Under the Sun...

The Presence...

2007-05-16T22:11:00.000+08:00

As humans, we have always been bogged down by decisions. No matter how small they may be, we still have to make a choice, no hiding from them... What to eat? What to wear? What to do? Where to go? How to go? To buy or not to buy? etc etc...

Sometimes, its so hard to make a simple decision... for eg. What to eat? Imagine having to make a life-changing one. I've learnt one thing... Being human, we certainly cannot predict the future. All we can do is make the best decision, based on the information that we have at hand. If all that fail to still make any sense, then we seek guidance from the Omnipotent One - God.

Recently, I've had to make what could possibly be, one of the biggest decisions in my life. It's nothing serious really, but a life-changing one nonetheless. It has got something to do with having a medical procedure done. I was mixed about it. I really couldn't make a firm decision, despite having all the information and weighing the pros and cons. So I looked to my heart and asked for divine guidance... You know, I'm not one who is extremely pious. Though I don't pray as much as I should, I never fail to acknowledge His presence in my daily life. And I always try to be the good person as how He would want mankind to be.

There were signs... that something about me, was just not right. The discomfort, the twitching, the headaches, the blurring vision... It all suddenly became clear recently, when the doctor diagnosed that I could be suffering from a disorder. Again I stress, it's nothing serious, nothing that cannot be remedied over time...

When told of my condition, as I drive back home, I had many questions running through my head. At the top of it is of course... Why Me? But knowing little about the condition, I decided to do my research before jumping to any conclusions. So I got home... I searched the WWW and I read... and read some more... and more… until I finally understood.

That all these while, He already has a plan for me. Knowing too well that I will have a tough time deciding… He already planned it in such a way that I will have to go through the procedure, no matter what! What I found out from my research was that – the procedure can actually help to relieve the condition that I was recently diagnosed with. Coincidence, maybe… Divine planning, Must Be!

I guess it all falls into place… I am meant to go through with the procedure after all. I guess all that happened in between, are just merely nudges pushing me to the right direction, without me even knowing where I'm heading to. You know all that talk about there is good, in the bad. Well, this is certainly one of those moments.

It all depends at how one looks at it. Half full, or half empty? In the face of adversity, do you crumble? Or… do you trudge on and seek to find the light at the end of the tunnel? The rainbow after the rain? The silver lining behind the dark clouds?

All you need is to have a little faith… in Him. And understand that things happen for a reason. It may not be easy to comprehend at first, but if you look deeper... It will become crystal clear. We just have to trust Him, and learn to see things from a bigger perspective.

2007-05-12T00:01:00.000+08:00

Ok folks... just a quick one this time... Try out this site...

http://www.samorost.net/samorost2/

It's actually a very intriguing game. Don't worry, it's not a hoax full of pop ups and viruses/malwares/spywares(/tupperware? =p)... Seriously, I've been to the site myself and it's clean as a whistle...

It's probably the most fascinating & imaginative game I've played thus far. I mean this game really engages the mind. You gotta be observant, intelligent & most importantly, patient to complete this one. It really tests you on your pattern recognition and logical thinking. The first chapter is free... the next few ones have to pay of course... afterall nothing is free in this world.

I'll say it again... the game is simply... intriguing! 100 points for the developers.

Enough said... go figure.

BYOBD

2007-05-08T20:08:00.000+08:00

In case the abbreviation sounds unfamiliar, it actually means Bring Your Own Bag Day. It's an initiative driven by supermarkets in a bid to Save the Earth. Well, I'm all for it actually... I'm definitely one who advocates preservation of Mother Earth.

But what I have a problem with, is the restrained manner in which the BYOBD initiative was executed. I think one day a month is not aggressive enough. For a start, it'll be difficult for people to keep track of the day itself. Yes, first day of the month may sound easy enough... but to the busy professional, it's already difficult enough trying to keep track the day of the week and... I'm sure there is a significant number of folks out there who don't mind paying that little bit extra, for the convenience of not having to come back on a non-BYOB Day. At this rate, we'll never send the right message to the masses. Our message should be: "Bring your own bag, so that it will save on overheads in the long run, and also you get to Save the Earth at the same time". How do we do that? Now hear me out.....

My suggestion: Let's do it the other way round. Instead of only making them pay for plastic bags on the first day of the month, why not on top of that we give them a discount on every other day that they come to the supermarket with their own bag. It does not have to be a huge discount... I guess a rate of 20cents per bag will do just fine. The average shopper will need... maybe about 4 bags per visit(depending on total items purchased... the details can be worked out later)... Though that will add up to only 80cents, in the long it would be significant!

It makes a whole lot of sense. This will not only help to remind us to Save the Earth on a daily basis... it also sends the message across that; Helping to Save the Earth will, save us some money. I think this will be better received than their current campaign of having BYOBD once a month. Saving the Earth should be made a daily routine, and not a monthly one.

I can understand that the authorities are probably trying to lay it easy on the people. "Let them slowly get used to it first", they said. But I get the feeling that the only thing they will get used to is: paying for bags at the start of every month. If it's not that, then it'll be: avoid supermarkets on the 1st! I think this has got to be changed, if we are ever going to get anywhere with this initiative!

Changing people's attitude is always difficult, but we can always change the strategy that we use in convincing them.

Darn Cab...

2007-04-24T20:44:00.000+08:00

to add to my already busy day and my forecasted overloaded quarter, a darn cab had to hit me at my rear today while going out for lunch. The worst thing is that my car was stationary. Is he blind or what? I even had my headlights on as it was raining at Kallang area, and he still couldn't see me??? no rain could douse my fire at that point of time, and my friend swore he could see smoke coming out of my ears (figuratively speaking of course)...

His excuse was that, I had released my foot brake and thus he assumed I was going to move forward... Tsk Tsk Tsk... wonder which driving school taught him that.

The damage was not that bad, but the worst pain I felt was in heart... seeing the dent and my disfigured bumper... Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiggggggggggghhhh. Now comes the inconvenience of having to lodge a report at IDAC, ward my car at the workshop and go carless for a few days... hmmm... maybe not. I may be able to get C&C to provide me with a temp car... and charge it to the cabby.

But not bad ay... another post from me in just 2 days... =p There's hope afterall...

... not as easy as I thought ...

2007-04-22T18:02:00.000+08:00

It's been what? 17 days? since my last post... that's more than 2 weeks. You know time after time, I tell myself during lunchtime, that TODAY will be THE day that I will go on home and update my blog. But I gotta say, the little time that I thought I had... was truly hard to find.

But here I am again... after 17 days. =) What's the topic for today? Hmmm... with so many issues in my mind and the little time that I have, I'll have a go at Drivers. No no no... Not specifically lady drivers(you ladies can lower your brows now)... But all drivers in general. I was on the highway having my leisure drive home on the PIE one evening. The LED board read: "Accident vehicle on Shoulder after Adam Rd". Soon after, I found myself bumper to bumper and I'm nowhere near Adam Rd. I thought to myself... Please let there be another accident. Not because I love accidents... But I just refuse to believe that overly curious onlookers(ie Drivers) were causing the jam. No points here for guessing the true culprit of the jam - Clue: NOT the accident.

WHY??? WHY??? WHY???

I guess my million dollar question is Why is it that drivers always(and I mean ALWAYS) have to slow down to take a look(a long one, might I add) at accidents, stalled vehicles, vehicles being stopped over by TP & etc etc... I just don't get it. If you must look - take a quick glance, accelerate and move on. No need to slow down the vehicle to 10Km/h! If you really want to stop and help, by all means, go to the side, park and help. The worst thing is that ppl slow down to take a look, and never even bother to offer any form of help. I'm not talking about cases when help is already there, of course.

Let me relate a story... A few years ago, I was driving along CTE, there was a motorbike that skidded. The motorcyclist was pretty badly injured, abrasions all over his arms and legs... his bike was in the 1st lane and he certainly could not move his bike, not on his own at least. All(and I mean ALL) the cars ahead of me did the same thing... Slowed down to a crawling speed, looked at the injured cyclist sitting on the roadside like he was some circus freak, and just drove off. I mean C'mon... with that long a look, they surely can see that that poor fella is all alone and is in need of some assistance. And all they can do is drive off? That's simply unacceptable. My fellowmen(& women)... Please... Can we show a little more Heart.

If you are just gonna look for the sake of looking or to get the plate number, then don't. You're just holding up help that is probably on its way behind you. If you want to look to see if you can help, then do it quickly and gracefully too. Don't slam on your brakes or swerve to the side of the road all of a sudden. That'll probably cause another accident. And never ever, slow down to see an accident that took place at the opposite direction of the road. I think some of you, "fortunate" ones have experienced the consequences of doing so. For those of you who haven't, let's keep it that way - for the benefit of all road users.

And this also applies to you people who drastically slow down at the sight of our dear friends in white(for those who do not know, I'm referring to TPs). If the speed limit is, say 90... you know, its actually legal to travel at 90. And if the limit says 70, then it's ok for your speedometer to point to 70. Get the hint???

So please my dear countrymen(& women too), with the number of cars in the road already on the rise, let's all do our part to make our journey safer and smoother. Deal? ;)

"the voice of a million men is thunderous, compared to the voice of a single man"

What's with Blogging...

2007-04-04T22:38:00.000+08:00

The Intro
There's so much hype and excitement over blogs that it is difficult to comprehend how a phenomenon that seem so simple, can be so well received by the masses. I was stumped... no in fact, I was perplexed! I was thinking to myself, what fun, could people possibly derive from reading blogs, or writing it for that matter... So I thought... and I read... and I thought again... and I read some more, and I finally came up with 2 school of thoughts. One is advocating a simple economic mechanism - the Thory of Demand & Supply, and the other advocates the Theory of Evolution. If you let me indulge, I will share with you what I mean.

It's all about Demand & Supply
I see bloggers like artists. Just like the artist indulging in his/her artwork, bloggers indulge in their stories, experiences, journals... The similarity here is that both do not really expect any returns from doing what they love to do. But if there are any forms of returns, be it appreciation from readers or from art enthusiasts, it will give them the much needed motivation to continue on with their "art". So as long as there are people out there who are reading the blogs(aka demand), there will always be people who will be updating them(aka supply). The more "reads" they see for their blog, the more regular they post updates to keep the readers engaged. And the lesser "reads" they get for their blog, updating will seem... well how shall I put it nicely... Insignificant! I think you get the picture.

Now I go into my second school of thought... and this could interesting...

Evolution Theory
Remember the first few reality shows that hit our tv sets? Candid Camera, America's Funniest Home Videos and yes... even Judge Judy. Those were the pioneers of reality tv. Over time, they evolved to the shows that we have today - Survivor, Amazing Race, Punk'd, Pimp My Ride, Temptation Island, Meet My Folks, Beauty and The Geek, Extreme Makeover, Who Wants to Marry My Dad?(can you believe that show???), etc etc. Somewhere along the way, the fine line was crossed and reality tv became more, and more senseless, in their bid to take it up a notch and maintain viewership.

Similar to reality tv, blogging started out as something simple... People wanted to share information, recipes, remedies, pictures, etc - they created personal websites. Then people wanted to have an avenue for discussion(constructive or otherwise) - forums then blossomed. Now people want to share their experiences, life-stories, journals - this is where blogging comes in. It's all about taking it up another notch. The question is, what comes after blogging? Will it reach a near-senseless state to what we see for reality tv shows or will it become an accepted avenue for mass communication? (There was a debate on a similar topic in the local show "The Arena", but I'll discuss that in another post altogether... I have lots of things to say about that.) Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see. =)

Conclusion
Some of you may disagree with my thoughts, while there may be some of you who are nodding silently in agreement. Well, that's the beauty of blogging... Everyone's entitled to their own opinions... Well, as long as there is no political or direct insinuations to anyone living or dead (~wink~) . So if you are thinking, which school of thought will I(the author of this blog) choose to go with and why in the world am I blogging, if I paint such a disapproving picture on the whole idea of blogging?

Here's my answer: I choose to walk the evolutionary path because I'm game to try hop on the blogging bandwagon... and I'm definitely curious to find out what could become of blogging... Oh and plus... I have some time to spare. ;)

What can you expect from my blog? Well, I'll try to touch on "hot" and current topics that are on everybody's lips and give my two cents' worth. You can expect me to be blunt and direct but, also logical and sensible nonetheless.

This is my first try at blogging, so here goes nothing...