Monday, December 31, 2007

会呼吸的痛

This is a really nice song by Fish Leong, it is not those sweet lovey dovey songs, rather a song that made the listener feel very sad and helpless. At least that applys to me. Here are the lyrics:

在东京铁塔 第一次眺望
看灯火模仿 坠落的星光
我终於到达 但却更悲伤
一个人完成 我们的梦想

你总说 时间还很多 你可以等我
以前我不懂得 未必明天 就有以后

想念是会呼吸的痛 它活在我身上所有角落
哼你爱的歌会痛 看你的信会痛 连沉默也痛

遗憾是会呼吸的痛 它流在血液中来回滚动
后悔不贴心会痛 恨不懂你会痛 想见不能见最痛

没看你脸上 张扬过哀伤
那是种多麼 寂寞的倔强
你拆了城墙 让我去流浪
在原地等我 把自己捆绑

你没说 你也会软弱 需要倚赖我
我就装不晓得 自由移动 自我地过

想念是会呼吸的痛 它活在我身上所有角落
哼你爱的歌会痛 看你的信会痛 连沉默也痛

遗憾是会呼吸的痛 它流在血液中来回滚动
后悔不贴心会痛 恨不懂你会痛 想见不能最痛

我发誓不再说谎了
多爱你就会抱你多紧的
我的微笑都假了
灵魂像飘浮着 你在就好了
我发誓不让你等候
陪你做想做的无论什么
我越来越像贝壳
怕心被人触碰 你回来那就好了
能重来那就好了


(Extracted from Youtube account iilovemayday )

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

《鬥牛要不要》片尾曲 - 你最近还好吗

挑一張耶誕卡寫上滿滿祝福的話
地址寫的是心底 你能不能收到它天有點冷
風有點大 城市寧靜而喧嘩
這一個冬天我得一個人走回家
問自己習慣了嗎
沒有你每到夜裏回聲變得好大
有沒有什麽好方法讓寂寞更聽話
你最近還好嗎 是不是也在思念裏掙紮
你說會記得我 還記得嗎
你最近還好嗎
忙碌嗎累嗎 心還會痛嗎
如果真不得已忘了我
有再多的牽掛都已沒有權利表達
舊情人給的問候比陌生人還尷尬
昨天遠了 明天還長 回憶模糊但巨大
這樣的深夜眼淚要怎樣不流下
問自己習慣了嗎
沒有你每到夜裏回聲變得好大
有沒有什麽好方法
讓寂寞更听话
你最近還好嗎 是不是也在思念裏掙紮
你說會記得我 還記得嗎
你最近還好嗎
忙碌嗎累嗎 心還會痛嗎
如果真不得已忘了我
快向快樂出發
你最近還好嗎 是不是也在思念裏掙紮
你說會記得我 還記得嗎
你最近還好嗎
忙碌嗎累嗎 心還會痛嗎
如果真不得已忘了我
快向快樂出發

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Psychological Test

Got this from a fellow blogger's site, quite fun. It tells you what type of "animal" you are, by entering your date of birth and gender.

You are Blue Sheep type, who is gentle to others and have calm attitude and a quiet atmosphere around you. You can make other people feel good, and yet at the same time you have a natural instinct to see people's insight. You can turn things into your own pace as well.You are a person of knowledge, and can provide wide range of information. You are very quick on trends.Unlike your outlooks, you have guts to fight. You can build relationships based on each other's interests.You have a will power to achieve your set objective by carefully planning your schedules.Although you have bright brains and clear mind to analyze things, you tend to leave the decision on lapse of time. Your weakness is you can be slow on decision making and putting into action.You are good at competition and have great ambition. Your success lies in cooperating with others and trying to be helpful to others.You put priority in economics, and try to stable the household budget.

Saturday, September 22, 2007

"Drop the PInk Elephant"

Drop the Pink Elephant", what is a Pink Elephant? That is my initial reaction when I read the title of the book. After reading the introduction, I know it is about effective communications, and the author had devised a 21 steps "formula" to personal communication heaven. The author, Bill McFarlan, broadcaster and communications expert, had coined the term “Pink Elephant”. Pink Elephants are unnecessary negatives that clutter our conversation.

What are negatives to communication? They can be words like “didn’t” in “ I didn't mean it,” the “no” in “I mean no offence”. I initially thought that there is nothing wrong with such sentences but the book explained that these sentences actually bring the other party to the "real" meaning of their intentions. In the book, there was this example of Paul Burrell, former butler to the late Princess Diana, told BBC that his intention for narrating his story was never about money. He went on to say that the 300,000 pounds deal with the Daily Mirror would pay off his debts. Isn't his real intention of telling his story about paying his debts? Nobody questioned him if he told his story in order to pay his debts but he blurted it out himself by denying his real intention, i.e. paying his debts. That is what I interpreted from the example with the help of the book.

There is another interesting topic in the book, "Sorry seems to be the hardest word". How true is that? If we asked ourselves how many times when we know the fault is on us yet we refused to say sorry. I am not saying that I am someone who says sorry easily, but it is interesting to know that such a simple word yet it is often left unsaid. If we come to realise our mistakes, and the quicker we apologise, then the quicker the growing tension will evaporate. Sometimes, I find it puzzling that just because I refuse to be the one apologising that I end up feeling awkward with my friend. If one of us had apologised, then all would be well.

The book had provided the 3 "R"s solution, (not reuse, recycle and reduce), rather Regret, Reason, Remedy. First you apologise to express Regret for the mistake made, then you provide a Reason to explain why you made that mistake, last but not least, you provide a Remedy to prevent a recurrence of the problem. The 3 "R"s could be applied to a small matter such a late arrival for an appointment. You apologise for the late arrival, next you provide a reason for your late arrival, (of course not lies!) and finally you come up with a remedy such as I will be punctual next time or I will treat you to lunch.

It is amazing how we could make so much difference by practising the 3 "R"s in communication, yet how many of us do that?, not even myself. I am not trying to promote the book nor trying to be a "wise" guy, rather just sharing what I have learned from the book. Alright, I end here now.

Saturday, September 01, 2007

"If Only"

If only" Two short and simple words yet used so frequently in our lives. "If" often suggests desires such as If I could earn 1 million in 1 year. "Only" in this context suggests exclusivity. Put together "if only" tend to indicate regrets, helplessness and unhappiness. Examples of "if only" situations include: If only I have put in more hard work, I will not be struggling in my studies now, If only I was more careful with my spending, I wouldn't incur such huge debts. If only I was more considerate, he wouldn't be hurt by my hurtful words.In my opinion,

"If only" can be applied to small situations such as quarrels to major life decisions such as career and even marriage. I think it is inevitable that we will use the phrase "If only" in our lives. If only is different from If in that if can suggests desires and regrets but if only is limited to past events, and most of the time wrong decisions made. Read a book entitled "if only" by Neal Rose. Initially, thought that it is a simple book to comprehend, nope I was wrong. Neal Rose, according to the book, is one of the world's top scientists studying regret.

It is indeed inevitable that thoughts about "if only" will be present in our lives but the book taught the readers how to manage our regret style to maximize the gain and minimize the regret. I sort of capture the essence of the book, i.e. don't always feel that you are in the worst situation, and consider how a bad situation could have gone even worse. For instance, if you are lamenting about not being able to be in the desired career of your life, why not consider how your life will be if you don't have a job at all?

I try to apply to myself by thinking that I will be worse off if I don't even have the chance to pursue a tertiary education. Of course, I myself feel that this is merely a different way of looking at things, what is done cannot be unchanged. However, instead of regretting, why not consider the benefits of the alternative. Hope that those who happened to read this entry could live with less regrets and be more positive in life. Alright, I end here now.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Impatience

On Wednesday night, listen to world of DTF, and DTF was blasting off at DNB and ZC over her imminent meeting with Ah toot on Friday. Though it is a fictitious story, it shows the impatience experienced by us at times in life. Many bystanders cannot understand what we are going through and at times blame us totally for that. Indeed, both parties, i.e. the person shouting and the person at the receiving end of such treatment will not feel good. It is avoidable if the party at fault could control his or her emotions beforehand.

However, when that happens, we are not aware of the change in us. It is only after the hurt has been done that we feel guilty. By that time, it is too late. I have hurt my friends and family members a dozen of times due to my impatience, and I do feel guilty after that. Perhaps I am one who gets impatient easily, or that I seem to over-emphasize on small details. I just don't know why we can be so nasty to the innocent party at times. I guessed to avoid such similar incidents, we should find someone to talk to, and at least you know there is someone with you, though not to help you, to listen to you.

It may sound illogical to some but I feel that often it is the build up of overwhelming tension plus impatience that cause us to blast off at people. If you lessen the tension, the "naggy" comments by your close friends and family members will not be so overwhelming to you at that point. The more others nag at you at that time, you seem to be forced away from your train of thoughts and you feel that they have disturbed you and piss you off. So the only way to stop those nagging is to say hurtful remarks to get them off your back. After that, you feel guilty. Now it is worse, on one hand, you feel guilty; on the other hand, you still remain impatient.

Some people I met never seem to be impatient, some are often impatient. There are varying degrees, so it is impossible that there will be no such incidents happening. Besides, what may seem daunting to some may seem trivial to others. Thus, the best way is to avoid the build up of the tension. Again, how many of us are capable of that when we are too engrossed in the problem? It is so strange that we as human beings are not able to control ourselves when we are affected by some problems. Alright, I end here now.

Sunday, August 05, 2007

Emotions

I am sure each of us have our fair share of happy and sad moments. I have this weird thinking at times that if our minds can be like computers, where we can access the "information" ie. memories; I would like to send some of the large and detrimental files to the recycle bin. I can run a virus scan and prevent my "computer" from being corrupted. As human beings, we are inundated with the vast amount of information everyday. The drama we see, the commercial we watch, the news, the demands of our academic, working and family aspects of our life. At times, there are just far too much for me to handle.

Frankly speaking, I am having bad memories that come about every now and then, making me lose motivation in the tasks I do. Much as I try to control myself, I still cannot totally forget the disappointing and unpleasant moments in my "life". That is why I yearn to do some "file" management and get rid of these bad memories. I don't know why I am so pessimistic, it is not something to be proud of.

All these lead to me being overly-emotional and agitated at times. Emotions are just so weird, we are affected by them but we cannot live without them, if not we are just like machines, who are merely tools and have no "life". I guessed I am emotional even at this instant if not I will not write this entry that I will not do in the past. Alright, I ened here now.

Friday, July 20, 2007

Addition of new Features

Hi to all visitors of my blog, I have added a video bar feature on my blog.Hope it will be a more pleasant experience next time you visit my blog.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Being a Singaporean

National day is less than a month time, and from this year onwards, the National Day Parade will no longer be held at the National Stadium located at Kallang. To me, if you are proud to be a Singaporean, you need not attend the National Day Parade, or be involved. As a Singaporean, I feel that we should be proud of our culture, food and the fact that we live in this country call Singapore. I cannot say that I am very patriotic or possess great knowledge about our nation’s matters, but I can say that I like the fact that I am a Singaporean.

Find it rather sad that some Singaporeans are always comparing the western countries to Singapore and yearning to migrate because they think that life in other countries are better. There is a Chinese saying which goes: “涨他人之气,灭自己威风”。It simply means to hold others in high regard and belittling oneself. Indeed there are many good things to learn from foreigners, but I feel we should not belittle ourselves at the same time.If it was for family, career or even retiring purposes , I can understand that, but There was one particular gal I came across in the forum who said that she is going to migrate just because Singaporeans are lame. I find this type of people pathetic, is they feel that Singaporeans are lame, then aren't they lame themselves too? Besides, given their attitude to others, they will find other unhappy things to lament about even if they get their desired place of residence.

It is ironic to see that there are many foreigners who are interested in our culture and food, yet some Singaporeans are always thinking that life in other countries is better. Perhaps most of us tend to look at the good things other countries have, forgetting that they might get worse things. Of course it is the choices of people to migrate, and I am saying all these because I have not work in the society yet. I feel that no matter where we go, we should remember ourselves as Singaporeans. I have always felt that being in Singapore is a blessing at least in terms of geographical location.

We are blessed to have avoided the catastrophic Tsunami which brought about huge destruction to our neighbouring countries especially Indonesia. Thinking that we are so close to it yet we escaped it, I feel so lucky. Besides the absence of natural disaster, I am glad to say that we enjoy peace and prosperity all these years. and as students, we get heavily subsidised education. In the past, I failed to realise that, now after having to pay almost 30 thousands just for 3.5 years of education made me aware that how lucky we are.I am not propagating nationalistic ideals here, merely writing about my thoughts, for those who disagreed with them; I am not stopping you from doing that. Alright, I end here now.

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

New Semester

On Monday, lessons being to commence for me. From now on, lessons are carried out on a part time basis. Initially was not used to the idea of having night lessons. Now, it seems okay, afterall, it is only for 3 nights a week. This sem I am going to take Singapore Company Law, Financial Accounting and Cost Management and Applications( a module that is a continuation of Managament Accounting and Business). All of them are more geared towards the accounting aspect of my course.

Have a lot of coursemates who are working full time and part time, as for me, I am not working, so I should have more time than them. Seeing these people rushing to the lecture theatres and at the same time having to concentrate after a day's work, I wonder what motivates them to do so? Perhaps it is the willingness to gain more knowledge, or maybe it is the large sums of money they have invested in their studies. I feel very fortunate to be able to study without working at the same time. 13 weeks and it will be exam time soon, and then a semster will come to an end. Thinking about this, suddenly feel that time passes faster than I want it to be. Actually, no one can control time, one can only manage his own time.

Well, I must work hard for the next 5 semesters, that is the only "promise" I can give to myself, seeing that many people are being so keen on studies despite working a full day shift. Alright, I end here now.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Happiness

"Happiness" What exactly is happiness? According to dictionary.com, it is the state of well-being characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. Seems to me it is not just being happy, it can vary from being contented to a state of euphoria. In Chinese, we have a saying: “知足常乐 ”。How apt it is used to describe the happiness we want. It covers the aspect of contentment, that if we feel contended, we will achieve happiness.

I am not one that is contented with my life, which is why I am unhappy at times. I have seen many who are contented and have a happy and jovial outlook towards life. I am trying hard to make do with those "flaws" that I possess, to disregard those unfulfilled desires, to be cheerful and jovial. Thought I had made some progress through the years, at times feel that I could do more. I have never bothered to understand what is intense joy, sadness, disappointment, or exhilaration before in the past. What is the feeling of intense joy like, is it as if you do not have any troubles, what can I do to attain this state of mind? I guessed many people have experienced intense joy, what is different is the definition of intense joy to them.

On Friday, listen to world of DTF at 8:30 p.m. At the end of it, DTF tell us a very simple principle, that happiness can be very simple. Happenings that occur in everyday life can serve as mementos in the future. I totally agreed to it, in the past, found myself in real misery by always focusing on the flaws and unattainable desires of life, now a simple dinner out with my family can be so heartening and enjoyable. Indeed, if you are not so idealistic, happiness can be simple, and it can be attained when you are happy.

However to me, to attain happiness, I guessed there is still a long way to go. I am currently happy, but failed to be in a state of euphoria. Of course not many will differentiate happy and happiness. I define happiness as a calm and euphoric state of mind in which you are contented and blessed, and happy as being glad, ecstatic, jubilant and exhilarated. A state of well being need not be applied to physical health, it can be used on mental health as well. Maybe to me, I am still a perfectionist to some extent, tend to want to do everything to my most ideal manner. Alright, I end here now.

Friday, June 01, 2007

Lost

Well, not trying to be emotional or what, somehow feel quite lost in life recently. Everyday past by so quickly that I have no time to do some deep thinking. Lots of thoughts came to mind, wondered why I am in this state suddenly. Many things I planned for did not proceed as planned. University plans, plans to be more vocal and brave, plans to be more mature. Perhaps we cannot possibly live our life as planned, I was so foolish. Though everyday is happy, as everyone in the family is safe and I am healthy, somehow when I thought of all these plans, I get disillusioned.

Life during my younger days was more innocent and less stressful. When one grows older, we cannot do everything to the best we want, we need to set priorities. Nevertheless, to be alive is a blessing, too many unpredictable events, terrorism, natural mishaps, health problems, and too many possible events to take our lives away. Just like we never know when we are born, we never know the exact time and date when we have to leave this world. We are too busy at times to reflect on our actions, to meditate, to attain tranquility in our minds.Read some books on emotional intelligence before, they advocate that we should have time to reflect on out actions and have some time to meditate. In the past, thought that meditation is too abstract for many to accept, now find that everyone of us is capable of doing that. If we put in effort to do that everyday, I believe we will feel more at ease.

I don't know how many people are like me, prefer to believe in a more ordered life, every year we need to do certain things, like working by a certain age, I know it is boring but I feel terrible is my life isn't going as planned. That is why I feel lost now. Well, guess I need to reflect on this "weirdness", if not I will only make me unhappy. Alright, I end here now.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Complaints

Recently, discover more and more people have expressed their complaints in the media. On the Sunday times, there is a reader who complained against Burger King advertising in the movie Spiderman 3. After reading his comment, I feel bewildered, what is the fact that Tobey Macguire being a vegetarian got to do with the ad by Burger King? He mentioned that having fast food advertisements in movies will encourage consumption of fast food by children, leading to health problems such as obesity. No doubt having too much fast food is bad for health, does the removal of fast food advertisements really solve the problem brought about by fast food. Could we further say that we should stop having fast food ads on TV? I am not making a personal attack against that concerned parent but just find that his comment is made without much thought. Moreover, by writing to the forum will not solve the "problem”, he should reflect to the Media Development Authority of Singapore.

Next, it is about the comments by viewers in the local magazines. I have been an avid fan of "I- weekly", a magazine discussing the Chinese movie and TV scene. In one of the sections, it allows viewers to voice their opinions. Find that there are a lot of smart alecks who make personal attacks against a particular actress, and often making baseless comments about her behaviour. I feel so sad for the actress, after all she have been in the local scene for more than a decade, and used to be the most sought after star. Now because she is older, a lot of people are 'attacking; her. Indeed we each have our likes and dislikes; we can dislike a particular actor or actress, but find it a bit too much to make a personal attack on him or her.Personally, I also complain about some drama serials, but I won't go to the extent to write bad things about them.

After all, acting is also a profession; would we like ourselves to be bombarded with negative comments in our work? For those who make negative comments before, please try to think before resorting to such childish actions. Being an actor is inevitable to be under the scrutiny of many eyes, but they do need motivation. By making such negative comments will only make them unhappy and not able to perform well. If you are so great, try to act yourself, then I will see how good you really are.Aiyah, really feel so sad for these people, they thought they are right, when they are in fact wrong. Alright, I end here now.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Relationships

For the past few weeks, have been listening to world of DTF narrated by Peifen. Peifen did a great job on every entry. I am just puzzled how come relationships can be so complex. Just a connection between a guy and a girl, yet seem to be so complicated. The school subjects are already so tough, yet the relationships matter can be even more complex. I have not fallen in love before neither am I in relationships, so I don't know. I also don't know what the feeling to like someone is. There are many readers who expressed that they used to be in the same predicament as DTF before, reading their comments really make me kind of sad. Is it true that most of us will have to face this problem that can be worse than our major examinations in life?

I don't know, perhaps those who happened to read my blog can leave a comment if you want, to enlighten me. There was an entry about DTF isolating herself from her parents, friends and the outside world, made me so shocked. I was puzzled as to how come it is so serious to make the "victim" so despondent, even losing the ability to carry out the normal routine. Logically, we should always look on the bright side, even if the one we like don't like us, we must still carry on with our lives. I am sure those around us do not want us to be so depressed. However, it seems that when the "love bug" bites us, we lose our "rationality" and "logic". Frankly speaking, I have never heard from anyone about their pain when they have a failed relationship as I do not have many friends. I feel that I do not need to pursue on these things, when it is time to come, it will come.

In my opinion, with regards to the story. I find that Ah toot and DTF are not really in love with each other. So I do not care if they did end up together, I just want DTF to be happy and carefree, Ah toot to remain as good friends with DTF. They might not like each other, but they broke up 5 years ago, and now want to get together again, it is hard. Many readers criticise Ah toot for being fickle-minded. I feel that he is of no fault, neither is DTF. In the first place, is Ah toot obliged to wait for DTF to confess to him? No, DTF did not express her feelings to Ah toot back then. They get together through an SMS, it is kind of abrupt. Secondly, DTF have been unsure of her feelings that pose a difficulty to the chance of being with Ah toot. Of course, can blame DTF as this type of things is hard to predict. Since the story have come into this stage, might as well accept DTF and Ah toot as good friends. I am analyzing it logically, but it is kind of weird to do that.

I guess I am not very good at understanding relationship matters, but this is just my opinion, no offence to anyone. Alright, I end here now

Saturday, May 12, 2007

All this While

It has been almost two months since I last blog. Partly it is because of academic stuff; partly it is just that I am not in the mood to blog. I now can understand why some bloggers do not blog for months, they are not in the mood or too busy. I know not many people visit my blog; in the first place, my purpose is not to attract readers, just to pen down thoughts, some which are instantaneous, some which are "plan" beforehand. I admit my standard of English is really below average but I feel that as long as I understand what I am writing, it doesn't matter.Just finished my exams this Friday, it was okay, and I will get to know the results only on 060607. Next sem onwards, classes are conducted in the evenings. The most logical thing to do is to find myself a job, if possible an accounting related job, however I have not worked before perhaps no employer is willing to employ me. Anyway, I am no longer so ignorant anymore, so must somehow make the best out of the remaining 2.5 years as a student. Let's see how it goes.

In April, catch a cartoon on DVD; it is titled the adventures of McDull (麦兜). It is about a piglet name McDull and his childhood experiences. If the story was this plain, it will be boring. However, the scriptwriter through the main character talks about the lifes of Hongkongers. Though I am living in Hong Kong, I still feel a sense of warmth and belonging, because the film did bring out some of the innocent childhood experiences most children will have. There was a scene where his mother bought a turkey for Christmas Eve dinner, McDull was really excited and imagine how tasty the turkey will be. Initially, he was elated when he taste the turkey, however, subsequently when he eat it everyday for months, he became so sick of it. Of course, the film is exaggerating the scene, how can a person eat turkey for months, the meat would be so hard by then. I am not very good at describing the scene, for all those who are interested; maybe you can get yourself the DVD. It is enjoyable yet meaningful. It has been a long time since I watch an enjoyable and meaningful Mandarin cartoon.

In the film, there was mention of a traditional ritual in Chang Zhou, Hong Kong of "Snatching the bun" or in Chinese known as" 抢包山" . It goes like this, there are huge towers filled with buns, and villagers will tend to snatch the most buns for good luck and fortune. I was not aware of this before watching the film.No offence to anyone, but I feel that watching this type of cartoon beats watching films that depicts explicit scenes of violence and sex. Personally, I do not like to watch action movies, find that they are meaningless, maybe in this world there are no heroes or villains, only kind hearted people and evil-doers. However, the purpose of movies is to entertain people, so I am not saying that films that depict sex and violence are to be banned. In my opinion, I just do not prefer them. Find that as a blogger, I have to be careful with what I write, because if it leads to misunderstanding, then it not only defeats the purpose of blogging, it made people more restricted. So those who happened to read my blog, do not get the wrong idea, I do not wish to get into trouble over what I wrote.

On the last week of April, I got to know about the screening of "Eternal Summer". It is a controversial Taiwanese film about guy-guy relationship. Actually, if we view the film in a neutral state of mind, there is nothing to be disgusted about. However, I do not dare to watch this type of film; firstly it is my parents will object, secondly, I just feel weird. I am neutral to the idea but thinking and seeing is different. Well, at least we are becoming more tolerant as a society. Personally, I do not have any of such friends, but I guess they are also human beings, also need people to respect them. I guess that is about it, will blog next time. Alright, I end here now.

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Academic Trends

This morning, read on the papers that increasingly, more students with an L1R5 of 11 points and below are choosing Polytechnic courses for their next level of education. It does not surprise me as 5 years back there have been this trend of students who qualify for JCs opting to go to Poly. In the past, I couldn't understand why they do that, but now I realize they are goal oriented knowing what they want to be at an early age.

It is glad that nowadays Polytechnics are not for those who do not meet the criteria to go to JC anymore; instead it is as competitive as any of the 17 JCs in Singapore.There are increasingly less stereotypes of JC students and Poly undergraduates; afterall the motive of education is not to boast about how great one is, it is about gaining knowledge. Indeed, choosing to go to a Polytechnic requires more hands on ability and team work than JC students require, but I somehow feel that a Polytechnic is like a mini university, with many schools and many courses to choose from. No wonder students who do well in their O levels chose to go to Polytechnics.

For me, I never regretted entering JC as I know if I was to be in a Polytechnic environment, I would not achieve much because I am the type who is more passive and rigid, I prefer having a more uniform lifestyle. Perhaps like many JC students, I am more concerned about tests and exams than projects, that is why often people term JC lifestyle as stressful. It depends how you look at it, I have seen people having more than 2 CCAs, yet are the top scorers in my JC. I just want to say that be it in JC or poly, it is the individual who gives himself stress and often not the environment.

Increasingly, JC students are opting for not very much related courses in their University. I don't know if it is fair to say that I was being deprived of a place in local University because of this trend. During my brother's time, most JC students chose to go to engineering and business schools, but now there are a lot of students opting for courses in FASS in NUS, the new SPMS in NTU and courses in SMU. I heard that FASS used to be not so popular, but in my year, it was so popular that I did not get into it. Can't blame anyone except that if I would have done better, I might have gotten in, this type of thing is very unpredictable.

It is important that you do your best in whatever desired institution, that will leave you with no regrets. Alright, I end here now.

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Some Thoughts

Whoa! This is my 61st entry liao! Initially thought that I will just blog for 1 year or so and have only 20 -30 entries, but now it has been almost 2 years (1 year 11 months to be exact) since I have been blogging. These few weeks have been normal, suddenly feel that there is nothing to be happy or sad.

In the past, I can be very happy and very sad, now it is like nothing interests me anymore. The final month of my full time studies will come to an end soon. Feel so strange that the final years of my education pursuit have to be this way.Next Semester onwards, have to go for lessons in the evening, I am not sure whether I can concentrate then. Have plans to work in accounting related occupations, but I do not have any previous working experience, and I am bent on doing part time in accounting related jobs. My thinking is that since I might be an accountant in future, why not work part time in the area of accounting and gain some experience? To me working part time in the fast food outlets is a no no for me now, as I am not used to serving difficult customers. I will get into trouble soon when I start work.

I always wonder how come students working part time want to work part time at such an early age in the past, now I know their reasons and it is not a bad thing. Indeed reprimendations and difficult colleagues will be inevitable, but I believe the experience gained is invaluable. I admit I am over reliant on my parents in the past. Frankly speaking, I never thought of all these possibilities before, my plan was to get into local University, and then go for the I.A and subsequently graduate with a degree. From that point onwards, seeking a job will be my top priority.

Perhaps my life has been too smooth, no major setbacks, no hardships, and now there is a turn of events.People will say that why I am so strange, always look back, but I just can't seem to be happy. No doubt one should count their blessings instead of worries, but I just can't get over this. No choice have to start planning and not be so restless, my accounting grades have been affected by my restlessness. It is not like I am going to some faraway place, merely going to be working soon. I am the sort who is more concerned with my studies than other things, rather not my studies but my plans. I can't tolerate disruptions, and that's why I do not like last minute changes. Must learn to be more tolerant and less perfectionist. Some of my friends told me that I am a perfectionist, but to me, my perception of a perfectionist is someone who will ensure no mistake in his work, and is obsessed with tidiness, orderliness and cleanliness.

I am merely resistant to abrupt changes and people without plans, that is why I have a low level of creativity and I do not know how to please people.Why am I writing all these all of a sudden? Must be too carried away. Alright, I end here now.

Saturday, March 03, 2007

Beauty

On Friday, listen to the second episode of the new version of the "World of Datoufen", DTF told us about one of her project team mate, Wendy in her University. From her narration, I know that Wendy is a beautiful but irresponsible and selfish girl. Well, it is not surprising to find such people, they think that they already have good looks, others will have to let them have their way. Of course there are those who not only have good looks but also possess inner beauty. This type of people is rare nowadays.

To me , no matter how good looking a person is, if he does not have a good character, then the beauty is very shallow, once or twice you will find the person good looking but after you get to know him or her, you will find that actually he or she is not as good looking as you think initially. In the short narration, DTF also mentioned that Wendy attracted a lot of guys to see her and some even term her as goddess, coming from other faculties just to look at her. I believed they are deceived by her good looks, if they get to know her well, then some might even find her ugly, not physically ugly though.

I admit I am one who is often deceived by one's good looks, partly because I am not good looking myself and feel that those who are good looking must be contented and so will not have a bad attitude. I am really fortunate that most good looking people around me possess both good looks and character. For those who are nasty, they do not have good looks and are hated by most people. There are friends who are not so good looking but have a really kind heart. Personally, in my life , I have not met people like Wendy before, but from the narration, I do not have a good impression of the person if that person really exists.

In the episode, DTF also said that Wendy is conceited and self- centred. In my opinion, to be a successful human being, it is important to be confident, assertive but not conceited and arrogant. No doubt you might be good looking, but that does not give you the rights to be irresponsible and selfish. Even if you are very good looking, if you do not have a good character, it won't bring you far in life. Once you are old, your good looks will be gone, till then you will have nothing but your character to rely on.

Moreover, if you are good looking, there are many others who are even better looking than you are. Just like if you think you are clever, there are many others who are smarter and intelligent than you. I did not say that I am humble, but I feel that whatever we do, it is important to do your best confidently and not put in some sloppy work and be conceited. Alright, I end here now.

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Death

How time flies, the Chinese new year past just like that, and soon we will be one quarter through with the year 2007. Time passes so rapidly that we sometimes loses track of it. Once our time on Earth is up, we have to depart from the Earth, through a process we called death. Recently
read on the papers about a new year reunion turned tragedy of a death of a man. His family members will be reminded of this painful loss of their loved ones during this period of time every year.

Some people say they are not afraid of death, some people are afraid of death. I belong to the latter and it is not cowardly or unmanly to be scared of death. Death brings an end to our existence on Earth and terminates the pursue of our hopes and aspirations. Depriving us of the opportunity to continue enjoy our time on earth with our loved ones. Yet some people choose death as a route to solve their problems, it is a pity that some people struggles to live but fail in the end , and those who can continue to live give up this chance.

Of course, I am lucky in a sense that I want to live and can live, satisfying the two conditions required to have a life. If you ask me what is the best age to die, my answer is indefinte as we don't even know when I will depart from this world. Ideally, it should be after all my loved ones are gone, after my hopes and dreams are fulfilled, till I feel there is nothing to be scared of, then I will die. To me, this state is impossible, as I am someone not easily contented ,I have infinite wishes.

I don't believe in recarnation, but I do believe that life will continue to be present as long as there is Earth, and vice versa. Millions of years later, billions of years later, somehow life will continue as it has always been. For now, I am very grateful to be able to live and wanting to live.Alright, I end here now.

Friday, February 16, 2007

Chinese New Year

Suddenly feel that CNY is just a simple holiday for me, in the past, used to have so much anticipation for the eve of CNY as it is really fun to stay up late to witness the arrival of another year. Now, after two years in the army, plus the festive mood is getting lower by year, CNY is just a holiday to me. In the past, used to spend the new year's eve with my grandma and small aunt, but now due to her walking difficulty, she no longer comes to my house for that night. The past two years have been okay, as CNY gives me a break from work, but this year it is so strange. The feeling is that " Huh? New year already liao, okay law, then it will be a normal day for me."

Don't know why CNY is so quiet nowadays, the festive shows are getting lesser and lesser, what is worse is there are so many repeats that makes people so sian. Then, the festive variety show on the eve of the new year is getting more sian by year, every year it is just dancing, singing , playing some games and then getting one fengshui master to tell us about which zodiac will be wang in the year of the zodiac that year. Aiyah, how come a supposedly fun and meaningful occasion becomes so boring nowadays.

Maybe I am different, but I only care about the hongbaos and nothing else. New clothes, festive goodies and television programmes no longer excites me that much. Well, hope that there won't be a day when CNY is just a public holiday to us Chinese one day, I believe there will be people who feels happy and understand the meaning of new year besides the good things. Wishing all a happy and lucky Chinese New Year.Alright, I end here now.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

All this while

Well, has been almost 2 weeks since I wrote my previous entry, nothing unusual happened. Like many listeners and readers out there, I am an avid fan of the world of Datoufen, a radio show hosted by Peifen. It is about the happenings of a girl, Xiaofen, alias Datoufen in daily life. She is termed Datoufen because she likes to think a lot, so much so that her head is really "big". Of course, she doen't posses a "big" head, just a nickname she gives to herself. It is not those boring love story of a teenage girl, neither is it those that says what she does everyday. What attarcts me to the show is the lessons taught in most episodes. Although there was a time when the story is all about her and her ex boyfriend Ah toot, it is still interesting to see how two strangers become lovers.

Recently, there was a discussion on the blog about student and teacher having a relationship. To me , I am more old fashioned, I think that teachers should not date students as they are there to be seniors, to guide their students. At that point in time, affectuations are often misunderstood as love for most cases. After their teenage years, some students will realise that they might not love that teacher, merely have a crush on him or her. So it is important for teachers not to cross over the line of student and teachers. Indeed, love can exist between two people who have a large age difference, but there are few succcessful examples of a teacher and a student ending in marriage. I know there are others who have a different viewpoint, well, it is nothing wrong, but to me, it is very hard to accept a student-teacher relationship in a school.

Personally, I do not know of friends who have such relationship so perhaps I might be myopic. Another issue mentioned before in the show is the betrayal be friends. Well, there are many types of people in this world, some who are really devious, some who are really kind, to me, maybe it is because of my self centred nature and experience being betrayed by someone, I do not put my trust in friends. Only those who are really close to me will gain my trust, that is why I do not reveal my true self to others initially. I do not dare to say I am very observant but I believe in my judgement, and it seldom fail me. I am also lucky in the sense that I reveal my true self to the correct people, not those who will make use of me.

Normally, I will act aloof to outsiders, those who are merely peers, then for those whom I feel I can trust, then I will accept their help. So I have few friends, and people find me weird, well, it is a way to protect myself. After that betrayal, I do not dare to trust anyone so easily now. I believe there are others out there like me, but I wouldn't make friends with such people as I am also like them. I feel that be blogging, whatever I wouldn't normally tell others, I tell them in the entries, that gives me some form of comfort.

Compared to datoufen, I am really different from her. She is caring, kind and trusting. In reality, I do not meet such people as I do not bother to find such a person. Maybe it is my nature, I am more pessimistic and gloomy. I do not blame anyone for my moody life, just that at times wonder why I chose to be like this. When I read blogs posted by other people, I envy them, but to me it is really hard to be like them. I am me, not somebody else, why be like others? To those who have lots of friends, continue to make more friends, to those who don't have much friends, try to be happy in life. Alright , I end here now.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Hatred

Recently read a book about Hatred felt by human beings. It is sometimes scary to think about the massacre of the Jews or the suicide bombers being heroes in their group. The book did not take stands as to openly term these monstrous acts as sinful, it explores the reasons why they do such acts. You will be shocked to see that to be green with envy is detrimental to one well's being as mentioned in the book.Instead of the normal view most of us have that envy is nothing more than admiration. The author defined " envy is the bitter and resentful feeling that one has in the presence of and toward the person who is perceived as having traits superior to one's own. He later term envy as an amalgam of at least four different conditions: the first being that of the feeling of deprivation, secondly the feeling of being denied because the things we desire are possessed by others. Thirdly, we have a sense of impotence in the face of disparity.the last condition is we do not have what we desire not just that we do not have it but becasue others have it .

Whoa! Next time, I will use admire instead of envy since it entails so many harmful qualities. I guess the terrorist are not as cocky or daring as they might seem. They are just like us humans, they do those monstrous things is because as the book says they envy the life of the westerners and desire to have that kind of life. Sadly being extremists, they blame the westerners for what they do not have and attempt to take away the comfort and luxury they perceived the westerners are having. Of course, most of the world condemn their acts including myself, I can't forgive them for stirring such a period of fear and unrest these 5 years. I am lucky not to be in a community as them, so I can be on the normal side of the world.

There are just too many variations in human beings that at times, there is no sort of right and wrong in the context of our own community. The book merely include envy as one of the elements of hatred but I choose to see it this way that sane crime doers are full of envy for others. There are other factors such as humilation, anger, rage that are mentioned but the point on envy strikes me best. I am no experts in human behaviour like the author is, it is really beyond me to fully comprehend and accept the reasons behind abnormal behaviour such as extreme hatred. What I can say is I will not be so quick to place judgement in future about certain types of people. Hatred can be so scary! Alright, I end here now.

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Strange World

Yesterday, chanced upon a blog by someone who was nearly killed by his mad neighbour, he wrote that how lucky he was to survive and how god must have bless him. This incident was on the news two and a half years ago on the 19th June 2004. I did not know about the incident till yesterday as at that time, I wasn't able to catch the news and was too tired to care about other things.. I think in Chinese we have a saying called “大难不死, 必有后福”which means that since you did not die from a calamity, in future you will have great fortune. I don't know if that guy will read my blog or not, but just want to comment that since he escaped from such a terrifying ordeal, he will have great fortune in the future.

It is not a pleasant experience to be nearly assaulted by a madman, I guessed of I were him, I will be scared till I pee on my pants. So unlucky of him to have a "siao lan" as neighbour. Anyway, the incident has passed and that guy is alright. I just find it strange that how fragile our lifes can be, just an accident or a stab in the heart can cause us our lifes. We are not able to resurrect after we are dead nor are we able to have invincible body that is pain proof, we are just mere beings. Yet with our intelligence, we can cause so much destruction to the world, of course we can also create wonderful things such as love.

If that guy was slashed at the vital parts, he might be gone now. I guessed he is the "unlucky" few to experience that type of thing. I was really shocked to find out about that when I read his blog. I want to confess that I do read the blogs of others as they give me thougths to ponder at times, and that guy's blog is one of them. I am not trying to know him or what just that his blog is rather interesting. Anyway, hope that I will not be in the same predicament like the unlucky guy.

Aiyah, in this world there are so many types of people that it is hard to know what type of people you will meet in life. The world is as as as strange as it is wonderful. Alright, I end here now.

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Studies

After 2 months of break, to be exact is 62 days of holidays, I am back to studies again. This week have been tiring but not busy though, since Monday till yesterday, it has been lessons in the afternoon everyday. I don't know why they arrange for lessons to be conducted in the afternoons when we are the least effective at learning after lunch. In JC times, I remebered there are no lectures in the afternoon as the teachers know that most students will feel sleepy after a meal.

However, in tertiary institutions, time is precious, so often it is hard to arrange lessons mostly in the mornings. I believe in the local Universities, they also practise the system of having lectures in the afternoons. I have to get used to it, as two of lectures fall on two afternoons during weekdays. Talking about my new semester at SIM. It is nothing different from last semester, taking 4 subjects and having one lecture allocated to one day. I believe I am lucky to have such an arrangement as I am the type who cannot concentrate on too many subjects at one go. At SIM, the students from my course take 4 subjects at the most per semester, it is really manageable to me .

For this new semester, there is one module "Commercial Law" that I find rather dry and difficult, it is about contractual and company laws. No choice have to try to work hard for the subject since I am not very proficient in my command of english. Of the 4 subjects, I perfer Business Statistics the most as it is sort of the Statistics learnt at "A" levels. Taking the subject is just like revising my J2 Mathematics. As mentioned before, I prefer Mathematics to any other subjects, so it can be considered my forte. Another module "Prices and Market" is similar to Microeconomics I took in J1. However, I am more apt at Macroeconomics than Microeconomics, so I have to put in effort for the module despite some prior knowledge. The last module is known as Management Accounting , which is a relatively new subject as it focuses on the first section of Accounting," Management Accoutning".

As an accounting major, I have to do well in accounting subjects if not that defeats the purpose of studying in an accountancy course. I don't know if I am lucky or what, the modules I took somehow is a continuation of the knowledge I learnt in JC, if I haven't taken economics, I might not do well for the Macroeconomics module last semester. Well, I still have to carry on attending lectures, doing prior reading before lectures and most importantly attempt the tutorial questions. Seems like another 13 weeks of "busy"ness is awaiting me, I will try my best. Alright, I end here now.

Saturday, January 06, 2007

Start of 2007!

This is the first post of 2007. Tomorrow, lessons will start and it is back to busy days again. During these 2 months of holiday, I thought of a lot of things and for once get my long awaited break. I guess it is the first time I am feeling so relaxed, perhaps there are no holiday tasks to complete and it is already my final stage in my academic path. It is so strange, in the past, we do not feell the pinch when we were asked to pay the school fees, now we pay so much for half a year of studies annually. No wonder foriegners always say that as Singaporeans , we are lucky to have a heavily subsidised education system.

I did not cherish the chance of being able to enter Junior College so I ended up doing badly in my studies. It has always been my wish to enter local University, but nope in the end, I failed. Well, in the past, I would be really sad and depressed, but now it no longer bothers me so as much as it used to be. I am a very organized person, that is what I believed myself to be. My academic life is to move from Primary school to express stream in Secondary School to Junior College to University. Now, it no longer go as planned. People might term me as being stubborn, do I really need to be in University to be considered normal? Still, it is a pity.

I really cherish this chance and plus I forked out money to pay for my school fees too. Fortunately, in NS, I managed to save up quite a bit, and it is now put to good use. I always believe it is good to save at least half of your pocket money or allowance, as you never know when you need it. Of course not to the extent of being stingy, you can make do with cheaper alternatives rather than go for class. I personally do not go for branded goods, afterall, it is just the name that is different.

A plate of Chicken rice in a coffeeshop can sometimes be more delicious than those served in restaurants. It is nothing wrong to go for class but you must be able to afford it. In Chinese, we have a saying, “没有这么大个的头, 就不要戴这么大个的帽子”。(if you do not have such a big head, don't wear such a big hat.) This means do not be too ambitious and act as if you have that ability. If you are not able to afford branded goods, make do with similar goods that offers the same function and with similar characteristics.

I don't know about others, my parents taught us to be thrifty since young, so till now, I do not waste money unnecessarily. Others can exclaim and ask why I managed to save quite a bit, but it is not one year or two years effort, it is accumulated from young. Now, have to use these savings to pay my school fees, I feel the pinch and must make these savings worthwhile. I admit I am more concerned with money, if not I would not choose to study Accountancy. I know accountants undergo a lot of stress, but I prefer figures to dealing with different kinds of people. I don't know if I will end up as an accountnat, it is my wish now.

I envy the eloquency of the sales people, how come they can persuade people to purchase their products so easily? If it was me, I would stumble and even provoke the potential customers. I admire their perserverance, and their tolerance. Some people can be nasty and make things difficult for those doing sales. Currently, I feel I will be the first one to quit if I am in a job which requires me to sell something. In the first place, they would not even hire me as I am not confident and speak monotonously.However, I am that type of person who will avoid sales people, as I know I am going to "lose" some unnecessary money soon. Anyway, they also sledom approach me, as I am definitely not the potential customer type. I feel that if you do not have the intention to buy something from sales people, don't waste one another time. He or She could have got a deal during that period of time.

Try not to vent your frustrations on them, they are just doing their jobs. I don't understand why some people can be so nasty and scold them , embarssing not only the sales people but themselves too. I always believe it is better to leave some leeway for the other party, who knows when you will be in the same predicament as the other party? Aiyah, I am writing such weird things again. Alright, I end here now.