Life and its Counterparts

dnE ehT

2006-10-18T11:59:00.000+08:00

I guess i haven't bring updating my blog recently, have being caught up with complication after complication.

Anyway, point is, currently, there are no counterparts to life, and my life is in a mess.

So for now, this blog will die with its owner, or hopefully be reborn in a new light, sometime soon. If ever.

Goodbye.

Days gone by

2006-07-25T07:34:00.000+08:00

Auld Lang Syne

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne ?

For auld lang syne, my dear,

for auld lang syne,

we'll take a cup o’ kindness yet,

for auld lang syne.

And surely you’ll get your pint mug !
And surely I’ll get mine !
And we'll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

We two have run about the hills,
and pulled the daisies fine ;
But we’ve wandered many a weary foot,
since auld lang syne.

We two have paddled in the stream,
from morning sun till dine ;
But seas between us broad have roared
since auld lang syne.

And there’s a hand my trusty friend !
And give us a hand o’ thine !
And we’ll take a right good-friendly draught,
for auld lang syne.

P.S : "Fate chooses your relations, you choose your friends."
- Jacques Delille (1738 - 1813)

Chose, i did. And of regrets i have none.

My cup of tea

2006-07-18T09:15:00.000+08:00

A dab of sourness, a splash of remorse, a spoonful of regret and a chunk of well wishes, stir it all with a trickle of hot steaming melancholy, and the result? Brew of the day- tea of jumbled feelings. (Move along coffee bean, your Jamaican home ground is no longer the vogue.)

I will never live to like it, its taste too much a reminder of failure and sweet memories long past, but drink it i will, sipping, savouring, pretending to be the connoisseur of human feelings i never will be, taking disappointments and inexplicable human thoughts lightly, waving them away as weak whims of my darker nature, all the while nodding sympathetically at your problems, saying things to make you feel better, saying things i don't believe in. Always being the one who shares your worries, but never shares his own. Why?

Because it is not in my interest to reveal an unsolvable issue of weakness to you. Why share a problem with others when it is inherently a complex question that did not have an answer in the first place? How do you solve a rubric cube which has more then 6 colours? How do you reach for the stars on a cloudy, starless night? How do you want to understand me when you don’t understand yourself?

Maybe I’m making excuses. Maybe I’m too embarrassed by the truth, the unimaginable results of it. Maybe circumstances do not allow me to tell you how i really feel, cos it will only harm both of us. Maybe i feel you need to be protected from harsh reality, or maybe I’m just weak. Whatever it is, it doesn't matter. Not anymore.

So we will continue to share our little meetings, our little secrets, our moments of faith where things seemed so bright, so hopeful for just the briefest moment, and we be contented with that. Let the dark thoughts and unspeakable notions hide in the dark crevice of my mind, and let me face them alone when they come out to haunt me. It is a fight i must take, and it is a battle i fight alone. With a bright future paving your way, why be burdened by my puny issues?

On my darkened path of life, soiled by sweat and tears, despair and unfulfilled ambitions, we part for the last time with a hug and a handshake. Even if we do meet again, you will be my past, just as I will be yours. And as I urge you to make haste towards the warm sunlit boulevard of dreams, I wish you the best. That at least, is real.

My friend, the pope

2006-07-12T18:19:00.000+08:00

Today as i was browsing the papers, i came across an article that got me thinking. Pope Benedict stated claim that he had 'always surpported Italy in the World Cup, and loved Italy and its people'. Now, understanding the fact that he IS the pope situated in the heart of rome, it is definitely a good decision to show some support to the millions of catholics out there. What i don't get is how Germans are going to swallow this blatant act of unpatrioticsm.

True, i could be just making mountains out of ant hills with the help of a hyperactive imagination, but isn't the pope, as the official spiritual leader of one of the world's leading religion supposed to
maintain a dignified diplomatic stance? His public statement, while commiting political suicide, has the same effect as telling the world, "hey, no offences to my home country, but Rome is paying me more, and like, i have more fans here so i support their football team. Tough luck, Germany old boy."

Which brings to mind, in such a situation, which weighs more? The country that made you the man you are, or the country that is offering to make you something better? This thought, extrapolated to the situations of me and many friends, pose the same problem- as we are going to be studying overseas and most likely working there, what will our choice be when faced with a similiar situation?(albiet with a more serious issue than football). Will we run to the aid of a country, though flawed in many ways, gave birth and nurtured us, or will we take the side of a nation that clearly offered us the chance to be much,much more that a mediocre individual?

Sad to say, i don't have an answer to that. The best i could offer is the time withstanding, weaselly,politically correct-no-matter-the-situation answer of ' it depends'. :P Ah well, I guess time will tell, and hopefully by the time i am forced to make a decision, it will be with more grace than Pope benedicts act. Ad interim, back to DoTA for me. haha.

Tokyo Drift

2006-06-26T08:46:00.000+08:00

I must applause the effort put into 'The Fast and the Furious- Tokyo Drift'. For nearly 2 years, i have gone to the cinema merely as an act to humor my friends, as i found most movies banal and predictable...that was until i watched tokyo drift....this movie is smookin'..and so are the chicks..haha...nuf' said...a must watch...

Peace out.

p.s : Soon Heng, Edmund, plz teach me more bout car modification, i want to buy and mod my own GT-R too!!!!!

My thoughts

2006-05-16T10:10:00.001+08:00

Well all you people out there reading my blog, i will treat u all to a little trip into the dark and empty space i call my soul. After much soul searching (ironic,no?) and contemplating, i have decided on the ultimate truism of life.

The most important thing in life is money.

In fact, i wont even give a second glance to all the mild protest of indignance by those who justify themselves with sweet sounding stories of moral and inter-human relationship. There is nothing. i repeat, NOTHING, a person can do without money.

So you say, 'it doesn't matter if you are poor, so long as your family remains happy.' Well, I tell thee, this is bullshit. Happiness does not pay for school fees, neither does it feed you or clothe you or pay for all the minor luxuries of life like air conds or cars. Ever wondered why they are called 'luxuries'? Doesn't take Einstein to deduce that they make people Happy, which,coincidentally, cannot exist if you don't have money. Go check out barlow's pyramid, and note that it's a measurement of survivability, not happiness, cause people can survive with $1 a day, sure, why not? The question is, did they have a choice? What do they feel living in that condition?

Sometimes i feel (ok, more like all the time), it is definitely easier to preach about moral deterioration and spiritual uplifting when you have 2 BMW's parked in your garage and a nice half million dollars house to return to each day. Take a look at the world today- Who does the most bitching and ranting in the world? U.S, who has a networth higher than the whole south east asia combined. If i was in that state, of course i would talk bout all types of minor issues like how nuclear weapons might blow up the fucking world. But not if i was living in north korea with no electricity supply, have 2 sick kids to tend to and my rice wont grow cause of a draught. Do you think it is possible that I would go preach Kim Song Il on the global implications of nuclear weapons when he is the one providing rations to me when the whole world is threatening to implement an imbargo on food import?

Use your brain, world. It is always the poor who suffer. You think Kim cares 2 shits if u limit food supply? He'll just ilegally import some from china-for himself,while the poor peasents will have no food, and die. DIE, if u didn't catch the implication of that word.

Now, i'm not trying to justify myself to anyone. I dun even care if you call me materialistic. Life is unfair and if you want to live a decent life, you play by their weird warped rules-as they say, if you cant beat then, join them. When you become a millionaire and donate a few million to charity organisations, suddenly, you start becoming the most appreciated individual in the world, getting the 'samaritan of the year' award or something. ( more often than not, it will be given in a nifty cocktail party by some rich ass U.N organization who would do better donating the money to East Timor). But who cares, the world works in a simple way- the rich dominate, and the poor gets dominated.

And I plan to be the one sitting at the peak of Barlow's Fucking pyramid.

DoTA Clan

2006-05-05T11:09:00.000+08:00

Considering the fact that i will probably be ending up in Singapore, sad and desolete, I have decided to milk singapore for every puny cent it is worth. With that in mind, I,the ever observant one has noted these few things

1. NUS has broadband speeds that would put Maurice Green to shame.

2. Some of my old friends are going back, and our dota synergy is altogether not too bad. (in fact, rumor has it that they might, i reiterate, might have surpassed me in kill stealing prowess. :P)

3. 4 years staying in the same hostel( same floor and next door neighbours, if fate allows it) allows almost continiuos play and lots of frantic screaming, with dota discussions in between. Heck, if all goes well, we might even join local tournaments to win some lovely moneyyyyyyyy!!!!!

Ain't I the clever one? haha...

With all that said, its time for some serious business.....firstly, we still lack 2 members....a fifth normal line up and a back-up... Also, as with all pro clans, we have to stop playing pubbies(public games) and find some more,ahem,worthy opponents...(not that we are all so high and mighty, but we really need to expose ourselves to decent teamwork and gameplay.)

Furthermore, i noticed that our early buying strat is all wrong. With In house leagues(thats the clan battles), its always basillus for intel, and headdress for the others, while one farmer muz sacrifice a bit to buy a chicken, which is SHARED by all 5, not used alone...boots are a kinda of a waste, as u dun chase ppl, and everyone plays safe, with lots of wards...lots of it. (which means we have to spam money buying oberver and the other kind of wards)

Next up is line up. practising league mode means we muz have pure sentinel and scourge hero picks. The optimim which i have found is

Sentinel: Top: sylla/ rhasta/ sniper
mid: KotL
ES
bot: luna
Chen

Scourge : Top: pugna
pudge
Mid : Lich
bot: QoP
timestopper/ veno

All this are subjected to change, but after extensive reading of forums, i think this would be an ideal choice. WIth that, ls/jason and all who are interested, plz post me ur comments.

DoTA

2006-04-23T14:27:00.000+08:00

A few tips i found out about DoTA that i thought u ppl might be interested in.....

- Medusa's purge will diffuse Sven's God Strength

- You can jail your enemy using two heroes, anti-mage and vengeful spirit (anti-mage blinks in a place like a confined plateau and vengeful swaps him then he waits for an enemy hero to swap)

- You may also jail your opponent by using Morphling (crushing wave), which may knock-off your opponent and ensnare him in a trapped area when casted on a right location

- This also works for Tiny too, he can use his allies as an ammo then toss him behind the fountain, literally jailing him

- Use the <-unstuck> command when you are jailed, an icon that looks like a death pact will pop up and after you click it your hero will be teleported safely back to his or her fountain within 1-minute (doesn't work if you move during the 1-minute period)

- Linken's Sphere can deflect any spell except Naga Siren's ensnare net

- After bloodseeker casts rupture on you, then pudge meat hooks you from a distance, you will lose excessive amount of life due to distance & acceleration executed (You can actually see your hero bleeding like crazy as he is being drawn by pudge's hook)

- When you are Spirit Breaker, never use nether-strike when your enemy hero teleports to his or her base after the 3-second casting time, because you will be automatically teleported to your opponents base, and you will get raked by the chaos damage dealt by the fountain

- Sven's toughness aura stacks with ring of Basilius

- When rhasta traps you with cyclone--mass serpent ward combination, you can easily escape with the following heroes: Tiny, you have to click the toss icon really fast when tiny lands down from the cyclone: it will toss the wards sky high making the wards dissipate (do it before rhasta shackles you). Same goes for omni-knight, click on the magic deflection icon really fast when you land down, poof, the wards simply disappear

- Slowest hero: Morphling with 275 MS

- Fastest hero: Chaos knight with 325 MS

- Fastest attack rate heroes: Anti-mage and Terror-blade

- Slowest attack rate hero: Vengeful spirit

- Ursa Warrior's fury swipes are not effected by Enchantress' untouchable

- When you are playing Stealth Assassin versus Skeleton king, make sure you use smoke screen on Skeleton king so that he may not reincarnate after you kill him (This only works when SA casts smoke screen on the verge of SK's death, casting it after SK dies will not effect his revival)

- Antimage's armor + magic deflection shield stacks, reducing magic damage at the aggregate amount spell damaged reduced

- Buying shields and armor when confronting Roshan is useless- his chaos damage will deal full damage to any type of armor.

- The same goes too the Witch doctor, your armor doesnt reduce the damage of the chaos beams shooting out of the death ward

- Chicken--dagon combination only works if you give it a soul booster, giving Mystic staff that boosts intel will do nothing (it can also use lothars)

- You can boost Chen's speed up to 500+ with the following requirements: Boots of Travel, Sange & Yasha, Centaur Khan and Satyr Hellcaller converted as your creeps

- You can store items on your circle of power located in-between the taverns, since it has an inventory slot (Make sure you place your items on the right circle because once you place it on your allies' circle you cannot retrieve it back)

- When you are using phantom assassin with dodge skill maxed, do not procure the invisibility rune or else you will lose your fade

- The thing inside the frozen throne (cryolite) in the scourge base is actually the Lich King

- Levithian's Kraken shell can remove negative buffs. Therefore, stun and slow effects from most heroes are shortened.

- Tormented Soul's Diabolic Edict can damage enemy towers faster than Krobelus when there are no enemy creeps around that tower.

- With Enchantress' impetus, it is possible to reach up to 360+ distance damage when throwing at a fleeing Nightstalker (during night) or Lycanthrophe (shape-shift mode)

- Luna Moonfang's Eclipse damage is based on the level of your lucent beam skill. Therefore, if you max-out lucent beam, it will deal 300 consecutive damage for four times (total of 1200 damage). However, when you put 0 point on lucent beam, your eclipse will take the lvl 1 lucent beam skill as the prior output damage of eclipse dealing 75 consecutive damage for four times (total of 300 damage)

Baby Blues

2006-04-17T21:21:00.000+08:00

Today as i was browsing through the net, i stumbled across a pleasant suprise by the name of www.babyblues.com. I never quite figured out what attracted me to it in the first place (guesses are my strong paternal instincts- kidding, seriously.....i dun have patience for kids), but i can really relate to the humor in the cominc strips, i.e. i find them actually funny, unlike a certain few other comic strips which i won't venture mentioning.....

Take for example the two i posted above. The down-to-earth, blunt kinda humor is really catchy, not unlike the fungus growth a few of my room mates cultured on certain parts of thier body parts...ahem...anyway, it appeals to the normality in an individual, the unconcious desire to just be normal and have all the normal ups and downs of a normal family, not the late night rendezvous- i'm a superhero- save the world kind of thing....

Is it wrong to want to be normal?

Do you only become special if you do things that nobody else has done, venture where nobody else has gone?

Whats wrong with spending a weekend home watching TV with your kids as opposed to trekking your balls off trying to be the first person to reach the god forsaken north pole on foot?

Sometimes i feel, in the midst of all the development, individuality and intra human competition, we tend to go a bit overboard and lose sight of what our true aim in life was in the first place. Wasn't our aim to provide a conducive environment for our future generations? If so, why can't we seem to let go of the urge to get more?

It starts with a car, then a house, then insurance and education fund, then a better car, a bigger house, then more cars, more houses, more social clubs, more galas, more Air conds, bigger TV fancier chandeliers....

In the end, nobody realises that, in the midst of all the 'mores', we have actually lost the one thing that mattered- ourselves.

Words of Gratitude

2006-04-14T16:48:00.000+08:00

Through perils and adversities, men learn to appreciate the fragile nature of life. It always seems too boring, too meaningless, too long.....

Until you feel the cold gush of death sweep past your face, taunting you to push your luck.

And if you accept the challenge and survive it, you realise that the human life is no more immortal than that of any other living being. It is so beautiful, yet so easily broken, a butterfly in a storm.

So, Lady Fate, for all the lives of people, known and unknown to me that you have spared in an act of unboundless mercy, i utter these words of gratitude to you. Thank you for a second chance.

Let us rise up and be thankful,
for if we didn't learn a lot today,
at least we learned a little,
and if we didn't learn a little,
at least we didn't get sick,
and if we got sick,
at least we didn't die;
so let us all be thankful.

Untitled

2006-04-14T16:35:00.000+08:00

Today is a stormy day, and as a certain poor deflated rubber ball (in more ways than one related to the rubber band found at http://benlo86.blogspot.com) bounced gloomily at home thinking of a goddamn essay to summit to some goddamn rubber ball training camp, he suddenly felt how unfair life was....

It was so unfair that he was born a made-in-china ball, not a high class golf ball or even a tennis ball.

It was so unfair that people he helped surpassed him, without even a glance back to dance a jig of gratitude or bounce a few times in appreciation.

It was so unfair that he was not even misunderstood, he was un-understood.

It was so unfair, he didn't even bother complaining.

And he won't, cos there's more to life than sulking. One day, this ball will bounce with the bounciness and style of a world class ball.

I promise.

Love Actually

2006-02-15T12:16:00.000+08:00

For every brief moment you smiled,
You blew away the dark clouds,
Cause u brought a sense of purpose,
A sense of joy, a sense of peace....

And for every time your lips were against mine,
I knew that you were my valentine,
Someone i would treasure,
Forever, of that i'm sure....

And for every time i held u tight,
Never wanting to let you out of sight,
I realised how much you mean to me,
Much more than mountains, much more than seas....

And most of all,
For every second that i think of you,
I just have this to say,
You are the sunlight to me,
And my baby, you'll always be.

Happy valentine's, darling....

P.S: to all my buds, i dun normally publish lovey dovey stuff, so dun get the wrong impression.... and yes, I'm not gay.

Chat with an old friend...or two....

2006-02-15T09:59:00.000+08:00

It was 10 score years(ok, not really that long) since i had a real chat with my old kuching friends, i was beginning to wonder whether between competing for the STPM Chem book prize and the wild lust of girfriend hunting, i was lost among the tides of past and forgotten memories. And in this, the perception of a jaded life vateran was once again baffled when sim, my old pal suddenly called me up and asked me to go for a drive. Suprise....but a pleasant one nonetheless....haha.
Hence, we drove straight to teng's house, where i got another nicer suprise.....he had firecrackers, not the measly pop pop's that don't even emit a sound louder than a fart, but real honking loud ones (i know, cos my porch lights were shaking from the sound vibrations emmitted...lolz) and wats more, he offered to give me a box of it....Dear lord....Amen....and when i thought my day counld't get better, he had dotA.....OMG....DOTA....the sound of it was better than water to a god forsaken traveller in the middle of the bloody Sahara.....so i promptly sat down and played till 5 o clock....much to the dismay of my friends who protested weakly bout wanting to watch fearless....haha...tough luck dudes....
Anyway, when we finally decided to go (translated: i was too embarrased to overlive my welcome), we went to check the cinema for tickets, and went to Point One for a drink. Note: don't try White Lady, its the single most wierd and sweet drink meant only for those with suidcidal notions or low glucose level...i mean, i was suprised i wasn't urinating sugar....wtf.....anywayz, while there, i had a nice chat with sim bout the going on's in small town stampin while i had been away, and it was then that i rediscovered the joy of my school...true, it will never be a Kuching High or a St. Jo, but what the hell, it was a damn good school, where we would play chess during recess, and talk bout which kingdoms to attack in utopia...sigh, those were good old days, days of youth and innocence, when the world ended with the borders of my small town life and i was none the wiser, but so much happier.....
Well, wat can i say...life is a game of give and take, and wat really matters is what u gain, and frankly, even at the expense of sounding cliche, i'll still say this-wat u give is wat u get...juz as the full metal alchemist said...evrything is fair trade, u dun transnute gold out of thin air,and u sure dun get meaningful relationships if all u think bout is wat u can get out of a school or a person, something which i'm relearning all over again....

Friends Forever?

You bet.

P.S: thanx chiung lin for fixing my com...love u lots...Muakz....

Life's counterpart

2006-02-12T21:41:00.000+08:00

Today is the last day of the lunar new year, and amidst the last minute scramble of frantic people blasting away thousands of dollars on coloured gunpowder with fancy designs, i.e fireworks, i was suddenly inspired to pick up on my blogging career, which i had laid aside for a year now. And for my reopening theme, i shall talk bout something light, something close to our hearts.....death.

Now, why does death chill the soul? (no pun intended)....what is it in death that so scares the human being? Indeed, many people consider it the ultimate form of punishment, hence the derivation of the multitude of terms use through the ages- death penalty, death threat, death vow, death this death that...yawn....it has in itself becomed a cliche, nothing more than a very human and mortal representation of the epitome of human fears, yet sadly, still very much misunderstood....

Take the tv show Fear Factor, for example. The more i watch it, the more i want to laugh at its naivity at protraying human apprehension. Its catch phrase- "Fear is Not a factor for u" and a reward consisting of money(which isn't a lot to begin with) wrongs the entire concept of death by once again associating it with humans most primal instinct, fear. By giving the contestants only 2 choices, possible death or winning 50 grand, it highlights what humans believe as a truism, that the counterpart of success is death.

Now, what i'm elaborating here is not a stand-alone case of hollywood ego. It has happened for centuries now....the 3 G's for example- Gold, Gospel and Glory..the essence of every explorer's dream, the fantasy of every man, be he a pauper or a priest. And what do man use to symbolise the repurcussion of not obtaining the 3 g's? Harakiri in Japan, the Guilotinne in france, execution of entire clans in China.....So many why's....Why is success so important? why is the consequence of failure epitomised in death? When was it that the counterpart of success became death? Do we really have to get rich or die tryin'?

There was a time long ago when people saw death in another light. Not as the ultimate tool for punishment or the ceasing of bodily functions and existence on earth, rather as a welcomed escape from worldly worries, an accend to a more ethereal dimension, and what's more important, a second chance, something that is pointedly, lacking in our society. Death should not be feared, but accepted, as a reminder of human mortality, neither promoted as punishment, or avoided in a absurd chase for unattainable longetivity or immortality...live life to the fullest, yet don't overdo the urge to overlive your welcome on earth....as they say, Che sara sara....

Its was a popular saying that Mors ultima linea rerum est, Death be the final limit. But in view of a new year and new resolutions, let death not be the final limit, rather, the start of a new beginning, in hope that one day, death will be more than the tagline of wimpy reality shows or the shallow threats of street thugs. Peace out.

My Way

2004-12-20T17:27:00.000+08:00

As this year slowly passes into memory and the wheel of time leaves its subtle marks on humanity, there i sat, suddenly lost in thought amidst the paperwork that has baffled me for days. What had i gained this year? And suddenly, my thoughts gushed out from their secret niche, like torrential floods finally breaking down the dam, unleashing nature in its purest form....

A year ago, there i was, as happy as happy could be. I had my world, a small one, but nonetheless, a happy one. My sky was always blue, my plains always just the right shade of green. My world was my sanctuary, an inpenetrable wall that protected me from the elements, the blazing sun, the bone chilling wind and the creatures that have adapted to that world. And when i finally stepped out of that little haven of mine, this little fawn suddenly had a dawning comprehension of reality. The world wasn't really that small, the sky was mostly shades of grey, and that he was but a child among giants, a Halfling among Ents. Everyone was faster, keener, stronger and more ruthless, and the fawn could only tremble in wonder and self pity, for only a fool is oblivious, and it seems that the there ware no other takers for the prize of the most ignorant one.....

So it came to pass that i learned the way of the world. Not neccesarily the most cultured or morally correct of them all, but vital for survival, and as Darwin so aptly puts it, only the strongest survives. And looking back at the little fawn that didn't quite make it, i wonder, for all his ignorance and notions of Primus Inter Pares, how different am i from him? If given the chioce to make the decision again, would i choose knowledge over ignorance?

True, knowledge is many things. It is power, it is strength, it is even enlightenment. But happiness? Bliss? It will never bring hapiness to its wielders, for knowledge unto itself is already a resposibility, a burden that weighs down the very soul of humanity. Can the scientist carrying the blueprints ofthe nuclear bomb ever be happy for his knowledge? Can the President of America ever be happy for the fact that he can unleash ICBM's on every major city in the world with a 6 digit password? Or is it the rainbow trout living in a small creek in Alaska that leads a blissful life, unaware of the fishing boat directly on top of it? Truly, with knowledge comes comprehension, understanding that we are one among a billion solar systems, that the sun does not revolve around us, that China is not the centre of the World. Does all this knowledge makes you any happier?

Some may ask, whether we are ignorant or not, we still meet the same fate. Is this true, i ask thee. In the last moments of the Titanic, who would you rather be? The Captain, aware of is inadvertant fate, locked in his navigation cabin, slowly counting the minutes as hypodermia overruns all his body functions, as water slowly reaches his nose and his organs starts shutting down one by one, and the memories of his pathetic existence slowly flashes past him, taunting him? Or the two kids down in the cabin, snugly tucked into bed by their parents, fallen asleep while on the last pages of Hensel and Gretel, thinking of bread crumbs and woodcutters as the grim reaper slowly robs them of their young, untainted souls?

To tell the truth, i woudn't know which i would prefer, and i guess that the metamorphosis of the fawn to the survival orietated creature that i am means that what i would have chosen does not matter anymore.What is done is done. So, on this eve of Christmas day, let us be merry and forget all our worries, at least for now. May the star of David shine brightly on this stolid, frozen heart of mine. Merry Christmas.

America's achievements

2004-12-17T02:43:00.000+08:00

Today, the weather god has been gracious to shower us with fair weather, so i shall repay that favor with a little contemplation on my part regarding the glorious achievements of the great United States Of America.

2001 : After monopolising the world since the end of the cold war, the authorities and the people of U.S grew complacent, thus resulting in the unfortunate incident of a few planes sort of ,ummm...crashing into a few slightly significant buildings. Instead of pondering over their mistake, Bush seized the chance and began a series of finger pointing activities that resulted in a final statement : I will..i mean, U.S will retaliate the mastermind who planned this attrocious attack that has wounded my, i mean, U.S dignity, not to mention upset my chance of winning the next presidential elections....

2002: The much acclaimed War on terror was launched, though not against terrorist, but strangely, a third world state called Afghanistan. Reason? Harbouring terrorists. Makes perfect sense right? I thought so too.Next, the coalition of the free, which consisted of the countries of the U.S, Britain, Spain, U.S, a few Carribean countries, and did i mention U.S?, deployed their troops into Afghan, made short work of it's militia-villagers, set up a new U.S backed ruling council and supported the commercial growing of poppy. And to end off the year, they let loose news regarding next year's plan for attacking other middle east nations.'

2003: After threatening almost every country bordering Afghan, Bush finally settled for Iraq....a nice fat target with al the prerequisites for attack- A tyrant, no U.S style democracy, connections to muslim radicals and of course, the best, OIL!!! Nothing beats good ole' black gold, wouldn't you say so? Of course, those reasons won't be enough to convince those losers in the U.N security council, so let's add another item to the list...how bout weapons of mass destruction? I'm sure they'll buy that...and when they finally find out that we were lying, we'll just shift the blame to some nuclear scietist and make him commit suicide or something...how hard can it be?

And now, way into the last days of 2004, U.S troops are still stationed in Iraq, Thse poor fellows are still on the receiving end of suicide attacks, and the central government still can't win the support of the people.While on the other end of the globe, dear Bush won himself another 4 years in the white house based on his War president image and has promised to give us more action. Fabulous, isn't it? War, just the thing we need to futher propel our world into global modernization. And lastly, i'd like to congratulate Bush on his win in the presidential elections. At least it got rid of the news regarding the few hundred people killed in hurricanes in Haiti from news covers. Afterall, who are these negligible people anyway? why bother about them when you can have your fill regarding the world's most powerful man and all his honourable antics?

All in all, a fabulous career, i would say. Top notch foriegn and domestic affairs handling, if i ever saw one. Keep up the good work, U.S !!

Perceptions....

2004-12-12T13:58:00.000+08:00

' Two goats met while attempting to cross a bridge. Being the politer one, the first goat offered the path to the second goat. While thanking the first goat profusely, the second goat crossed the bridge. The moment it reached the other bank, the rickety old bridge reached its life's end and collapsed. At this instant, the second goat thought " how lucky that i got here just in time", while the first goat thought "how lucky that i offered the second goat the chance to cross first, if not...."

Notice the irony. No one can say that either goats were wrong, and that if put in their respective situations, many of us may have thought the same things. That is the beauty of perceptions, and also to source of many discontents, sad to say. Perceptions of the galaxy, the world, religion, even the way we lead our daily life........ i mean, no two people are alike, it is what makes us unique, a sense of identity, of who we really are, but doesn't anybody consider for just a fraction of a second how this so called special side of us is indeed the very essence of why we quarrel, fight, wage war and the source of all social, political and economical disputes.
take for example, hollywood's golden boy, the matrix trilogy. In it, the world, for all its eccentricity and ugliness after agent smith took over the entire matrix, did indeed have its lovely side. A world where thought, action and activities are unified, where people do not quarrel over what they should have for lunch, instead think of how they are going to harness the power of the atom or think of the fastest route to mars. No more disputes based on self gain or fear of another person double crossing you. Just pure, undivided attention of a multitude of people in a single cause, a single objective.......

This strikes a note,some may think. Isn't this the teachings of that dreaded ideology, Marxism? The evil counterpart of blessed freedom, the ideology that has twisted and mutilated the world we live in, the sole source of suffering?

Is it? I ask. Is communism such a devilish teaching, the harbringer of man's doom? think for a moment, without preconceptions and biasness, doesn't this teaching deserve some merit? does not the concept of a unified world without the political antics of the now existing world appeal to your rationality, your logical, thinking mind? True, it has its shortcomings- the fact that freedom will be oppresed, that there will be no or limited entertainment, no social caste, and the chance of getting an oppresive ruler, in short, North Korea. But remember, this was not meant to be.
arxisme was taken and modified extensively by despots like ho chi minh, thus resulting in a hybrid ideology, amix of two worlds, so to speak.And even if we ignore those and get down to the basic flaws of marxism, i ask thee, is it not the same with liberalism? Is there such a thing as a perfect ideology? the true path that will lead to the craetion of nirvana on earth?

Truly, ideologies were created because great men had dreams for the world.A dream to see the world as a better place, a sanctuary for the hordes of Homo Sapiens that share the same ecosystem.At least, in their perceptions, they did. So, in this brief time that we are put on earth as yet another speck of dust in this vast universe, why can't we view things optimistically? why don't we try to view things objectively and try to understand and empathize with the guy next door? Is the bottle always half empty, or will there be a day when people will see it in a different light, a day where maybe, just maybe, the bottle actually looks half full ?

Zealots.....

2004-12-09T00:20:00.000+08:00

After a hard days work thrudging up and down orchard with ben in search of superficial goods that would appeal to the insatiable materialistic desires of today's human beings ( in other words, christmas shopping ), i reached home in anticipation of yet another mundane and homework-filled night. However, a series of events that happened that night opened new horizons to my views of life and society. It started when my SM 2 'buddy'- the one who has a particular affinity for carressing Zhuu Ming- chanced upon a book i was reading.(Clash of Civilizations) It so happened that on the cover page of that paticular book, the symbols of a crescent moon, a yingyang and a cross were placed strategically between the text.His first question to me was: 'are u christian?'

This puzzled me, so i replied i was not. he subsequently asked the same question bout every religion in existence and blah blah blah...to make a long story short, i told him that i was buddist (in a manner of speaking),and asked him not so politely for the reason of his curiosity as it was beginning to chew on my nerves. What issued later was to change my perspectives forever....for he asked me: 'what are the teachings of buddhism?' i perceived this as a practical joke and was about to let all hell break loose on him when i noticed the blank, intense look of curiosity that said that he really did not now. The subsequent conversations lead to the revelations,mine at least, that of the entire young generation of chinese in PRC, at least 90 percent are atheist, with little or no knowledge of any religions of the world.

This leads to the big question- is this acceptable? i myself am not a particularly devout believer, often taking short cuts to acheive my purposes, but when it boils down to the core of matters, i would still embrace my religion for what it is, no more, no less.Thus, the fact that the few million teenagers in china who live lives deviod of spiritual motivation and guidance baffles me...i mean, of a country with 3000 years of culture, the country where buddhism flourished, where the birth of guan gong and guan yin and other polytheistic gods were born,the founding place of taoism, then the spread of islam into the minority races of miao, the spread of christianity in the coastal cities of Shang Hai and Guang dong, and for all that effort, u tell me that the new generation of PRC youths, the gen-x , believe not in the 4 main religion or multitude of smaller religions, but believe in nothing, zero, nil, oblivion.....

Maybe the communist party did a great job in eradicating religion, maybe religion is out of fashion, too old and burdensome to be of any purpose in this neo-utilitarian world . in any case, this situaton is here to stay, for better or worse. May the best religion win, or to be more exact, may no religion triumph. God speed.