this word was once condemned from the walls of my mind. But today i did something unprecedented by me. I went to orchard twice in a day. boy was it tiring.
it turns out that the general needed some fashion advice. His usual advisor, zhuang, couldnt really offer him that cos that skinnyboy never(seldom lah actually) wear long sleeved shirts. and furthermore skinnyboy needed someone to give him some advice too. So, i went back to orchard.
the difference between me and them is that throughout the 2 hours, I didnt spend a single cent on clothes. But i still spent a lot today. spent a lot on food. bought a book by khoo swee chiow. bought a magazine. spent about $50.
I am going into libernate for the next few days, preparing to face civilisation on monday again. Libernate is not hibernate. Libernate means going into reading mood.
Minutes to midnight is a good album, i realised, after listening to it a few times. I particularly like the track hands held high. Listen to it. Pretty obvious referring to a screwed up war happening today. As i was listening it on the ipod and rapping it on the mrt, apparently, a few tot i was crazy. Musicians have the power to influence minds. Oh ya and watch out for 070707 LiveEarth.
Good video too ya? As i say again and again, war is bad. War is terrible. Bush went to iraq to settle his daddy's vendetta with saddam. After elections 08, the world will become a better place.
Saturday started with me talking to a couple of drunk guys about planes, the future, and some sick stuff on msn. One very vibrant convo I must add. Sam told me about some US spy plane called the Lockheed SR 71 blackbird. apparently, the blackbird can sustain flights at 3.3 mach!!!!!!! According to wiki, The aircraft's defense was its high speed and operating altitude; if a surface-to-air missile launch was detected, the standard evasive action was to simply accelerate. Simply accelerate. I wonder if the pilots of this plane age less quickly than other people cos if they travel so fast, time slows for them right? Relativity.
Yesterday I cycled to Macritchie from my home. I learnt 2 things: 1. Lim Bo Seng, the war hero, was already a major general at age 35 when he was killed by the Jap forces. That's quite pro. I paid my respects to him at his memorial at the reservior. He was a brave man, a true Rafflesian.
2. Some Singaporean drivers just deserve some fist cake. Especially women drivers who DON'T KNOW HOW TO STEER and male drivers who DON'T KNOW HOW TO BRAKE!!!! Singapore roads are a hazard to all cyclists out there, regardless of age, experience or skill. Of course, not all drivers are lousy. I said some.
Just came back from somerset. Then my mum called me from orchard. Then sam soh and zhuang called me from orchard. I just came back dudes. Need some rest.
I love the feeling of being able to slack and feel lazy. It's as if time has slowed for you. This morning, for the first time since a long long time, i woke up at around noon. But it seems that the more you sleep, the lazier and less energetic you feel. And there's something strange about my sleeping habits. I've not had a dream in a long long time. The reason might be that my brain is too lazy to operate after sleep commences. Maybe I should listen more to zhuang singing than I will get some nightmares. Afterall, nightmares are a category of dreams too right?
Anyway, the title of this post is called titanic. I am in a mood for some history now. There are some periods when I dun really feel like talking about history, like after a CT paper. I always tell others not to discuss CT questions with me cos I hate the feeling of feeling demoralised after realising that you're losing precious marks. I always say,"discuss for what? What is over is over... Look to the future (i.e. preparing for the next paper)"
But now feel I like discussing history, or rather, sharing history. Last night I was reading one of my favourite books again- 'Events that changed the World' by Rodney Castleden. The reason why i was reading instead of doing other activities was because I was too lay to put the DVD into the DVD player. Actually I was thinking of doing a movie marathon. And for your information, Mr Castleden is not American, which is precisely why his book presents facts whihc are largely accurate.
Anyway, the book had this chapter on the sinking of titanic. The reason why it was considered an event that changed the world was because, according to the writer, it "marked the end if a period of Victorian and Edwardian complacency, the beginning of a period of a century of doubt and scepticism." True. And it also revolutionalised the way of maritime safety procedures. Emergency lifeboat drills are now mandatory before a ship can set sail, so that passengers can familiarise themselves with steps that can save their lives in case of emergency. This is why before you can set sail in the superstar virgo, you have to do the drill thingy.
Back to my main point. After watching the movie titanic with the jack and rose (yawn) story, I thought that the titanic affair was just a story about one man who made a wrong decision. well, actually, that is not the case. The tragic sinking of titanic was a story of 3 skippers - one wise but selfish, one arrogant but foolish, and another brave and heroic.
On 15 April 1912, the skipper of the titanic , Captain Smith commited a grave mistake, a foolish act beyond my comprehension as to why an experienced seaman like him would ever commit. Capt smith was propelling the ship forward at 22 knots -far too fast- through seas notoriously strewn with icebergs. After titanic hit the iceberg, it's watertight bulkheads gave it a few hours before it sank. During this time, Capt Smith sent out distress signals.
One distress signal was white rockets. Obviously, rockets come in different colours. My grandfather, who was one a sailor with a cargo vessel, told me that. White represents HELP! Just 5-10 miles away from the scene of sinking, the Californian was anchored for the night. The man at the helm on board this ship was the wise but selfish Capt Lord. Lord was a great sailor who had the basic intelligence to stop his ship for the night, knowing that the route in front of him was a hazardous one. Only with the help of the sun can one navigate a ship through such a sea. Capt Lord knew about the white rockets, but was selfish. He did not steer his ship over to the titanic. Acedemics now speculate that should the California have went over to pick up the passengers of titanic, it would had saved all the lives. Instead, Lord decided that the sightings of white rockets should not disturb his slumber.
Another disress signal was the wireless. The titanic sent out a wireless for help, which wa spicked out by another vessel, Carpathia, skippered by the heroic Capt. Rostron. After picking up the message, Capt Rostron acted exactly as we would all expect a ship's captain to act; he dropped everything, changed course and without regard for anything else at all he raced to the scene of disaster to offer help. He was the opposite of Capt. lord, who had ample evidence that a ship nearby was in deep trouble and did nothing whatever to help - and he was close enough to have saved everyone.
Now of course the man of the hour was Capt Rostron. But the main fault lies with Capt Smith. He was a very experienced skipper, and due to retire after this prestigious final vovage on the titanic. With his vast experience and fatherly figure, he looked like a safe pair of hands. He wasn't. He was a dangerous driver, a captain who liked to sail in style, make a big entrance or a swaggering exit. He sailed in and out of harbours far too fast. On the night in question, he was as usual going too fast in relations to the conditions. Whatever we say about capt Lord, the seflish one, he had the capacity beneath his cranium to heave to when there was so much ice about. capt smith went full steam ahead - into the icebergs.
Men (and women if I were to add, I am not to be accused of being a male chauvinist here) of great power have a heavy burden -responsibility. The 3 skippers were men of great power- they had the power over the lives of people. And in this case, Capt. Smith failed in his primary responsibility.
"Why, you can take the most gallant sailor, the most intrepid airman or the most audacious soldier, put them at a table together - what do you get? The sum of their fears." - Sir Winston Churchill, the man who never, never, never, never gave in.
Found this quote while reading Tom Clancy's Sum of all Fears 2 years ago. It left my head for a while. And while watching TRANSFORMERS today, it popped back in.
As part of my last minute preparations for the CTs, I decided to chain and lock up this laptop till CTs are over. Hence I was unable to blog, check email or go online.
Anyway, now that the chain has been removed that the CTs are finally over, I am blogging again!
Ok, so after being gangb***ed by the physics paper this morning, I went to catch TRANSFORMERS with some frens. Initially, I didnt really want to watch it as I never really liked the cartoon series (unlike Spiderman or xmen). However, the film really exceeded all my expectations with cool graphics, scenes and overall feel. Gabby and I were just discussing how long did they take to make one single frame during the fight scenes. I estimated around 1 day for one frame. And the movie ws 2.5 hours long. It turns out that the computer generated image of Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, is composed of 10,108 parts in order to make it look 3D. The guns of ironhide is made up of ten thousand parts each. Pretty tedious work, huh?
Anyway, I realised that 10 Downing street has recently changed occupants. Well, good luck to Gordon on his new job, and good bye to Tony for a decade of prime ministering.
And finally, I would like to quote a line from an ex-British PM, Winston churchill. After some battle, he famously proclaimed, "This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." I felt maybe this was a bit applicable to all J1s, cos although CT1s are over, it is merely "perhaps, the end of the beginning."
But nevertheless, let us all celebrate this feeling of joy and relaxation by remembering the famous native american proverb that Martin Luther King Jr said in his 1964 I have a dream speech, "Free at last. Free at last. Thank god almighty we are free ar last!"
although i dun understand the lyrics of this song, i still think it's cool. Dunno why people say it's romantic? I think the song is refering to cocaine (the drug). Listen carefully. And btw, anyone has the guitar scores to this song (not just tabs), pls lend me! Thanks and enjoy =)
physics is screwing up my mind, and i like it. i like my mind to be screwed. Especially by something as fabulous and amazing as physics. It's really a very nice subject, but unfortunately, i dun see it in my future. sad lah. I remember last year, I was flipping thru the phy insights text with my gd fren Qi Han, and I keep telling him, one day I will work there. I was pointing at the picture of the SIA B747 in the changi airport hangar.
Why did I take physics ah?
1. It requires the application of one of my strengths - logic.
2. You can use multiple methods to get the solution. It's amazing!
3. I like the feeling of celebration after solving a problem. Especially after typing on my calculator for hours, and finally getting an answer. WOW..
Anyway, I got one piece of advice for my physics loving frens: Gravitation simply means what goes up must come down.
And dun miss out any ^2. A small mistake can be costly too.
Stylish and expressive, you were meant for Paris. The art, the fashion, the wine! Whether you're enjoying the cafe life or a beautiful park... You'll love living in the most chic place on earth.
And I'm cycling to Paris! Cool ya? It's destiny. But of course I'm not going to live there permanently. No way.
Anyway, I realised that Singapore is pretty small. As in, almost everyone knows each other. After the weekend, I attended this workshop for youth environment envoys organised by NEA, and guess what, I met lots of other JC students, and as we chit-chatted, I realised that almost everyone knows people from other schools. Hmmm... interesting.
Yesterday, I went for my second time attachment session with Dr. Fatimah Lateef for her meet-the -people session. I not supposed to leak any details about the people. But there was this case, where the phrase 'In S'pore, law and politics don't mix." was mentioned many times. Well, yes, in S'pore, the 3 branches of governance just dun mix. And I saw many people, they really needed help, which made me think, "We need good lawyers around."
You aren't a full fledged Democrat yet, but it's likely the party that fits you best. You probably consider yourself an independent Democrat. You usually support the party, but you also think for yourself!
US elections 08. Just checking with the trusted old quiz things to find out my TRUE party. hmmm... dun really like the democrats too... obama and clinton... ewww... but i also hate republicans. bush.
I remember last year RI was infected by this computer puzzle game called the wicked. Some comp genius was inspired by dan brown's digital fortress or something and decided to create the wicked. So obviously chong min decided to try this puzzle, and in turn create his own. And so obviously i also did the same. Kinda hard to resist this kinda things.
So i decided to create some puzzles last year. And i found the book today. So today, as a present to my mum, whose birthday is today, i decided to post some puzzles for all to enjoy. (Actually no relation cos she doesnt read my blog)
Today was the national runway cycling day, an annual event organised by safra and ssc etc. So as a cycling enthusiast, i went ahead to participate in the 45 km endurance challenge. Might as well, since I am gonna cycle to Paris, France one day. I have been planning my Paris trip for years already. Those who are interested in sponsoring my trip can contact me thru email anytime. I will need at least S$30,000. Thanks.
Anyway, back to the national runway cycling. So I woke up at 630, went to check my bike, check the tyres, check the brakes, check the seat, check the gears, check the chain. So at 830, I was at the starting point of the 45 km challenge. I was feeling quite owned because everywhere i turn my head, I see some hardcore cyclists in their helmets, shades, tights and colourful professional attires. Dunno whether can make it.
Prof S Jayakumar was the guest of honour. 830 flag off.
Pedal pedal pedal. Cannot too hardcore at the beginning.
Was feeling quite tired out of a sudden. Then i looked up. OMG. Distanced travelled: 3km. 15x more to go. Changed gear ratio to a slacker one. This is going to be one hell of a ride.
5km. After cycling for so long, only 5km??!!?? Water break. 1/3 of a lap completed. I just realised that the runway is freaking long.
As i cycled and cycled, I wanted to give up. Then i thought of the end point. I thought of my ultiate destination, paris. I thought of lance armstrong. and i continued to pedal under the burning sun.
Along the way i saw ppl fainting. Ppl injured, falling down. Lovers holding hands and skating. Ah pehs cycling past me. And I just pushed on.
The third and final lap was the most hardcore. At that time, I have already been cycling for 2 hours. My butt hurts like some roti prata. My hands are numb from grabbing the handles for too long. Got dust flying into my eyes. And the worst.... my thighs, which have been propelling me forward for 40 plus km already. Sweating dripping onto my thighs evaporated immediately. My nose had mucus cos of my cold. And i was feeling pissed cos I was lagging behind those hardcore cyclists. 5 more km. Can make it one.
Determination. Never say die.
As I collected the last lag tag from the air force guy, I seriously wanted to just cry. But i couldn't. Was to exhausted to even tear. I just dismounted and collapsed into the nearest chair.
Ok so school's out. For 1 week already. Freaking fast. 3 hardcore days in bintan, 1 day for recovery, 1 day wasted going back to school and to sim lim and talking to mircosoft about a stupid invalid product key. Better be toll free if not i am gonna castrate good old bill.
anyway, so i was flying the B737 in my new flight simulator unactivated version. decided that the b747 is too heavy to fly. i needed a small jet. So i was spending lots of time sitting in front of my comp trying out the b737 at the hong kong airports. Why HK? because there are 3 airports in HK, and the place is freaking challenging to fly. There is the old airport, Kai Tak. It is super ultra difficult to land in runway 13/31 of kaitak, especially in low visibility. This is because Hong Kong is super hilly. Lots of hills up to 2000 ft surrounding a single runway. You have to execute the approach flying into the hills then do the 41degree turn accurately. Challenging. I like. Anyway, the new hong kong airport chek lek kok is good. Open spaces surrounding it. And if i'm feeling bored and i fly over to macau and land there. Very fun.
After GP cts, went down to match supports for first time since i left ri (and entered rj). Rugby, great atmosphere, thrilling match, great players. Then on wed nite, went to zhuang's house to watch champ league finals, despite maths assignment not done. On thurs afternoon, went for soccer finals. Great attacking football. 1-0 in favour of green, black and white. Overwhelmed the blues.
Then on fri, went to parliament house. Learned so much about those stuff. Then went to sim lim to get flight simulator.
Sat- Founder's day. I feel happy yet pressured to perform well in the future. My parents were proud of me, and i dun wanna see them down cos of me. i wun ever do stupid things that will hurt them. and stupid things do not only mean academic stuff. I mean i wun do crimes.
Never, have I in my blog, wrote about my emotions before. But today i will. Today's blog will not have humour. It will tell my current feelings (mostly anger, worries and turmoil) towards myself and my future.
Today was a bad day. I knew it. I could predict days just like predicting the weather. It was a cloudy day, filled with dark clouds. I knew it was gonna be bad.
First, I am getting quite anxious about my MOE Pre-U scholarship application. Because MOE said the award of the scholarship will be in early May, and it's already mid May. The signs are not good for me, obviously. And then Zhuang asked me, what is the purpose of the scholarship, and I couldn't give him an answer? Afterall, my school fees are already covered by EESIS. Was it pride? Was it prestige? What was it for? To boast? **** it man. I dunno.
Secondly, I lost my water bottle. The black 500 ml water bottle from SCO which have stayed by my side for 4 years. I just lost it, and now I dun feel uncomfortable without it. Which makes me wonder, should I pursue a degree with an overseas university? Will I be able to part, for 3-4 years, with all my possessions, my home, my family, my friends? I dunno.
Thirdly, I got back physics test. OK I didnt fail the test itself. But i failed my personal expectations. I really thought I would own this test, because I found that I could do all the questions, and had about 10 min left to check through all my answers. But I didn't. I was careless, complacent and pure stupid. Maybe this is a good setback for me. It has humbled me deeply. Which made me think of my future career...
I made many careless mistakes. There were questions which required qualitative explanations, and I did not give elaborate answers. I was thinking in another dimension. Mixed signals. There was the v1 v2 question, which i though was quite tough, but I felt I did it right. Well, yes, I did it right. The method was correct. But I forgot the add in a square. Because I forgot to write a small little digit, 2, on the top right hand corner of the value, I got 2 marks deducted for nothing. For nothing. Which made me wonder, can I EVER be a good pilot? Perhaps not. Imagine if I were to pilot an A380, carrying a full payload of >500 passengers. Imagine, then, if I carelessly calculated the take-off weight wrongly. OMG. Air crash. Forgetting the square the value for physics test has resulted in 2 meagre marks being deucted. So what? But if pilots add some numbers wrongly, it will result in death. Death.
Today I sat on the top deck of the SBS bus on my way home. I felt in control, being in front of the entire bus. I felt like a captain of a vessel. I felt good, but when I thought about my mistakes, I realised, that perhaps, this dream of mine will never come true.
In 2 weeks time I will be returning to RI for a day to receive some small prizes. But now, looking at my results during the 5 months in JC, I feel disgraced. I wonder if I deserve any prize at all. I wonder if I will screw up my A levels, and then ruin my life ahead. I wonder if my presence there will disgrace fellow prize winners like Yeong Li Qian or Tan Juanhe. Oh man. I feel like **** now.
When I talked to my dad about careers, I asked him which job would fit me? Which job would enable me to truly make a difference? I dun want a job in an office doing financial stuff where you turn up looking as normal as 1.5 million others, wearing a tie and black pants and one colour long sleeved shirts and leather shoes, and then working rom 9-6. I dun want an ordinary job( although it may be important).
I know deep in his heart, my dad wants me to continue the work he has built up over the past 20 over years. He does accounts, and I know he wants me to study accounts also. Which I why I respect my dad a lot.He never forces you to do something he knows you dun wanna do. Which is why he respected my decision to do geog instead of econs when I made my decision last year. And I respect him for that.
I once said I will pursue a careers in 4 industries. It still is, and I will tell you why today:
1. Aviation- Do you know why I love planes more than anything? Because I love the sky. I wanna soar through the clouds. The modern jet is a miracle. The wright brothers have invented a miracle machine.
And why do I love commercial jets more than fighter jets? Because I hate violence. I hate war. I hate noise coming from shootings. And I will never be able to pilot a plane to drop bombs over others. Can you imagine how the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibberts, of the B-29, Enolga Gay, which dropped Little Boy over Hiroshima, must have felt at that time?
So why then do I love commercial jets carryong so many passengers? Because every single one of the passengers are on that plane for a reason. Some are returning home to see their families after years of studying abroad. Some are departing their home countries to seek a better life in a foreign country. Some are rushing home from overseas to see their dying father for the last time? Some are doctors rushing to another country to perform an emergency surgery for a dying patient. Some are patients going overseas to seek medical help from renowned doctors. Some are just returning home after a nice vacation. Some are businessmen rushing overseas to meet an important client whose signature on a dotted line would determine bankrupcy or prosperity. Without the plane, these people would never have the chance to all that. They would never been able to travel so easily and so purposefully.
Which is exactly why I wanna pilot the plane will be take people to places they want to be. And I wanna walk in the airport in the pilot uniform, with the dark coat and hat, looking cool and all.
"Singapore Changi airport Control tower, SQ 030 B777, requesting for landing, runway 02L." "Permission to land, runway 02L, wind conditions 20km/h northeast." "Roger. Landing. SQ030 landing runway 02L" "I have control." "Minimum" "100" "50" "30" "20" "10" "Landed"
2. Law- Have you ever seen people being seriously bullied for something they did not do? I am not talking about school bullying. Those are trivial and unimportant. I am talking about people who suffer injustice in society, people are suffer because they are bullied. I want to represent these people. Which is why, if I ever become a lawyer, I want to specialise in ligitation. I want to free the innocent. Ok, this sounds good, but is it really possible? Non. Nan des. No way. Bu ke nen. In law, cheating lawyers are as common as nitrogen molecules in air. And they stink. They cheat to win big bucks for their bald fat executive clients who pay them by the hour. And I wanna fight these useless lawyers and their faggot clients. How I wish I could be the prosecutor doing the TT Durai case. I am gonna serve some real justice. And I wanna walk out of the supreme court, with my client beside me, in a nice black suit and neat tie, announcing to the media that the innocent has been acquitted, and that justice have been served. How nice.
3. Academics- If I ever come a lecturer, I wanna be an outstanding one teaching geography. And I want to specialise in vulcanology and seismology. This is because I want to save lives. Nevado del Ruiz, Columbia. At around 9pm on November 13, 1985, the great volcano erupted, engulfing the nearby city of Armero with its powerful mudflows. 23000 people were buried alive. Only a few weeks earlier, scientists predicted the eruption of the volcano. somehow the report was shelved. Yet a simple evacuation could have saved thousands. On the ruins of Armero, volcanologists vowed "never again". I want to be part of the team that will study such hazards and save people from grave peril.
4. Public service- I want to serve the country and its people. Ok, maybe this job doesnt look as glamerous, but it is an important one.
So how? If I cant even pass the A levels, I can forget all about it all.
P.S. This is, I think, the first time I used vulgarities in my blog.
"We'll carry on." Note the hard work the video maker has put into making this video, it looks as though the lions were singing. Thanks to DrewTheWolf from YouTube.
I havent blogged about political issues for a loooong time already. I realised the need to shut myself up sometimes to prevent unnecessary nonsense. For instance, I dun want to piss off anyone from the top.
So, I shall sum up my very very busy week in a few paragraphs. Quite interesting, though tiring.
Monday- sian.
Tuesday- Had debates. Motion: This house believes in the legal recognition of same sex marriages. I was first speaker for propo. Results not out yet. Super funny debate. Sam Soh (from opp):" Homosexuality is a mental illness" Parvati (whispering in my ear):" He's sick lah."
Wednesday- Geog test. Evonna and I were discussing and trying to predict questions in the morning at the lodge. Everyone thought I was crazy when I explained the negative impacts that Royal Dutch sheel brought to the Niger Delta.
After the test, I was surrounded by Yong Jing and the rest of the 6Q guys in the toilet for spamming my essay. Not that I wrote a lot. Anyway they threatened to cui (whack) me if I ever spammed my geog essays again. lol. Was quite scared though. Couldn't pee though i wanted to. Friendly intimidation is still intimidation.
After lunch, IHC bridge. Yu Jun and I were quite emo-ed, but still managed to play quite well lah. Give us some credit lah! Sure we got lucky, but hey man, can you feel for two young men who were unlucky for the past few weeks in other aspects of life? So, in the end, HH clinched first, BB 3rd. YJHC got indv 2nd though. Something to cheer up two ragged souls.
Thursday- Physics test. Lets wait for the results before I continue.
Friday- GP essay. Math retest (stop suanning). Did something stupid after school. Dance nite. Quite nice lah, though I didnt quite understand the moves. Full marks for the performers though. Effort was there. As a previous performer, you can fell for fellow performers. Great music though. Footloose is seriously good classic stuff.
Sat- UN association of Singapore seminar. what can i say? interesting but i somehow fell asleep? Great insights though.
But have you ever wondered where did the inspiration for the bag come from?
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