puahz

A dead saddam

2007-01-07T03:56:00.000-08:00

Some people say that saddam should not be executed. The US had no right. Iraq should settle its own affairs.

That, to me, is utter rubbish. Saddam Hussein's savage tolitarian rule lasted more than 3 decades. Torture and murder were his metiers, both practiced without evident remorse or the slighest regret. He annihilated political enemies and would-be rebels, along with their extended families-killing tens of thousands of shiites and kurds with guns, bombs, chemical weapons: whatever worked. If the evil that men do lives after them, then saddam hussein will long endure.

Saddam hussein was hanged for ordering the killing of 148 shiite men and boys in the town of Dujail in 1982 after members of Maliki Dawa party tried to assasinate him. There was much more to that. The Kurds still want their day in court: Saddam massacred tens of thousands of them in a genocidal campaign that included an infamous poison-gas attack on the town of Halabjah in 1988. If we go by the saying: "a life for a life", then saddam definitely would have to die hundreds of thousand of times over and over again.

There must never be a doubt that Saddam did not deserve to die. He was an outright murderer. Letting him live would be to disrespect the families of the people he massacared. Letting him live would mean undermining justice.

Saddam's death sparked controversy for many reasons. Firstly, the confusion that surrounded the execution process did little to affirm the resolve of Iraqis to execute the mass-murderer Saddam. Secondly, Maliki, prime minister of Iraq, does little to disguise the sectarian leanings of his government. After Saddam's last appeal was rejected, Maliki reportedly told families of some of his victims that any hesitation about hanging him would be insulting. "Our respect for human rights require us to execute him, and there will be no review or delay in carrying out the sentence". Clearly, the prime minister's vision for reconcillation does not include those who still support Saddam in any way. During the deeply flawed trial, judges deemed too lenient were fired or pressured to resign, and three of saddam defence lawyers were murdered. All these deeply undermined the justice system in the eyes of ordinary Iraqis.

A sizeable number of Iraqis even yearn for the strong-arm rule of Saddam admist all the violence in Iraq now. Even some americans share that sentiment. "I feel like we should let saddam out of jail and say, 'sorry we didn't realize you were so brutal because you had to be'," a member of US Special operations told newsweek. Is it true that Iraq needs a dictatorship to be stable? Is Iraq torn so deeply along racial lines that only an exceptionally cruel government like Saddam's founded on fear can rule it effectively? If we choose to believe all these then there is something deeply wrong with our principles and values. Yes, Saddam's brutally effective rule may make any democracy look feckless but that in NO way makes Saddam righteous. The fact that his rule was more effective than the democractic government of Iraq now only shows to us that Iraq is not ready for democracy and new methods have to be explored. Saddam's rule was effective because he massacared people with ruthless efficacy. Such a rule is in no way glorious. The authority he built up is built upon piles of corpses, his palace walls are smeared with the blood of the people he murdered.

The controversy over Saddam's death should not lie over whether Saddam should be executed. There is no doubt that he should be. Rather, it should focus on what should be done after Saddam's demise and how the scars of a war-torn Iraq can be healed.

A single shot can end the war

2006-10-30T05:01:00.000-08:00

Febuary 1945. Even as the war in Europe has ended the battle in the pacific still raged on. One of the most crucial and bloodiest battles in the war was the battle for the island of Iwo Jima. On the top of Mt. Surrbachi, photographer Rosenthal had no idea that he had just snapped one of the most iconic images in history and the historic image most widely reproduced. It was an image that roused the nationalistic feelings of americans and it was a symbol of victory to a nation weary of war during that time.

This photo that you see her depicts five marines and a naval corpsman raising an american flag atop Mt. Surribaci to show that it was taken.

This was what Clint Eastwood, producer of the upcoming movie Flags of our Fathers said about the photo "Everybody has their own idea of what makes a photograph special. On one level, its just some guys doing work-raising a pole- and that may be how the six guys in the picture saw it themselves. But in 1945, it symbolized the war effort".

The movie Flags of our Fathers is set in the violent, harsh backdrop of war on Iwo Jima. It brings to us the intense feeling of pain and regret felt by the three surviving flagbearers who were brought back to america and paraded as war heros. It ate the insides of thse media-proclaimed heroes who believed that the men who truly deserved glory were their comrades who laid dead back on Iwo Jima, those who gave their lives to their country.

The historic photograph glorifying american victory on Iwo Jima was an image that electrified a nation at war. It was the very beginning of celebritity worship. The film sets us thinking about out need to create and celebrate heroes, and questions the way our government sells our wars. This is an issue still relevant and prevalent in our world today.

War is not about weapons and soldiers. War on a larger front is about moving people. It is about selling your cause to a people, moving a people together as part of the war effort, just like how Hilter raised a nation from the ravages of world war 1 and rallied them to fight for their survival.
I myself think that it is intensely ironic that the government so desperately needed to make war heroes out of ordinary men, making them larger than life, and selling them just to boost public morale when what was truly out there was chaos and anarchy- man killing man. War propaganda is there to blind the public from the harsh reality of war. The truth is that war is far from romantic and heroic. This was aptly described in siegfried sasoon's poem about "the old lie". The movie and the poems all force us to rethink the nature of heroism- real or manufactured? Rooted in our deep-seated need to avert our eyes from the horror of war by gazing up at the more comforting vision of the heroic, the immortalized, the glamourized.

Perhaps all these can be best expressed by Sir Winston Churchhill, : "In wartime truth is so precious that it should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies" :)

holidays!

2006-10-24T08:56:00.000-07:00

Hi there everyone. I can scarely remember the last time i blogged.

All i remember was that i was damn enthu last time writing movie reviews and philosophical reflections. Well i enjoy writing them. It's just that i have to be in the mood for 10 inch essays. Some days i have the mood. Some days i don't. Today is one of those days.

At this point in time i am standing at the threshold of a 2 month break. I always look upon holidays with mixed feelings. On one hand i am eager to lay down everything and just rot away at home (i honestly think this is what many RI guys do), on the other hand i feel internal pressure to make the best of the holidays. It is always a challenge to do something productive during the holidays, to make the holidays more than they are. To all my readers, we must not indulge in the mundane practice of gaming. Gaming is for those who have no where toput their time. Hardcore gamers are those who are pathetically enslaved to a screen. We must do something different, something that is special to oneself. ahhhhh.

That is why i decided that this holiday i am going to watch movies hardcore. This are the steps in which i shall execute my movie-watching plan.
Step 1. Rent movies from the rental shop
Step 2. open the vcd player
Step 3. put the vcd inside
Step 4. press 'close'
Step 5. Press play
Step 6. watch. falling asleep is an insult to the director and is strictly prohibited. It is important to listen carefully to key parts of the show, when the main characters are talking. Key concepts must be gleaned. Remember, watching movie is not about passively watching, it is about the understanding and forming opinions about the movie. AHhhhh yes.
Step 7. burn the vcd on my computer so that i can watch in the future.
Step 8. return vcd to rental shop. borrow next batch
Step 9. repeat steps 1-8.
Step 10. open your own vcd shop after you have burnt all the vcds in the rental shop.

not bad a holiday plan.

Besides this, i shall start reading more books both english and chinese. I think reading is really important and its importance cannot be further emphasized. Reading helps us to understand how other people think and allows us to form our own views about certain issues. Way to go puah!

Finally not forgetting my long lost hobby- aeromodelling. Haven't touched my plane for ages. Hopefully my receivers and servos are still working. Thinking of getting a new plane. an electric model. Its cleaner and easier to manage. gotta start learning how to fix my own plane. I think this hobby rox for many reasons.
1. Not many people do aeromodelling so this makes me special! yay
2. Trains me to be a more hands-on person
3. teach me how to go around sourcing for the cheapest stuff cos there are lots of scammers in the trade trying to cheat young nooby chaps like me :(

picture of the electric model i am planning to get. Not bad, $98 only.

So not bad here we are with my holiday plan. Not to mention i have to focus on my service learning project for next year which starts this holiday. Wah gonna be stressful man this holiday but i will take it in my stride.

oh yes and another thing, this holiday is also meant for me to spend more time with god. OH crap this supposed to be the first thing i said. Remember, god-centred life? Ah must hold true to that. Pray that my friends will also strengthen their faith at this point in life as teenagers we change fast and we really need an anchor. That anchor is god. Amen.

Now at least i can truly say i am looking forward to the holidays!

God's great love

2006-06-30T05:28:00.000-07:00

I came across an e-mail not too long ago while browsing through my inbox. There was one christian e-mail that really struck me. For me i attend church every week and it has become somewhat like a routine. This e-mail stunted me with the way it relates the simple, unconditional love of christ. Nevermind all the arguments whether he is god or not god. Jesus Christ was the one who sacrificed his blood so that we all can be reconciled with god. Let me share a story in the e-mail:

There once was a man named George Thomas, pastor in a small New England town. One Easter Sunday morning he came to the Church carrying a rusty, bent, old bird cage, and set it by the pulpit. Eyebrows were raised and, as if in response, Pastor Thomas began to speak..."I was walking through town yesterday when I saw a young boy coming toward me swinging this bird cage. On the bottom of the cage were three little wild birds, shivering with cold and fright. I stopped the lad and asked, "What you got there, son?" "Just some old birds," came the reply.

"What are you gonna do with them?" I asked.

"Take 'em home and have fun with 'em," he answered "I'm gonna tease 'em and pull out their feathers to make 'em fight. I'm gonna have a real good time" "But you'll get tired of those birds sooner or later. What will you do?"

"Oh, I got some cats," said the little boy. "They like birds. I'll take 'em to them."

The pastor was silent for a moment. "How much do you want for those birds, son?"

"Huh?? !!! Why, you don't want them birds, mister. They're just plain old field birds. They don't sing. They ain't even pretty!"

"How much?" the pastor asked again.

The boy sized up the pastor as if he were crazy and said, "$10?"

The pastor reached in his pocket and took out a ten dollar bill. He placed it in the boy's hand. In a flash, the boy was gone.

The pastor picked up the cage and gently carried it to the end of the alley where there was a tree and a grassy spot Setting the cage down, he opened the door, and by softly tapping the bars persuaded the birds out, setting them free.

Well, that explained the empty bird cage on the pulpit, and then the pastor began to tell this story:

One day Satan and Jesus were having a conversation. Satan had just come from the Garden of Eden, and he was gloating and boasting. "Yes, sir, I just caught the world full of people down there. Set me a trap, used bait I knew they couldn't resist. Got 'em all!"

"What are you going to do with them?" Jesus asked.

Satan replied, "Oh, I'm gonna have fun! I'm gonna teach them how to marry and divorce each other, how to hate and abuse each other, how to drink and smoke and curse. I'm gonna teach them how to invent guns and bombs and kill each other. I'm really gonna have fun!"

"And what will you do when you get done with them?" Jesus asked. "Oh, I'll kill 'em," Satan glared proudly. "How much do you want for them?" Jesus asked

"Oh, you don't want those people. They ain't no good. Why, you'll take them and they'll just hate you. They'll spit on you, curse you and kill you. You don't want those people!!"

"How much?" He asked again.

Satan looked at Jesus and sneered, "All your blood, tears and your life."

Jesus said, "DONE!"

Then He paid the price.

The pastor picked up the cage he opened the door and he walked from the pulpit.

my life

2006-06-22T09:01:00.000-07:00

its 12midnight on the dot now. I am sitting alone in my room. My family is sound asleep and i am the only one awake. It is raining outside. Dunno why i suddenly feel like blogging so here i am writing.

I am starting to realize i am losing a sense of purpose in life. My daily routine is sian. Either i have training, or it would be school work in the form of projects, RE, robotics. During my free time in the hols i would try to finish my holiday homework. I would work on the com until my productivity dies down and then i would start chatting on msn. Just need someone to talk to sometimes life can be quite boring.

I thought today's china trip gathering would brighten my hols up a bit but disappointingly it left me more lost than ever. I reckon in such a big group where everyone is waiting for everyone else, it can get real draggy especially when there are decisions to be made and it is so hard to get moving. This is what i call long bottom or backside or ass :) But it was a good time to catch up with everyone and have fun. We did. Lanning was damn funny.

Then i came home and sitted in front of the com and started doing work. But dunno what is wrong with me today just no mood for homework. A bit funny. Normally i am very kan cheong when it comes to homework. It was something i really felt proud about- as in I took pride in completing my assignments and putting in my best effort for every piece. But now i am losing my touch. I feel funny. Its like i lost the passion.

Few nights ago i was looking at the stars and thinking about weird things, like what is the meaning of life, is there anyone out there, are we alone in this universe etc. I think i am going mad. But seriously sometimes i really do wonder what man's purpose on earth was. Before i was a christian i had a very straight answer to that question: Purpose in life is for us to create; our lives are as fufilling as we make them to be. But now as a christian my answer ought to be to serve god and glorify him. Honestly i cannot answer the question. I think life is about life. I know it sounds really lame but life is about the journey, the childhood, the amazing friends, the once-in-a-lifetime experience. We should not dwell too much on life's purpose and forget life itself.

Beijing O6 - dAy 3 and reflections

2006-06-20T04:46:00.000-07:00

Guess what? While I am writing this entry I am on the plane on the way to bali on a family holidays. I find this june holidays kinda stressful because I have no time to do my school work. Came back from Beijing school trip not too long ago and then now I am here on family holiday. Despite the little time I have to settle my school work, I guess this gives me a chance to exercise more time management, haha. I mean sometimes we must take things in a positive light. Anyway I want to finish blogging about the Beijing trip because it was an exciting chapter in my life. I decided that I should write about the Beijing trip as soon as I have the time instead of procrastinating because the memories would start to get vague after a while. Writing a post-trip journal it really allows me to relive the moments. You all should write too, that is if you have the time.

The third day was quite usual. Not that eventful. The highlights of the day include our visit to the forbidden palace. I have never been there in my life, though I had saw lots of it from Chinese serials set in the dynasty period in china. The forbidden palace is an imposing compound comprising of many minor palaces, sprawling courtyards and high walls. As the name suggests, the common Chinese man is unauthorized to enter the forbidden palace since it is a place where the emperor stays. An interesting observation is that all rulers tend to distance themselves from the common folk and to make themselves seem very godlike, stately to further strengthen their power. The tour guide was quite soft-spoken. I must admit that the knowledge I learnt about the forbidden palace was quite limited because most of the time I could not hear what she was saying. However, it is not totally her fault. As one big group of chatty students the majority of us were not really paying attention but instead, engaging in our own private conversation or looking around on our own. I guess it takes interest to sustain our attention on the tour guide’s commentary, which were quite boring at times. I hate with when I come to a historically significant place and leave the place feeling that I had learnt nothing about the place. Somehow it does not do justice to the place haha. At least I did walk away with some basic knowledge of forbidden palace. There was a clock museum in one of the small palaces. The museum guide, an old, good-natured man, was extremely knowledgeable about the exhibits. He went rambling on for an average of 2 minutes for every exhibit! Everyone was losing interest fast. I was fighting to keep my eyelids from dropping. They felt heavy and at times I succumbed to fatigue. I learnt the art of standing sleep- a subconscious rest I get when I stand and sleep. I had slept late the previous night. If I remember correctly the group of boys and girls were playing truth or dare till wee hours in the morning. So at the museum, to kill the boredom, everyone started becoming really lame, counting the number of 咱们s the museum guide said. It was damn funny and I think the poor guy never realized what the whole group of us were sniggering about. At least 100 咱们s and more were counted. At the end of the talk, I asked the museum guide a question about the exhibits just to make myself feel that I had at least made an effort to 发问 and also to make the museum guide feel appreciated. I learnt that the ancient Chinese placed a lot of emphasis on time, reflected in the intricate cravings and adornments on the Chinese clocks, heavily influenced by the European art pieces traded during that time. The emperor even believed that he could make time his private procession by having the most accurate clock (and maybe one of the few mechanical clocks available). The ability to tell time was an important factor that pushed a society forward in terms of its development because the concept of time allowed the people to plan their activities and also gave them the idea of ‘time is money’ and time wasted translates to opportunities to create wealth/grow crops being lost.

Our next destination was a Chinese drama school. My first impression was that the place was rather run down. Yet one can see that in the dusty, unkempt rooms groups of students deep in concentration, practicing some art performances. The amount of effort and the determination put in really touched me. This is something I feel that Singapore students lack. Singapore students tend to live to comfortably in their cozy comfort zones. On the contrary, these Chinese students put their heart and soul into their training and give their best. Some of these students I estimate to be no more than 4 years of age and yet they are still as focused as the rest. We observed the training sessions. There was also a young drama group, an opera dance group and a gymnast who could ‘juggle’ a spear-like metal rod by sliding and moving it around his limbs. Their performance was breathtaking. It was truly an eye-opening experience for me.

In the evening we went to a theatre to watch yet some more performances. To me, this was one of the most unforgettable part of the trip. The performance was flawless. There was a female gymnast who could bend her limbs like she did not have joints. There was an equally talented lady who could juggle and spin umbrellas and cloths with her feet and hands, a pro juggler who bounced close to a dozen balls. There was also a troup of golden-clad performers climbing poles and doing acrobatic stunts. I thoroughly enjoyed the performance. I could tell that a lot of training was put in to prepare for the performance and I respect them for that.

Everyone was chatty on the bus all the way back to the hotel. By the third day, the boys and girls were starting to get to know one another and all kind of nonsense was mushrooming. Haha. The Cheng Hong hotel joke was started when me and a few guys spotted a cheng hong hotel. I guess hong cheng got used to it after a while but at the start it was really 轰动！Everyone could not contain their laughter. It was things like these that really make the trip enjoyable.

Over the next few days we visited more places of interest and more historical sites again. Everyone started to know each other better and clicks started to form. It was quite clear to me who stuck around who. There was the cool group at the back of the bus consisting of LJ king Kenneth, coolio poser hong cheng, kaibin, Johnny, muscle man Leonard, glenn, david, cool sec 1 Daniel, adriel changgy, alwyn and me, together with the four girls Cheryl, sze yen, Vanessa and shiao yen. Then there was the other group at the front with jia ying, yu xin, pearl, huihui, Alvin spongebob, pinky Patrick, Alison, xin jia, joined by the other sec 1s aaron and tat hsiang. The former group was noiser, louder and more troublesome compared to the latter haha. Actually I dun really think that there is a distinct division between the two groups. Towards the end of the trip everyone started mixing around. It was a time where people started to move out of their social circles and make new friends. For example I did not really talk to the girls at the front of the bus like Alison, pearl, yu xin etc but towards the end of the trip we talked more.

This trip is really interesting because of the fact there are boys and girls. It is different from a single-sex school trip. When the opposite sex is around, we tend to behave differently. Some of us become very self-conscious while others become inhibited. Some of us join in the scandals and some of us fuel it by standing at the side and adding oil and fanning it. Haha. It is very natural for BGR kinda of issues surfacing but I think that BGR relationships are no good. Firstly they are transient. At this stage in life it is difficult to make such relationships last for many reasons. Secondly, they do something really bad to our social life- they narrow our circle of friends such that everything we do is about that person and no one else. This is not healthy. Lastly, BGR relations can cause emotional harm. Unnatural relationships really spoil friendships. It is better that we have friends that we have awkward crushes and a bunch of gossip. Haha. I am speaking as if I have a lot of experience liddat. Anyway these are just my thoughts.

All in all, there is no doubt that the Beijing trip is thoroughly enjoyable. The interesting thing is that the friendships we made on the trip extend beyond the trip. To me, and to all of us, it means a lot.

Cheers

Beijing O6 - dAy 2

2006-06-10T06:29:00.000-07:00

This is the second time I am writing this post. Guess what happened the first time I was writing this post. I previewed the post to see how it would look with the pictures and then when I pressed ‘back’ the whole bloody post disappeared. Wad the hell lar cannot get back damn suai! I reckon the post was like 1500 over words lor. I put a lot of feeling into writing it leh then all gone. It really made me damn pissed.

But never mind perhaps writing a second time would allow me to straighten out my thoughts and express my ideas more clearly.

I did not want this china trip journal to be a mere narrative. You see when we record stuff in our journal we do not mere recount the incidents that happen. More importantly we write about how we feel with regards to certain issues. The value-add is our own added opinions and views about a certain issue. I hope I can do the same for this series of blog entries.

Since we arrived at Beijing at ll pm plus, and we checked into the hotel past midnight and slept, the second day was very much the first day of the trip. At least well it is the first time we get to see Beijing by morning. In the morning our very first destination was 清华附中. I was excited to see a Beijing school for the first time-see how their education system was like, how Beijing students behaved. I believe that education is an integral part of society because it moulds the future of the nation. From the educational system we can 可窥一斑 (realize the big picture from the particular). Beijing students are generally very hardworking and self-motivated from what I observed in their class. They are actively engaged in a lively class discussion without having to be called to. I guess this is something Chinese can be proud of. I mean Chinese are generally a hardworking lot of people, if that doesn’t make us workaholics; at least we are willing to put in the effort. Maybe the students are so self-motivated because they are aware of the fact that they have to be well-equipped to face challenges in a highly competitive society where almost everyone comes from single-child family. All the eggs are put in one basket because that child is the only basket, the hope for a better age haha auspicium melioris aevi. The maths lesson was fun but it was a real pity I had much difficulty trying to follow the lesson. Teaching maths in Chinese is something that to me, do not go together just like oil and water do not mix. Haha I lurve that expression! So out of boredom and inspired by the others I starting writing journal documenting down my china trip experience. YAY!

Later in the afternoon we played soccer with the china students after lunch. The photo on the right was taken during lunch. It was not part of the programme. I guess it was just the mounting soccer fever leading up to the 2006 world cup in Germany. Haha. Everyone was like so enthu and I found myself wanting to play as well. I used to play soccer a lot with my neighbours when I was young but now the busy school life and badminton training kinda of like robbed me of the carefree childhood L. It was a fun game. There were heroes on both side. The sad thing is that I got injured. Some skin under my leg peeled off. Damn pain! Can’t stand it. Getting injured on the 2nd day. I feel like a weakling. One kind Chinese student offered to bring me to the sick bay. I am very grateful to him.

Later in the day we left清华附中 after attending a physics practical lesson. Damn funny lor. Dun even understand the experiment. The china students were fooling around and the laughter was just so contagious. David Ng’s Chinese partner was one hell of a joker haha. So this must be the fun side of Chinese school life-screwing up experiments. The teacher did not look too pleased but I guess he was being courteous by not showing his displeasure since we were after all guests. Next we made our way to a cultural literature museum. I spent much of the time observing Beijing through my window. I guess that in that the hustle of travel I did not have time to sit down and observe the country that I was in-the people, the society, the atmosphere. One of the distinctive features of Beijing was its traffic and messy streets. I had a tiny disappointment upon seeing Beijing. Perhaps it was because my idea of Beijing as shaped by the news and what I read, was that Beijing was a modern, clean, orderly city on the rise. But the Beijing my foot was on was messy, dusty and crowded. The traffic jam was quite severe during the peak periods. It was literally bumper-to-bumper. Looking out at the continuous stream of cyclists cycling by the road I can’t help feeling like an idiot trapped in a glass box (that was the bus) in the middle of heavy traffic. HAHA. Many people cycle in Beijing. I think it is a good way to reduce pollution from the exhaust of vehicles. However, Beijing(ers) probably cycle for more practical reasons. After all there is a special lane separated from the main road by a kerb dedicated for cyclists. People can move from one place to another, especially through the labyrinth of streets much faster on bicycles than by car, where parking can really be a problem. Besides bicycles are way more affordable compared to cars and provided a simple form of exercise. One thing I found really amusing was the caged taxi drivers in their dingy taxis haha! There were metal bars separating the driver from the front passenger and a solid divider protecting the back of the driver. This led me to think about what kind of society Beijing is. Is it an unsafe society? It does not seem to me. Unsafe to the stage that taxi drivers had to be protected in such an exaggerated manner? I always thought Beijing being increasing affluent would enjoy better standards of living, higher gross family income, etc. Anyway I think the metal cage bars do not really help. If the passenger has a gun he can easily poke the nozzle through. Need not be a gun; a knife is enough to poke the driver. Ouch! Haha.

In the evening we went to the cultural literature museum (文学馆). It was a new building exhibiting the literary works of famous modern or 近代authors. There was an elaborate opening ceremony where everyone went up to give a short introductory speech. It was damn funny. I think we all gave a very good impression to the people at the museum clad in our smart-looking uniforms. However once we started to speak we really exposed our lacking in terms of fluency in the Chinese language. Not everyone lar. Yuxin, huihui, jia ying, alwyn, Alison all spoke well. Haha. Adriel was damn clown.

I was quite touched by the commitment shown by the mentors we were attached to at the cultural museum. I was told that they were unpaid volunteers who were mostly tour guides for the museum. Yet their passion and enthusiasm was inspiring. What’s more most of them were in their golden years, retirees I suppose. It was certainly heartening to see the Chinese themselves so proud of their illustrious heritage and so motivated to share it with us, Singapore students. The love for literature and the joy of sharing it was written all over their faces. I was looking forward to the cultural journey I was about to embark on with all my friends. Yipee! haha

Beijing O6 - dAy 1

2006-06-06T21:58:00.000-07:00

the trip began with a fun start. everyone was like so excited to get to know one another. the plane ride rocked. I watched two movies: flightplan and aquamarine, bits and pieces of each cos i was distracted haha. I loved the enthusiasm and excitement in the air. Everyone was chatting happily and getting to know more people on the trip. You could clearly see the boys sticking with the boys and the girls sticking with the girls. I guess it is only natural that we feel comfortable with members of the same sex especially when we all don't know each other. Sometimes it can be real awkward. My first impression when we landed in Beijing was that it was a modern and very 大大方方 city. It was cold in the night when we came out of the airport. I estimate about 25 degrees? In the bus on the way to the hotel everyone was eagerly discussing their plans for the trip: how they were gonna play till very late at night, how much money they brought, etc, and who they were gonna bunk with. That night we settled into our three star hotel. What was it called? Oh yar 天照宾馆. I slept about 12 plus near 1am. Had to wake up at 6.30am the next morning. I was worried that the trip would kick off to a sleepy start.

Argg i will continue writing later. Must go training now. Haii...

The difference i make

2006-01-22T06:53:00.000-08:00

This is not my commonwealth essay.

Everyone in the world wants to make a difference, to stand out from the crowd, to be someone special. We all want to make something out of our lives. Afterall, there must be some meaning to our existence. A meaningless and aimless existence is an unfulfilling and empty one. No one wishes to arrive into the world and depart from it as quietly as they came, unremembered, and soon fading from the memories of those who knew us. For me, I make a difference to my siblings.

I have two younger siblings, a sister and a brother and I being the oldest child in the family have undertaken the unspoken responsibility of caring for my younger siblings Afterall, the elder of my two siblings is 7 years younger that me, and the age gap between me and the youngest child in the family is 11 years. As our ages are so widely spaced, it is no wonder that there is little in common that we all enjoy. Every age group has its favourite activities. However, it is always understood that a conscious effort be made on the part of the eldest sibling (that would be me) to care for the younger ones. Since my baby brother was born, I had played a part in his development as a child. I told him bedtime stories, usually not the classics but those weird stories I made up as I watched in anticipation as his leaden eyelids droop down and he drifted off to dreamland. I changed his pampers, a duty I would occasionally relieve my mother of. I find it awkward to express my love openly for my seven year old sister. I have not been as close to her as I am to my 3 year old brother. I often kiss and hug my brother out of affection but I never kiss my sister or hugged her, even the words relating to love is a taboo when I talk to my sister. Perhaps it is because of the fact that my brother is very much still a baby and it is the social norm for people to cuddle and kiss babies, especially the cute and adorable ones who make you feel like carrying them. On the other hand, my sister being the seven year old girl that she is, has already been imbued with the vague notion of the awkwardness of love, physical contact between members of the opposite sex. Maybe it is influence from media exposure, where fairytale cartoons end with ‘happily ever after prince and princess marriage or reunion scene’, or the kissing scene of lovers in a drama serial. These never fail to evoke a sense of awkwardness and even a tinge of shamefulness. I feel it and my sister probably does to. For this reason my sister and I do not really express our love for each other openly.

Once my dad raised his voice in reprimand for my wrong deeds, his eyes intent on mine, boiling with rage. The tension was palpable but out of the corner of my eye I saw my sister standing by the side observing the conflict, her little face twist subtly in mortification, not daring to do anything. I could feel her helplessness and I know she cared. Then I would see my little brother, slightly fearful, wrapping his arms around my mothers legs and watching the ‘thunderstorm’ unfold. He would then venture forward after accessing the situation with his three year old mind and ask timidly “Papa you scold big brother”, as if to confirm if the loud voices meant scolding, tears and unhappiness. It is these little insignificant details that touched me as to my siblings love for me. Sometimes I feel guilty at having done so little for them. I reckon I made my brother cry more than I made him smile, I ignored my sister most of the time as I got on with my busy schedule, I was cold to her. My education level was well above hers but I very seldom helped her with her schoolwork even when I had the time during the school holidays? Was I afraid she would outperform me? I dared not imagine how selfish and vile that was.
If I had ever made a difference in the lives of my siblings, it is being there for them. To be a good role model, to assist them when they could not make a ribena drink for themselves or switch on the Video CD player to watch their favourite cartoon, even to be a playing companion. When I heard my sister boasting about me to her classmates that I was the head prefect of my primary school, I felt lifted up. When my brother threatened my cousins with my name when he was disturbed, I felt proud. When my brother ran to me weeping when my dad yelled at him, I comforted him, happy that he had chosen to find consolation from me instead from my mum, which he usually did. When my brother thought of me when someone bought him a new candy and wanted to share it with me, when he turned to me when he was sad, when my sister boasted to me that she had done well for her examinations, when she came to my room to do some drawings for companionship, I knew that in their hearts I am their elder brother and I know that I have made a difference. That is enough.

Outward Bound Singapore

2006-01-13T19:51:00.000-08:00

Outward Bound Singapore (Pulau Ubin)
Course:M526/05
Instructor: Connel
9-13 January 2006

Outward Bound has an troubled history in the tough times during world war II. It is an international educational institution that has established itself worldwide. Originating from UK, Outward Bound is founded by a german educator named Kurt Hahn. The first Outward Bound School was established in 1941 in Aberdovery, Wales. It was originally meant to train young merchant seamen to be tougher and more resilient in the course of their voyage during the second world war. After the war, the Outward Bound concept, and soon its institutions began teaching young boys, apart from physical endurance, community, rescue and personal development skills.

Outward Bound is about education. Challenging a person mentally and physically to make a person stronger. Outward Bound shapes the way we learn through experiencial learning: it is about leadership, team dynamics, forging friendships and bonds, developing the character and strengthening the mental, physical and spiritual faculties of participants.

OBS was fun-filled for me. What i took away from the course was not only the injuries, the souveneurs, the stained bag and soiled clothes but many invaluable lessons learnt. Firstly, I realized the importance of responsibility, trust and mutual respect. As one of the group leaders for my watch (group), it was up to me to ensure that my group worked on schedule. Many a times we did not keep to the time and thus incurred the wrath of our instructor. The trust that our instructor extended to us was bridged. We did not carry out the instructions that he gave us properly. In fact, what saddened me was the fact that our group members did not regard the instructor with due respect and made little effort to work with him. Some of us were working against him. I must admit that our instructor indeed had relatively high expectations of us when compared to other watches. However, i am deeply regretful that i failed to live up to the expectations that he had for me and the group. I did not return his trust with trustworthyness. Let me cite a few examples: Once, our group had to assemble for a meeting with him at 11pm. In my haste to pack my bag and retrieve the food for my instructor to cook for my watch, i had conveniently forgot to inform everyone of the meeting. As much as it was difficult to ensure that everyone in my scattered group had received the message, I felt that i had not made the effort to. I had somehow taken for granted that my instructor would be forgiving and understanding of our time constraints. But little did my group and I realize that we were in fact pushing his patience. The punishment for being late that night was pitching soiled and rainwater-soaked tents in the middle of the road at the OBS base camp while other watches slept in the halls and sheltered buildings. It was by the grace of my instructor that we were allowed to carry on and sleep in the kayak shed. What really saddened my heart was the tone of resignation in his voice when he let us off. Many times we had not been punctual and did not carry out his instructions with an adequate degree of properness. He had been disappointed with my group and with me the group leader as well, just as i am disappointed with myself. One lesson I learnt: punctuality is about according the person waiting for us with due respect and regard.

Another message I took away from OBS was teamwork. As a group leader, i was entrusted with the responsibilty of caring of my group members and all the equipment. Many tasks that out watch was assigned to do were not managable alone or with a small team of committed group members. We needed the cooperation of every member of the group. I needed to make everyone a part of the group. No one should feel left out. Everyone should feel proud and motivated to be working as part of the group. Everyone must be convinced that they are playing an indepensible role in the group and that there efforts are appreciated and recognized by everyone just as the efforts or other group members are. During the OBS course, most of my group members were committed to completing the task at hand. I am thankful that all of them were willing to help for the sake of the group, even it meant making a few personal sacrifices. Only a few were not as group-minded and cooperative as i would hope them to be. My job was to convince everyone that group interest benefits self-interest. Now i know, teamwork is about supressing the motivation for self-interest and advancing the common interest of the group.

If there some principles lacking in emphasis and practice during OBS it was integrity. Not only was this moral attribute lacking in many of the OBS participants, it was abandoned by many. Integrity requires us to speak and do nothing but the honest and the true, even when faced with an attractive alternative that benefits us and does not hurt as much as being honest. At OBS, I sold my integrity for a few dollars. To lessen the number of store items that we had lost or misplaced, we conveniently took from around us with a sense of shame, as if it was something that everyone did and so everyone accepted as acceptable and nobody questioned. In retrospect, i wish that i had not taken the items that were not mine and claim them as my own.
-SIGH-

The person i respect most at OBS is Connel, my course instructor. He has left an impact on me and left me motivated to make up and improve my inadequacies. By his efficency and personality he has exposed the raw disparities between the reality of our group and the good image of our group and myself i had been trying all the while to impress upon him. I respect him for his dexterity, his clear-mindedness, his grace, his integrity, his consciencious manner and his trust and concern for me and my group. The OBS course ended on an unhappy note and the unhappiness and uneasiness in our group was palpable. Connel was not impressed with the clean-up of the store and the items. Apparently our watch had not put in enough effort. I admit that. Connel did not bade us goodbye. He left on the boat for mainland singapore with the other batch of participants. I had been aching to tell him that we were sorry for disappointing him and i wanted to thank him for being such a respectable inspiring instructor to us over the past five days. But i did not get the chance. What we did not clean properly in the store he did it for us willingly. What we did not do in accordance with his instructions he gave us chances. When my friend when missing after lights out time and some of the members in our group found him and brought him to see Connel, i braced myself for the agony that was to follow as I probably was about to witness a storm of rage in the midst of a real storm (It was in fact raining). However, i was surprised to hear from my friend that Connel forgave him and did not even mention any punishment for disappearing without informing anyone. I wish he had scolded us instead. It is even more torturing to see him with the friendly smile on his face when behind the veneer of happiness we can feel his disappointment and his sadness. Connel was my only regret during the OBS course. Sorry Connel.

OBS-To serve to strive and not to yield, in every sense of the phrase. To contribute to our fellow coursemates in sincere willing service, to strive in the face of difficulties and face adversity with fortitude, not for reward or because of motives but for ourselves and our coursemates, to grow as a person and as a group.

Apart from all the solemn things i said, I am glad that OBS gave me a pleasant and unforgettable birthday. My birthday falls on 12 january, in the midst of the OBS course. That day i spent on a kayaking expedition with my watchgroup as well as three other watches. My friend ryan and I were the sweepers (the last man put simply, to make sure no one is left behind) in the two-man kayak. Our diamond-shaped kayak formation moved just off the coast of pulau ubin in a course encircling the island from one camp to another. On my birthday, I learnt the importance of charting a direction in life and being responsible for the endeavour because many people are follow me, just like how the navigator of the kayak formation charted the route on the map and constantly checked where we were heading with a compass. In life, at the fifthteen annual pit stop of mine, it was important that i reviewed my direction in life and always check were i was heading because where i went affected the people around me, just as how navigation mistakes from the navigator would bring his fellow kayakers off-course and possibly into danger. I also learnt that i must care for my fellow friends and the people in my life. As a sweeper in the kayak formation, apart from looking ahead and trying to stay together with the rest of fleet, I must constantly turn back to make sure no one lags behind, i must motivate them to rejoin the fleet. In life, in my haste and ambition that drives me forward, i must remember to look back and not forget my friends behind me.

Thank you Connel and the other instructors for guiding and caring for us during the OBS course, for being people we can look up to and we can count on, thanks also goes to my fellow watchmates and OBS batchmates who braved the discomfort and difficulties with me, who watched out for me and who cared for me.

Knowing God and accepting him

2005-12-31T21:02:00.000-08:00

Religion isn't something to be intellectually discussed, but really as i feel, it is a personal thing. I am not here to broadcast christianity, neither am i here to put down other religion. I am here to share god's word.

Christianity is all about faith ultimately. Many seek to prove and confirm it, but it is really not possible to prove it for sure, or else the world would be compelled to become a christian world, because they cannot simply sit there indifferent when the truth stares them in the face. However, the case for christ is certainly compelling in its evidence. This i learnt from reading a christian magazine. It says that there are three ways in which god's hand is visible in this world, if we only bother to look. Firstly, we have general revelation, seeing god's hand in nature. From the gigantic universe down to the microscopic DNA of nature loudly and clearly proclaim the existence of a creator. Of course we cannot attribute everything humans fail to fathom to an intelligent creator, it would be foolish to do so. Yet, how is it possible that early life form in the primodal seas could have a developmental direction, where did the genetic material or 'instructions for life' originate from? Secondly, there is the undeniable and all-precious written revelation. Inspired by god, the bible is the unrevocably the single greatest book every written and compiled. Written by over 40 people over a span of 1500 years, in the midst of the fierciest and vile religious percecution, many prophecies in the old testament were fufilled in the new testament with uncanny accuracy. For specific details, i quote the christian magazine 'Young Precious Seed' "Before his birth, the bible predicted that Christ the saviour would be borned in bethlehem, would have his hands and feet piereced, would be sold for thirty pieces of silver and would appear to Israel (riding on a donkey) exactly 483 years to the day Artaxerxes' decree to rebuild Jerusalem. Each new prediction recorded in the old testament hikes up the probability numbers to staggering proportions. Taking eight prophecies, Professor Peter Stone calculated, we find the chance that any man might have lived to the present time and fufilled all eight prophecies in one in 10 to the power of 17, or 100, 000,000,000,000,000. Yet dozens of these prophecies were fufilled in the person of Christ, some while he was still in Mary's womb and others while he hung triumph on the cross". This tells us something, that even after seeing miracles themselves being performed by jesus christ himself and being awestruck of the prophecies fufilled, many people still turned away from christ, and in doing so, they turned away from their saviour who was here to reconcile them to the father and to die for their sins, so that they can once more, have a relationship with a just god who cannot tolerate sin. In the gospel of John 1:5, "And the light shines into the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it." Jesus Christ was the messiah and the light but, as described in john 1:11 "He came to his own, and those who were his own did not receive him". Thirdly and lastly, we have the most important and significant revelation of all-incarnate revelation in the person of Jesus Christ, who descended from heaven into human history and did god's will. John 1:14 "And the word became flesh", god sent his only son into the world. The virgin birth, sinless life, majesty and power, atoning death and sacrifice in which Jesus bowed obediently to death even though he conquered it, not for himself, not to be remembered, but for us, for humans. His redeeming sacrifice paid the price for our sins and satisfied god's holy wrath, so that man once again can have a relationship with god. Jesus resurrected on the third day after his cruxification and revealed himself to many people before he ascended to heaven. "It is finished", he said. He had paid the wages of sin with his life and had triumph over satan.

What Christianity offers is solid proof of Christ as the Lord and saviour. Are we going to be like the jews who rejected 'he who came to his own, but was not received by his own'? It is only by god's grace and love for us that he decree that the gospel was for everyone, gentiles and jews alike, not exclusively for jews. In Acts 10, a gentile cornelius, a devout man who feared god, gave many alms to the jewish people and prayed the god continually, had a vision of god's angels telling him to send men to Joppa to fetch Peter, for it was in god's plan that cornelius and his family would be saved, never constrained by racial barriers. Cornelius became the first gentile convert. It struck me that no matter how virtuous and 'sinless' as we appear to be, where there is no god in our hearts is when we cannot escape god's judgement, neither will we receive a milder version of it. For God loved Cornelius and his family that he saved him and gave him eternal life in the kingdom of god.

Shortly after the resurrected Christ had ascended into heaven, the holy spirit descended upon the apostles. They spoke in foreign tongues of fire, for they were witnesses of god's word and they are compelled to spread god's word, which is synonmous with the truth. The holy spirit convicts christians to the gospel and reminds them to hold true to Lord Jesus. The holy spirit wroughts the 'christian change' in a christian after he has been baptized, so that the christian is a good testimony to those around himm which credit him as he proclaims god's word and more importantly, the holy spirit makes christians more christ-like and closer to god's image.

Though i have not found God, I am convinced that Jesus Christ is my Lord, my saviour and the judge of my sins whether i like it or not. However, my christian friend told me something that really made me moved and awakened to a the necessity of being a honest and pure seeker of god. In the Beautides, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see god". Even though god will not heed the prayers of a non-believer, he will bring them to Christ. As long as our heart is pure and intentions are true, we will find god, for he will reveal himself to us. We must never attend church because our friends do, simply jumping the bandwagon, nor must we attend church to expand our circle of friends or to find a spouse. We attend church for the fellowship to encourage one another to move closer to god, to affirm that we need god in our lives and bring each other back on the walk with god when we drift away from him.

If there is anything good that ever happened to me, it is knowing god thanks to my cousins who brought me to church. Pray that i will be sincere in my search for god and not be driven by personal agenda.

The Da Vinci Code

2005-12-04T07:28:00.000-08:00

After all the books I have read, not that i have read a lot, the Da Vinci Code is the most exhilirating and fantastic book I have ever read. The Da Vinci Code tells of a chase story about how harvard symbolgist Robert Langdon and gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu who brave a series of unprecedented dangers and solve many puzzles to uncover a historical truth that could fundamentally change the world. The plot is catalysted by the death of the famous curator of the Lourve, Jacques Sauniere. As the two characters sort out the enigmatic riddle left by the deceased curator, they uncover a trail of clues leading to the greatest secret of mankind, involving the famous works of Leonardo Da Vinci, ingeniously disguised by the painter for all to see but yet hard to notice.

Langdon and Neveu soon learn that the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion—an actual secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci, among others. The Louvre curator has sacrificed his life to protect the Priory's most sacred trust: the location of a vastly important religious relic, hidden for centuries.
In a breathless race through Paris, London, and beyond, Langdon and Neveu match wits with a faceless powerbroker who appears to work for Opus Dei—a clandestine, Vatican-sanctioned Catholic sect believed to have long plotted to seize the Priory's secret. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle in time, the Priory's secret—and a stunning historical truth—will be lost forever.

The very crux of the Da Vinci Code is the idea of the Holy bloodline, which is the holy grail, the surviving bloodline of Jesus Christ. According to the book, Jesus was in fact a mortal teacher, who was married to mary magdalene. Nevertheless, he was a great leader amongst the jews and had many followers. He heralded christianity and was a strong advocate of the religion. During that time in Rome where Constantine was the emperor, Christianity was on the rise. To constantine this was a growing turmoil because the romans originally worshipped the cult of sol invitus, or the invincible sun. Three centuries after the cruxification of jesus, his word spread far and wide and his followers multiplied exponentially. Christians and Pagans began warring, and the violence escalated to such an extent that it threatened to spilt rome in two. (Pagan worship was the religion of the romans-sun god). Constantine had to do something. In A.D 325, he decided to unify Rome under a single religion-christianity. Constantine was simply backing the winning horse. By fusing pagan symbols, rituals into the growing christian tradition, he created a sort of hybrid religion that was acceptable to both parties. I quote from the Da Vinci Code "The vestiges of pagan religion in christian symbology are undeniable. Egyptian sun disks became the halos of catholic saints. Pictogram of Isis nursing her miraculously conceived Horus became the blueprint for our modern images of virgin mary nursing baby jesus. Christianity honoured the jewish sabbath of saturday, but constantine shifted it to coincide with the pagan's veneration day of the sun. To this day, most churchgoers attend services on sunday morning with no idea that they are there on account of the pagan sun god's weekly tribute-sunday".

Jesus lived life as a mortal man, a very human man indeed. However, it is said in the book that the establishment of the divinity of jesus was critical to the further unification of the roman empire. By offically endorsing Jesus as the son of god, constantine turned jesus into a deity who existed beyond the scope of the human world, an entity whose power was unchallengable. It was all about power. The romans literally stole the human jesus from his followers, hijacking his human message and shrouding it in an impenetrable cloak of divinity, and using it to expand their own power. However, the fact still remains that Jesus lived very much a mortal man, admitedly a historical figure of staggering influence but nevertheless a man who lived and died, just like any other. There were many books, or gospels, wrote about him, chronicling his life as a mortal man. As you know, constantine collated the bible, choosing and rejecting gospels to be included in the modern bible of today. As the emperor he was the high priest and he presided over the church fathers. He comissioned and financed a the bible which omitted the gospels that spoke of christ human traits, his flaws and embellished those gospels that made him appear godlike. Of course not all the evidence was eradicated. Namely the dead sea scrolls were found in the 1950s hidden in a cave near Qumran in the Judean desert, the Coptic scrolls in 1945 at Nag Hammadi. In addition to the grail story, which speaks of jesus as a married man, these gospels clearly highlighted glaring historical discrepancies and fabrications, almost confirming that the modern bible was edited by men who possessed a politcal agenda-to promote the divinity of jesus christ and use him to solidify their power base.

The Priory of Sion is a secret organization that guards a breathtaking historical secret-the truth about jesus christ. The piory of sion believed that the troubles and sinfulness of our modern world could be attributed to the imbalance of the male and female. Constantine fabricated the idea about eve eating the apple from the tree of knowledge in the garden of eden, and condemned women as the people who incurred the wrath of god by committing the original sin. The Priory of Sion believes that justice was not done to mary magdalene because she was forced to go into hiding from the catholic church which wanted to kill her because she proved that jesus was a mortal man. They believe that mary magdalene should be worshipped like jesus. Their job is to protect the surviving bloodline of jesus christ from the malicious attacks of the catholic church in attempt to elimate these living testimonies of the truth about jesus. The priory of sion guards the secret of the location of mary magdalene's tomb, along with the gnostic gospels, the historical documents which documented the life of mary magalene, including her personal diary, and together with other gospels which speak of jesus in a very human form, carrying out his ministry.

This is what the Da Vinci Code has to say. The book has really struck me because of the possibility of some form of truth in what they say. Even though i devote my saturdays to going to church (i attend the church's youth fellowship instead of the usual sunday service), I go there to find about more about jesus christ. Sometime deep down within me is blocking me from truly accepting christ with all my heart. Perhaps it is the thirst for truth and the idea that the bible is not convincing enough to me, or maybe it is my closed mind, my refusal to accept anything that does not fit in with my belief system. I find it hard, even though i try, to accept that jesus christ was really the son of god, that he was ressurrected three days after his death and that he has paid the price for all our sins. Maybe i do not even belief there is such thing as a god. I jus can't.

I have never doubted that jesus was a historical figure, that made a great impact on human history. It is undeniable. But can he really be the son of god. Did he die for our sins, to cleanse us like the blood of the lamb, or did he die for what he believed in. Many people tell me "if jesus was not the son of god, why did he pretend to be? What was he in for? If he wanted money and fame, why would he die willingly? If he wanted to make a fortune out of this big hoax, the least he can do is to elude his captors". However, these arguments do not convince me. Why can he be a great moral teacher so well-endowed with leadership ablities and of such a high moral stature that he commanded the respect of many devoted followers? Why cant he believe wholeheartedly that he is the son of god, even though he is disillusioned, and choose to die for what he truly believes. What if he did not die on the cross and that was why he 'ressurrected' and visited his apostles on the night of the last supper?"

Perhaps I should put my 'over-enquirying' mind behind me and place my trust in jesus. Perhaps it does not matter at all as to the truth about him. He could be the son of god, he could be a great priest and teacher, but the fact is that he loved us, he did die for us. It does not matter if he was worthy to die for us or not, his status is not important, whether he was a loving god or a respectable and great fellow human. We can be sure that jesus wanted man to mend his sinful ways and he brought hope to the world. Afterall, he spent his whole life doing that.

Maybe what i need is faith. I have seen the change christianity has wrought on the christian friends around me. I am convinced that christianity has brought far more good in this world that it has brought harm. It has brought faith, love and trust, it has helped us become better persons. Frankly, the Da Vinci Code has presented to me a the possibility that christianity might not one big hoax, the biggest story ever told, turns out to be the biggest story ever sold. However, it has made me sure of one thing-if i have the truth about jesus christ in my hands, I will destroy it. The world just cant be proved wrong about jesus christ. They just can't. After all the years of devot worship, or unshaken faith, the outcome would be devastating. It would be, just a little short of the end of the world.

Jesus, if you are really there, then make me believe.

Harry Potter and the Globlet of Fire

2005-11-27T21:51:00.000-08:00

I really regretted missing the first part of the show. Went to eng wah Cinemas at Suntec tower 3 to watch globlet of fire. My whole family went. We were slightly late due to a urgent toliet visit. Haha. Anyway i knew we did not miss much because the first scene i saw when i entered the pitch dark cinema was harry complaining about his scar hurting while he was at the burrow (Weasely's residence).

I found the show very engaging. I enjoyed the effects and camera tricks (all the magic in the movie were very much computer animations, camera tricks, etc). After reading the book twice, I had a very clear understanding about what was going on. I must say that the movie was rather fast moving. At the climax it was pulse racing. However for a person who is potter-ignorant and a true 'muggle', haha, (probably he hasn't read the book), he would definitely find it hard to understand and follow the movie. Harry potter is a show that requires prerequiste reading before one catches the movie. I wouldn't like blurring through the movie without a clue as to what is going on. Well, one could watch the movie for the effects or simply to past time if he's loaded, but my style of watching movies is really digging deeper into the movie and thinking about it after i have watched it. It's really fun when you uncover the nuances in the plot and discuss about some of the characters and fathom at what message the movie is trying to convey. Well, at least it is to me.

If its up to me to sum up the story of Harry Potter into a paragraph I would say, Harry potter is bascially about the adventures of the trio, (Harry, Ron and Hermoine), how they grow up in the midst of daunting evils (Fugly Voldermort). Harry Potter is mainly about friendship and good vs evil. Ever since primary four when i started devouring J K Rowling's masterpieces, my love for harry potter books has never wavered. The allure of the magical world is irresistable. Perhaps, its the ability of the book to plunge us into a magical world, so cleverly concealed from muggles that makes it so attractive. The magical world opens the door of imagination. It refreshes us to read about the adventures of harry potter because we yearn, deep down in out hearts, to be like him in his world. We long to have a wand of my own that we can use to conjure spells, stun out enemies, complete out homework, clear up the mess that we created in the kitchen with a wave of the wand, we long for broomstick rides, broomsticks with shiny 'firebolts' engraved on them, to sit in the cabin of hogwarts express and stretch out a handful of galleons, exchanging them for boxes of every flavour beans, chocolate frogs, sherbet lemon, and the list goes on. It is just tranference-longing to be like the character in stories.

What do I like about the goblet of fire? Well, I must say i love the acting of the young budding actors and actresses. Despite concerns that emma watson, daniel racliffie and rupert grint are outgrowing the maturity level in the story, (in fact they are two years older than they are supposed to be in the book), I think that their acting is brilliant. I particularly liked the subtle jokes cracked by Ron. It is such lighthearted humour that really adds the magical touch to the movie. The part i liked best in the movie was the second task, when Harry chose to save fleur declacour's sister even though he did not need to. J K Rowling emphasis the moral stature of harry through the various moral acts he does. He saves fleur declacour's sister despite the onslaught of vicious merpeople, he saved cedric digorry when he could have won the triwizard tournament. All these displayed the fine moral fibre of harry, and harry's willing rescue of cedric turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Of course, as many of u know, the triwizard cup turned out to be a portkey which almost guaranteed a one way ticket to tom riddle's graveyard, in other words-death. If harry had been selfish and touched the triwizard cup first, he would probably have been killed by wormtail (peter pettigrew) and no one would have doubted Lord Voldermort's powers and like voldermort said, "if anyone talked about harry potter after his humilating death, it would be about how he begged for death". Harry potter is the protagonist of the story and obviously is the main character of the story as the title of the book is self-explainatory. Though he is not exceptionally smart or able, Harry Potter is ordinary yet extraordinary in his own ways. He possesses great nerve and outstanding couragewhich comes to good use when he has to worm himself out of sticky situations and escape from the jaws of death (e.g his date with the hungarian horntail). However, i feel that what makes harry potter truly stands out is his values. Harry Potter chose to be good, even though he has much of lord voldermort evil makeup. Harry Potter chose to stand firm in his friendship with Hermoine and Ron even when his fame and glamour would easily enable him to mix with the famous and influential characters just as professor slughorn would love to. A message that really strucked me was what dumbledore said at the end of the second movie (harry potter and the chamber of secrets), "it is not our abilities and traits that make us who we really are, it is our choices". Harry Potter was particularly difficult to place by the sorting hat, it was difficult to decide if he really belonged to grifindor or slytherin, he would have done well in slytherin but he chose to be in grifindor because he knew slytherin would lead him up the path of evil.

As the fourth show concludes and we still relish in the splendid magical moments, the audience is primed for the major conflict of the harry potter series, the conflict between good and evil (death eaters vs aurors and other witches and wizards), which has been lying under the surface in the first to fourth book. As the dark lord gains strength, many wizards and witches have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy.

P.S: The director could have done better with another actress for cho chang. Nevertheless, the scottish-born katie leung breaks the monotony of a predominantly english cast and her scottish-chinese mix accent is something that is new and exciting.

Russia and the West are marching to a different tune

2005-11-24T05:41:00.000-08:00

I found it really humourous when i saw on internet, in a webbie that had a whole lists of oxymoron. It had this as an oxymoron: "free russia". I guess it was written during the cold war or before that. Many of ur perceive russia to be democratic after the collapse of the USSR. Not much is heard of a punctured Russia which contrasts so poignantly with its former glory at the height of its power.

I read this article on newsweek about russia's politics and russia's influence in world stabilty. It was rather interesting. Let me share an exerpt.

"The Russian people are ready for democracy, no less than the Iraqis. Its the putin government that finds democracy unsuitable for its ends"

Why?

To start off, we must understand that what happens to major superpowers in the world has a profound influence of the world balance and dynamics. China can balance US's power. It is not in the interest of Russia to allow US to maintain its world dominance. It would hinter Russia's attempts to regain its former glory and power. The gobal uncertainty all suits Putin and his clinque. Come to think of it, Russia GDP is chiefly made up of profits from energy. Investors are impressed by Russia's economic progess. Yes it is an improving economy but we must bear in mind that profits can be largely attributed to the steep climb in energy prices. Such a windfall is deceptive, for Russia is investing little to maintain its energy production capacity. (short-sighted putin?) Russia's economy is only as stable as a barrel of oil, it probably flutuates with unsteady oil prices. Putin probably has a vested interest in sowing instability at home and abroad. Its really no wonder why nuclear and missle technology flow to Iran, and Syria's dictatorship is shielded from UN investigation of terror activities. Maybe its Russia's doing. Well, at least i think so.

Russia is a mess today. Terrorism pervades state life in russia to such an extent that it becomes a issue of life and death that terroism is eradicated. I quote from newsweek article "In Russia today the state is matching the terroists blow for blow, dragging us down the lowest denomination for morality. Incendiary grenades and tanks were used against terrorists and child hostages alike in Beslan, and the investigation remains blocked. Military posion gas killed 130 hostages in the 2002 Nord-Ost theater siege, and hundreds of suvivors cannot get effective treatment because the government refuses to release the composition of the toxin they inhaled". I wonder if Putin cares. Without a good leader and a good government, the people will suffer. A good leader only has one aim-to serve the people and to advance public good. Maybe what Russia needs is a democratic transition.

Allies must have common goals and values to chart a common direction, especially in view of the need to be united in the war against terror. Putin's Russia shares neither with the West. It's time the leaders of the free world stop pretending otherwise.

What is morality?

2005-11-23T23:14:00.000-08:00

This is my first post and it appears too serious and too scholarly. But nevermind, i will still get one with it or else i might lose the idea in a day or two. As I was walking on the street today i 'stumbled' upon a crisp five dollar note. It's a funny thing to say because no one stumbles on paper but i guess it was the surprise that 'stumbled' me. Needless to say, I took up the banknote and place it snugly in my pocket. Then i suddenly whirled around to see if anyone saw. It was such an instinctive action. The sense of shame is so deeply rooted in our conscience, our sense of right and wrong. As I write now the five dollar note grins at me, unnerving me as if saying, "good job, and justifying, finders keepers losers weepers". Yet i cannot keep the sense of shame at bay. The self-consciousness is always there.

I always wonder how the human conscience came to be. Once i observed my baby brother playing with my cousin. Their combined age was less than three years old and yet the were sinful babies. Highly posessive and basically evil. Then, my baby brother seemed to have developed a liking to a green toy car, which was then in the pocession of my baby cousin. He stretched out his small but forceful hand to reach for what he wanted, and pulled it from my cousin's clutch. My cousin started expressing displeasure in the most natural way-crying. My baby brother stood up, and walked rather unsteadily but purposefully into the room out of sight. At this moment my mother came out from the kitchen and stared at me and then stared back at my weeping cousin with an accusing look on her face. It stucked me the evil resided within even the new born baby's mind, one that has just started collecting stimulus from the world he is in for no more than approximately a year, and is still struggling to perfect his psychomotor abilities rather than his cognitive ones. Of course i had a hard time trying to prove my innocence, compounded by the fact that i had a bad track record of being the cause of my younger siblings crying. But this incident left an indelible mark on me. It came to me as a realization that man is intrinsically evil. Not to mention i realized that my brother is evil!

What if we isolated a new borned child from the rest of the world. We leave him uneducated but provide for him to live with only plain food barely enough to sustain him. We allow him to have no contact with any human beings until one day we place an educated man inside this ignorant man's humble abode. This man has a basket of the most delicious food you can imagine. Sweets, honey oat bread, roasted turkey, haha durians, cream puff, macdonald's fries (bear with the crap i mentioned haha, but the idea is there yar eh). We give the ignorant man a knife. We get the educated man to refuse to allow the ignorant man to eat any of the food in the basket. We watch what happens when the ignorant man yearns for more food. Perhaps the educated man gives him a taste of what good food is, but only a little, to tempt him, leaving him yearning for more. The ignorant man is not starved. He is given the option of obtaining better food. But he has to use force because the educated man refuses. Remember that the ignorant man is armed with a knife. Will he harm the educated man for the food? I don't know. I am not sure but i think he will.

In this thought experiment i am trying to ascertain what human nature is really like if we remove it from the context of society. Is it virtuous, is it savage and unbridled, or is it docile, friendly? In a world where there are limited commodities, there are limited benefits, there is a conflict of interest. Every human is selfish, for practical reasons. He needs to secure what he needs to survive, for self-preservation. But we are forgetting greed. He also wants to please himself. He wants to pocess more of things that are good and benefical to him. He does not care if others want the things that he want. There is no reason to. The probably sounds like the survival of the fittest. It's something similar to that idea, but what i am trying to bring out her is a conflict of interest between humans. This happens all the time. John Locke describes this as the state of nature. The state of war and conflict is the state of nature. We do not see this in today's world. We have a proper system of governance. We have a structured world made up of nations. We have democracy to ensure balance of power, to safeguard against misuse of power and to make sure that the people can remove self-serving politicians from office. We have an effective system of currency. We work for money and we use legal tender notes to buy what we want. We do not thieve and rob because there are dire consequences imposed by the government. However, under the veneer of controlled propriety we probably can find an uglier side of humans. Backstabbing, rat races, dirty activities are all signs of selfish humans willing to harm to meet their own interest.

Why must we be moral? Why must i return the five dollar note that i have found to the police? Is it even worth the trouble? Well, the social contract is the practical reason for morality. If every one it the world does not abide by rules and exercise restrain on his desires, there would be chaos, anarchy. There would not be a world. Man is a gregarious creature, that means he is a social creature who lives in a group instead of living solidarily. He needs the company of his fellow man. The prehistoric caveman could not kill the mammoth alone. He needed the help of his cavemates. Man knew that they needed to cooperate with his circle of friends to overcome the challenges of the physical environment. If a human acted in his own interest and compromised on his cavemates haha, he would be rejected, he would receive retaliation. He would become the enemy of the community. He cannot survive alone. The social contract simply means that one agrees not to do things in his interest that infringe on the interests of the general people because others also agree to do so. The bottomline is: if we are not moral and we allow our banal destructive instincts to get the better of us, the world would not be able to function and it would not be in the interest of everyone.

But this is far from understanding our conscience. How and why are we inculcated with the sense of right and wrong?

I don't know

I have always reasoned with my conscience why I should let my hair down sometimes and bend the rules, do something evil. This is my logic. Or rather the logic of most people. Since I do not believe in eternal life or afterlife because it is totally absurb, my present life is all I have, it is my whole existence. After my life ends i will perish eternally and not even the dust of my bones will be there in years to come. I only have one life. Why should I allow moral constraints to drag me down? Why should I deprive myself of enjoyment and torture myself with rules. I should enjoy myself to the maximum, I should maximise my happiness because everything i am will be lost when death makes his clean sweep.

Am I right?

Recently I started going to church and finding more about christ. I found the christian answer to morality. Perhaps it is best summed up in the following exerpt from a christian book.

"There appears to be a moral vacuum in our society, perhaps especially amongst the young. For the past forty years or so, the old traditional values have been overturned in the name of personal freedom. The individual must have the right, within a few limited constraints, to do exactly what he or she wants. This new age, the 'permissive society', was heralded with a fanfare in the 1960s, but the band plays no more. The dream has become a nightmare as we begin to reap what we have sown: an accelerating crime rate, the disintegration of family life and lack of respect for authority. It is no wonder that many are realizing that the rejection of the old values was a great mistake. It was because he sensed that mood that John Major launched his ill-fated 'Back to the basics' campaign in 1993. It failed, not just because some conservative politicans showed themselves incapable of living to the standards they set. There was a fundamental problem: just what should the basics be? There is no moral consensus anymore. Once we reject god we can have no firm foundation. Morality becomes just a matter of opinion that changes with cultural context and individual preference."

This passage really strucked me. Can the justification about morality really be found in god?