You've got mail

One movie that has never failed to cheer me up, is this movie "You've got mail" starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Born up in a generation where by a call page (from pagers) , an IM message, emails or even an sms (text messages) has been the mode for communication (did you know at present, in a single day, we send out and receive more messages than the entire earth population? To think the 1st commercial text message was only in 1992). It has been a long time since I had a happy one. And like in Forrest Gump where the famous quote: " Life is Like a Box of Chocolates, You Never Know What You're Gonna Get!" Similarly in a message, be it in numeric form 1-177155-4, or a smiley with a heart in an MSN message, we never quite can expect what we will receive which might cheer you up or make your life a little messier.



In life, somedays I feel like I am taking a new yellow bus ride where God is the driver and only He knows where is your final destination. And you think you know where you are heading to, but the journey is all new to you, every corner and every turn somehow shows you different facets of life. On this bus ride, people get on and off, sometimes you wish they never got off. But in life, you can't really choose, and some of these passengers affect you in small or big way, some passengers are mere aquaintances which makes no impact in your life. Some people you wished had stay on for the ride, but they chose to get off at a particular bus-stop. You start to realise, everyone has their own directions to head out and complete and sometimes its their stop to get off. What we say or do might determine the number of fellow riders you have with you on this journey. Sometimes we make mistakes which we are sorry for, and you look at the bus driver, wishing He can give you clues and a little hope that you can undo the screw-up you just made. But all you see in the rear view mirror is sort of a little wink that seems to say, it's all part of the journey and it's going to be alright.

Occasionally I wish God had one of the communication tools we have today, and drop me a message to tell me I am doing fine from time to time. Or perhaps, we need to drop down everything and just get on that bus, so that we can hear Him clearly and just let Him lead the way.

For me I am just happy that I've got a happy message today and just live day by day. Carpe Diem.

Maturity and Growing older

I started my blog with one single entry back in 2004. It was out of feeling jadedness in life. I had a great girlfriend back then, but life was having its ups and downs especially with 15-18 hour work days and she was overseas. And in 2005, I ended it after a business and working trip to Germany, Holland, Sweden and Denmark. It has been 7 years, and though it wasn't an itch, she told me I needed to get out to find someone. She is the only person so far who knows me better than I know myself.

I thought it was a test and indeed it probably was and I failed badly. I never got over her, and though I should, I couldn't. I knew I wasn't good enough for her yet the moment I got out of the relationship, I finally found the urge to commit, to find someone to settle down with. There wasn't a need to be someone - heck in fact just any girl will do. But after being involved with someone new, I soon realised it has been always me, and just as she knows me well, I needed to be with someone else to realise how much I needed her. And in all culmination of the highs and lows during the periods without her, I realised what I have always been doing wrong and how things could actually be salvaged. I never believed in divorces and she gave me this quote which has etched in my mind - "Love never fails". Surrounded by break ups and divorces, my mind got all messed up on how easy people let things go. Because there are alternatives? Because there is always more fishes in the ponds and more trees in the forest?

Just last week, I had an encounter on the basketball court, which usually would have led to a fight, but it didn't. Why?

I met a friend on the court and both sides were having games, with the other side filled with kids, I chose the "older" side. I shout out to the 15-16 year olds who were playing 2-on-2. "Hey can we join?" I was ignored. After 5 mins "Are you taking scores?" I was still being ignored. This time I moved forward and indicated to the players, can we join? The oldest of the lot shouted back, "Can't you wait?" I told him, "I asked and there wasn't a reply." He said I was being rude and impatient. I reiterated that I asked but they were ignoring me. His most farked up reply came, "I was concentrating, can't you wait dumbass?" I was taken aback and on the verge of crashing the game, but instead said. "That was uncalled for, now who is being rude."

Back then, about 10 years ago, when I was balling almost every opportunity for a game, I remembered at this new Marine Parade CC sheltered court, where we shared with a bunch of old men, their team comprises of ex-national players and coaches aged from 75-30 odd years old. And we used to challenge them week after week and often losing in the full court games. So one weekend, there was a young team, who challenged them and the whole team isn't even army aged. We sat down after our loss and watching the kids earnestly try to beat this old timers. The kids were trying and likewise for them, they were losing and started to rough it up a bit. And just one incident of misunderstanding, we watched from the floor this single 30 odd year old man throwing punches at the 15-16 year olds. His friends did try to hold him back but I left in disgust and pondering if we should have called the police on the fight. That day I learnt that basketball is a sport and in all sports, there has to be sportsmanship. You throw sportsmanship away, you don't deserve to play the game.

So what I did next was...damn I having been playing on this court before they were born..and waited for an apology and it did not come. I then moved to do something that I would never have done perhaps a year ago - I apologised openly for my rudeness not knowing he was "concentrating" and we just want to play and the court should be shared. And what ensued was that long-awaited sorry which he apologises for what he said and we played soon after. What was at stake here was pride. In all young adolescents' development is ego. Like the common quote which did not make sense to me 10 years ago, it does so now:

"Before you can be old and wise you must first be young and foolish"

And an accompanying quote which I am fond of now:

"Young men think old men are fools; but old men know young men are fools."

-- George Chapman


So indeed, it looks I have grown older and avoid making the mistakes we learnt earlier in life. But for love, I guess I have to remember why I should fall in love in the first place and there is no place for second best. Because I do not believe in divorces and getting my way out of a marriage. Love never fails.

March madness

Once a year in the states, March madness gripes the nation. U have college basketball, you have NBA scrambling for playoff spots. You really get mad. I remember flying down in 2003 to catch Michael Jordan's last season ever, with the wizards and watching basketball on almost every channel. College ball, Lakers TV, normal live telecast on ABC, FOX..we skip dinner, each grab a bucket of Ben and Jerrys and pig out in front of TV. And that sort of diet, I lost 3-4kg being in America. Surprising cos since then, each time I go, I gain a kilogram each week I was there. And I have been there at least 9 weeks in 2 years. Which is the reason why I am the size I am now.

Here's some highlights for today - Go Tar Heels!

NCAA Tourney: Top Plays, 3/26 @ Rivals Video

That is how you do it

Find me a gal who drives like this!

Software agreements and PS3

I was trying to download a free viewer to read bonding diagrams which were generated by Autocad. Found it interesting I need to agree to this before I can download it -

Export Eligibility Requirements Please confirm:

I am not a citizen, national or resident of, and am not under the control of, the government of any country to which the United States has prohibited export of technical information, such as (as of 03/24/06): Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, or Syria.

I will not download or otherwise export or re-export the software, directly or indirectly, to the above-prohibited countries nor to citizens, national or residents of those countries.

I am not listed on the United States Department of Treasury list of Specially Designated Nationals, Specially Designated Terrorists, and Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers, nor am I listed on the United States Department of Commerce Table of Denial Orders.

I will not download or otherwise export or re-export the software, directly or indirectly, to persons on the above-mentioned lists.

I will not use the software for, and will not allow the software to be used for, any purposes prohibited by United States law, including, without limitation, for the development, design, manufacture or production of nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons of mass destruction.

I understand the free viewer gives capability for, perhaps "risky" users to open up engineering diagrams - perhaps nuclear bomb-making schematics. So my point in this is, how can the above agreement, which I need to click yes before download, be limited from anyone from sending it to terrorists? Duh..ip tracking, monitor software sending, FTP uploads checks...but then again what's to stop a transfer using physical means like mailing an SD card/thumbdrive to those restricted countries above?
What's to stop me from encoding it to be rendered impossible file tracking and then send it off digitally?

Coincidentally, I used to work for an FPGA company which makes chips used for aerospace and military usage and we had to sign such export documents. Point to ponder then is who's to prevent these physical chips from arriving in the shores of such militants and terrorists? I remembered reading once that the restricted nations can easily buy like Sony PS3s and the processing speed of one quadrillion calculations per PS3 microprocesser chip can be combined and can be used to simulate the effects of nuclear explosions. Which I guess we know now how North Korea and Iran has been able to achieve nuclear power programs which is a deadly threat to the world. Buy PS3s!

Purpose of this thread is to show that the controls in place are laxed, why even have controls at all? The evil will always find ways to get what they want. So how can we actually deal with it?

Fail to read

I love to read, and recently online material especially when our state media have indicated that online material is more of fallacies without truth. So I started reading more to find out the truth. We read to learn, to gain perspectives, alternative views. Same reason why we indulge in criticising and crapping.

Another good read which is a lingering ponder if Sillypore will fail.

I was particular impressed with an excerpt of the blog entry which reaffirms why I think SM Goh was an impressive PM.

The older generation of Singaporeans has fully absorbed the virtues of ethnic harmony. I experienced that when I accompanied then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong on an official visit to Malaysia.

We stayed in the Carcosa. One day, the Malaysian butler asked Goh what he would like for breakfast. He expected Goh to choose either a Chinese or English breakfast. To his amazement, Goh said: “Get me thosai from Brickfields.”

I would have chosen 2 egg pratas from coffeeshop behind Sunway Lagoon. But then again, who cares what I would like for breakfast.


Would like to reiterate that I have no affliations to the person writing that blog entry or I have any affiliations with any political parties. I openly declare that I love my country and my ruling party, who gave me one of the lowest personal income tax rate in the region and my subsidized education... And I really don't drink kopi.

Destination Perth - Fremantle

Just to share some pictures I took over at Fremantle, Perth 2 sundays ago when I just landed.










Long Exposure shot I was trying to capture the Orion constellation as well as the forest nearby..I like the effect and colors of the exposure time!



Nice sunset that I can enjoy for retirement.

Fear

Good blog entry which I recommend to read.

One particular passage which I would like to quote:

...criticism need not be constructive. criticism need not have malice in it. but criticism definitely means that the person giving criticism is concerned enough about the state of affairs to give criticism.

Please note I have no affliations to the person writing it or any political parties. I openly declare that I love my country and my ruling party, who gave me one of the lowest tax rate in the region and my subsidized education... And I don't drink kopi.

Rulers

I've always enjoyed reading old Chinese history stories such as Romance of Three Kingdom, Sun Tzu Art of War, as well as Emperor Kang Xi, Yong Zheng and Qian Long era of ruling. In each I slowly learned that a Kingdom's success is determined by its ruler.

I have long admired Emperors and Kings who ultimately are sort of rulers but can decide the fate of many in the name of God-believed royalty rights.

Today at work, I had a friendly discussion with a Filipino colleague who like many have echoed before to me, that life of the Philippines Under Ferdinand Marcos regime from 1965 to 1986 was actually great. And she remembered clearly those times when USD was 1:1 with the Peso currency (today is is ~ 1: 48) and of course ultimately the President's infamous wife Imelda and her shoes.

Her gripe was though there was corruption under his regime, it was isolated only to the top level. Right now, corruption was seen everywhere and things do not get done. Unlike many other nationalities living in Singapore, the Filipinos seems dead set of leaving their country and not returning and would boldly love Singapore or any other country that would take them in. Yet when a visiting Filipino basketball team or artise comes along, they show the love and support like no other nation I can think of. I know countless of Filipinos are living in the US, and even speaking Chinese in Taiwan and I believe they number in about 300 thousands in Singapore.

A quick Wikipedia search made me understand why though they love their country, they choose to leave. Though Philippines is the 2nd highest remittance recipients in East Asia & Pacific after China ($25.7 bn), Philippines ($17.0 bn) - the country is being so striken by poverty and my colleague told me many citizens are paying high taxes which is more than Singapore - why?

The economic growth that Marcos brought about was largely financed by U.S. economic aid and several loans made by the Marcos government. The country's foreign debts were less than US$1 billion when Marcos assumed the presidency in 1965, and more than US$28 billion when he left office in 1986. A sizable amount of these moneys went to Marcos family and friends in the form of behest loans. These loans were assumed by the government and still being serviced by taxpayers. Today, more than half of the country's revenues are reserved for the payments on the interests of loans alone.

So indeed economic growth might be sustained in one ruler's term but can it be preserved for generations after generations? Is paying the highest salary (in the case of Marcos whereby known corruption is overlooked) the only way out of calls for a desperate behest for proper leadership? For now it seems there is no foolproof way of selecting rulers for countries, and definitely money isn't the way to go as shown in Philippines history. Would leaders who came after Marcos be better off without those debts incurred?

They are so many questions which cannot be answered but knowing many Filipinos preferred a government like ours because though our rulers and government officials are paid a lot openly and legitimately, they do bring about efficiency and stability. But I just hope in the absence of accountability and checks, there are other ways to keep them in their place and not usurp to be Emperors, Kings or even Gods where losing billions are not trickled down to the later generations to pay for.

Flushed red not good

You know how friends who drink and have their faces all flushed red, and people remarked they have great blood circulations? Well think again.

The enzyme deficiency in some Asians that causes their skin to flush when they drink alcohol also puts them at higher risk of getting esophageal cancer.

-Reuters

Well so far I have drank wine, whiskey, vodka, tequila, beer..and in all combinations and kinds - and my prior thoughts is I have bad circulation, one cannot tell I have been drinking besides the occasional tipsy walking. So now, I am relieved and relooked at my friends who are often flushed red - besides a sure tell-tale sign to the cops if you drink and drive, you are also more likely to get your gullet killed.

What we need is passion

Recently I came to hear about this quote which was laughed off in a British interview with our King:

“I am not comparing myself and I don’t look at these rankings.We go on a system which is open, honest, transparent – what is the job worth, what is the quality of the person whom you want. We need the best people for the job and these are jobs where you make decisions which are worth billions of dollars. And you cannot do that if you are pretending and you just say, ‘Well, we are all in it for the love of King and Country’. We want it to be honest, we want people not to come in for the money. But at the same time the sacrifice cannot be too great. And at times like these, you want the best possible government you can have.”

How do you define someone's quality? How do you define the person is the best for this job. Honesty? At what price? How can someone not work for the sake of money since we all know that greed knows no end, and when is money ever enough? We all know the pull of wealth, and the power and fame it draws.

And strangely I thought I lived in a democratic country without Kings and Princes, well I guess its an open fact now. I live in a monarchy, a kingdom filled with royalty and lesser mortals and we see the distinction grow wider day by day.

We need to remember that even in our own lives, we will be held accountable one day for our own actions, we need to guard our hearts against this type of greed.

Personally what we need besides honesty and integrity, we need passion and compassion going hand in hand to deal out empathy and personal touch as leaders.
Be true to yourself, and if you cannot put your heart in it, take yourself out of it. Here are some quotes (I love quotes!) which I think the authors are worth mentioning unlike the above.

A great leader's courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.

- John Maxwell

If there is no passion in your life, then have you really lived? Find your passion, whatever it may be. Become it, and let it become you and you will find great things happen FOR you, TO you and BECAUSE of you.

- T. Alan Armstrong

If you have ever felt such tremendous enthusiasm and desire for something that you would gladly spend all your waking hours working on it, that you would happily do without pay, then you have found your passion.

- Sharon Cook & Graciela Sholander

Nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion.

- Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

Passion, it lies in all of us, sleeping... waiting... and though unwanted... unbidden... it will stir... open its jaws and howl. It speaks to us... guides us... passion rules us all, and we obey. What other choice do we have? Passion is the source of our finest moments. The joy of love... the clarity of hatred... and the ecstasy of grief. It hurts sometimes more than we can bear. If we could live without passion maybe we'd know some kind of peace... but we would be hollow... Empty rooms shuttered and dank. Without passion we'd be truly dead.

- Joss Whedon

The more intensely we feel about an idea or a goal, the more assuredly the idea, buried deep in our subconscious, will direct us along the path to its fulfillment.

- Earl Nightingale

We all need to look into the dark side of our nature - that's where the energy is, the passion. People are afraid of that because it holds pieces of us we're busy denying.

- Sue Grafton

With out passion you don't have energy, with out energy you have nothing.

- Donald Trump

When work, commitment, and pleasure all become one and you reach that deep well where passion lives, nothing is impossible.

- Nancy Coey


Lastly a single modern quote which contains why it is and is not one of my criteria for a great love:

The most beautiful make-up of a woman is passion. But cosmetics are easier to buy.

- Yves Saint Laurent

Jaymee Ong getting married

It's a sad day knowing your fav model is getting married. It's like taking my Claudia Schiffer and Cindy Crawford calenders and posters away from me during my adolescent-pumping-teenage years. But damn, Jaymee Ong is getting married!

A lot of people might not know who she is, currently seen on AXN's eBuzz as host as well as previous Contender Asia. I think I have some ads of her when she was still in her teen as a model...haha. She did appear on Pearl Harbor (I am still trying to find her in that movie) and guest appearances in various TV series such as Las Vegas and Entourage.

Anyway enough said about my persistent tracking of her, I am happy for her, seriously because I have seen her beau at the Slingers game, and I thought he might be someone in the industry - reading crappy sad news about consistent breakups between celebrities such as Glenn Ong really makes me wonder if those people can ever find true happiness. But is it now known that Jaymee's lucky 2nd half, Matthew Heath is an electrical engineer! B.Eng rawks! Seriously I applaude you - Matthew! As a fellow engineer, also with a B.Eng (Electrical & Electronics) title to my name - you scored!

From Matthew:

'So when people say you can never meet the love of your life at a club (they met at the now-defunct Ministry of Sound), it's such a lie. You can - just don't be drunk when you meet them.'

And there you go Jase!

Jaymee added:

'I've dated people from the industry but never found someone really compatible. I just wanted someone who's real.

'Matt doesn't try to impress; he is who he is. He gets along with everyone.

So this goes out to all engineers who are having an increasingly prestigious job, and President Obama on the latest Jay Leno's show mentioned "Engineer" first over scientists, doctors or teachers as adding value to the world and yes, financiers and elite smart CEO-asses are the cause of the current shit we are facing. I hope the Singapore government was watching Jay Leno last week, hire some down-to-earth-engineer as MP for God's sake!

Quoted from President Obama:

And what we need is steady growth; we need young people, instead of -- a smart kid coming out of school, instead of wanting to be an investment banker, we need them to decide they want to be an engineer, they want to be a scientist, they want to be a doctor or a teacher.

For those who missed the show - full transcript of Obama found here.
And a video here (Full interview on NBC.com):


And yes just to emphasise once more, now we even get the hotties!

Obama chooses Tar Heels

Just watched Obama, the first ever US President to go on a talk show on 'Tonight with Jay Leno'. I like NBC's Jay Leno over all the current talk show hosts besides David Letterman, who is my all-time fav. David ended its run and went over to CBS after Leno was considered instead of David for 'The Tonight Show'. And yes it sucks they don't show CBS in Singapore and so Leno became the clear choice.

Well Leno asked Obama about the Final Four and Obama picked the North Carolina Tar Heels to win in the NCAA finals. For those who do not know about Tar Heels - Michael Jordan's college team where he hit the final 14 sec game winning shot over Georgetown's Hoyas in the 1982 NCAA title game.

Found it on youtube:

Accept it

A much-need vacation allowed me time to relax and to ponder about what's been really important lately in life. A simple outlook from my cousin-in-law that we should all move to Australia simply because it is indeed a way of living we can all get used to in time to come. He is already past his 40s and I guess has seen much of the life in Singapore and perhaps has come to accepting how Singapore will be and what will not change.

We had conversations over breakfasts about local politics and directions our country is moving in, and as we slowly peel away the wonderful stress-free living in Perth with HDB housing prices buying acres of lands or fancy houses by the beach, we ask ourselves why do people leave Singapore since apparently our government painted such a wonderful picture of our future of casinos and JB homes for our aged.

I paused during my flight home (nothing seems to stop the sadness of leaving Perth) to finally stop to think if we can really change the world we live in. Besides an occasional pat on the back to provide brillant solve-it all solutions instead of whining and crapping, can I perhaps choose to accept the fact that we are living in a socialist authoritarian state (which somehow I find that term used in many other nations' newspapers labelled on my beloved country). The sooner I accept the fact that we are deemed as under dictatorship rule, the sooner I wake up to making real plans to live free and "change" my world. Why waste time on working on something which might be futile. I am not a martyr in the making, or should I stay on to bear witness to a "change" which a first black American President paints. We have lived long enough in the country to know what kind of friends and colleagues we have and how Singaporeans are. It is not possible for change. Our very own Singaporean characteristics of "kiasi - scared to die" is a public declaration that "change" won't come to us. I am but a simple engineer trying hard to make sense of life and knowing what is right and wrong and what is to live free. So many have chosen to live as second-class citizens in a foreign land, away from family and friends, at such a price in exchange for? Really..a cheap beach house with lots of "change"? A price to pay to tear away your way of living in search of a better future like the migrant Hongkongers we found in Perth serving wonderful Chinese food. They probably left on the possible 1997 handover to China which might have been a bleak picture then, or perhaps just a search for a better life.

I guess for me, it will be to stop denying myself from buying two cars for the price of one here. And perhaps finally get a chance to vote for once in my life. The need to know you have a right, a choice seems to begin since the cross + came about. We all have a need to decide which path to take when the opportunity presents itself. Be it right or wrong, its nice to know I can choose - and its time to choose to accept it.

A lighter side of global depression

Have you noticed the new SBS buses do not have LCD TVs on board and thus no irritating TV mobile? Hmm have I spoken too soon and it's actually on the way? Well, anyway I managed to catch a nap in the silence!


Anyway from SBS website -

SBS Transit worked with MediaCorp to install TV Mobile in our buses in 2001. MediaCorp looks after the programming and maintenance of the television sets while SBS Transit provides the space in the buses. The purpose is to provide infotainment to our commuters so as to enhance their travel experience. This is also a source of revenue for us to defray costs.

As Mediacorp is having some tightening of expenses of late, perhaps they are cutting costs amidst the global downturn with not enough media advertising revenue to embark on more LCD TVs?

Singapore Slingers 2008 Road Game Stats

Here's the stats for Slingers on the road last season.
From here you can see who is contributing and who easily should come back next season.
Seriously in my view, Coach McLeod and owner of Slingers, Bob Turner, assembled a great deep team which was the strongest I have seen since the franchise started.

They are strong in both offense and defense and are physically fit. They are a very good 2nd half team, unlike previous seasons where Slingers is clearly seen punctured by the 4th quarter. It has nothing to do with the fact we are not playing in the NBL, as everyone knows the Filipinos play a fast-paced physical game. And from all the games so far, I doubt it's a size issue.

I personally will have some minimal changes and as coach, try to replace each individual with similar traits, for example Shane McDonald's replacement has to be a great ball handler and most importantly not hog the ball and distributes fast and a stop jump shot shooter. And it has been complemented well with sixth-man Al Vergara.

Can't wait for the season to start in Sep! Hope the next season's team will be a similar outfit.

Go Slingers!

Good wheelie wheelie

Check out this clip of a supercar race when a car had a wheel broke loose from it and the wheel somehow knew where it was going and the timing was just perfect!

LG Renoir

Well, it has been about a couple of months since I've gotten the LG Renoir. Besides it being a 8mp wonder, the phone can take a couple of hard knocks.

Found clips of torture test the phone recently underwent and survived. The handset was left in the freezer at -20C for 12 hours, dropped to the floor, stepped on, thrown in a clothes drier for 15 minutes, caked in dust, dunked in wine, and run over by a Ford Focus. After all that it functioned just fine, suffering only a few scratches on the screen inflicted by the pavement.

As the videos are of wide sized, decided not to embed them. You can find the torture tests video links here:
Freezer
Stepped on, dunked in wine and washed, and run over by car


Hmm, I wonder if Nokia phones can take such abuse?

BBAXN

Just in case you are living in Singapore and love the game of basketball and looking for an amateur league to join instead of queuing up for ball games at public courts which I recently saw, do pop over to bbaxn for your fix.

I used to join many seasons ago playing for the Spartans.




And also from a recent observation of crowding of basketball courts (we couldn't even pay $22/hr for a 7am slot at old NIE indoor court), I would just like to point out in the recent Feb '09's monthly digest of statistic Singapore - the numbers are based on bookings. And not a true representation of the number actually playing the sport. It seems to be that Tennis and Badminton have a huge base of avid players. But that's really because you can't really play these sports in the open without a court.

I still think there is not enough basketball courts in Singapore(I have at least played half the basketball courts in Singapore), especially sheltered ones. In rainy Singapore, and where I live around the catchment area of Macritchie reservior, there is none to be found. Strangely, the east seems to have more sheltered courts, not sure if its because there are more well known basketball school teams there or maybe because they have elections there often and ex-PM Goh is more pro-sports than my local disappearing easy-life-walkover MPs.

Seriously, our Government rather throw money on foreign sporting talents than build more facilities to ensure the citizens can enjoy and play sports which besides a healthier nation, we can perhaps nurture some talents. To think that Singapore Slingers and BBAXN which are private entities, are doing much more for local sports than my supposedly avid Minister of Community Development, Youth and Sports. So I hope they do not neglect basketball based on the stats as released recently. And I also hope we do not need an event like Youth Olympics to boost our own local incubators for sports.

These days, it is known that Sports and play are very important, because they are vital elements in the health, happiness and well-being of children and young people.

Yes I am still young - young at heart!

Downturn NBA

Heard that the Maloofs are flying commercial now. They are best known as the owners of the Sacramento Kings of the NBA and their sister team, the Sacramento Monarchs. Kings was a team which I used to support but when they shipped out Doug Christie and lost Peja and Webber, I called it quits and moved on. Anyway they have been having trouble filling the Arco Arena with the bad season they are having this year.

No more bubbly on the private jets for the Maloofs. Every trip is commercial airlines now. Guess the Vegas industry isn't as strong as it used to be - they own the Palms hotel and casino on the strip. And with the stocks on all casino shares for cheap, it will be hard to maintain the lifestyle they used to live. I remember watching on NBA that they flew out on their private jet to speak to Ron Artest and how he felt about coming over to Sacramento then back home to speak to the coach before making the trade.

More basketball

Yes I think I should rant less, since it takes up time and energy to be allegedly denigratory, perhaps I should just throw it all in. Do more sports and be less concerned with how our leaders manage the country and where our government throws away our reserves. Let them do what they want since they can do it. Since I am no elite scholar, do not expect me to suggest wonderful solutions about it, just accept whatever they dish out and live in this Matrix-mentality society and be apolitical as they want us all to be. No way I am going to throw away my decent job and my life away demonstrating about it. Anyway cut me some Wee Shu Min slack, just because I rant online and not in a coffeeshop. Perhaps I will when I turn 50 and hang out at kopitiams and void decks, be a grumpy old man.

I churn out solutionless crap not because I am not happy with life, in fact I am very contented with my life so far besides a few pursuits which I am constantly still chasing. Seriously, I have a good challenging job, sufficiently paid to be able to occasionally travel out of the island and see the world, have a decent ride and great family and friends. I have enough time to enjoy sports and enough loose change for beer. So why am I complaining?

I just think Sillyporeans don't speak up, they choose to accept life the way it is dished out to them. And too many Singaporeans choose to read what they are spoon-fed, and accept their way of living as the only way they know. To many the Straits Times and local TV channels is the only source of news; but to some who choose to read this crappy blog, you think you know a lot more and what is perceived here are mere rants. In conceitedness, how different are you handling your peeves and who gives you the right to judge if a critique without an answer is pointless? To me I am just sharing what I read and how I feel about it, yeah I may not have solutions but its not my job to begin with. Pay me my millions, perhaps I can give a faster solution to losing billions.

Oh by the way do note my "humble" abode is in quotation marks or inverted commas - in no way am I humble when I spurn or vilify my local government. Humility and being critical does not go hand in hand.


So for now, more basketball...here's a clip of Chris Paul doing a quick under the leg pass to himself then an assist for an alley-oop dunk.




And yes, you can tell I am rather pissed off when people whom I think should know better, is telling how a personal blog should be. MYOFB...

ASEAN Basketball League

Good news -14 individuals and companies are interested in setting up teams to take part in the inaugural ASEAN Basketball League (ABL), according to ABL chairman Tony Fernandes. Read more here.

Singapore Slingers will most likely field about 5-6 locals. Let's just hope we can get some of the last season's star players like Darren and Eric back!

And I pay you millions for?

Recently, I watched on the state-media mainstream news featuring MM Lee speaking about the GIC losses, not sure what event it was but with lots of camera focus on the ang mohs listening to our God-like leader with smiles and nods. I do not know why it felt like they were going.."Yah yah, I also did not see it coming, but I am glad I have my million dollars salary and my mega-millions more bonuses in my swiss account and my very own private island already!" or in local terms, the ang mohs seem to be saying "Buy ah, Buy ah..don't buy don't have already!" A common term heard between my friends as they urge each stupid question like "DBS $8.50 very cheap ah, should I buy?" - It is now at this moment priced at $6.92 cents, ~20% drop. And Citibank is priced just a tad over $1 and it is reported that the GIC converted its preferred notes at a price of $3.25 per share. Wow...what an astute move which I guess we just lost 2/3 of its value.

’We became cash-rich and when the market fell, we went into UBS and Citi,’ he said. ‘But we went in too early. That’s part of the ride.’

‘How could we have known this was the extent of the damage? You look at all the big-name banks - they have gone down, misjudged the situation, ruined their careers,’

- our highly esteemed octogenerian politician Lee said.


So really why do I need to pay you those millions again? Maybe I should be thankful that we did not end up like Iceland, whose country debt is 850 percent of GDP. This tiny fishing nation, of population 300,000 citizens suddenly woke up and found that they bore some kind of responsibility for $100 billion of banking losses—which works out to roughly $330,000 for every Icelandic man, woman, and child.

Oh maybe we should be thankful we are not in a dire straits as debt-drowned United States which has reached just 350 percent of GDP equivalent of debts. Which is about 6.4 trillion and national debt equates to USD$30,400 per American person, or USD$60,100 per head of the U.S. working population as of February 2008.

Well, in any case. I am not sure if I felt responsible for the estimated $100 billion lost in both GIC and Temasek. That is equivalent to about $20,663 for every single living person in Singapore (4.84mil); or $27,452 for every Singapore Residents (Singapore Citizens 3.16mil + PR 478k); or $33,806 for every employed person in Singapore. Numbers which I can relate to as I am included in that statistic.

Astounding numbers henceforth, is if we just blame the government officials for it - 93 MPs + 1 ribbon-cutting-key holder Head of state - that is about $1.06 billion per government official. But to be fair, we should throw in the 350 or so Temasek employees and board of directors + GIC's 1000 staff worldwide. That should be more accountable, they lost only $69.3million per person.
And to think we pay some of these jokers 300k a month who constantly have been telling the people to shut the f*^k up and let them do their thing, f@$k transparency, f#*k accountability - can eat one huh? Well eat these numbers!

Many have seen this coming, countless of warnings by many people, hell! books are written foretelling this crisis. Maybe its time we start interviewing these gurus if they would like to be paid $300k/mth and get nice colonial rental houses with pools. I really wonder if the our elite scholars deserve the recognition and power they have so far. I personally would rather have someone who knows what he is doing, reporting to me with full transparency where his knowledge would actually make $. And unlike those ignorant fools who feel so freely dispensing our hard-earned reserves - that is unless those reserves are already treated like spare loose change of their own pockets.

This is all based on mid-year 2008 estimates and the various Temasek and GIC websites.

Human Rights

Watching a U2 Milan Vertigo DVD on a lazy Sunday afternoon brought this up.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. The Universal Declaration was adopted by the General Assembly on 10 December 1948. Singapore became an independent State on 9 August 1965 and a Member of the United Nations on 21 September 1965. Bono flashed this declaration after singing "Miss Sarajevo".




Article 1

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2

Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 3

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 4

No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 6

Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 7

All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

Article 8

Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

Article 9

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Article 10

Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

Article 11

1. Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
2. No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.

Article 12

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Article 13

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
2. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including their own, and to return to their country.

Article 14

1. Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
2. This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 15

1. Everyone has the right to a nationality.
2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

Article 16

1. Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
2. Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
3. The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

Article 17

1. Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

Article 18

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 19

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Article 20

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
2. No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

Article 21

1. Everyone has the right to take part in the government of their country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
2. Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in their country.
3. The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.

Article 22

Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.

Article 23

1. Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
2. Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
3. Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
4. Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

Article 24

Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

Article 25

1. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
2. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

Article 26

1. Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
2. Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
3. Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Article 27

1. Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
2. Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

Article 28

Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

Article 29

1. Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
2. In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
3. These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 30

Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.

I like Article 1. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. Sometimes in Singapore, some have lived so far away from human touch, they think they are Gods and deemed other humans as lesser mortals. Hard to forget this. Should never forget this. Especially when higher mortals are CIVIL SERVANTS meant to serve with servitude to the public. The form of servitude meant here is not as indicated in Article 4 which refers to slavery. But sometimes I feel we get all caught up in this rat race here, we are slaves. Slaves to the system.
And an answer to our Minister V. Article 19 - Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression. This blog is my opinion and an expression. Take it or leave it, but noone has the right to shut it.