thought about those who aren’t so lucky, so fortunate, that they have to drink dirty water to quench their thirst, and hunger at the same time? Notice something: they use water, not food. They die because they don’t have money. Bloated, swollen bellies and scaly, peeling skin are more than commonplace in Africa. I’ve seen it on TV, but I’ve yet to see it for myself. I’m not even sure if I want to…

Then we have the media. Controversial as this may sound – but heck – I think they are extremely feeble. So feeble in fact, that they seem on the brink of stupidity. Sensationalizing things, churning out scandals and humiliating people internationally are just some of their fortes. We have people who are classified under psychological terms as ‘mentally unstable’ or simply just, ‘insane.’

How can perfectly normal people suddenly become manic depressives? Work, problems, stress, and of course, the media are the ones to blame.

We have beautiful, but absolutely delusional teenage girls just unhappy with themselves and their bodies that they try to ‘purge’ themselves of the ‘evil’ things they consume. What we now know as bulimia. Then we have those who take diet pills and just refuse to eat anything that they become malnourished, scrawny, and weak. What we now know as anorexia nervosa. All different forms of psychological problems. But who are the ones to capitalize on these problems of poor, helpless adolescents? The bloody media for goodness’ sake! Fashion magazines showing teenage girls how only perfect bodies can fit into size 2s and are suited for the runway. Then morphing into hypercritical monsters and proceeding to scathing the obese part of society. And they dare demand for equal rights, when we have this? The hypocrisy, really!

They are the ones in the boiler room fueling the fire of delusion in these people, constantly putting thoughts into their minds invasively, and then justifying them by bludgeoning the obese with their acid remarks. But have they thought about the reasons behind their obesity? That it could go beyond just a matter of choice? Perhaps of medical reasons? Of heredity? They bloody don’t.

I’ve seen shows on TV like ‘The Biggest Loser’ or ‘Villa Wellness’ or whatever they’re called and I think they have a hidden agenda besides ‘trying their very best’ to help those lose weight. Kiss my indifferent ass, I say. I think they’re really trying to humiliate those people who join these shows; exploiting them in order to get their show the highest ratings. Despicable. And I'm not being harsh yet because that's already an understatement. How can they throw away their dignity, their morals, their principals just to get exploited? Are they that damn gullible?

Sure, you say it takes real courage to stand up and face your problems, and I bloody agree. Good you took the first step to identify your problems. But joining such shows to humiliate yourself? It’s not courage. It’s pure, pristine, refined stupidity. That's not the solution, where you've got cameras tailing you all day long monitoring your eating and exercising habits. Have you got no respect even for your OWN privacy? There is NO easy way out of being obese or to keep fit. You just have to exercise regularly and control your diet – most importantly, at your own rate. But do it FOR yourself, not for others, to watch.

Pills, slimming courses and whatever wraps offered in slimming centers are, in my opinion, total crap and a colossal waste of money. The irony's right smack in your face, and wallet for this matter: They are offering an easy way out, where you don’t have to sweat your guts out and pant like some bulldog, when there actually IS NO easy way out. See the paradox, the hypocrisy? So why bother throwing your money away like that? Pills and whatnot can damage or even kill you…

Now we come to money. People are dying every minute, or even second because they are so poor they cannot afford basic necessities like food. We have people spending and living luxuriously while others are on the streets in ragged, torn clothes begging in the cold, without so much as a roof over their heads. Not many want to share these days. Like the lyrics of the song, money's our first priority. Who cares about family? Who cares whether people are suffering when I’m making big money?

For one, I do. I believe many others do too. But no one wants or dares to stand up for them. One aspiring psychologist, or even writer, cannot do anything to help them. Especially when he’s only 15 and living off his parents’ money and still studying. But there are many other people out there who wield more power and money, enough so to help haul these people up and over the poverty line to live a much better life; one where no one suffers from hunger pangs every single night and quenching that intense pain by gulping down gallons of water. Go watch the video and listen to the song, and it might just inspire you like it did for me.

One voice is definitely not enough when it comes from only one person, but when it comes from the world, it definitely is…

Help the people: www.one.org

And here are the lyrics:

Crazy - Simple Plan
Tell me what's wrong with society
When everywhere I look I see
Young girls dying to be on TV
They won't stop 'til
They reach their dreams

Diet pills, surgery
Photoshoped pictures in magazines
Telling them how they should be
It doesn't make sense to me

Is everybody going crazy?
Is anybody gonna save me?
Can anybody tell me what's going on?
Tell me what's going on
If you open your eyes
You'll see that something is wrong

I guess things aren't how they used to be
There's no more normal families
Parents act like enemies
Making kids feel like it's World War III
No one cares, no one's there
I guess we're all just too damn busy
Money's our first priority
It doesn't make sense to me

Is everybody going crazy?
Is anybody gonna save me?
Can anybody tell me what's going on?
Tell me what's going on
If you open your eyes
You'll see that something is wrong

Is everybody going crazy?
Is everybody going crazy?

Tell me what's wrong with society
When everywhere I look I see
Rich guys driving big SUV's
While kids are starving in the streets
No one cares
No one likes to share
I guess life's unfair

Is everybody going crazy?
Is anybody gonna save me?
Can anybody tell me what's going on?
Tell me what's going on
If you open your eyes
You'll see that something
Something is wrong

Is everybody going crazy?
Can anybody tell me what's going on
Tell me what's going on
If you open your eyes
You'll see that something is wrong

Sampson

Hurricane Katrina's Wrath

2005-09-04T06:13:00.000-07:00

Fox News Live: images flash past, showing corpses, or what seem like corpses strewn all over the tarmac, in superbowl, on the hot, hard concrete. I feel so sorry - sincerely - for the people who've faced her formidable wrath. But it seems not everyone feels the same way. Yet again, I've seen the totally ugly side of Singaporeans - specifically, singapore columnists.

Some of the headlines on the Newspaper:
How can this happen in the world's most powerful nation? saturday, september 03.
I suspect it's even said with an inflection that suggests sarcasm, to say the least. Gosh, give them a bloody break willya?
5 days of shame - SOS in the USA sunday, september 04.

Slam me all you want, but first, let me say what I've got to say. We're taking so many things for granted, sewers, clean roads, freeways, and even clean toilets and a roof over our heads. Hurricana Katrina's taken away all of these essentials from the lives of tens of thousands of Americans, and what do we do? We gloat like some sadistic freaks, splashing headlines across idiotic tabloids and kicking one of the World's leader when he's down. Lives have been ripped apart, people have been tossed and kicked around like a soccer ball and the end result is that desperation usually follows.

It is absolutely true - you can count on it - that hunger begets crime. Absolutely. Deranged snipers have shot down rescue helicopters, twisted rapists have violated screaming seven-year-olds in public toilets - with people watching helplessly (I'm not joking) - and looters have killed in desperation for food and water. Again, what do we do here in singapore, where we're shielded geographically from any form of natural disaster? We gloat. Have we no hearts, or have we got hearts, but they're mighty cold, hypothermic, sub-zero?

Don't take your chances my "fellow" singaporeans (frankly, I feel wholly ashamed - to say the least - even to say this after I've read the newspapers). Even if we haven't been hit by any of nature's weapons of mass destruction, it could come one day that we might. Singapore's not a reinforced citadel, and we all know it. So why are we here smirking when what we should really be doing is helping out. They've helped us out countless times, be it SARS, or the Japanese Occupation - we've got to give something back.

As I've said, desperation drives the real human out of any one. And we're shaming them for their actions, when all they were doing was to sustain their own, fragile lives. Trust me, if my life were hanging by a thin thread, I'd do whatever they've done. Probably even resort to more radical means. Think about it. If your life, or better, your child's life depended on the last bit of water and food (any form of food), I think you'd probably shoot someone who has it and mug him. I know I would if I were in that scenario. Even if you're the most prim and proper lad anyone has ever seen, if mother nature drives you to the brink of insanity, the apex of the mountain of reality (threatening to push you off), you'd too do something to defend yourself. So don't say it's lawless, or unethical, or sinful. And even if it is, you'd be doing it if you were in their shoes. Don't you go saying you won't you little brat.

Their lives literally are hanging on threads so thin, they're barely visible. And any time again, another of mother nature's weapon, specifically one that goes by the name of Katrina, could unravel that thread ever so easily. So what if our lives are now hanging on reinforced steel cables, it doesn't give us any bloody right to kick them when they're down, does it? Because, those cables could snap like any thread, and Mother Nature would be the one holding the giant sheaths. To paraphrase, Mother Nature can turn into a total bitch sometimes and when she brings out the big guns, she's a force to be reckoned with. The proof's right in Alabama, Louisiana and MIssissippi.

Even though some might think this is stupid (and screw you if you do), I really hope you can help pray for the victims of Hurricane Katrina: ONE.ORG blog

Sam

Perfezione

2005-08-10T07:17:00.000-07:00

Although I doubt anyone has noticed, heck, I'm saying it anyway... Sorry I haven't been blogging for such a long time but it's all because of the upcoming exams - 7 more weeks. *Crosses fingers and toes*

Perfection. The state of being as good as possible.

Perfection… So this is the word that has got so many people down on their knees begging for more – but the question is, did they actually even possess it? The word and its actual “existence” are really open to doubts. And when you stop, step back and think, seriously you come to a very surprising conclusion: why are so many people looking for something that is nonexistent (or so it seems), like a vegetarian hyena or a T-rex or the Dodo? Why? It might sound clichéd – but heck – having imperfections is what makes us so endearing to others, so easy to “identify” with and most importantly, just so human… They basically ground us so we will not all be on our high horses and squishing every one in our paths. Those people that put others down so that they feel better should really be squished. I really do not mind mowing them down with a freighter, honestly!

Talking about identity, it is something all of us are looking for, but like perfection, cannot seem to find. This is really a phase – although I am not in a good position to say this – but it is the transition from adolescence to adulthood that many of us seem to “lose” ourselves (not so much lose-to-crack-lose as lose-my-way-lose). The thing with identity is when we try to be like someone else, whether to impress or to fit in, we do not – or cannot. So it is really best to be yourself, to act like who you really are because that is what draws people in, not branded goods or haughty looks or a phony accent. Maybe we are not looking in the right places, or perhaps we are not trying hard enough, but do not give up when you are on the quest for your own values and place in society. It really all boils down to whether or not you are willing to try. “I can’t,” or “It’s so difficult,” are phrases that we utter so effortlessly, but it is not the case when you are looking for the elusive identity. My point is, when it comes to your values, stand up for them and do not give up because there is bound to be light at the end of every hell-hole (tunnel undermines it, really).

But when you are talking about perfection, seriously, you can give it up. The number of plastic surgeons is skyrocketing, and I do not have an ancient grudge against them or something, but if you are going to fund them with your “ka-ching” to try and meet your expectations that they are never going to be able to even get close to, why bother right? That obviously is not the case for many people. We should learn to embrace ourselves and our bodies because we are only going to have one – no more. Many times we concentrate so much on our flaws that we make a big hoo-hah out of it. But worst still is when we are so absorbed at fixing them that the beautiful side of us starts to fade with neglect and indifference. Apparently, Jennifer Aniston has a problem with her behind: she claims it is too big! Oh my word, if your butt is big, what about the Japanese Sumo wrestlers’? Their tail must be colossally mountainous then! C’mon lady! Never ever give up even when you feel confused or overwhelmed with information because it really is all physiologically linked to the nerves in your brain – adolescence is the toughest stage because it is the period where the nerves are the most active. What I am saying is, everybody is facing the same thing, whether they are considered by the society morbidly obese or stick thin – size does not matter when identity comes into the picture. Step back, and look at the big picture as opposed to tracing the details because if you do that, you will never get anywhere. Or as they like to put it, “You ain’t getting nowhere!”

Sam

Stark raving idiots = Happiness? Maybe...

2005-07-16T08:38:00.000-07:00

Look around, honestly, how many happy people do you actually see? Sometimes, life likes to give you a kick in the groin and others, it leaves you alone to do what you want - you know, eat sushi or something. Scientifically, happy is defined as when the chemical serotonin is released in your brains. That's really some intellectual flimflam - which I'm interested in but that's not the point. My idea of happy would be: having a stupid grin on my face.

Life offers you chances, it forces you to make decisions. And it is these decisions that define your life, and whether or not you have a positive outlook - it's really quite odd for me to say this, considering I'm pretty much a pessimist. You make them, and then bear the consequences, good or bad.

She - life - deals you with blows in the face and you can cry about it or tell Mommy, but there are other ways out: take it as a lesson. Just a couple hours ago, I went to watch War of the Worlds. See, something happened while I was on my way to get the ticket - in the lift. It was embarassing though: I smiled at the Indian man who was with me in the box, and when I thought everything was going A-OK...

Man: "Did you eat durians?"

Sam: "Huh?" I didn't catch what he was saying at first.

Man: "I said, did you eat durians?"

Sam: "Oh, no no no..." My face went as red as a baboon's behind - if you know what I mean.

Honestly, did it smell so bad? Dang it, I knew I should have brushed after I ate chicken rice! Hey, but as I said, look on the bright side. At least he didn't offer me a tic-tac or something... And at least I got to talk to someone in the lift: usually, it'd just be both of us watching the led lights dance in the panel, looking at the numbers it reads like complete fools, then "Ding," you go your way and I go mine - we never met. It's still stuck in there, really, was it so bad? Durians?

Speaking of tic-tacs, I really can't stand it when people SMS on their cell during movies. Unfortunately however, I was sandwiched - actually squished - between two people whose "manners" are, let's say below average. The girl on the right was tick-tacking away on her phone, apparently sending an SMS. I wished I had done this, but I haven't: Oh, you wanna tick-tack? I'll tick your tack! Tick-tack-tick-tick-tick-tack-tick-tack-tack...

*Shows her my cellphone exasperatedly"

"Lady, please stop tick-tacking. You're getting on my very last nerve... I'd appreciate if you could get yourself, and your tick-tacking thingy off it. GOSH!"

Again, I didn't do it - though I'd love to see the expression on her face if I had... But it wouldn't be a very good idea since her boyfriend was right with her, would it? As I said, we suffer the consequences of our decision - and I'm lucky I made the right one and didn't get my teeth knocked out. My horror wasn't exactly over - there was my "leftie." Well, he didn't tick, nor did he tack, but he surely did tsk.

Leftie: "TSK TSK TSK TSK TSK..." After seeing the anarchy on the streets in War of the Worlds.

Me: "Oh you, you... LIZARD!" I was trying very hard to suppress that thought, then...

Leftie: "TSSSK TSSSSK TSSSSSK TSSSSSSSK!" That happened after he saw the people get vaporized by those aliens.

Me thinking again: "Oh for heaven's sake, it's just a movie! I've got some lizards at home and could probably get you a few if you feel an urge to communicate in lizard!"

I think you get the idea... Anyway, I think the decisions I made, to keep my thoughts to myself, had pretty much worked out. I didn't get hit, nor did I get licked to death by lizard-man. What I'm saying is, it doesn't hurt to be positive. It's really easy to take things the other way - negatively - and rip yourself up, or you can try to see the light in them. Take it easy, and things might just work out the way you want 'em to. Though it ain't easy to keep a smile on your face all the time, try your best to cement it there because it really doesn't hurt to let people see how you feel inside. It actually cheers them up when you express happiness - this is where our inate empathy takes hold.

So don't always think you're on the brink of insanity, or on the apex of the triangle of negativity. Because when you see someone fall off that cliff, and get smooshed and flopped into chunks, you'll feel like stepping off it and getting back to solid ground. I admit, sometimes you look absolutely stupid, even deranged when you smile or have a stupid grin on your face. But if that's what keeps you happy, keep up the good work and continue looking like a stark raving idiot!

Sam

The Durai Fraud

2005-07-14T06:30:00.000-07:00

How much more ludicrous can this get, honestly? Mr. Durai's face and name is printed everywhere I go, and for all the wrong reasons. It's really quite revolting to see the face that has hidden behind that mask for decades - the big lie. Though I know almost nada about the organization - and probably am at no position to say anything - the mystery behind it is shocking. Initially, I thought the defamation suit was absolutely unnecessary - frankly, if you've got nothing to hide, why care what people have in their sick, twisted little minds.

Come to think of it right now, I think it has somehow unravelled Durai and NKF - thread, by thread; piece by piece. It has practically stripped him down to his bones: his enormous $600 000 per year salary was digusting - considering that this extravagant amount came from our donations... I can understand that the work there is tedious, and he has been involved since he was in his teens, but $600 000? I'm well disgusted, so digusted in fact eating live cockroaches right now would seem like breakfast. Worst still, there's his fetish for toilets: gold taps, toilet bowls. I can't imagine what else he'd have in his toilet that's made of gold. The bathroom tissue maybe? Perhaps traces of gold can be found in his water? I don't get it, at all...

What's even more infuriating is that the gold on that tap comes from those donations. The lie, that those donations, amouting to hundreds of millions can only last three years when it can can apparently last 27 more boils me up. Come on, get a life! Are the chairs and the tiles and the pillars too made of gold. If that's the case, I probably can fathom how the huge amounts of money churned up after every charity show can last for less than half a decade... I really do. Mother of crap, can't he come up with something more feasible, something that people would actually believe? I'm not encouraging him to lie, but him doing it overtly is killing me.

Then there's tonight's charity show - I'm not sure if it's on 8 Or U, but that's not the point. Noticed something? The counter at the top corners of the TV screen are now gone; the artistes and hosts have stopped pressuring people to donate, donate and donate. Why has it been like this? Really, if Durai really has nothing to hide, and that he wouldn't be afraid of his conscience gnawing into his every cell, then why has the counter been removed? Why have they stopped yapping and asking for donations? Let me tell you: they feel cheated, that their efforts all have gone down the drain to some sea that is unheard of. The people feel so damn degraded, like airheads donating their money just to fund his salary and toilet fetish (I know I could be slammed for this).

Durai's cockiness has really been thrown on the floor, body-slammed, pulverized and then ripped into shreds... Good for him. The court case has really shed bajillions of spotlights on NKF's credibility - now it is really open to questions.
I mean, who has a toilet fetish so bad he plates it in gold? Who does really? And the fact that it comes from the donations just fills me with rage - I'm sure many other people feel this way.

What can we do really? Stop our donations, and let the patients suffer while Durai could be siphoning it off? The information in the newspapers could be misleading, but if it is misleading, where is Durai now? Hiding in his gold toilet?

Insanity

2005-07-12T07:38:00.000-07:00

It's really starting to gnaw into and take its toll on me... There's really a very fine line between reality, and insanity - and I'm on the verge of stepping over to the other side. Everyday, literally, my only activity, excluding some exercise is studying. Honestly, I can't take it over here anymore: the stress the education system puts on us is absolutely crushing and pulverizing every bone in my body.

I'm fearing what I feel is really coming, creeping up to me like a tiger stalking his weak and sickly prey: a burnout. The candle is really being burnt at both ends, and I'm just taking it all out over here. In five words: I can't stand it anymore! Speaking of that line, I feel as if I'm lost somewhere in it, between reality and insanity. One time, I'm practically yanking my hair out and eating them like seaweed, and the next, I'm bouncing around feeling all happy again. What a weird world, what a weird...me? All this intellectual flimflam, I think I'm studying too much of it. It's like watching the water boil, the toaster over pop, the microwave beep... Nothing new at all!

The reason I think I "enjoy" going to school here - I doubt I'd be feeling this way oversea - is probably it gives me a sense of identity, a sliver of security, and I'm trying to make the best of them both even if they come in microscopic amounts. Pathetic? You decide...

I'm basically polishing and shining and waxing my routine until it gleams so much, it blinds me - how ironic, ain't it? But routines are really darn boring: eat, school, eat, work, eat, study, eat, sleep.
It's somehow turned into clockwork now; are we really meant to be this way, are we?

Pain

2005-07-08T07:59:00.000-07:00

Well, it’s pretty apparent – ridiculous and even inhuman for this matter – how fads are this season’s “innest” things, especially in the UK. Happy slapping wasn’t something really glorious then to be about and now, there are bombs going off everywhere.

What is happening to this world really? First, the tube has been blown into incandescent pieces and bodies are lying in the morgue as a result. Then, there’s the double-decker bus which had its top blown off, together with some other passengers onto the streets. What are the terrorists thinking?! What the mother of crap do they get out of this? A sick thrill – to see disembodied people lying on the streets, with their arms 20 feet away from them? I’ve heard of sadism, masochism and sadomasochism, but what in the world is this? Have they lost their freaking minds? I can’t stand them. Seriously, what do they get out of this – 3^rd degree burns, cuts by flying glass, severed limbs, decapitated bodies, impaired hearing and eyesight. Do they really love to see the flow of blood, or the nauseating smell of gunpowder?

Why are people trying to inflict pain; why the heck are they so inclined to hurt someone? It sickens me really, to imagine the terrorists' smirks and smug, self-satisfied looks. What idiots, what damned airheads. Well, if they are so joyous about pain – whether inflicting it on others or themselves – maybe they do “deserve” something of their own. How’d they like it if I anesthetized them, split them right through their torso, and shoved in a C4 into whichever space I could possibly find? I doubt there will be any left; since they’re so deranged their bodies must have twisted iron coursing through their veins. How would they like it if I told them that they’d have their arms flung approximately 100 feet away and their intestines blown up into tiny little pieces that would rain down on the streets of London the preset 5-minute-time-bomb?

Or simply to paraphrase:
This is an extremely gentle remind to those terrorists, please kindly screw yourselves. I repeat, please kindly screw yourselves. Thank you.

Maybe they were brutalized and dehumanized during their childhood, so they want to inflict pain to show people how they felt? Oh, so now it’s really “healthy” to voice out your opinions apparently. I’m just really angry, furious, livid, whatever. Honestly, I hope that some monster from the Stone Age or something would be transported here: so it could hammer the living crap out of them and have their fingers for snack and limbs for high tea. And while they’re at that, probably intestines for what they call “brunch”.

Now, there’s another crazy fad about pain back in Pakistan. You can tell me that I may be insensitive to someone else’s family traditions. But you can’t tell me anything about human rights. I’m sure inflicting pain on his daughter certainly isn’t something a perfectly sane father should do.

I think it’s because the people there are so poor, they rely on their kids to make them money to support the family they had started – for heaven’s sake, if you can’t support them, don’t bother having them. I know I’d be slammed for saying this, but it beats having them in misery and pain everyday just to earn a penny or two.

This is probably one of the reasons why those 8 men should sign on that dotted line with their diamond-studded pens (isn't is very paradoxical to sign that article with such pens? Whatever.) to eradicate poverty. As I've said, if they don't, they probably should choke on sushi on something... (I know I could get yelled at for saying this but I'm saying it anyway) I think it is really their responsibilty to do that.

So, there’s this girl, Sonia Hussain (I can’t find the picture, but it’s apparently in The New Paper, 8^th July – you’d probably be so sickened you’d feel waves of nausea because of her father’s insanity) who earns money on the streets of Pakistan by lying on shards of glass. Well, you might say that it could be her choice – fair enough. Now, try to take this in (you needn’t bother to even explain): her father steps on her stomach and thighs while she does that, all to add extra weight for a stupid street show. Surely there are other forms of income. You shouldn’t resort to putting your child through hell even if there aren’t – that’s freaking unethical. What in the world is going on in his head – maybe there’s just an endless void, hey you never know.

I realize there’s always the what-goes-around-comes-around hypothesis. It goes something like this, which somehow reminds me of Chemistry and the reactant-product, LHS-RHS things:

Bad Deed
Father + torturing his daughter = Bad karma + retribution + pain tenfold

What he should get according to the above hypothesis
Man + 2 Boeing 747 jet engines = minced meat + a lot of carnage and gore

I know after what I’ve said above, this might sound ironic, but I think pain isn’t something we should inflict on others – it’s just not right.

Sam

Holy Mother of Crap!

2005-07-07T06:32:00.000-07:00

We won the debate - as the opposition! To be perfectly frank, I'm not very thrilled about it. What can it possibly mean? More letters, words, sentences, punctuation and speeches - and no margin for error. Honestly, if my calculations are correct, I think we made approximately a bajillion mistakes today. Oh, it's just a bajillion, no biggie really... =P

Apparently, I made some really stupid mistakes myself - those out of the debate. Come to think of it, I felt like I have been almost as responsible as a chipmunk. The society has its norms for many things, and so does our school - GESS - especially on responsibilty. Basically, there's a fine line between being absolutely responsible, and totally not. For me, that fine, fine line is starting to blur (maybe I need a change of glasses, but WHATEVER!) - even starting to be erased!

It's usually not you stepping across that line. Instead, it creeps up to you so slowly and before you know it, KAPOW! You're on the other side. It's really odd how boundaries actually work.

Mistakes really are common - it's just that the person who is in charge of the grand design has probably sprinkled a little too much of mess-up-powder on me...

PS: Maybe if you're concerned about helping people - very, very poor ones - out haul them up and over the poverty line, this should be of some interest to you...

Watch the Video - The One Campaign - because together, we can change a whole generation of lives!

The One Campaign

2005-07-03T06:44:00.000-07:00

How absolutely heart-rending... I saw the video on Live 8 aired yesterday night on Preview channel. It wasn't pleasant at all. The kids were all emaciated, had swollen abdomens or had heads that were disproportionate to their tiny, scrawny bodies. Some had their eyes rolled back into their heads, others were crying - I think it's the pain their bodies had to take. Everything is in past tense... for all we know, they might be gone by now - God bless them.

Emotional and all, I was overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness and pity for these African children. Thankfully, people actually care about helping them. Did you know, one child dies every 3 seconds because of extreme poverty - they don't have the medicine they need that we could buy anytime at a pharmacy? They die of TB and other common illnesses, but I think the worst way that a person can ever go is of starvation. Too poor to pay for their own food, they'd die of starvation and malnutrition literally - what a way to leave, huh?

It broke my heart to see those children emaciated, not because they wanted to be - unlike waif-like models on the runway - but because they couln't help it. It's very inspiring to know that people actually care to help. 150 bands over 8 countries - if I recalled correctly - had performed to persuade the 8 most influential men to sign on a line, to make poverty history. Good on them really - I think they all did the best thing that people could ever have done, and they should be proud of themselves.

Right now, it's up to those 8 men from the 8 most wealthiest countries - France, Japan, USA, UK, Canada, Italy, Russia and Germany - to decide whether or not they want to end this misery, the toll that extreme povety takes on those kids (30, 000 people die a day of extreme poverty alone!).

I don't know, but I think it will be a shame if they didn't. It would be extremely disappointing. The Japanese should get choked on sushi, the Germans run over by BMWs, and the British happy slapped if they didn't, and I'm just saying...

But seriously, I really hope this misery ends and this "black hole" of pain and misery stop sucking everything in its path into neverland. Cap it for heaven's sake!

Happy Slapping!

2005-07-01T06:37:00.000-07:00

Well, looks like unhealthy fads are really "in" this season, don't you think? Let me name you one: "Happy Slapping." But trust me, it doesn't sound as positive as it seems, and neither does it feel as good. So what in the holy-macaroni-pies-and-pizzas is Happy Slapping?

Happy slapping informal especially BritishEng: a prank involving a group of unprovoked teens brutally kicking and beating the hell and crap out of an unsuspecting stranger - usually a minor - while capturing it all on mobile camera cellphones (FYI: this is the latest fad in the UK, pretty sick, eh?).

Doesn't sound very happy, does it? I don't know what in the world is going on in those sick, twisted and deranged little heads of these adolescents, but I can always speculate... They can #1be simply too bored and have nothing better to do then throw punches and land kicks on someone else's body; #2 be sadomasochists and have absolutely mindless, unethical and kinky methods of deriving pleasure; #3; be so insecure and unsure of themselves they have to take it out on someone else to gain that security or; #4 be having muscle spasms so severe that a jolt causes them to tackle someone and another jerk swings their legs with so much force that when it lands onto the body of the victim, it knocks the wind out of him.

To be perfectly frank, I actually do feel some people deserve to be happy slapped, as odd as it sounds. Call me judgmental, but I seriously think Singaporean employers (I meant employing "maids") can sometimes be too much. I think using the word "maids" alone is too much, personally, I think its rather degrading. I'd rather call them aunts. So it went like this: I was at the supermarket, buying some milk and what I saw, I couldn't believe. There she was, an "aunt" being loaded like a clothesline, but this time not with clothes, but with billions of plastic bags. Okay, I'm exaggerating with the word "billions", but I just couldn't stand the employer's
oh-I-can-load-you-up-with-more-of-me-bags-so-my-little-ugly-manicured-fingers-
would-be-free-from-any-potential- damage attitude. What a conceited airhead (I meant the old, vain hag).

Maybe I'm too harsh, but it's just so unfair - they have their dignity, and only 2 arms. I counted, yes, counted 14 grocery filled bags loaded on her arms. Can't she bother to help? For Heaven's sake, the aunt's not an octopus! Even octopuses, in my opinion, would suck the crap out of her for being so unreasonable. I don't really care if you ruin your manicures, they already look ugly enough, how much more heinous can it get if one nail breaks? Help for Heaven's sake! I did offer, but the aunt rejected - I think for fear of her manicured-freakish-employer yelling the crap at her for accepting someone else's help and making her look bad. Honestly, I'd tell it straight to her face, she doesn't need help looking mean. Whatever, maybe I'm just overreacting.

I know this is out of point, but I really find it quite ludicrous: Mcdonalds is actually telling people to keep healthy. What? Can pigs really fly now? And who are we going to blame when bloated freaks sweating fats from every little pore on their body go running around Singapore? To think I thought Ronald Mcdonalds was my friend? That candy-cane-mustard-covered clown really deserves some happy slapping of his own...

Sam

Mayday! Mayday!

2005-06-22T08:33:00.000-07:00

Clearly, I'm thinking too much again. That's the problem with school holidays or any holidays, in fact: you have too much time, and not to mention too much work that it makes you contemplate the most unnecessary of things. Now, I'm not too sure if Psychology really what I want - how odd, considering that I'd been wanting it so badly. But one thing's for sure, I'd work myself to death if that's what it takes to leave this godforsaken place.

I really want to experience new things, new people, new cultures and just a whole new life abroad, especially going away for college. It's like someone is playing "Roti Prata" (that's an Indian dish) with my brain: kneading, folding, tossing and frying it, kneading, folding tossing and frying it. Or hijacking my brain: flipping the controls, making a sharp, sharp turn, and just simply turning the engines off and taking the all parachutes with him - leaving me to plummet back to earth, helplessly shouting "Mayday! Mayday!" over the radio. Okay, this seems too "Hollywood-ish."

Anyhoo, I feel like I'm plunging into the depths of procrastination - and the only way to get myself out and avoid being "smushed" into little bits of Sampson is simply to stop! Never would I want to hit rock-bottom! Over my dead body and not even when hell freezes over and hails I say! Never would I succumb to laziness and sluggishness! Although I feel like I am... "Whatever!" you may think, but it's really quite frightening to "fall" right through and into that darkness below.

The logic behind how this "monster" actually works is rather simple (actually, so simple it's mind-boggling how people still can't manage to pulverize it, and sprinkle its remains over someone else's lawn and watch their flowers wilt - evil, huh? Or you can just destroy it and wipe its floor clean and toast its onions - what?! Totally thinking too much!): the more you listen to it, the stronger it gets - somewhat like the incredible hulk, just that this "monster" doesn't need the hate factor (okay, getting out of point). To paraphrase, the more you procrastinate, the lazier you will become. And the more panicky you will get when deadlines become so tight, they constrict you and pop your eyes out of their sockets. Some books which talk about how to get over laziness can be overrated - all you have to do is to stop procrastinating and kick productivity up a notch or ten (not too easy, but still can be done if your will is strong enough).

I believe mine is, and I hope I'm not delusional or living in the impervious shell of denial - I don't know who creates these, but they should really consider working for KEVLAR®. Back to the topic.
Just by being a slug, you are actually allowing the lazy cells in you to proliferate! Squish that slug, sprinkle salt over it and see it "melt", just do whatever it takes to purge that beast.

Well, I think I had enough of my say on the monstrous thing called "Laziness." Hopefully I would be able to crush and hammer and make Roti Prata out of it by tomorrow - and more hopefully, I don't want to be saying this again tomorrow.

*Throws a punch right in its crotch*

HA! Take that searing pain in your loins, you sick freak! How do you like that? = D

*Villianous laughter*

P.S. I'm feeling so much better after doing that

Sam

Good on ya ASPCA!

2005-06-15T08:26:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, I really wonder why people bother to even keep pets if they don't give a stinking little, tiny rat's ass about them. You probably might be wondering why the sudden outburst, and here's why.

A neglected horse, three emaciated dogs and a cat so badly brutalized that it had to be euthanized were just some of the upshots of completely inhumane acts - are we really capable of such unethical practices? - that was documented on Discovery Channel's "The Protectors: animal precinct" series. It features the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals - what a mouthful - (ASPCA), a non-profit organization that survives solely on donations, protecting animals from abuse and cruelty. To see the bewilderment in these animals eyes is heart-rending.

I'll start with the horse: the beautiful white stallion had lost his front teeth, rubbed his feet raw, lost more than 500 pounds, and completely changed his personality all because the owner he was entrusted to was completely devoid of feelings - and mind-bogglingly stupid for this matter. In fact, he possessed a stupidity so "pure and pristine" that he lied to an ASPCA special agent about his mother - who apparently needed to be sent to the hospital due to a stroke - just to evade any responsibility for taking care of the horse. What an airhead. Fortunately, the horse was sent back to a charity and he regained half the weight he lost back in a matter of weeks - a full recovery takes about a year for a horse this brutalized.

Then, there were the dogs. The three hounds were so badly emaciated, they were rated 5 on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the most emaciated. Apparently, the owner didn't want them anymore and decided to dump one of them in the basement - where the air was stale and light was dim - and chain the other two in the backyard - to be infested by tens of ticks. For crying out loud, there are charities which accept unwanted pets! You don't have to leave them to starve to death for heaven's sake! The dogs had nails so long and were so emaciated that they even had difficulty walking properly. Fortunately - thank god! - they were rescued in the nick of time (they might have been dead if the ASPCA came even a day later) and recovered fully. How could we ever be possible of such immoral acts?

And lastly, the cat that had to be put to sleep. See, this cat suffered so much abuse (the landlord, not the owner, apparently had hit the cat with a stick so hard and so many times it broke her vertebrae, ruptured her spinal cord, and rendered her paralyzed in the hind legs) she couldn't even mew properly. It was more of a raspy "ma-aar-ow" than a clean, sharp "meow", if you know what I mean. Get a life! The cat certainly didn't deserve such treatment, even though it might be a nuisance (which I doubt it was, there were other reasons - maybe even no reason - because clearly, the landlord was demented, twisted, and just purely SICK). The injuries the cat sustained were so severe, the owners - albeit very, very reluctantly - had to decide to euthanize her and end all her pain. I'd hoped it wouldn't end this way but thought it was the best way out of her pain - to a Utopia, to a safe haven. Anywhere but here, in this world filled with sadists and sadomasochists who derive pleasure from watching these poor cupcakes suffer and moan in agony.

Very much to my delight, two of the three inhumane airheads were arrested - the other one was summoned - for animal cruelty. Call me sick, but I felt an upsurge of happiness when those two were arrested, and an even bigger when I knew they were going to be arraigned, charged, fined and possibly jailed for up to a year - I think that still isn't enough really. Flattening them with a steam-roller and snapping every single bone in their bodies, and a tonne of spankin' =P oughta teach them!

And one more thing, if you have a dog, DON'T EVER CHAIN THEM! Here's why:

10 REASONS NOT TO CHAIN YOUR DOG TO A TREE

Your pet can never be a part of your family when they are chained to a tree in the backyard.
The chain will eventually dig into their neck and back and rub their skin raw. It can also cause throat damage, making it more difficult to swallow and increases their chances of choking to death.
It restricts their movement, including their ability to run around the yard and get the exercise their heart and muscles need.
It is boring! How would you like to be chained to a tree morning, noon, and night? Doesn’t sound fun, does it! It isn’t fun for your dog either.
Chaining your dog to a tree isn’t sanitary either. It forces them to live too close to their urine and feces, which attracts flies and other insects. Yuck!
Being restricted by a chain makes it extremely difficult to be shielded from the elements of nature such as wind, sun exposure, heat, cold, rain, sleet and snow. Your pet could also be struck by lightning.
Being chained to a tree leaves your animal unprotected against stray and neighborhood dogs that can attack and hurt your pet.
Chaining your pet can lead to behavior problems. They become bored, boredom leads to frustration, frustration leads to excessive barking and aggression.
They can accidentally hang themselves on their chain as Smokey (a dog who hung himself to death because his owner CHAINED him) did. Do you really want that to happen to your best friend?
IT’S JUST PLAIN CRUEL! END OF DISCUSSION.

From the Friends for Life at the Haven, Raeford NC

Sam

No one's perfect!

2005-06-11T01:18:00.001-07:00

We, as humans, are always flawed in some way or another: some people have polio, others have deformed joints, etc. But it's really all part of the grand design and what makes others endearing to us as we are to them. Inevitably, these flaws almost always are the first to be noticed and sometimes even judged by someone else. And more than often, we form prejudices against them. Haven't WE got flaws as well?

I've been a victim of judgmental people and also been one of them (which I'm not very proud of at all). We throw them awful, sometimes contemptuous glances asking ourselves, “What in the name of lord has happened to them?” However, have we ever questioned WHY some people have imperfections before dishing out crude, insensible remarks? I know I hadn't, but am working on it.

Only when we know exactly WHY these flaws manifest that we might start to be sympathetic - but it could be too late. But sometimes even after we've been hit right between our eyes by the reasons why those people are blemished, we continue with our scathing and hurtful comments all for the sake of that idiotic P-word - pride.

I'm not writing this to make up for anything, I just feel bad that I had been so judgmental. Maybe I should be the one to be flattened by a steam roller, to be pulverized by a pestle and motar, and to be flown by the nose of a jet.

The Rubber Stamp of War

2005-06-04T09:13:00.001-07:00

Here's a very Happy Birthday going out to Fanny! Learn to let go, unlock, and throw away those shackles of pain! If that doesn't work, pray - even though God doesn't answer your prayers instantly, he has an answering machine and will get back to you eventually!

Did you know that the money you spend on a camara cell phone alone - about US$400 - is enough to educate 200 children in Ethiopia for a term; that US$3500 could get psychosocial and schooling support for 70 former CHILD soldiers; that US$5000 - the average cost of hair and make-up for a day - can pay 145 Afgan girls' school fees for a full year; that US$9500 could provide film screenings, education and escapism for 180 000 refugees? What has caused all this suffering and pain? Selfish acts and unfriendly relations between countries lead to the most horrendous of outcomes: war.

This is a 'rubber stamp' that decides the fate of these children - mostly slavery, emaciation, loss of limbs; it brings to them an unwelcome lifetime supply of pain and misery. You might be thinking I don't practise what I preach and yes, I admit I don't. But I'm working on it: I want to be a psychologist and help treat these people. Scoff at me for all you want but you deserve to be pulverized with a gigantic pestle and mortar if you ever scoff at these kids, who are brutalized and dehumanized by that dreadful 'rubber stamp'.

Here's a peek as to how these children of war suffer in agony, how human rights are abandoned for that completely senseless and inane 'rubber stamp':
Sarah Mclachlan - World on Fire
And how US$150 000 can help, literally, a million people:
Donations

Sometimes, I get very annoyed by arrogant, wealthy punks who have their attitudes hanging - and practically dropping - on their hips when they make fun of these people, living an existence so precarious that one of their arms could be blown a hundred feet away at any second. Tying those punks to the nose of an F-16 and flying them faster than the speed of sound, sending shockwaves through their body, still undermines the damage that war has afflicted on its helpless victims. Their lives are in so much danger even sleeping at night could be like threading through a minefield.

When will the ink of that 'rubber stamp' ever run dry and fade; when will those people ever haul themselves over and above the poverty line that seems lightyears away?

Can poverty ever be eradicated?

2005-06-01T06:55:00.000-07:00

Plenary session: a session involving all the members of a committee, organization, et cetera.

What I thought it was: something to do with Arthur Dent from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and some absolutely remote 'planet'.

I’m talking about this plenary-planetary thing because the session I attended was hilarious!

My day was lost somewhere in the grey area between stonking-ly interesting, and gobsmacking-ly boring - I find Brit slang so cool! Anyway, there was this seminar themed 'Working For A World Free of Poverty' and other related workshops at ACJC which Mdm. Rozy, *snorts*, had forced us to attend by shoving consent forms up our faces. =P But surprisingly, it didn't suck as much as I thought it would - I'm actually pretty inspired and happy in an odd way after going for the workshop.

If you've been keeping up with me, you'd know I feel animal rights are violated and neglected by its very creators - humans themselves. How ironic can the world get these days? Maybe the people in the 1800s were nicer. Back to the topic: so I attended the workshop, 'Human Rights and Social Justice' and I actually found it pretty thought-provoking. Why is the world in a state of poverty when there's a helluva lot of rich, pompous windbags in the world out there? Pretty paradoxical, eh?

Perhaps it's because the pooh-bahs of those wealthy countries don't donate, or could it be because most of us couldn't care less - adopting the why-the-heck-should-I-give-a-damn-if-it-doesn't-concern-me attitude. It has become commonplace - the attitude, which in turns worsens the poverty in the third-word countries - in Singapore, where every single one of us were conditioned and brought up from birth to adopt that purposeless and mind-bogglingly senseless attitude. What effect would that idiotic attitude have on the people of the world, especially those living below the poverty line? Some wealthy people with humungous pieholes might go, "Oh, probably nothing much, it could just increase emaciation for them, and bring the poverty line to rock-bottom. It's not that big a deal, really." Imagine if you were those people: you're surrounded by abusers - drunk fathers, paedophiles, etc. - starvation becomes a way of life and never leaves you, somewhat like your shadow but just that it hurts; your town or city sinks into a state of anarchy. How would you feel?

The children I saw on the brief videos they screened to us were all emaciated and malnourished. Their arms were only as thick as, I reckon, bamboo sticks. Swollen abdomens, decaying teeth were just some of the signs of malnutrition in the poverty-stricken families. Just look at the braces some of you might be wearing right now, and those beautifully alligned teeth behind them and think of how those kids can't even afford their own toothbrush, much less to a visit to the dentist every half year. We're all so fortunate that we don't realize actually HOW fortunate we are. When was the last time you'd donated to UNICEF? Never? As for the arrogant bunch of wealthy punks who couldn't care less about their plight, I'd like to exile them to Yemen - one of the poorest countries in the world - and see how'd they suffer and cry without their hair wax or their cell phones or just basic meals. Those Yemen kids have become so used to it, they've practically gone numb! If not, I'd just like to flatten them with a steam-roller - that still undermines the abuse the kids there have suffered for years.

Why can't the world be freed from poverty? If everyone - of the 6 billion people in the world - just donated just 2 bucks, it would help a tonne, wouldn't it? That's 12 billion dollars, a heck of a lot money that could be used for developments, provided it doesn't get siphoned off by corrupted airheads in the government. Screw them really. I'm really inspired (HERE YOU GO DARYL -inspiration for the blog =P) and I'll try to do what I can. Maybe UNICEF, I don't know. But keep me posted if you know of any organization that needs help - like World Bank.

P.S. Procrastinating leads to panicking which brings you nowhere! - Sarah, an online pal. Hehe

Pooped out.

2005-05-30T22:39:00.000-07:00

I've been rather angry of late, so I'll try blogging on something 'light' - much like switching from regular Coke to Diet. =D
FYI: Drinking fizzy drinks is the equivalent of drinking carbonic acid (that's something to look out for!).

Perfeccione! I was late for the debate meeting despite paying seven stinking bucks for the cab driver to zoom me to school - must have made quite an impression on Mr. Tan, I reckon!

He even wanted to slap me - twice - and shove a shoe in my mouth, how's that? Another thing: we'll be officially the first debate team in GESS - a dubious honor indeed. Let's all pray we don't make fools out of ourselves.

Our chauvanistic asses - Daryl's, Keith's and mine - got pretty much whooped by the 'feminists'. It was pretty mortifying but next time, it'll be us giving them a spanking - maybe literally or maybe not! *Grins sheepishly*

Then proceeded to walking the LONG corridor, up the stairs and then to 4H for the last - thank god - Math Olympiad training. I pretty much caught what Ms. Lee said - but it was all in bits and pieces. Hopefully, I can gather and put them together by tomorrow! Either she prepares very well for the lesson, or it's just that Ms. Lee's 'freakishly' lightning quick. I'd like to think it's the latter - told you I'm an oddball! *Shrugs*

I went for lunch after that and was so bloated - I upsized - that I reckon my bike went down by an and inch or so. Cycling has pretty much been my interest lately, mainly because I feel it's quite liberating. I've got to go now, have got the competition and Mr. C's Physics class tomorrow. G'night pals.

Sam

Something From Avril

2005-05-28T22:43:00.000-07:00

Slipped Away - Avril Lavigne (Under My Skin)
This is really sad...

I miss you
I miss you so bad
I don't forget you
Oh it's so sad

I hope you can hear me
I remember it clearly

The day you slipped away
Was the day I found
It won't be the same
Oh

Na na
Na na na na na

I didn't get around to kiss you
Goodbye on the hand
I wish that I could see you again
I know that I can't

I hope you can hear me
I remember it clearly

The day you slipped away
Was the day I found it won't be the same
Oh

I had my wake up
Won't you wake up
I keep asking why
I can't take it
It wasn't fake
It happened, you passed by

Now you're gone, now you're gone
There you go, there you go
Somewhere I can't bring you back
Now you're gone, now you're gone
There you go, there you go,
Somewhere you're not coming back

The day you slipped away
Was the day i found
It won't be the same
The day you slipped away
Was the day that i found
It won't be the same
Oh

Na na
Na na na na na

I miss you

Me, an indignity?

2005-05-28T06:31:00.000-07:00

I'm furious. What is it with the Chinese and their pride? Big egos and everything, they'd sacrifice their integrity and compassion for a mind-bogglingly idiotic thing - pride. Especially the men, they wouldn't swallow thier machismo even if their life was on the line. If I could I'd burn and char that P-word with a flamethrower, or blow it into incandescent little pieces with a torpedo. The reason why I'm saying this is because of the negative response I've got when I told people I'm 'dropping' my second language - Mandarin Chinese.
But I'd like to thank those who really cared and gave me their advice - whether good or bad.

But if you don't give a tiny rat's ass about me, then I don't give a damn about your stinking opinion. What's so degrading about taking a simpler, diluted version of Chinese? It doesn't make any sense to me anymore: I try to understand but it's no use. Is it such an indignity to study Chinese B? I'm a Chinese and I don't really care what the other Chinese say about me. They can go screw their own pride if they think it's THAT degrading. And I hope they enjoy it, really. Maybe what I'm saying is offensive to you, but think about how I'd feel when you say taking Chinese B is that damn shameful. How'd you feel if you were in my shoes, and I scathed you and slammed you for doing what I'm intending to do? Call me a coward, call me a shame to the Chinese, I don't care. That just motivates me more to get on with my O's and leave this stinking place for good, to somewhere better - probably Australia. Your humungous flapping lips and ugly tongue will NEVER stop me. And I'm not planning on coming back. Ha! Take that you sick !@#$%^&

BGR - Is it too much for you, kiddo?

2005-05-27T07:04:00.000-07:00

First off, I'd like to congratulate Mak for topping the level - trust me, it's something you'll love to hate and hate to love. Good luck, you'll need it. =P

A mere thirty minutes of sleep the day before has seriously taken its toll on me: my head feels like it's been compressed and liquefied; I'm starting to hallucinate. To paraphrase, I feel like I've been hit in the head by a locomotive and dragged from St. Petersburg to the Polish Border - perfect.
I've observed that many kids, about my age - 14 - have committed themselves to boy-girl-relationships - actually, it's quite odd to call them boys and girls but whatever. I believe we're too young and absolutely doubt we'd have the time for a true relationship - heck, I know some people wil scoff at this anyway; I don't give a damn because it's your future, not mine.

Some of you might be wondering where my sudden 'passion' for this had come from - I'll come to it later.

What's wrong with this scene: A teenage boy walks his girlfriend home late at night, greets his 'could-be-mother-in-law'. She pecks him on the cheek and waves goodbye, while he walks home all alone. Quite plausible, but not very common today.
The scene's more like this: Both the adolescents grope, kiss and hug like desperados - it might even get you know, steamy - as if the whole world's theirs. You might think I'm some pretencious windbag, but I'm really getting concerned. Apparently, there's a girl in my school who's been pregnant not once, not twice, but seven times - it might not be true but looking at the current situation it's highly possible, don't you think? The generation's getting better looking and nubile bodies are everywhere, but isn't this -sex - getting too far?

Okay, back to the interest part: this sudden whim was sparked when I picked up a self-help book on love - not because I'm in love, but because the girl on the cover was hot (DUH!). =P As I leafed through it - constantly flipping back to the cover page, of course - I found some advice that I thought would be helpful for some people who need help. It's all in bits and pieces so pardon me, besides, humans only have a memory span enough to store an average of 7 pieces of information:

Forgiveness

Forget and forgive whoever who hurt you and rectify the mistakes, so you'd stop rather than repeat them and further increase you pain.
Forgive and stop blaming yourself - it's not your fault - to unlock and throw away the shackles of pain and hatred - oh, and swallow the key.

Get Off That Damn High Horse Of Yours, Really. =P

Abandon pride - your machismo etc - and arrogance for modesty but be practical and not too humble because it would seem to be pretencious. Anyway, pride isn't going to support you, your partner will.
We are all delusional - running away from our problems, thinking it'd be 'okey dokey'. Stop deluding yourself and accept yourself for who you are, not imitate someone else. Being yourself is a lot more attrative then TRYING so hard to be someone you aren't.

Have Targets

Set higher expectations for yourself so that you'll not get the same 'scum-material' and suffer all over again the psychological tortures.

Stop The Abuse Right NOW!

If your partner's abusive, whether sexually or in other ways, then it's better to end it because trust me, a true partner does not hit you or pressure you into having sex, they care and they beat up whoever hurts you, not beat you up. (This sounds kinda corny but hey, I've tried.)

As for the rest of the stuff I'd read, I can't really remember but I know it's there somewhere in the bowels of my squished up and liquefied brain. But one thing sticks in my head: the hot 'cover-girl'.
And by the way, I'm not aiming this at anyone if you want to know (which I doubt), it's just I feel I have to say something about it. I feel like some newspaper columnist advisor - with a totally cheesy name like 'Aunt Aggy'. HEHE

It's quite hypocritical in a way actually that I say I don't believe in BGR for the moment, then giving advice on BGR related stuff. I'm an oddball - and I'm proud of it. = )

Selfless or Selfish?

2005-05-24T07:09:00.000-07:00

Saying the wrong things has pretty much been my niche these past couple days and the result – I might have offended some people and I apologize for that, sincerely.

Perhaps I was a little too judgmental, too harsh and too crude. Come to think of it, I’m a rather selfish jerk myself honestly – but I’m not proud of it. Why have we got to be in this fierce and fiery competition for grades and numbers-on-the-top-of-the-exam-script? Humankind has somehow morphed into slitting throats for selfish gains, not at all caring the expense – whether it’s life- or monetary-wise – we just don’t give a tiny rat’s ass! (I learnt that in ‘Friends’ from Phoebe =P) Is it really that fun to live in a cutthroat society? Of course, we put our arms around others – but is it meant to show the mutual friendship, or is it just so that we can squeeze the living crap out of their heads and pop their eyeballs out of their sockets and eat them?

Sure mankind has evolved, you say; but to what? To a bunch of sick freaks that declare war and nuke the other; to barbarians who behead the supposed ‘enemy’ to show their sick hunger for power; to aviation weirdos who fly jumbo jets into twin towers. You might say I’m embellishing, exaggerating, but am I really? Take a look at the world. Every one of us possesses myopic notions and views – ones that cannot sustain or are regarded ‘insane’ or ‘impossible’ in the current society.

Violence has somehow turned to some kind of a must-have quality in Man that if not possessed, is considered heresy. What is the world coming to; plain stupidity? You must be joking. But what’s all this for? Selfish gains, the never-ending struggle for power and the supposedly awesome road to fame perhaps. We have somehow evolved and changed the human-design to adapting to, accepting and using violence – as a means to get whatever we want. It’s rather pointless, don’t you think? Hatred is like a double-edged sword a curved blade: impose hatred on someone; you end up cutting both him and yourself – pretty senseless, eh? Why can’t we just be selfless, altruistic?

HELP!

2005-05-23T07:02:00.000-07:00

I've been really angry lately - if you've realized - and trying to figure out why. It's tough being an adolescent: growth spurts - sometimes upwards, other times sideways; mood swings and many other damnable things to deal with. In addition to this, we've got a plethora of homework and exams piling up that I almost feel like a circus performer - juggling five shotguns that could potentially blow my head to smithereens if I mess up (a very easy thing to do). Seriously, I'm swamped but I'm hell-bent on coping and doing something to bond my class for Heaven's sake - but not many bother to help.

This - girls talking among their cliques; guys hanging out only with their 'friends'; a loner or two hiding in the corner of the class watching helplessly, wishing how he could be the one talking - is quite the epitome of my present class - and probably many other classes. People whispering among themselves while isolating others, ostracizing the loner - the class weirdo. Selfishness is really a very marketable product in my class. To be very frank, I sometimes also become one of its buyers. But the unfortunate thing is, it's becoming too marketable - selling like hotcakes - a very dangerous 'drug', second only to 'popularity'. I'm not saying everyone's a selfish jerk - although most of the time, we are like that - but this self-centeredness seems to be getting in the way of my goal - for my present class to bond as well the previous one. Maybe they're just insecure; or perhaps they're too shy but one thing is apparent - the sex divide. Rarely do I see the opposite sexes approaching each other - unless it's absolutely necessary. Somebody, HELP!

Some Stuff

2005-05-21T19:25:00.000-07:00

I found these interesting articles in an October edition of Reader's Digest, check 'em out (I particularly like the last ones of each):

If at first you don't succeed...
Give it to a kid

Is it possible to improve upon the classics? A Year One teacher reportedly handed her class the first part of well-known proverbs and asked them to fill in the rest. The result - some of teh new ones make more sense than the original versions.

Don't bite the hand that... looks dirty.
You can't teach an old dog new... maths.
If you lie down with dogs, you'll... you'll stink in the morning.
Laugh, and the world laughs with you; cry and... you have to blow your nose.
Children should be seen and not... grounded.
A penny saved is... not much.
It's always darkest before... daylight-savings time.
When the blind leadeth the blind... get out of the way.

Headline Acts

Newspaper headlines are meant the grab the attention of readers. Other times, they leave us scratching our heads.

"Priest in Fatal Crash Improves" Lakeland (Florida) Ledger

"Study Finds Sex, Pregnancy Link" Cornell Daily Sun

"Car, Hearse Collide: One Dead in Crash" Raleigh News and Observer

Screw the 'Fur-Coat-Makers'

2005-05-18T04:12:00.000-07:00

Honestly I'm incandescent with rage at the Chinese, more particularly at the Chinese fur coat makers. Those sick @#$%^&*! I know I might get slammed for saying this, but the distaste for Chinese in me is manifesting. I've heard a lot about how animals are abused, but never once have I seen with my own eyes how they actually go about their sadistic and immoral ways to torture these creatures - and I don't plan to ever again. For God's sake, they have a life!

It's disgusting how people think that fur coats are cool, that they're 'in'. I'd really like to see their faces if they knew how their 'season's coolest jackets' are made. How'd you like it if I stomp the living crap out of your heads; strap you by your ankles and skin you alive; hack your sorry limbs off their 'rightful' places; stick electrodes up your cruel bums? Sure, you justify your unethical actions by saying God created the animals for our use. Well, screw you because that is profane, even blasphemous! He didn't put them on Earth for Man to skin or to poach. We've encroached on their territory, their habitat and we don't even give a freaking damn. What IS the matter with Man? Have they evolved so much that they become so bloody mindbogglingly stupid? You might even say that those fur coat makers don't have a choice. Maybe they don't, or maybe they did, but they just made an absolutely dumb and senseless choice. Can they ever live with their conscience? I hope they never do, NEVER. In fact, I wish all the animals went extinct so that they'd be put out of their misery and allow Man to bear the ramifications -ie. starvation, misery, etc. - because they deserve it!

You might be wondering, 'Why this sudden outburst?' Because I've had enough. TV shows, movies and the media don't give two hoots about animal rights - apparently, it's not COOL. WHATEVER. I know I'm just one person, and that I can't do much - but I'll try to, you just wait and see. I saw this video about the Chinese fur market and how the people use sadistic methods to get what's considered 'lucrative'. They'd first bash the animals head on the floor so @#$%^&* hard they lose consciousness. Then, they proceed to skinning them alive while they're moaning and crying for what seems so faraway, so remote - help. The remains - which went into a spasm - were then thrown on the ground. The scene was so desolate, not because it was empty but because it was crammed and jam-packed with so much DEATH... The video flipped my stomach so many times I felt absolutely sick. What was even worse was when I saw the breeding grounds. Hundreds, literally hundreds of animals whose skins were valued were kept in a bunker-like cell, a sort of solitary confinement otherwise known as cages where they're jumpy and bewildered.

To see confusion in these animals breaks my heart. THEY DO NOT DESERVE THIS TREATMENT. Again, you might say it's only fair because it was the owner who'd bred them. FYI: that is completely insane, even idiotic and filled with overflowing stupidity! Well, if that's the case, then your parents will have the right to skin you and stick stun-guns up your sorry bum, right? I'm sure you'd disagree. What most of us have are myopic notions and views, and we tend to neglect other people's views. And who are the ones that suffer? The ANIMALS for Heaven's sake! You might then ask, if fur coats are THAT bad, then why do people buy them? WHY?! Because they are ostentatious, they are deluded, twisted and freaking deranged. I might get slammed at saying all this, but I just feel it has to get out, because the world's @#$%^&* confused, probably in a state of anarchy. I just hate to know that all of our doings are at the expense of the animals.

We must all do our part to save the animals, otherwise there wouldn't be any animals to save. So don't go hacking and chopping and skinning, go polyester!

Traumatized

2005-05-16T06:36:00.000-07:00

The exams have terrible side-effects on students, really! First, you get pre-exam jitters, then you get 'during-exam jitters' and finally you get post-exam jitters. By the time you're finished 'jittering', all your nails would be gone from all that chewing - mine has grown jagged and yuk, there's some green fungus-like stuff! *grins* Oh I couldn't care less about that - personal hygiene has somehow climbed down my priorities list. What has got me tensed up is the fact that we're getting our results tomorrow. Oh the HORROR! Why are teachers so secretive when it comes to disclosing our marks? It's not as if I'd go for their neck if they did - or maybe I will; it all depends... hehe. Good Luck pals.

Ciao

S

Who the Heck Are You?

2005-05-15T06:29:00.000-07:00

I've been very irritable recently and I'm going to blame it firstly, on the weather; secondly, on people who dial the wrong numbers - or as I'd address them: swollen-fingers.
Gosh, the weather's blazing hot, but to top my 'bad mood' off, some people just love to dial the wrong number. Have they got fingers that are too pudgy, they dial 3 when they want to dial 1? Once, I can stand. But giving me the excuse, 'wrong number' several times just flips me out. Oh screw those phones which have those numbers too close together.

Good Riddance to the Exams

2005-05-14T04:37:00.000-07:00

Goodbye exam blues!
The dreadful exams are history – good riddance to them! How I hated that period. Why have they got to ‘assess’ us by putting us through stressful periods; where you sit on a ‘remote island’ busily writing the hell out of your pen – and they blame me for my illegible handwriting? This is ridiculous! If my hand seems to be perfectly legible to me, then it should be readable to you. School’s such a drag when it comes to papers – I’m about to fall apart any second now. Why do parents put their kids through that damnable period where they’re all flushed and about to cry? Because they want the best for us and they assume that means the highest grades and admission to the best universities. I need examinations like a hamster needs a toothpick for heaven’s sake! Mankind’s actually quite senseless come to think of it: your mom pays someone else to slap her face – facials; your dad pays a helluva lot of money for sticks that could be potentially fatal to his health – cigarettes; your elder sister buys a miniskirt, which seems more like underpants – wait, yeah actually that’s okay for me…
We’ve been conditioned from birth to see that certificates are really what counts in this society – they don’t give a freaking damn even if you have a good heart or if you have the potential, it all just boils down to the question: ‘What’s your highest level of education?’ Certainly that’s not too intelligent of them, is it? Of course education’s important; you should even have your goals. But if achieving those means putting yourself through a period when you feel like tearing your hair off your head, then it’s quite meaningless. Nevertheless, we still try to do our best because failing is such a humiliation, right? I don’t think so. Only great failures become great achievers, so if you’ve never failed, you’ll never learn. Ever. Call me a cynic but the most important thing I’ve learnt is that, if you scrape your knees, no one’s gonna help you up even if they have the intention to, you’ve just got to pick yourself up and tend to those wounds yourself. To put it simply, if you ever fail, nobody’s gonna help you succeed – every one’s self-centered – you’ve just got to do it yourself. Ciao… By the way, have you noticed it’s Friday the 13th?

Proselythizer

2005-03-26T06:27:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I went to the Church at Marine Parade with Dr. Yap for a Multimedia presentation: 'Heaven's Gate, Hell's Fire.' It was absolutely hilarious, and it made an huge impact on me. The presentation had a bizzarely evangelical effect, proselythizing many - including myself. I don't know what hit me, but it just did. When the preacher started to speak, I was overwhelmed by this feeling. Adrenaline just coursed through my veins, and with my heart pumping furiously, I felt lightheaded. It was strange... The cue for those that want to accept the Lord to step out onto the front was given by the preacher. I felt so welcome, by the people and all, the community. Thunderous clapping for those who wanted to convert or take Christianity as their religion made me feel so welcome, so accepted. My legs were rubbery and I was trembling, with my lower lips quivering with something that felt like... it's incomprehensible. I'm just converted - still cynical, but at least not agnostic anymore. I felt selfish, making a decision without my parents' approval, especially when it concerns religions. But I just had to do it, i know i do... Still, it's extremely difficult to break the news to them, without having them freaking out. On Friday, after the presentation, I tried to hint to my father that I had converted but got chided instead... As hard as it's going to be, I know they will respect my decision - they just need some time, it was all too sudden. He has an inkling of what had happened, but isn't sure.

Roadkill?

2005-03-23T04:57:00.000-08:00

I just read an article headlined 'Ugly S'poreans' in the school's Reading Booklet today. True enough, they've lived up to their names... As I cycled along Balestier road and headed towards Chancery, I felt pretty upbeat. Then, I saw something too horrible to contemplate - a grotesque image of seemed to be a cat. It was absolutely gruesome - it lay sprawled on the tarmac busted wide open on it's side, disembodied and disembowelled. It was not a nice scene, blood splattered everywhere. The 'cat' was literally as flat as a piece of pancake and I'm not embellishing.

Who in the right state of mind would run over an animal - as we would so humanely call it? It infuriates me to know that there are sick, twisted, demented freaks out there who'd run over these poor creatures like they're speedbumps, then pretend that nothing had happened. Those cowards! Can't they just pull over, step out of their cars, bring the dying animal to the sidewalk and let them go in peace, where they would not be squished by other vehicles? Where has all the humanity gone to? The ignition? The bumper? Or the windshield?

Despite wanting to move it to the pavement, I couldn't bear to do it - it was too painful. The next thing I heard was the roar of a 3 tonne bus followed by the sickening crack of bones that sounded like brittle twigs snapping. Only then I knew what they really meant by 'sending shivers down your spine'. I was absolutely delirious with anger and shock, cursing and screaming. You might think I'm over-reacting or exaggerating, but I think if you are humane and not devoid of feelings , you'd feel the same.

After seeing what happened, I felt like throwing up - at the ugly image Singaporeans have left imprinted on my mind: both the cat and their indifference to the plight of animals.

I'm a Cynic

2005-03-19T05:50:00.000-08:00

Do you believe in fate, that everything is predestined? Do you believe in god, Santa or the Easter Bunny? People are constantly asking these questions, or things related to them - whether things happen for a reason. I consider myself an agnostic but not an atheist, and no - I don't believe in fate. For god's sake, I don't even trust the media to give us the concrete facts, those that aren't embellished in any way, or spiced up with misleading quotes. However, I do believe that things happen for a reason. (you might think i'm a pompous windbag or a some preacher who talks too much)

*****

We - Asyif, Wen Jie, Boshu, Ling Lee, Thiraphon and I - went to Dr. Yap's for a BBQ not too long ago. As we chatted, he brought up something about fearing God or Man, and before I knew it, we were in his house watching a DVD on some minister that had received Deliverance and expelled the inner demons in him - he gave a blow-by-blow account of how he got possessed and what happened next; How his son got kidnapped and saved by a mysterious man in white. I'm not trying to be disrespectful but it sounds too surreal. Dr. Yap mentioned he was a very good public speaker - I wonder if lies are included in public speaking. How have I turned to be such a cynic? Maybe all this sounds profane and very disrespectful. I don't mean to offend anyone; it isn't even intended to be blasphemous! I had a strict upbringing, and was influenced by Buddhism and religions when I was young, but look what happened... They say people change, now I know what they mean. It's not just the beliefs but the mannerisms and everything else.

*****

Went to an Aussie education fair yesterday. The lady at the UNSW booth was so nice and soft spoken - I'm starting to like Aussie Land already! Hehe. I've heard a lot about people going over and being disenchanted with the country and the whole idea due to racial discrimination and them missing their family. If i can make it, it'll be awesome!

P.S. You gotta check my class out... =)

2005-02-09T07:22:00.000-08:00

Well, it's officially the first day of Chinese New Year and I still can't find my New Year mood. I find it boring, soul-destroying even. But the holiday mood somehow had seeped into me when I saw my cousins having so much fun and instantly felt absolutely upbeat. Until the sight of my granny with something that looked like a heart-lung machine caught my eye. It was absolutely heartbreaking... She looked pale, weak and was gasping for air - decades of Asthma had taken its toll. The sight was extremely depressing, I felt an upwelling of sadness but managed to stop myself from crying... I hope she gets better...and fast.

2005-02-08T06:13:00.000-08:00

Hello. I've just finished 'eating' the Reunion Dinner and honestly, I didn't feel much of the significance this year. Actually, I'm not enthusiastic about Chinese New Year at all, save for the fact that I'll be richer. = D Other than that, CNY's not really as appealing to me as it was before - maybe because I'm faced with a plethora of schoolwork and a test to study for or maybe it's just the external western influences. Either one, I doubt this tradition would hold on for very long. I reckon after another 10 - 15 years, this tradition woul dbe lost in the very modern world we're living in right now. I know we should stick to traditions and cultures since life without them would be meaningless, but i somehow feel out of place. I even find them 'soul-destroying' at times. CNY's just not like how it used to be, especially after the tsunami disaster. Well, it's STILL CNYso... HAVE AN ABSOLUTELY HAPPY AND AWESOME CHINESE NEW YEAR (AND MORE RED PACKETS.) Hehe

2005-02-08T05:19:00.000-08:00

Happy Chinese New Year sweethearts!

2005-02-06T05:11:00.000-08:00

Hola! I'm down with the flu and my snot's all over the place - it's absolutely dreadful. You know that feeling, when you're walking down the street with your mucus dangling all over - embarrassing. Hehe. I've no idea why, but I've been really angry today; CURSE YOU mood swings! = )

2005-02-05T06:22:00.000-08:00

HEY! I got chilli up my nose, it's burning so bad! I knew I should've washed my hands...
Love. Now, there's something I need to get off my chest. Everybody's talking about love. But the thing is, do they -15 year olds- really know what love actually is!? I know I don't - maybe it's just my ignorance. Nonetheless, I think we're all too young, don't you agree? People say love hurts, maybe that's why people FALL in them. Pardon my outbust. I'm very temperamental. = P

2005-02-05T05:07:00.000-08:00

Hello! Thank god things have got back to where they belong in my life and everything's better now - at least I think so. I know the blog's crummy, but I can't help it! Everything's on the fast lane, teacher's blaze through subjects like they need to tinkle so bad; even schoolworks quadrupled! Actually, it's also because I'm lazy. Hehe. I've got this weird feeling in my stomach - maybe it's fear. I don't knooooow!

2005-01-29T03:38:00.000-08:00

My life has somersaulted, and the unfortunate thing is, it didn't land on it's feet. Some things happened yesterday. During the first couple of weeks in school, I felt absolutely lost. I even thought of changing schools. Being the loving mother she always had been, my Mom gave me some advice - stick with the school and see how it goes.
I'm actually starting to settle in, and the idea of transfering out was again, brought back up - surprisingly - now by my mother. She told me it would be better. I am not being cynical, but I'm seriously doubting it. She's contradicting herself, and unfortunately, i think she's also being hypocritical. I know she cares, but I feel that if it's my future, then I will make my own decisions. Many people, have been conditioned from birth to be accepting rather then questioning. I too have been brought up that way, but my parents told me if at any time, I felt that their decisions were wrong, I should tell them. I regretted saying something to my mother, 'If it would do me any good, why not?' I truly do. Now, based on what I had said, she actually went to search for supposedly better schools for me. But why? I'm feeling absolutely comfortable right now.
She said I was being fickle. Yes, I know I change my mind just like the wind direction. Ironically, she was too. You can't blame me for being like that, personality is genetic, so everyone's doomed to be like their parents. Haven't she felt this way before? Can't she support me, my dreams? I have a premonition, that if i change schools, bad things would happen. I feel that this conflict in ideas is pulling me away from my mother - far, far away. I don't even feel like speaking to her. When would this end?
Being a teenager is hard enough, signals are overloading in your mind; you're gawky, lanky; and in addition to that, workload quadruples. Haven't our parents been through this phase before, where everyone including themselves are frustrated, confused and moody? I am on the verge of breaking down because of this, and I am trying to supress all of it, but it's difficult. I haven't felt like this for a long time, and now that I have, it's hitting me right in the face.

2004-11-28T20:00:00.000-08:00

I've got excellent news! Milla, has raised some $150 000 for the ill-treated monkeys in the Shanghai Zoo. www.MillaJ.com I know it's really none of MY business, but you've really got to admire her compassion for animals. Sometimes, you can see sick freaks on the streets kicking a stray or using birds as slingshot targets (Leave 'em alone, won't you), or abadoning their once cute li'l pets. And here, you have someone who's so determined to help those poor, ill-treated monkeys she saw locked up in cages on set when she had to shoot a scene in RE2. Some might think I'm talking crap, but heck! Animals are still part of the WORLD! I'd really love to help, but I don't know if I can...

Sam

2004-10-31T12:52:00.000-08:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Hiya! Today's like any other day for me! Just, BEWARE!!! Hehe! Have a very Happy Halloween People! TRICK OR TREAT! Enjoy...

Ciao

Sam

2004-10-24T06:21:00.000-07:00

G'evening Everyone!

Hey! I think I kinda got over all that freaky moodiness... Hehe! Oh yeah, Joan Of Ark was absolutely FANTASTIC! Guess what, Milla Jovovich was in it! = ) No... - Shame on you! I know what you're thinking... LOL - The show was nice not only because of Milla, but also because I finally knew what God was capable of doing, and that he also has a great sense of humor. Hehe! The show wasn't that sort of preachy movie, instead, it was like a thriller mushed up with lots of drama and a touch humor to give it that kick. You guys should really go watch that show if you can, not only because of MILLA, but because it's really good. I sound like some "movie reviewer", huh? = ) Anyways, it was really good - it makes you stop breathing and PRAY that Milla's safe when she's shot by some INSANE ARCHER! Then you realise, "Dang, *pants* forgot to breathe!" Hehe! Okay, whatever right! *Grins from ear to ear like some idiot* Still... I wanna be on that island I was talking about yesterday, "Ah..." Haha. ALL THE BEST BABY!

Ciao

Sam

2004-10-23T03:25:00.000-07:00

HEY EVERYONE!

Hello! I've absolutely no clue what's come over me, but I've been rather moody lately... I still don't know why but one thing's for sure - I HATE IT! = ) Come to think of it, yeah... I think menopause's the cause. Hehe! And what's the gal-guy supposed to mean?! LOL.
I don't know if I'm thinking too much, but it looks as though I'm drifting farther and farther away - to some crazy island full of coconut trees and beautiful people sun-tanning in their bikinis - from my friends... *raises a brow* One half of me hopes that's the case while another half doesn't. Hahaha. = D Oh yeah, thanks for the really funny book Daryl. I read it at the chicken rice stall and smiled and people were giving me the "is-he-out-of-his-mind" look. Even my sister said I was INSANE - Now that's bad alright... *Grins*

Ciao

Sam

2004-10-22T05:39:00.000-07:00

HEY GUYS, G' Evening!

For the past couple of days, I've been "emotionally unstable", or simply... NUTS. = ) One minute, I was bouncing and bouncing and the next minute, I was like, BACK OFF!
I'm really sorry and please do not, I repeat, DO NOT hesitate to slap me or give me a wedgie or do whatever, if I ever go nuts. PST... Ali, I know you won't even hesitate. (I MEAN IT! Hehehe.) I really am sorry if I've done or said anything hurtful and I really, really didn't mean it. = ( All the best guys.

Ciao

Sam

2004-10-19T20:42:00.000-07:00

HELLO!

Today was absolutely AWESOME! Played badminton for 6 straight hours... And now, I'm starting to feel it, my whole body's aching the crap out of me, but it was worth it! God... Never felt this good for a very, very long time. Hehe... THANK YOU GUYS! WOOO HOOO! All the best!

Oh yeah, 1 more thing, changed my blog! Gonna keep it reeeally simple. G'night! Ciao.

Sam