My first sales!

My first sales for postcards go to Yenn.... Arigato Gozaimasu...

My first Tee sale goes to Jubilee14..... Arigato Gozaimasu.....

Doomo Arigato Gozaimasu to both......

And as a preview, here is the tee for Jubilee...

The front:


And the back: ( Yup, Don't Just Be a Black Sheep )


Coming up with more psychedelic sheep designs. I'm hung up on them for some reason...

Have also printed Yenn's cards, but now having stupid problems with printer formatting. The cards came out slightly wai, which resulted in more curses from me to the printer. ( I know cursing at it doesn't always work, but I could always try, and it makes me feel better )

Also went shopping last night at the Stationery shop at Funan for more supplies. Almost went high at the sight of all that stationery. Tshirt paper! Postcard paper! 50 different kinds of notebooks! Sketchbooks! Paints! *Pant pant pant* Now you know just how much of a geek I am... And if you think this is bad, you should have seen me at Artfriends at Bras Basah...

Does Piracy Kill Creativity?

That's what the following postcards will have you believe:



The postcards were printed by the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore, ( Who else? ) and also by Power 98 ( The Official Hip Station ). The words on the back of both cards read:

"The movies you watch with friends on Sunday afternoon. Those cult movies you see at midnight. The music video you're addicted to, and that cool sound you party to on Saturday night. They all started with an idea, from someone just like you. To make your life more fun. Do the right thing. Each time you reject piracy, you encourage creativity. Whose weekend do you think that will affect? Yours. Be creative. Be original. Be hip."

Now this is the strangest premise for rejecting piracy I've ever seen. That piracy kills creativity?

Let's get one thing clear. People aren't going to stop producing art because they don't make money from it. Well, some people might, but to insinuate that piracy would bring about the downfall of the entire art sphere is bringing it a mite too far. Art has already survived for almost thousands of years, ever since civilisation was first formed. Through prehistory, ( You think cavemen paid to see those paintings? ) BC, and to AD.

Throughout this period, it has survived decay, persecution, recessions, wars, and natural disasters. I hardly think that piracy can bring about a complete stop to all this.

In fact, the ones that have been most affected by the onset of piracy were the major record companies. I don't even think the major movie companies were that affected, because the revenue they earn from movies pales in comparison to the amounts made by merchandising and DVD sales. The partners in the RIAA also consist of the major record companies, because it's just so much cheaper to download them than to buy the entire CD.

But does that mean that people won't do music anymore? Look around you, and you will see that music, and the love thereof, still exists in many quarters. Just last night, at the Esplanade, I watched a band from West Malaysia perform free by the waterfront. On the way home, I switched on my radio to listen to music on the way home. At home, I strum a few chords on the guitar.

People love music. And people who truly love music will not by deterred by piracy. In fact, there are many independent bands nowadays who exist for the pure sake of composing and performing music. They play in bars, the odd public space, or they post their songs on the Internet. Piracy hasn't deterred these people, nor has it deterred people like me, who enjoy the odd piano piece or guitar piece once in a while.

Who are the ones deterred by piracy? The ones who get into it for the love of the money, of the publicity. These are the ones who stand to lose the most from falling CD sales. Boybands like North, *shudder* 5 pretty boys from Australia, who can sing at a pretty decent standard, and whose first single was a cover of an old song. ( Didn't someone tell them that the trend for covers had died long ago? ) I'm hoping that one day Britney Spears will also drop out of the industry for the same reason.

And if you look at CD sales, artistes like Nelly and Norah Jones are still making music and making money from it as well. Both artistes have been recently acclaimed for the revival of the music industry.Cries of "They're killing us!" from the record companies have been exposed for the pathetic squeals they really are. People are still buying CDs, just not buying the stuff that they think we like.

Somewhere out there, there are a bunch of music marketing and artiste execs looking for jobs, and wondering where they went wrong.

And that's just the record industry. Look at the rest of the art world, and art pretty much still survives. People still draw, paint, sing, compose, dance, act. If nothing, I think that piracy actually encourages creativity.

Looking at an example i'm more familiar with, check out www.megatokyo.com Fred Gallagher has created a fantastic comic which is posted free on the Internet for everyone to download. Gosh! What a travesty! Is he still in business? Yes, Megatokyo has survived, gained a cult following, [yours included] and he and his newlywed wife have gone into maintaining the website fulltime.

So how do they survive? Though the online comic is free, they also sell book versions of it to stores all around the world. [copies can even be found in Kino] They also travel the states, promoting their comics at conventions nationwide, and they have an online store selling related merchandise. Posting their comic free for viewing means they have to come up with alternative sources of revenue, which they have done admirably.

The key thing here is quality. And not just product quality, but also brand quality. They've created a comic that is loved by many, and that has became a brand on its own. For that, people are willing to pay for their products. [except me, poor starving artist, though I'll love to get my hands on the books] It's sorta like me giving out my Funny Farm designs free, but if you want them on postcards or T-shirts, pay me and I'll do them for you. [hint hint]

I guess if you really love what you're doing, and you hand out good stuff, there will be people who would like to pay for what you do. If you just want the quick buck, then people will sense it, and they won't be convinced to buy your stuff either.

In the end, piracy can only be good for creativity.

The scary thing is that yet another person has died on the tracks of Bishan MRT. Where I take the train every week to get to tuition. *shudder* Considering that Bishan used to be the site of the largest cemetery in Singapore, maybe the construction for the Circle Line 'disturbed' something it shouldn't have... *shudder again*

And why not? My student, living next to Cat. High told me about how spooky her area was at night, weird sounds and everything. And Juls once told me that Cat. High had some gravestones hidden away near the basketball courts. ( How he and his friends could still play basketball there escapes me. )

Not to mention that the 7th Month still isn't over, and there are still ashes and offerings everywhere. ( I swear, the PSI just went haywire this month. )

So............ *shiver*

Ok, more mundane stuff before I freak myself out.

People, I like it that you like the animals, but gimme time to design... please... I still have to do other things for a honest living... *sob sob*

Although when thinking of Krystal's hippo, this came to mind:


The cap reads: "Someone needs to brush"

And I'm hung up over psychedelic sheep, for some reason!



This is part of a larger T-shirt design, which is as follows:



Gonna iron that one onto something soon, so that you guys can see what it'll look like....

As usual, all designs have been uploaded into the FunnyFarm Photobucket album, [note the bright yellow icon on top] so you can download them if you want. But hey, if you want them on T-shirts, or cards, email me, and contribute to the BoredSlacker Fund......

More designing and artwork on the way! Starting to get the feel of what it feels like to be a freelance artist! What with one project after another looming over my head, and my tuition to boot... Argh! It seems that these days I'm in front of the computer the whole afternoon, staring at layers and styles in Photoshop and messing around.

Other free times are spent wandering around in Popular looking for cheap iron-on paper, greeting card paper, and ideas, ideas, ideas...... Now I'm tempted to get this other rub-on paper which would allow me to paste my designs on plastic stuff, like handphone covers, cups, coasters... Good god! The possibilities are endless, and this is just from Popular!

The con side is of course, lack of money...... *sigh* And a constant need to focus, focus, FOCUS, and not get distracted by every single possibility that lies before me. *sigh sigh sigh*

Need constant KITAs...

More Animals...

From the Funny Farm...


Slayer: I know you asked for sheep, but I donno if this is wat u had in mind... :p I call this one nonconformity...




Good for working people to put on their desktops....


Inspired by Quet... hahaha...

And if you guys wanna see all the ( pathetically few ) pix I have, or download them, click on the link:

http://photobucket.com/albums/v137/boredslacker/funnyfarm/?

Can one actually make money from these? :p~

And I can't believe Oprah managed to pull this off....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19203-2004Sep13.html

Talk about the Mother of All Product Placements. Can we do this in Singapore? I don't think so, there'll probably be riots at Caldecott Hill....

Plus I managed to find a copy of Dick Lee's "The adventures of the Mad Chinaman" in the National Lib one day.

If you guys happen to see this book, [You can't miss it, bright orange cover and his name in screaming yellow on the front] I recommend you read it. The story of one of the few accomplished local music makers is engaging.

What caught my interest, however, are the parts of his childhood where he already displayed a leaning towards music. Like composing his own songs at the age of 12, and going on to choreograph fashion shows in secondary school. In secondary school! Good god, at that age, I was still running around the basketball court and doodling in my textbooks during lessons!

I guess what helped in his case was that he came from a rich family, [financial support] and had parents who more-or-less [hey, we're still talking about Singapore here] supported his road to musicdom. Given these 2, he was able to pursue his dreams, even flying to London to study art. [the point of the book where I have currently stopped at]

Without the support, without the exposure, would he have become as successful as he is today? Would he have become one of the rare people in Singapore who have made music a successful career?

I guess my point here is that everyone is born with their own gifts and talents and leanings. And the problem with Singaporean society is that we don't recognize that. With our passion for conformity, we insist that everyone follow the same path, take the same roads and end up, all the same. Cubicle ferrets, everyone. We mistake talent for deviance, and we punish them.

Do we really want a more vibrant Singapore, or is that just what the Gahmen is trying to push down our throats again? Or, out of a sick sense of satisfaction, do we want to subject everyone to the same hell that we went through?

I forgot to mention:

COPENHAGEN IS DONE!

Yes! Finally finished the Cop leg of my Europe trip! Prague and Berlin to go....

Another Care Package, Accounts tuition, Pheromones and DF SMSes

Out of fun, guess what the below lyrics mean:

Ha, Fumus, draco magus
Incoluit mare.
Lusit autumnal'illic
Maritimo Hanalo.

No clue? Check this out.

I've only just come up with the pics and already I get requests? Relax people...... Well at least now I know there's some kind of demand for it... now wat I need is a big KITA to get me going...

-----------------------------------
Saturday Sept 11, just as I was about to leave for lunch with the folks, noticed a parcel collection card with my name on it. Huh? Now I was afire with curiosity, who's sending me this?

Is it something from Grandma? But she would've called on the phone to tell me to look out for it.
Did I win something? Well if I did it sure ain't 4D top prize...
A subscription gift from Newsweek, suggests Dad? Er, should I be excited then?
In honor of Sept 11, anthrax? Bombs? Dad's/Bro's welcome gift from Al Qaeda for joining?

Well, so anyway I was curious and the post office wasn't closed yet, so we drove down to the branch, I showed them my card, and the lady brought out this HUGE box.

Oh, watashi no kami desu.

But one look on the handwriting on the box, and I know it's SLAYER! Further confirmed by the postage labels, and the description on the package, which says "Biscuits, chips, ( potato ) postcards"

What can I say? I have seriously generous friends down under. Doomo, takusan arigato gozaimasu..... *bows deeply, repeatedly*

So in the car, I slice the thing open with a penknife, and funnily enough, the first thing I see is a dragonfly postcard.

Ha. Ha ha ha.

And also a packet of Cole's Greek herb and feta chips, white Twix, ( instant food orgasm ), a nougat, chocolate chip cookies with hazelnut chunks, ( which by the time it came to me, were more like chocolate chip and hazelnut chunks with crumbs ) and 3 more packs of TIM TAMS! COOKIES!!!!! *Cookie monster rampage*

Ok, they're still intact. No worries, though the choc chip ones are half gone, me having them during a hunger break in tuition and sharing them with my kid, and then Juls.

Yes, meet my new tuition student for accounts, Juls.

--------------------------------------------
One day he comes to me, and says, "Guess how much I got for my accounts."

[last exam he took, I gave him some tuition about 2 months before the exams]

"So how was it?"

He mentions an embarrassingly low grade.

"WAT???? HOW DE HECK DID YOU DO THAT???"

He mumbles some little excuse.

"WAT DE..."

"And so...... how much do you charge for accounts tuition?"

I look at him, 23 year old SIM student, looking at me with pleading eyes, asking me to teach him accounts once a week.

And I burst out laughing, and I don't stop for a good half hour.

Ok, I'm evil. *horns suddenly become visible*

---------------------------------------------
Read in Psychology Today [free browsing at Borders] that love boils down to a chemistry equation. When you're first in love, the body's levels of sensation-seeking hormone dopamine spikes up, giving you that airy, light-headed, imwalkingonabedofroses feeling.

Then as time goes by with the guy, oxytocin, good old girlfriend-n-cuddles hormone kicks in, to prepare the body for a long term relationship.

Also that pheromones play a huge part in mating. Like how women give out pheromones when they're ovulating, so as to signal to other parties she's ready for mating. Or how women are attracted to certain smells in men.

This eventually leads to some very interesting conversation with Candle....

I was telling her on Saturday night about how Dragonfly suddenly seemed to have a lot more time on his hands. When usually he only called me out once in a blue moon, suddenly he'd called me out for lunch and coffee on Friday, and then on Saturday, he called me out again for shopping. ( Though I couldn't make it on the Sat one, cos I was already bumming at the Esplanade lib when he SMSed ) Which made it a total of 3 times ( I went Sentosa with him on the previous Sunday ) I had seen him this week.

"Maybe it's a pheromone thing."

"What?"

"Maybe your period is coming, and so your body is giving out these pheromones, which is attracting him." She grins. Alright, here's my comeback.

With a straight face: "So... he's calling me out more because he's getting biological signals to fuck me?"

Everybody together: GROOOOAAAANNNNN.......................

This is one of those days when I feel that I spent too much time crapping with Juls.

And speaking of Juls and Dragonfly in the same sentence...

Was having an SMS conversation with Dragonfly, and then I mention that Juls might be interested in going to Thailand as well. He replies something about Julian! Julian! and piercing eyes coming out. I mention something about someone having green eyes. Ok.... Then somehow it gets to:

Boyfriend ah? Green is it?

Or something along those lines, which led me to go huh? Huh? HUH? Are you asking me if Juls is my green boyfriend? *Confused look* The limitations of an SMS conversation... though I doth sense a cute little green-eyed gremlin poking its way around...

Aoi mimi desu...

In ref to below, I've finally finished typing up the Copenhagen leg of my Europe trip. ( Finally!!!!! ) Now I'm just waiting for my photos to upload so that I can link them.... Eyes are now like this... (@@)... after all the typing...

FINALLY i get to blog... stupid Blogger had some error over the past few days and NOTHING could be published. *Bangs head once against wall* On top of that, when I tried to tag on my own blog about the error, the tagboard had an error as well!!! WTF!!! *Bang bang BANG*

OK. Ow already. Am gonna start looking around for webhosting. This can't go on.

So what's happening with me? More teaching, what else? Hahaha... Ok, other than that...

Re-discovered Bejeweled on MSN games, and now hooked onto it again. :p I knew there was a reason I stopped myself from playing those games. My high score already stands at about 25,000 odd. Ganbatte!

Have realised that big problem with me is not about lack of ideas of what to do with life. It's more to EXCESS of ideas with what to do with life.

Before we left for the Braddell stall, Yenn and I were slacking at my house and she was doing a tarot reading for me general life in future.

"This one..." She points to the card that represents my present, and then flips through the guidebook for the explanation. ( Hey, she's new to this. :p ) "This one means you have too much energy. You're casting yourself off into too many directions. Choose a main road instead, and focus on that."

Eeps. How true.

The problem with me is that I can get struck by inspiration all at once, but then I lack the discipline to actually see the thing to fruition, or at least beyond the planning stage. :p Case in point? I've only just finished scanning the rest of my Europe photos, [only Berlin was left] and am just starting to finish uploading them. Eeps. [Prague has been uploaded even as I type this. One more country to go]

One reason is that I'm one lazy heck of a git. Hey, it's hard work scanning in 7 rolls of film you know... and not to mention the photoshoping involved, plus the typing of the journal....... :p

Also, I can't stop the ideas from coming. I can be thinking of Project A, and suddenly, a brainwave for Project B comes in. ["Hey wait a minute... If I can do.....] Then I get distracted by Project B and Project A takes a backseat. For the moment. Sometimes. :p

*Groan* Is there a market out there for an Idea Consultant? Someone who is paid to basically sit around and come out with ideas, but yet not have to carry them out? I think I could do that......

Meanwhile, the ToDo list includes:
- Finish Europe log [photos being uploaded]
- Upload photos of shirts for sale, [Please buy!] and repaint some existing ones
- Design cards, calendars for sale. [In design progress. Please buy again!]
- Draw more often, and hopefully finish one comic story. [Forever in progress, but some slight headway]
- Keep thinking of ways to make money

Meanwhile, [why do I keep using that word?] here's a preview of the designs I intend to use on the cards:




One lazy, rudely awakened cat.


I don't know what to call this one. Cow looking at Hornography? Er.......


Rat with Cheese

I know, the designs are quite plain, but for one, I don't intend to sell them at a high price, and for two, I'm still working on it. I hope to come out with decent enough designs to hawk for xmas, so deadlines, deadlines...

I've already tried buying nice paper from Popular and printing them out and thankfully it all prints smoothly without my printer jamming. *Phew* The card itself is quite small, about 10cm by 10cm, and now I have to look into envelopes. Also wondering if calendars can be made. Hmmm......

Then again, I could hand-draw some illustrations as well.... [tangent: Brush marker pens are fantastic things for shading. Suddenly that one pen has become my best friend in my entire pencilcase.]

OK, need to make sure I continually get a KITA to get this thing moving. :p Otherwise I'd be forced to join NIE and get a regular paying job like everyone else.

Testing something out...

According to this, I'm a grassroots leader. Enjoy guys. :)

http://www.talkingcock.com/html/games/handover.html

Most of you guys couldn't see the pix of the Flags and my room, so here goes again:


Flags

My Room, before:





And after:

Righteous Indignation

Russian school siege. French reporters kidnapped.

Recent headlines on 2 different terrorist activities that have once again shocked the civilised world. No different from the other strikes or threats that have been happening these few years.

No different?

The Russian School Siege happened a few days ago, when Chechen rebels took over a school in Russia in order to protest against Russian occupation in Chechenya. The rebels stormed a school on the first day, and held teachers, children and parents hostage in the school gymnasium in the stifling heat.

Finally, as Russian authorities were negotiating with the rebels, something happened. No one knows what was the spark, but the end result was that everything was launched into chaos. The rebels though police were shooting them, police thought the rebels were shooting hostage, and suddenly, it was every ass for itself.

Latest count is that 350 people were killed, and 400 more injured.

Now how do we play the blame game? The unknown who shot first and ruined all chances for negotiating the kids safely out of the school? Though negotiations were tense, they were relatively smooth, till something sparked it off, and in the midst of the chaos, no one knows exactly what was it, but suddenly everyone thought the other party was shooting at them, and then that was that.

The Chechen rebels who took the school children hostage? I don't know about you guys, but to take innocent children, to subject them to that kind of an ordeal, and to freely wave the threat of death over their young heads is to me a most despicable and heinous act. These kids have no idea why they are being treated like this, and many of them may suffer serious psychological trauma for the rest of their lives. Is the independence of the Chechen state worth the lives of innocents?

Or how about the Russian government? The little state of Chechenya has no material resources, and economically, is of no worth to the Russian economy at large. Yet for almost 200 years, the Russians have held on to this little state with an iron grip. Why? Because with the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russian terrorities shrank, as their former provinces broke away to declare independence. They're holding onto Chechenya because they don't want to lose 'face' by losing more land.

What is wrong with this world?

And then we have the kidnapping of 2 French reporters by terrorists. The reason for this is the recent ban of headscarves in French schools.

Now France has always prided itself on being a secular state, where religion doesn't take first lead. And recently, the French government instituted a ban on the prominent display of various religious items in schools. This includes Muslim headscarves, Christian crucifixes, and many others.

This has majorly pissed off many Muslims in the country. Although France has always been a secular state, it has been attracting many immigrants, who bring their own religious practices with them. The number of Muslims especially has been rising in the country. So naturally, the ban on headscarves was not to their liking. And to make it worse, the media focused especially on the ban of headscarves, because Islamic terrorists had already been in the news a lot. This is although Islam was not the only religion affected by the ban.

Now 2 French reporters have been kidnapped by what is suspected to be Muslim terrorists, who demand that the ban on headscarves in France be rescinded, or the 2 reporters will be beheaded.

Does anyone see the sheer insanity and pigheaded arrogance of this move?? Who are YOU to interfere with a country's sovereignty? Who are YOU to think you can command the nations of the world what YOU think they should do?

Understanding and sympathy for Islam was just starting to rise, when you BONEHEADS decided that it wasn't going fast enough for your liking, and that somehow you were chosen by God to carry out this heinous act on another man's life. Now because of your stupid arrogance, your misguided belief that somehow your religion makes you better than others, and therefore not subject to the laws of Earth, everything is back to square one.

WTF makes you think you can threaten people into doing what you want them to?

*Huff of Righteous Indignation*


Now for something lighter at heart:

Jamie Oliver Wannabe

Most of you know I'm a culinary disaster, and that most of my cooking comes straight out of the can and into the microwave. Well, today, I decided to try my hand again at cooking pasta on the stove this time, the same pasta that Yen made the last time she came to my house.

Preparing the ingredients, chopping the onions, were relatively easy. It only got disastrous when I started the stove.

Firstly, opened the heat too wide on the wrong stove. Once the gas came out, hellish tongues of fire burst out from the gas ring, threatening to singe my eyebrows off with their satanic fury. Once I managed to calm them down, I poured in the olive oil, and left it while I went to open the bottle of pasta waiting for me on the table.

Excuse me, I meant I tried like HELL to open the bottle of pasta on the table. I huffed, I puffed, and I cursed and swore at that stupid thing in 3 different languages but it stubbornly refused to open up for me.

And finally after I managed to open that bottle, ["Kono kuso boteru!!!"] I looked towards the stove and to my horror, small puffs of steam were already rising from the olive oil, meaning that it was way MORE hot than I wanted, and the area around it was already peppered with little droplets of oil that had splattered from the pan onto the stove.

I ran to the stove and threw the mince in, and snap crackle and POP POP POP POP. The mince actually got cooked in less than 5 seconds, which tells you just how hot it was. I threw in the onions, stirred it already and prayed to God that my lunch wouldn't get burnt and neither would my clothes.

Funnily enough, I actually managed to make a decent plate of pasta without blowing the house up. There's hope for me after all.

And if anyone wants the recipe:

1) Heat oil.
2) Throw mince in.
3) Throw pasta sauce in.
4) Throw onions in.
5) Throw baked beans in.
6) During steps 1-6, if oil gets too hot or food gets too burnt, lower heat.
7) Put pasta in rice cooker.
8) Pour in more water than you usually use for rice.
[PS cooking pasta in rice cooker actually works.]
9) When sauce and pasta are done, scoop into plate and eat.

Jamie Oliver Wannabe signing out.

Random Rants Again...

Cos I can't think of a topic to write on... :p

Even relaxation is hard work.....

http://www.boltcity.com/copper_022_sail.htm

Just like the Harvest Moon game Yenn mentioned on her blog, you have to go through a whole bunch of shit, accumulate and maintain resources, before you can start to relax. [If that time ever comes at all]

Guess the important thing is just never to lose sight of your ultimate goal. :)

And CONGRATS to Quet who's back on the blogging front! Missed it sorely... after all, when your frens don't meet up too often, it's one of the best ways to know what's happening in each other's lives. [But what's with the grasshopper?? Even I don't know what's that about]

Other than that... busy a little more... I've been snapping pix of the shirts yet unsold, intending to lelong them online. [Online store coming soon... hopefully... got other ideas for shirts brewing in my head...] Also got 2 virgo frens' bdays coming up, and busy with shopping and designing their presents.

Then I realised that another fren's bday is coming up too. *Groan* At this point of impending financial collapse in my life, expect self-designed cheapo gifts all around......

And Angie tells me there's a damn cute professor in bizad now! Tall, dark, manly, well-groomed with a voice to kill. Damn!!! Why is it all the good things [including cheap Genki Sushi] only comes up after we leave??

BTW Did anyone manage to decipher the coded parts of the previous post? Curious to know...

Flags.

Did we ever have discussions like these in NUSSUX when our assignments were late?

http://laurascomics.com/

Going into Maid Mode

As a testament to my cleaning skills, I present to you my desk and table:


This was my desk, before I cleaned it on Monday. Piles of CDs, a tarot deck, Oliver and Riva hiding underneath all that, with more piles of bags, plastic bags, paints and other craft stuff on the floor. The only thing stopping me from piling more stuff on the table top was the fact that my laptop was residing on it.


This was the black table, piled with books, a couple of VCDs, and a few dalmatians fallen over at the side. Plus there are some postcards hidden beneath all those, and in the black basket.

And after cleaning:


Wah lau eh! I actually can see the table top now! And I can even tell that it's white!


My god! It's all so clear, I can even see the actual colour of the table! IT's BLOODY AMAZING!

I'm sooooo proud of myself. *Smug*

And this is just the 2 tables in my room. Gods you guys should have seen the floor...... Like, I can actually walk in my room without fear of slipping on an accidental piece of plastic and breaking my neck now. Or tipping over a cup of paintbrushes. Or knocking over a container of fabric paint.

It's so clean, I can feel the fengshui flow. Hee......

Speak Freely Now, or Forever Hold Thy Peace

While I enjoy having this blog and writing about the various uninteresting things about my life, [teh for breakfast. Gosh, what a surprise!] I have realised that a problem comes up when too many people start to read it.

I'm not too worried about strangers who don't know me, and who happen to stumble upon it. What matters to me are the opinions and feelings of people who do know me, and who read this blog.

How does one handle this problem? Some people, like Xiaxue prefer to just rant every single detail out at the world, to the point of posting pix of herself and her friends, so that the whole world knows what they look like. Hold nothing back.

Some like Re-minisce, have an almost aloof approach to their blog. This is all you'll ever see of me. Decipher what you will.

Me? I'm tightroping between the two. For my friends' sake, I won't post up pictures of their faces, or state their real names outright. I only use nicks and badly-airbrushed pictures to indicate their presences, and usually only people who know us well enough will know who I'm talking about.

But even this is not enough sometimes. Note the fiascoes that have come up time and time again with Dragonfly. Bleah.

And yet, if I were to completely hold back... the blog will lack a personal feeling. Everything on it would just be the pleasant facade to cover the chaos beneath. [Sort of like stuffing all the barang into your closet door, and then opening it one day to have all your stuff avalanche onto you.]

The Blogger's Dilemma. Hm, I think I just coined a new phenomenon. Hahaha...

Nbzcf J tipvme kvtu xsjuf jo dpef.

Ant newt dolphin giraffe iguana vole elephant moose yak fish robin elephant newt seal elephant kingfisher elephant yak.

But then that would take too long, and too hard to keep thinking of new ones.

smf pyjrtd ,su dyo;; nr sn;r yp frvo[jrt oy/ ejovj ,rsmd o
f lrr[ jsbomh yp vp,r i[ eoyj mre vpfrd/

how how how......

Well, looks like I'd be sticking to the code names and imagery for now, like:

He held a piece of bakwa in his direction, preparing to hit him without warning.

Now who got that?

More Random Ramblings

Bazaar on Friday was good, managed to crap some customers and sell 3 shirts, which at this point of time in my life, is the pinnacle of my business success.

Makes one wonder what happened during those 3 1/2 years I spent in NUSSUX.

But well, everyone else was lelong-ing their old stuff around us, so you could say it was the wrong distribution outlet... This lady in front of us was apparently selling off her old clothes for $1 a piece! WTF??

Anyway here's some pix. Yenn and Candle don' like their faces being placed on the Net, so they've been airbrushed for privacy:


The Area around the stall


The Stall, with Yenn and Candle

And of all the oddest coincidences, I actually met Bao, an old fren of mine who used to chase me and my frens around the Primary school compound for pouring orange juice into her mee hoon. Turns out she's working at the Center where we had the bazaar. Come to think of it, I haven't added her to Friendster, which is what I was supposed to do.... oops.......

Saturday my pigeons got released high, high into the sky by a fren, so I ended up shopping with Quet and A. Which landed me some serious damage to my bank account, but also one cute tube with a pink little cat embroidered in the corner, a tube of nose pore mask from Body Shop, [you have to ask what for?] and ironically enough, a book on the science of shopping from MPH. Meowz!

Then Sunday was spent shopping with Candle and Yenn, with Candle trying her best to singlehandedly boost the economy by her ownself. Go Candle.

Now it's Monday again and I have to bring my room through a long overdue cleanup. What with getting the shirts ready for the stall, and other assorted little craft projects I have, my little room's been turned from a disaster area, to a No Man's Land. Think tornadoes, hurricanes sweeping through it and dumping in it all the stuff it picked up along the way. Yup, that's pretty much what it looks like now. So this week I have to pick up the brooms and sweep up all the fengshui that's been gathering in it. *groan*

Are these guys for real? Or just gay?
http://www.mensfashionfreedom.bravehost.com/

Haven't done a quiz for a long time:

! You are most Like A Sapphire !
Dark, mysterious - but unforgettable. You have a
deep
beauty. Delicate, and shy you try to stay away from
the
limelight but often your intelligence puts you in
at the
deep end. You're like a Sapphire, because, your
beauty is priceless.
You're intelligent, full of opinions, and not
big-headed about it all.
Sometimes you need to put yourself out there, as
you can be a bit shy.
Congratulations ... You're the mysterious gem
everybody wants to have and learn more about.


?? Which Precious Gem Are You ??
brought to you by Quizilla

Wisma at night.

Slayer: The carton isn't superimposed, it looks brighter because I used my camera phone... hence pix quality not quite there. I swear the cat was exactly in that position. :p Will save you a shirt, and give u a discount too... hahaha... what pic did you say you want?

Also, new design:


Goodmeat: Deathnote> Yea, the crime rate did go down, but if you read book2, he's starting to think about hitting on innocents as well. I guess all that power will eventually corrupt, especially when the power allows you to wield death so flippantly.

Cookie count: The caramels are completely gone, due to no fault of mine. I had 2 cookies left, and one day I just opened up the fridge and they were... gone... [Curse my family!] But I have started on the Tia Maria ones... Major food orgasm on the couch!

Random ramble: Something's so wrong with the family PC. One click on the IE icon and 39 windows opened up at once!!! Is this a National Day Virus??

Women will always live longer because...

Shopping keeps your brain young! Yes, dearies, this I got from Reader's Digest:

Women live longer than men because they shop more. That's what husband-and-wife team Guy McKhann and Marilyn Albert, both professors at Johns Hopkins University and authors of Keep Your Brain Young, have theorised after a ten-year study of 3000 elderly people...

Shopping keeps older women physically active ( bags to lug ), challenges the brain ( a trip to the shops involves hundreds of choices ), and boosts self-esteem ( a sense of accomplishment results ).

Meanwhile, Grandpa is on the sofa watching television, an activity that fails to challenge in any of these areas...

All the women in the house now... YOOHOO!!!!!! Forget the gyms, forget the health supplements and slimming pills, and forget the aerobics! WE'RE GOING SHOPPING!

Think about it, shopping for women is like a full-length gym session:

We can shop for at least 20-30 minutes a day, non-stop, 3x a week.

For aerobic exercise, think of all those times spent walking from shop to shop, rack to rack, shopfloor to changing room.

For muscle-building, think of all the shopping bags to lug around from store to store. ( Women who bring boyfriends along on shopping trips don't count )

For a more competitive sport, try fighting with the aunties at major sales.

We exercise mind power too, in the ways we:

Strategize our shopping route. ( Should we hit the sale at Isetan first, or Mango? Which store is likely to have the stuff we want? )

Make quick decisions. ( Screw it all! I'm getting that red top! )

Assess our competition, their strengths and weaknesses. ( This girl looks puny, I think I can easily push her aside to get that shirt in the discount bin )

Budget, and handle our finances. ( Though truth to tell, most women don't always use this to the fullest when shopping...... oooh I love that bag, who cares if I already have a dozen... )

And the most major stance of all: We contribute to the economy. Everytime we shop, the multiplication effect ( read your economics 101 again ) means that that new bag we buy may ensure our man a promotion in the future. How can any man argue with that???

Random Ramblings....

I have a bruise on my shin the size of a Wang Wang biscuit, and I have absolutely no idea how it got there. I don't know why bruises appear all over my body when I have no idea how they got there. I'm pretty sure there's enough fat all over my body to cushion it against any shocks.

Krystal, the Tim Tams were so good, my family finished half of the original ones for me, and I've pretty much whacked off almost the entire pack of caramels by myself. Now I'm afraid of touching the 2 alco ones in case I end up pigging on them myself. My... precious biscuits...

Some stuff I've done in prep for the bazaar on Fri...

Butterflies in my stomach...


and more Bubbles....


What do you guys think? I'm thinking at least they're a bit more 'arty' than the ones we sold at Stadium Cove...

Plus here's something I saw in Toa Payoh...



It's so sad to think that these poor cats have to resort to begging on the streets for their milk...

( Nah, he was fine, just taking a breather from this carton of milk someone bought for him. Dammit! Stray cats on the streets get taken care of better than some of us humans! )

Also, it occurs to me that 2 books I've been reading this week have to do with characters being able to deal Death by thinking or writing about it. Allow me to introduce you guys to Death Note ( Manga by Takeshi Obata, same guy who drew Hikaru No Go ) and Lullaby ( Novel by Chuck Palahniuk, same guy who brought you Fight Club )

Death in your Hands

In Death Note, a high school student finds a notebook lying on the ground one day, and picks it up. He finds out that it's a Death Note, and that if you write a name in the book, that person will die within 40seconds. He then goes on a power-ego trip by writing names of convicted criminals in the book, hence killing off hundreds of criminals in a matter of weeks.

The scary thing is that he seems to see himself as a future God of some sort, with the power invested in him by the book. Innocence and greed are mixed in an uneasy combination. In one page, he says, "I am the best model student in the whole of Japan... and also... [next panel] The God of the New World!" He's utterly convinced that the only way to cleanse the world is to kill off all the unsavoury elements, and that he's the one chosen to do so by the book.

The other scary part is that he's frighteningly sane as he goes about his business. Unlike most other would-be-world-dictators, he's cool and calm and never frothes at the mouth, yelling about how powerful he is. He is sane enough to calmly calculate risks, strategize, and ponder his next move in outwitting the international police agencies.

And yet, he's nuts enough to think he could one day be a God.

Holy shit. This kinda power should never fall into human hands.

Manga-wise, however, it's a well-drawn, well-written book. Obata-san is a skilled manga artist, as evidenced by the success of his previous series, Hikaru No Go, which led to an outburst of interest in weiqi across the whole of Japan. Anyone who can influence popular culture across a national level like that deserves respect. :)

The other book, Lullaby, speaks of a old African poem, a culling song, used to euthanize warriors and dying persons. Anyone who hears the song being sung will die within a short period after hearing it. Streaton is the main lead, who accidentally sang the song to his wife and daughter one night, and woke up the next morning to find them dead. He is hence on a quest to make sure that no more copies of the book with the poem in it remains on the earth.

Palahniuk's style of writing, however, is much different from other bestselling authors. It is, wat, subtle? There is no emotional connection to the character, and everyone in the book feels detached, somehow. Like they have no emotions, or refuse to admit that they have emotions. Which in a way, makes sense. The main lead, Streaton is attempting to curb all memories of his wife and daughter, and to do this, sinks himself in noise. He lives among what he describes as 'quiet-ophobics', people living in his apartment block who are afraid of silence, and hence switch on their TVs and radios as loudly as possible so that they will not live in silence.

Is that the case these days? God knows the world is getting noisier and noisier, cars, traffic, TVs, radios, mahjong, except in the dead of the night. Even when I'm home I have to have the radio switched on. Perchance, it gives us a false sense of company, making us feel less alone than we really are. Switching on the radio or the TV makes you feel as if someone is with you all the time, that the DJ on the radio is really talking to you, and not the whole of the island. It distracts us from our loneliness.

Oh well, everyone sing:

Hold me now
Warm my hand
Stay with me...
~Song currently on radio

Woke up this morning and this was waiting in the living room for me:



Yes! The much avaunted [what the heck is that word??] package from Krystal has arrived.

Opened it up and this was what was inside:



Tim Tam! Tim Tam Tim Tam Tim Tam!!!!! In order from the top, they are Caramel, Tia Maria, Original, and Kahlua! Ate some of the Original for breakfast already.... ooooooolala............ *satisfied tabby grin*

Also: Went to Guiness Comedy Night at the Newsroom Bar with Quet, Candle, Gamy, Juls, and KL. Wah rau eh...

Can tell you: $10 to watch Koh Chieng Mun, Irene Ang, Patricia Mok and later, Kumar ham it up on stage is bloody value for money. The 3 'Powderpuff Tai-tais' are supremely diva-ishly hilarious. Like in the skit, where they act out a possible scenario that could occur if Singapore's Water Talks were left to women.

IA: *feminine shriek for greeting* Mathathir's wife!
KCM: *feminine shriek again* Lee's wife!
IA: How are you now ah? Pretty as ever! I like your blouse! ( Some portions have been edited, simply because I can't remember the exact wording )
KCM: You like?

Rest of conversation, they blather on about clothing, and finally settle down to a cup of tea.

IA: Eh, I just learnt how to do manicure, you want?
KCM: Oh, I don't mind.

THey settle down for the manicure.

IA: You know ah, I was thinking, nowadays ah, economy not so good, so I was wondering ah, can we buy the water from you for 25cents.
KCM: 25cents?? Cannot!
IA: Oh done! French manicure!
KCM: SO nice! Ok! 25cents!
IA: I do nail art for you also.

She starts painting, and then

IA: ALso ah, since we do a lot of water treatment with our very high tech stuff, I was thinking ah, we can sell to you the treated water for 50cents.
KCM: 50cents?? Cannot! So expensive!
IA: Ok! Nail art finished, you see? So cute!
KCM: OMG so cute! Ok! 50cents!

and that's how Singaporean politics will be easier under a female government.

Oh, but Kumar was FABULOUS. Anybody who ever has a chance to see Kumar in action should GRAB IMMEDIATELY. He was so bloody funny, my cheeks are still aching from all the laughing I did last night. :) For him, I think it's not quite what he says, but the way he says it, with that deadpan face of his that cracks us all into laughter.

K: ( about sex ) Some of these guys ah, dunno what to do at all. Of all places they go to the armpits. What the hell are you doing there?? Some of them, go to the kneecap somemore! ( Looks at guffawing audience with "Huh?" look on his face ) Ok, you enjoy yourself down there, I'm gonna sms for now.

Right.... so I don remember exactly what he said, cos it was a whole string of dialogue, but damn it was good.

but the highlight of the evening for us, anyway, was when they were getting people up from the audience to do a pirated Singapore Idol on stage. The moment they looked our direction, we started yelling, "KELVIN!!!!!" "Kelvin?" Irene Ang goes, "Who's Kelvin ah?" "HERE! HERE! HERE!" we point frantically to our friend who's now trying to look for a place to run, but the place is too packed. He gets pulled up on stage by Pat Mok.

[Juls, incidentally, conveniently had to make a phone call, which meant he was out of the room for this segment, hereby being spared being pulled up on stage and fondled by Pat Mok]

Pat Mok, btw, was veeeery interested in Kelvin, all the time looking seductively at him, arching her legs at him, rubbing her hands over his chest, sitting on his shoulder while he was seated on stage....... Poor Kelvin's face was redder than a Bloody Mary.

Then he had to do his rendition of Lemon Tree in front of everybody. Altogether now: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

The darnednest thing though: I took a bunch of photos of him with my phone, but they got mysteriously erased while I was transferring them to my PC. WASTED!!!

Too bad. Kelvin din win. And at the end, they were letting him and another girl go off stage, and Pat Mok goes, "Wait! Wait!"

She points to her cheek, "Don't I get a kiss?"

Kelvin takes one look, and scrambles into the crowd faster than you can say "Guiness Stout." Irene Ang laughs,"Wah! Look at him run!" while Pat Mok stands disappointedly on stage.

Next month, next Guiness Comedy Night. Definitely going. :)

Rant. None of my most recent picture attempts turned out well, reason being my hand was too shaky, and hence all came out looking like... a short-sighted person's vision of the world without specs. [Apologies to myopic frens] Damn damn damn. A night of shots wasted.

Today also started out as a terrible day. Went down to Braddell to sign up for a stall for a flea market, and on the way out, it rained. I hate rain. Everything becomes ickily wet and you're forced to walk under shelter, and wait under blocks until the rain is over and you can walk in the open space again.

And even though the rain is over, the humidity gets cranked up several notches. You can feel the bouts of warm, moist air literally floating off the pavement, like some weird outdoor sauna. The moisture sticks to you like an outer film on your skin, and you get headaches from all the steam. Damn damn damn.

Then you run into the library for a reprieve, and the aircon makes you feel as if you just stepped straight from a tropical jungle climate into a dreary wintry one. Little men start taking hammers to your delicate brain. And of all things, the library you went to doesn't have the books you went there to look for in the first place, despite you searching the shelves frantically.

And while you're there, familiar cramps tell you that a monthly visitor is about to make her presence known, even though your calendar told you that morning that she's not due for about half a week more. Despite the scheduling differences, your visitor stamps her feet in annoyance, insisting that she's right, and dammit she's gonna come and go as she likes. You're forced to cater to her wishes, and cancel a student in the afternoon so as to accomodate her, bloody bitch that she is.

Crackers. This day stunk. So now, change subject:

Time of the Ghost

Once again, the Gates of Hell have been thrown open, and its denizens let loose on an unsuspecting public.

Well, not exactly unsuspecting. From the numerous joss sticks stuck on the ground these few days, and the offerings of food left over the place, you can see that there are a number of people who have been expecting the arrival of these spectral visitors.

Joss sticks stuck lazily into the grass, their flames lighting up the pavement beside them. Men and women throwing sheafs of joss paper into bins, the flames leaping up hungrily for their food, the people standing around the bins, their actions robot-like, as they take one piece of joss paper after the other. Little pieces of black ash floating hazily in the air. The perpetual smell of incense.

The Seventh Month is upon us.

And besides this, the smell of the incense also evokes a sense of nostalgia in me.

Grandmother kneeling in the balcony, facing the sun early in the morning. A pair of joss sticks in her hand, she shakes them with short, quick movements, murmuring prayers for her family under her breath. The scent of the joss sticks, blown by the wind, enters and fills the living room. From then on, the scent of joss will always remind me of Grandmother.

On a lighter note, though, the Seventh Month is also when I start playing my strange games of hopscotch around the void decks. This is all thanks to the first volume of True Singapore Ghost Stories, which I read at the highly impressionable and imaginative age of 8. [or around there, anyway]

In that volume was a story about a man, who had stepped on some ashes from a burnt pile of joss paper. Now this was bad, because according to the story, the ashes were supposed to show errant spirits the way to Heaven and eternal bliss and all. And when the man stepped on the ashes, he apparently stopped the spirit from its rightful spiritual path towards eternity.

So he was stuck with this justifiably-pissed off spirit, always following him, because it had nowhere else to go. And he had this unshakeable feeling that something was always following him, until one day he spun around and looked into a pair of very ghostly and upset eyes.

He went to a medium, and all was sorted out. The medium persuaded the spirit to better pastures, and the man went on with his life.

Now, I'm a chicken. And I'm imaginative. [See previous post on exorcist] And when I was in primary school, I was an even bigger Imaginative Chicken. And this story freaked the livin' shit outta me, even till this day.

So from then till now, everytime I see a bunch of ashes on the floor, I take care not to step on them, to avoid being hooked onto some spirit. If the entire void deck has been scattered with these ashes, I tip toe gingerly, murmuring apologies to any passing spirit under my breath, hoping that they'll accept them and leave me to my peaceful mortal existence.

So if you're a innocent bystander, you'll see this big buffalo of a gal, hopping away in the empty void deck, all the while, muttering, "sorry, sorry, so sorry, didn't mean that, sorry sorry, duo jeh, duo jeh, excuse me, sorry ah, bu xiao xing" and so on, all the while with her eyes to the floor, and her long fringe covering half her face, Sadako-like.

Gee, after writing that, I'm surprised no one's ever run away in fear from me before.

by the way, I forgot to add... I've decided to go to Thailand around either last week of Nov, or 1st week of Dec, and I need travel buddies! The itinerary is roughly Chiangmai, then Bangkok, maybe Phuket/Krabi/Hua Hin/Some beach during the last 2 days, and back to Singapore. I'm also hoping to keep the cost to $600.

Anyone wanna go? Anyone?

Oh, and as a testament to how small this world is? It turns out that Billy Soh knows Benjamin T and his GF from Bizad. Can you believe it??

Last night went with Necroz to watch an adaptation of 2 of Edgar Allan Poe's stories at the Substation, namely The Tell-Tale Heart and The Masque of the Red Death.

And believe it, the adaptation was carried out by 1 man. With no sound.

Well, they call it a 'visual narrative', and it's something like mime. The man basically acts out the movements and the different characters, without any dialogue. Each character has his own quirks, so for example, if he's standing upright, it's A. If he hunches suddenly, and squeezes one eye shut, it's B. All the actions of the story were mimed by him, with lighting adding to the atmosphere.

And this guy is bloody good. Even with no sound to tell you what's happening, no backdrop to indicate location, you can still follow the story pretty well. Necroz wasn't too familiar with the stories, [I gave her a quick summary about 5 mins before the show started] but she was still able to catch what was going on. Well, most of the time. Some actions just left us wondering..."Huh?"

Amazing the things some people can do for a living.

Also watched the fantastic Facing Windows on VCD just this morning. Hearing that violin strain again... in a passionate crescendo... Sigh... To live for the moment, to catch the opportunity, else lose it forever.

To not be content to merely live, but to demand for a better life.

Replies to my tags:

Krystal: Er, I donno when I'm flying off again somewhere, ( though I always hope it's the next day ) but it'll prob be around late Nov/Early Dec? Won't be as long as the Europe trip though. This something I might enjoy... Does it have an alcoholic content? Hahaha... Which leads onto...

Slayer: No, I didn't drink anything stronger than a Tiramisu latte on ND itself. The rant was pretty much what I felt about Singapore and Singaporeans all along. Just that this time the occassion was ripe for it.

Candle: I was gonna remind about that course this Sunday. :D Cya then! You wanna meet for lunch before that or just go for the class?

But I did go for one heck of a spending spree on ND though. Bought VCDs for Jeux D'Enfants, [love that show!] and Falling Windows. Then went to a pirated CD shop 2 doors down and bought a CD with Photoshop, Illustrator CS and Dreamweaver, Flash and Fireworks MX!!! Yee-hah! I feel the geek in me rejoice!

Though the Photoshop program required a password of some kind, and I apparently installed a 30 trial version... bloody hell... then again, getting Dreamweaver and Flash for $10 is more than worth it. Long live the pirates.

Last night I also finished reading the DaVinci Code. Whoa. Whoa whoa whoa. If you haven't read the book already, go and read it ALREADY! It's bloody GOOD! Especially if you're a Christian, 'cos the claims in that book concerning the Church... well, the underlying idea seems to be that they're a bunch of "lyin' bastards".

[And I don't use that term lightly. There's a reason why I used it. Go read the book and find out.]

But the disturbing thing is that there are tons of historical research surfacing to defend the ideas that Dan Brown has presented in this book. While some are well-known already, [the tendency of the Church at that time to incorporate pagan images and rituals into Christianity, the supposed birthday of Christ being one] others.... if true, will blow the minds of Christians everywhere. It's that explosive, or so I think.

It's not exactly a stunning work of literature, but the action carries well from page to page, and the ciphers and riddles will be enuff to keep you hooked. Please. Read it already.

Today: Movie marathon of sorts. Discovered father had bought pirated DVD for Spiderman2 while in Johor, and so finally caught this movie. [thank goodness I didn't catch it in the cinemas yet] The show's ok lah, kinda predictable [from watching the trailer] so nothing much new, or engaging.

Then Jeux D'Enfants, for the 2nd time. Loving it all over again, like the French version of RnJ.

Then Goodbye Lenin, which Jubilee finally managed to lend me. This one is certainly intriguing. Alexander's mother falls into a coma just months before East Berlin unites with West Berlin. The doctor warns him that if she suffers another shock, she will certainly die, so Alexander does all he can to reconstruct a Communist Berlin in his little flat, while outside, modernity and capitalism marches on the streets. The methods which he employs are outrageous, including getting a fren to dress up as a TV newscaster to fake news programs to show to his mother.

Eventually, though, his mother does wander out, and he has to 'broadcast' even more sensational news to explain the sweeping social changes outside. The interesting part is that the Socialist Berlin that he uses in his news increasingly become the Socialist Berlin he might have wished for. He begins to broadcast his former hopes and dreams for the former Socialist government, against the bleak backdrop of the modern capitalist state they are in. It is like the voice of the grumpy old man, who is unable to catch up with the present, and can only ramble about, grumbling about the good old days.

Watching it now... I wonder, why didn't I catch it before? Sigh...

*for those wondering, I joined this website, www.wholivesnearyou.com and Billy Soh found me on that website.

We are Singapore, We are Singapore...

In line with the patriotic spirit of the weekend, Happy National Day and Fireworks Viewing to all, with the exception of Yenn and Candle who are waaay too far away to catch them fireworks.

Is that the point of the entire parade? To get a goodie bag and catch the fireworks at the end? Hee...

So what did I do on ND? Nothing too patriotic, other than
1) Wearing a red top
2) Contributing to the economy by shopping with Necroz
3) Listening to Singapore Idol on my handphone on the way home

In fact, if you get the gist of the reports going around on the newspapers, people like me count at the foremost of Lee Hsien Loong's Things To Fix About Singapore List. I'm politically apathetic, cynical and pretty much don' give a damn, as long as I get my prata breakfast in the morning. [k that might be stretching it even for me...] Plus the fact that I'm practically non-existent on the IRAS' and CPF records. [cue to scene of Taxman tearing his hair out, wondering how to get at my money]

But I think the more worrisome part [for the gahmen at least] is the lack of concern of today's Singaporeans in Singapore politics. For most of my generation, we plain don' give a damn, and why should we?

We're conditioned from birth to Respect Your Elders Because They Know Better and Don't Argue With Me Young Man. So fine, you think you're so great, don't bother asking us for help. Hey, what do we know?

We look around and all we see are restrictions on our every movement. Don''t Smoke. Don't Litter. Don't Chew Gum or We'll Spank You. Don't Watch Sex At The City, it's Dirty. Remember all those 'Singapore is a Fine city' T-shirts?

Lastly, why do we wanna take over this country? We'd have to wear something akin to the RI and SJI uniforms all day, sit in boring old Parliament listening to boring old men talk. We'd have to listen to other bratty folks like us complain about how little we're doing for them, whine about how little opportunity they have to make it big, and how much we should be doing in order to make their lives happier.

Position available: Prime Minister of small island state. Tropical climate, good weather, may have to deal extensively with locals.

Hai......... As much as I love Singapore, there are stuff that I would like to see changed. It's like how you hate your room, you wish you could paint it a different colour, you wish it was better, but when your family decides to move.......

I want people to be more open-minded and tolerant of differences. I don't wanna hear about any more stories where Singaporeans complain about cleanliness, hygiene standards, food and overall attitude of people in other countries. I don't wanna see fellow Singaporeans judge other cultures by their own country's standards. Good god, people, the reason why you're in another country is to see something different. If you think Singapore has better toilets, then stay in Singapore and use her toilets, instead of going all the way around the globe.

I want more acceptance of diversity. People in Singapore are so hung up on the herd instinct, it's scary. We're on our way to devoluting to the level of cows. I see this sometimes when adults ask me what I do for a living. "Tuition teacher? What about CPF?" Hallo?? What's the deal with CPF?? Let's get it clear, CPF is not a big cash angpow to you from the gahmen when you retire. CPF is a form of mandatory saving. It's Your Freakin' Money. And if I wanted to have some akin to a CPF account, all I have to do is to open an account with POSB and automatically transfer 20% of my savings to it every month.

Don't talk about interest rates btw. You'd probably get better returns investing in almost anything but CPF.

But my point about herd instinct... We tend to follow each other so much, that we don't know how to break away from the group, and think, "Gee, I don't think it's a great idea to swim through that quicksand pit." Some people don't know how to accept other ways of life. Once you tell them you're doing something different, they frown and tell you to get a job like everyone else. Argh!!! Hallo??? There are about a MILLION people out there who live in cities, don't have CPF, don't have cushy jobs in MNCs, and THEY DO JUST FINE. Gimme a chance before you start condemning me to poverty already!

And stop complaining already! Everything that you don't like being done in Singapore, you complain to the Forum and the style of it is always the same. "I don't like XXXXX and think that the government should ban XXXXX. This would make Singapore a better society." You could insert anything into XXXXX and customise it to your own style. Example:

"I don't like kids playing in the void deck in the afternoon. I think the government should ban kids from playing in the void deck in the afternoon. This would make Singapore a better society."

"I don't like pokemon. The government should ban pokemon. This would make Singapore a better society."

Read through the Forum pages and you're bound to see at least a letter, where someone says that the Government should take steps to blah blah blah and ban blah blah and stop blah from blah blah.

People, please hor. People like you want restrictions on everything under the sun, and then when the restrictions are put in place, you complain that we're not a vibrant city, that we have no freedom.

OF COURSE WE HAVE NO FREEDOM. YOU BLOODY WELL TOOK IT AWAY FROM US WITH ALL YOUR STUPID COMPLAINING. Next time you don't like something, settle it yourself instead of running to the gahmen-papa, sniffing your noses, rubbing your eyes, and wailing. If gahmen-papa can't ( or won't ) do anything, deal with it yourselves! You have a brain, that's supposed to separate you from the rest of the jungle-traipsing apes you know. USE IT FOR A CHANGE.

Stupid, narrow-minded complainers.

But as a balance, there are some things I'm eternally grateful about in Singapore:

Safety. To be able to walk home from the MRT past midnight and not be robbed/mugged/raped/kidnapped/murdered. [the police center nearby might serve as a good deterrent]

An easily understandable subway system. Have you seen the map of the Tube??

The house I live in, the education I've been given, and all other state-subsidised products and services.

A stable government, and a stable environment, with a lack of strikes, bombings, terrorist attacks [we're too small for them to bother] and racist attacks.

And the little things. Prata and teh ping breakfasts. Night Riders that go right into my estate. Trains that work. Short travelling times. Junction 8.

And all my friends and family of course, who will always be there to support me, in good times and bad, in times of sanity, and in times of neuroses. =)

Count on me, Singapore.