Tuesday, 26 May 2009
pwnage => epic fail
well, we stuck ourselves out on a limb for someone today, didn't we? put out the risk capital when the upside is decidedly ... risky. bloody embarrassing, and it probably left like complete kaos and konfusion in its wake. blergh.
Monday, 18 May 2009
Words of the Day
Sisyphean
Panglossian
i'm such a sucker for self-punishment.
19 days to the written exam, about 6 weeks to the reckoning. and then, there will be results, and an answer (or so we hope).
Panglossian
i'm such a sucker for self-punishment.
19 days to the written exam, about 6 weeks to the reckoning. and then, there will be results, and an answer (or so we hope).
Sunday, 3 May 2009
three-peat
realised that i can't do poetry very well, the next best thing is to do prose which sounds like poetry, a la Thomas Hardy, or the great orators.
this weekend, i did two things which i hadn't done before: (1) baked cookies successfully and (2) visited the end of the world.
(1)
this was for choir brunch gathering today. the MEN supplied today's menu. we actually could be pretty proud of ourselves!
- peanut porridge w/ mincemeat, garnishings, century egg, youtiao, etc
- waffles (cooked on the spot) with mango compote
- fried radish cake
- soft chocolate cookies
- fruits
- cake
- coffee and tea
yum. anyway, baking is something that i know i wouldn't try again on my own. it was a decent attempt (after my sister rescued me by baking the cookies longer so they wouldn't fall apart too easily). i'll stick to cooking real food the next time. beer-seasoned steak, medium well, anyone?
(2)
on thursday, i suffered a wound and i didn't know if i was strong enough to withstand it; but a band-aid, messages, triaged, perserverance; from a great physician, closed it up and stitched it closely; choleric melancholia never a good mix, abandoned but not quite, as i learned to my horror later, since i wanted to end it; why did things have to be open-ended yet all my helps and advices tell me to close; and so i visited the very end of the world, although this time in was in the utter NorthWest, and the water was not sweet; though at some angle the sky and the water did meet, we saw the land at the other end quite closely with the dwellings of the sea people; i feel a bit like tristan though like diego i wished i scored a goal in the previous game.
the end of the world (i.e. Lim Chu Kang Jetty) is at the extreme end of the longest, loneliest bus journey in Singapore. this place is the epitome of ulu-ness, at least 30min drive from the nearest decent human habitation (excl migrant worker dormitories, farms and factories). it was odd to be there, and to actually discover there are locations even more isolated than Sungei Gedong army camp. it was crowded without being overbearing, the coast guard station was quite a bummer, but it was nice to be among the mangroves, the stink of the sea.
the slightly shaky jetty (floated on pontoons and hollow plastic casks) is nostalgic. it was nice to be on a platform where the bow-legged could walk better. it was nice to sit on a platform, hoping it would sink, stare out to sea where old men paddle in the swampy water half-naked sitting on rubber tires. i was at peace for a little while there.
ah, isolation. someday the creature of the city will need to answer the call of nature (abstract, not liquid) and just be for awhile, harking back to Eden.
this weekend, i did two things which i hadn't done before: (1) baked cookies successfully and (2) visited the end of the world.
(1)
this was for choir brunch gathering today. the MEN supplied today's menu. we actually could be pretty proud of ourselves!
- peanut porridge w/ mincemeat, garnishings, century egg, youtiao, etc
- waffles (cooked on the spot) with mango compote
- fried radish cake
- soft chocolate cookies
- fruits
- cake
- coffee and tea
yum. anyway, baking is something that i know i wouldn't try again on my own. it was a decent attempt (after my sister rescued me by baking the cookies longer so they wouldn't fall apart too easily). i'll stick to cooking real food the next time. beer-seasoned steak, medium well, anyone?
(2)
on thursday, i suffered a wound and i didn't know if i was strong enough to withstand it; but a band-aid, messages, triaged, perserverance; from a great physician, closed it up and stitched it closely; choleric melancholia never a good mix, abandoned but not quite, as i learned to my horror later, since i wanted to end it; why did things have to be open-ended yet all my helps and advices tell me to close; and so i visited the very end of the world, although this time in was in the utter NorthWest, and the water was not sweet; though at some angle the sky and the water did meet, we saw the land at the other end quite closely with the dwellings of the sea people; i feel a bit like tristan though like diego i wished i scored a goal in the previous game.
the end of the world (i.e. Lim Chu Kang Jetty) is at the extreme end of the longest, loneliest bus journey in Singapore. this place is the epitome of ulu-ness, at least 30min drive from the nearest decent human habitation (excl migrant worker dormitories, farms and factories). it was odd to be there, and to actually discover there are locations even more isolated than Sungei Gedong army camp. it was crowded without being overbearing, the coast guard station was quite a bummer, but it was nice to be among the mangroves, the stink of the sea.
the slightly shaky jetty (floated on pontoons and hollow plastic casks) is nostalgic. it was nice to be on a platform where the bow-legged could walk better. it was nice to sit on a platform, hoping it would sink, stare out to sea where old men paddle in the swampy water half-naked sitting on rubber tires. i was at peace for a little while there.
ah, isolation. someday the creature of the city will need to answer the call of nature (abstract, not liquid) and just be for awhile, harking back to Eden.
Saturday, 2 May 2009
fragments
NMP Siew Kum Hong
one of Singapore's Nominated Members of Parliament (i.e. non-voting MPs not directly elected by the people, but selected for Parliament to represent diverse interests), Mr Siew Kum Hong, has decided to run for re-nomination (?). this is a man i respect, even if his views are a little too much into left field for my taste.
he has certainly posed many tough questions to civil servants (including myself) to answer. his efforts to ensure accountability in Singapore's all-powerful bureaucracy (our politicans are effectively senior bureaucrats). i appreciated one of the comments that was made in regard to this role of the MPs (was by PM Lee i think). the job of Parliament in Singapore's case is less to formulate legislation (unlike many larger democracies), than to hold the bureaucracy accountable. although I believe that the record is mixed at best, it certainly is a system which works for Singapore. always good to have some degree of checks and balances without resorting to unnecessary judicial means (read: Supreme Court decides who's President). however, this does not entirely solve the very prevalent problem of groupthink in the gobierno here. (can't say the English G-word, may lose my job)
NCC
One of the large "independent" churches here (let's call it NCC, or National Cadet Corps) makes me very uncomfortable for two reasons. The first is the undue emphasis on the prosperity gospel (which is staunchly denied, sometimes well-justified, but always lurking in the background as the material is emphasised above the spiritual). The second is the undue adulation given to their senior pastor (let's call him JP Morgan). He is apparently paid $500,000 a year.
Having been embroiled in the "should ministers and civil servants be paid tons or peanuts" thing, I believe that even religious leaders should be paid well, but not extravagantly, as befitting their responsibility. However, they should justify it by living modestly, as according to the commands of the Bible. What really galls me is one of lieutenant's assertion that because JPM brings in 95% of the church's revenue (i.e. donations), he actually is a net profit to the church. This is alarming and entirely contrary to what a church should be. Our currency is souls, not dollars. A worker for God will be assessed by God's standard in good works and fulfilling his mission and commandments. Taking in material wealth is surely a very small part.
one of Singapore's Nominated Members of Parliament (i.e. non-voting MPs not directly elected by the people, but selected for Parliament to represent diverse interests), Mr Siew Kum Hong, has decided to run for re-nomination (?). this is a man i respect, even if his views are a little too much into left field for my taste.
he has certainly posed many tough questions to civil servants (including myself) to answer. his efforts to ensure accountability in Singapore's all-powerful bureaucracy (our politicans are effectively senior bureaucrats). i appreciated one of the comments that was made in regard to this role of the MPs (was by PM Lee i think). the job of Parliament in Singapore's case is less to formulate legislation (unlike many larger democracies), than to hold the bureaucracy accountable. although I believe that the record is mixed at best, it certainly is a system which works for Singapore. always good to have some degree of checks and balances without resorting to unnecessary judicial means (read: Supreme Court decides who's President). however, this does not entirely solve the very prevalent problem of groupthink in the gobierno here. (can't say the English G-word, may lose my job)
NCC
One of the large "independent" churches here (let's call it NCC, or National Cadet Corps) makes me very uncomfortable for two reasons. The first is the undue emphasis on the prosperity gospel (which is staunchly denied, sometimes well-justified, but always lurking in the background as the material is emphasised above the spiritual). The second is the undue adulation given to their senior pastor (let's call him JP Morgan). He is apparently paid $500,000 a year.
Having been embroiled in the "should ministers and civil servants be paid tons or peanuts" thing, I believe that even religious leaders should be paid well, but not extravagantly, as befitting their responsibility. However, they should justify it by living modestly, as according to the commands of the Bible. What really galls me is one of lieutenant's assertion that because JPM brings in 95% of the church's revenue (i.e. donations), he actually is a net profit to the church. This is alarming and entirely contrary to what a church should be. Our currency is souls, not dollars. A worker for God will be assessed by God's standard in good works and fulfilling his mission and commandments. Taking in material wealth is surely a very small part.
shut up and sit down (whatever that means)
lots has happened over the past few days / weeks. as a result have sacrificed quality (i.e. scintillating intellect and rapier wit) for a broad coverage of the issues at hand. it's been quite overwhelming really, sometimes i begin to question ... everything.
the meaty (pun not completely intended) stuff first then:
swine flu: it's been starting to get a bit disruptive already. although there have been no reported cases of infection (yet), my company has already made plans to "split operations" next week. this means i'll get to work from home. woohoo! i guess. though wouldn't people get bored with constantly staying at home? better to do a rotation basis i guess, where some people will come in 1/3/5 and 2/4/6 etc etc. fairer that way. i'll miss the colleagues and human interactions at work though, i guess will volunteer to go back at some point.
the important thing is not to overreact or underreact - one might say the extreme quarantine measures (e.g. HK) are a bit overdone, but tensions are pretty high here after SARS in 2003. i guess its a measure of how "successful" the asians have been that the petty outbreaks in the past few years have been nipped in the bud, while the big epidemic comes from an animal (pig) in a place (MX) that no one really anticipated. pray this will blow over quickly though, plague is NOT fun. but then again you could say its one thing that doesn't really discriminate, an "Act of God".
AWARE: Storm in a teacup, in my opinion. For those not in the same country, some younger members (mostly Christians) stage a coup d'etat in the most prominent women's rights NGO here and took over the important positions. Main reason cited for dissatisfaction was the permissive attitude of the old committee towards LGBT issues, including, inter alia, (omg i used a lawyers' term!) slipping innuendos that such things are permissive into educational materials for secondary schoolers (middle schools).
I would agree with the mainstream population's (and church's) opinions on this one. I'll come out to say that I am against over-permissiveness on LGBT issues (to the extent that the lifestyle rather than only the person is condoned), but the methods which were used were wrong. We should not be washing our dirty linen in public a la coups d'etat (and even in a small NGO which, though high-profile, is not widely supported). Should they have established a separate organisation? Maybe. But i guess the problem still boiled down to the breakdown in relationships between the different parties. Did the course of events show that the "new guard" were too hasty? Possibly.
I would also be against overt Church (with both a big and small "C") involvement in this issue. After all, it is too small to use valuable political capital to weigh in on the issue (unlike things of large scale importance like, say, casinos or abolishing Penal Code 377A). Generally we should be known to be there and known to be actively working, but not getting dragged down into the politicking and compromising of the world. "Seen but not heard" isn't entirely accurate, but it encapsulates part of the meaning.
afternote: the "new guard" lost a no-confidence vote, and decided to step down. i guess it's a 50-50 situation after all... further confrontations have been avoided and the old people are back, although severely discredited. the winners in this case are citizen journalists... although i'm not sure if the pro-LGBT crowd can claim a clear cut victory on this one. "women's activism" definitely suffered a setback, although in SG the need for such an organisation, i believe, is past. perhaps this will shift more political attention to groups which may need it, like the arts or the environment.
the meaty (pun not completely intended) stuff first then:
swine flu: it's been starting to get a bit disruptive already. although there have been no reported cases of infection (yet), my company has already made plans to "split operations" next week. this means i'll get to work from home. woohoo! i guess. though wouldn't people get bored with constantly staying at home? better to do a rotation basis i guess, where some people will come in 1/3/5 and 2/4/6 etc etc. fairer that way. i'll miss the colleagues and human interactions at work though, i guess will volunteer to go back at some point.
the important thing is not to overreact or underreact - one might say the extreme quarantine measures (e.g. HK) are a bit overdone, but tensions are pretty high here after SARS in 2003. i guess its a measure of how "successful" the asians have been that the petty outbreaks in the past few years have been nipped in the bud, while the big epidemic comes from an animal (pig) in a place (MX) that no one really anticipated. pray this will blow over quickly though, plague is NOT fun. but then again you could say its one thing that doesn't really discriminate, an "Act of God".
AWARE: Storm in a teacup, in my opinion. For those not in the same country, some younger members (mostly Christians) stage a coup d'etat in the most prominent women's rights NGO here and took over the important positions. Main reason cited for dissatisfaction was the permissive attitude of the old committee towards LGBT issues, including, inter alia, (omg i used a lawyers' term!) slipping innuendos that such things are permissive into educational materials for secondary schoolers (middle schools).
I would agree with the mainstream population's (and church's) opinions on this one. I'll come out to say that I am against over-permissiveness on LGBT issues (to the extent that the lifestyle rather than only the person is condoned), but the methods which were used were wrong. We should not be washing our dirty linen in public a la coups d'etat (and even in a small NGO which, though high-profile, is not widely supported). Should they have established a separate organisation? Maybe. But i guess the problem still boiled down to the breakdown in relationships between the different parties. Did the course of events show that the "new guard" were too hasty? Possibly.
I would also be against overt Church (with both a big and small "C") involvement in this issue. After all, it is too small to use valuable political capital to weigh in on the issue (unlike things of large scale importance like, say, casinos or abolishing Penal Code 377A). Generally we should be known to be there and known to be actively working, but not getting dragged down into the politicking and compromising of the world. "Seen but not heard" isn't entirely accurate, but it encapsulates part of the meaning.
afternote: the "new guard" lost a no-confidence vote, and decided to step down. i guess it's a 50-50 situation after all... further confrontations have been avoided and the old people are back, although severely discredited. the winners in this case are citizen journalists... although i'm not sure if the pro-LGBT crowd can claim a clear cut victory on this one. "women's activism" definitely suffered a setback, although in SG the need for such an organisation, i believe, is past. perhaps this will shift more political attention to groups which may need it, like the arts or the environment.
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