YSL SoLaS

2012-01-24T15:34:00.000+08:00

Settling back in the US was full of hiccups. I arrived at the MBTI program late due to missing my flight. It could be due to a myriad of reasons that could be migated. But I am past that.

The certification made me sunderstand why some people are at their jobs. Despite coming from very different settings, there was still a good exchange of ideas. Despite not having a full spectrum of 16 types, it is good to find similar type people and understand above and beyond.

Personality is not about understanding and conforming. It is about knowing and improving, it may be hard. In a sense, it is not about improving or change. It is about stepping out of the comfort zone and making one more adapt to environment or merging differences. However, there is no complete personality test nor a perfect one. There is still some aspects that is untouched by certain tests. Hence, understanding is crucial, believing and conforming is extreme. Yet, to change a habit, behavior takes time and a lot of conscious effort. It also requires the right opportunities to flew new/untamed skills/behavior without fear of "messing up". Yet, it is possible. That is why some people can go above and beyond.

I had never really missed home till I stepped back. It may be cliche, corny and cheesy. But home is still the best place afterall. It may not be perfect. There are still many things our country, people, government can be better at. But the level of ease one feels at home is pretty indescribable. It is not awesome but it feels good.

Yet, there is still a lot for Singapore to become a global impact. I have been spending days trying to tell people it is not Mt. Ulu and we do speak English (though accent and colloquialism takes a lot out of it). The cross cultural differences is perhaps something to takes forever to learn. There are over 200 countries over the world and even neighbors do differ.

School started on a completely different mood. More uncertainties and opportunties awaits. Something in me says I am not eager. Conflicting principles will set in soon. .... Life ...

The year of 11

2012-01-01T16:42:00.000+08:00

Perhaps it is not a time to reflect on the past. But a better time to have foresight into the future. However, humans will never be able to effectively ignore the past. Furthermore, we heavily utilize our past to make future insights. Such cognitive shortcuts will fail us sometimes. But that is not today's point. I digress, but let's move back to our opening.

It truely has been a year. Perhaps as we grow older, we tend to effectively remember better. I have managed to develop better understanding to a job I have always yearned for, and I am still undecided about its future. I found someone special and stay special even as time flies. However, life is never smooth sailing. I am not going to get my advanced honors. It is also time to worry about the future.

It is the future that probably matters more. This year will bring more change than before. Perhaps, the realities of life have not hit me. Maybe, in a sense, it could be good if I never reach that stage. Then again, it is all part of growing up.

I know that home is the best place to be. It may not be perfect but at feeling of at ease is indescribable. And the future will be right at home. And the future may not be brighter. There is alots of hard work to install the lighting. I may not be ready for it, I may not have the bulbs, but I will be waiting, ready for it.

ToM

2011-12-17T07:45:00.000+08:00

The inferences about Theory of Mind (ToM) suggests that humans and some primates have to ability to understand how others understand things. In proper terms, the Theory of mind is the ability to attribute mental states (beliefs, intents, desires, pretending, knowledge, etc.) to oneself and others and to understand that others have beliefs, desires and intentions that are different from one's own.

There exists an higher-ordered ToM that sees that one can understand about how the other understands about one. Basically, the ability to know you know what he knows that you know. In contextual terms, it is A knowing about B knowing what A knows.

It is complicated, our cognitive shortfalls add further intricacies. Our brain is actually lazy and tends to find the easiest (and sometimes wrong) path to remember and understand how the world revolves. While availability heuristics and representative heuristics provide a rule of thumb they are not often correct.

Furthermore, we often fail to take the perspective from the other point of view due to framing effects. The phrase "Before criticizing a man, walk a mile in his shoes" can be apt here. However, it is not possible to walk a mile without his shoes. But we carry on assumptions. It saves us on thinking. In Kantian thought, even advice seeking will only confirm our initial thoughts and feelings. It is thus difficult to seek understanding in that shoes unless we ask thy shoes. Thus, it is beyond me why we cannot be more direct and continue with our assumptions.

There can be a few reasons such as not rocking our world, simplifying the world (which our brains always seek to) or there is no need to. Relevance is actually pretty crucial in our thinking. A death of a an unknown towards someone known is very different. Yet, one could never know until such an experience befall upon one.

As usual, it is the end of another semester. However, the feeling is very different now. It is about what the future might hold. A group of friends will head out into the cruel corporate world earlier than others. Some will move on to greater things in life. College life would have been different, dull, unmotivated and uninspiring. I wish those continue to shine in the path that they take.

Being overseas is another thing. Perhaps home is something in our subconscious, when we clear of our conscious and cognitive load, it appears out. But the love is always there ... ...

Bye (for now)

2011-08-05T00:45:00.000+08:00

For those who do not know me well enough, I am a man of a few words. So here goes, "a few words". Yet, for those who know me well enough, i suck at writing such farewell note or similar stuff. Perhaps there is an exception for one person.

Thanks to those who will be sending me off later. I am touched, especially by the fact I havent been spending time with you guys (my friends) lately. I think it was my darned ICT. Without it, I could have appeared more. Unfortunately, time is like money, it is never enough.

Perhaps, in a certain way, I have never minded much what people think of me. Yet, my extended disappearance makes me wonder what "legacy" I have created and put down with. I know my capabilities, I hoped i havent underestimated or worse, overestimated it.

To my family, I know I havent even been at home properly since months ago. Thanks for been so tolerant, and helping my packing my luggage, till I dont what exactly is inside.

To my uni friends, my past 2 years have been great, especially letting me hone my lame-ing skill. Despite the pertinent mugging, life has always been fun. (PS: Let me chip in if you buying a new disc.) I know I have been a great help, and definitely so are you guys (being a great help to me as well). Especially, those travelling to the US with me, I haven been throwing all the planning crap to you ppl. Thanks.

To my clique, interestingly, I have lesser words for you people. I dont know why. Perhaps it is because we known each other for way too long. We know each other style too well. Perhaps my only wish is to see the gang 'disbanded' when I return.

To my other friends. I am sorry i could not meet any of you up recently due to a overly packed schedule. I hope you people have been well.

To my special other, thanks for accepting me at this time. I admit I am selfish. Selfish for leaving you alone for the next 300 days. Yet, no words can express my thanks; my gratitude; my indebtedness for your eternal forgiveness to such selfishness. It will take more than a lifetime to 'repay' such forgiveness and I will be more than willing to do it. So wait for me. I will return for you. We still have many things to complete together.

5 weeks of being with you is surely insufficient but 300 days of missing you will soon be over. Trust me.

只是远行不是逃避道别是为了延续回忆永恒的华丽你要照顾自己不要忘记那些灿烂过的痕迹

2011-07-30T23:07:00.002+08:00

I shall start with a usual quote: Life is always an irony. On second thoughts, it is better to have than to not have. Since we worrying when we have something as well as worry when we don't have it. Worry is not the proper term, perhaps troubled would be more apt.

It pretty much has been a spin for these few weeks. Yet, looking back appears blur, except for key events. Somehow, this feels very unreal. Perhaps it is this unreal feeling that makes us afraid. For some, afraid of losing; for others, afraid of putting in more; for most, afraid of both. Time may never make this real enough. But it will tell other things as well, such as conquering the fears, and the ability to make it surreal enough.

For now, I surely know, that you are the reason for making me crumble and pick myself up again in the next stretch.

11 half

2011-07-10T14:05:00.000+08:00

Half of 2011 is over. Issues are developing at an accelerating pace. In fact, such a pace spells that things comes unexpectedly to one. In fact, it is so unexpected that it may just change one's life. Yet, no change is without its complexity. This is even more so when a positive heartwarming change occur.

Yet, success is about managing change. In fact, what matters more is how the change and affect future. Being humans, we like to see stability, which is why sometimes fortune telling takes on many dimensions. At least it is a form of reassurance that the future is stable. No matter what the future might bring, some change will become constant. That is an assurance too.

Love is something too irrational to be bounded or looked at with rationality. Which the saying often becomes very apt; "Love is blind". Being blind is nothing scary either. It is because one is blind is some ways, the other has to look out and vice versa. This care and concern in love is certainly very different.

Finally, Summer 1 grades changed for the better as well. It has been a long time since a full A was spotted. I think it once again made me believe my interests and strength are in the right direction. Despite a slight push of 0.02 GPA, it will certainly give impetus when thou is in a foreign land.

But suddenly, there is something pulling me back. For once with a heavy heart, I am leaving. I have to admit my selfishness. Perhaps I have said this a few times. I am selfish. Yet, I thank the eternal grace of forgiving. For that, I shall return for you, my love.

<3

IMDEX 2011

2011-05-28T09:39:00.002+08:00

I christened my IMDEX 2011 experience "Operations Seaworm". For two days straight I had to get up early to the Eastern end (The early bird catches the worm). Since it is a maritime event, the name seawrom would be apt.

Yet, the weather was killer, making the intended Ops falling short of expectations. Due to time and weather contraints, a visit to the Russian Navy, Udaloy class Destroyer, Admiral Panteleyev (DDG-548 was sorely missed. The Republic of Korea Navy, Yi Sun-sin class Destroyer, ROKS Choi Young (DDH-981) slated visit to Changi Naval Base did not materialize.

A total of 5 ships were visited. They are the

United States Navy, Arleigh Burke class Destroyer, USS McCampbell (DDG-85);

Indian Navy, Delhi class Destroyer, INS Delhi (D61);

Indonesian Navy (TNI-AL), Makassar class Landing Platform Dock, KRI Banda Aceh (593);

French Navy, Mistral class LPH, FNS Mistral (L9013)

and Singapore Police Coast Guard (PCG), Shark Class Coastal Patrol Cutter, Blacktip Shark (PH59)

Security checks are part and parcel at such shows. However, security screening at both venues (Changi Naval Base and Changi Exhibition Centre) did not align. My scissors was detected and discard at the latter venue. It is by no means a prank onto security strength, it was unintended (since it is in my pencil box) but somehow showed the difference in mentality towards security and protection. There is no right or wrong. A pair of scissors can prove deadly in a confined space, but probably not so in an open area with armed guards.

Onboard the TNL-AL KRI Banda Aceh, We were greeted to a warm reception probably mistaken that we were from the media. We interrupted their lunch but they had no grudges and gave a comprehensive tour of KRI Banda Aceh.

The PCG PH59 is the smallest ship (boat in fact) on display. Yet, this 25m boat requires 14men to operate and endurance range is about 3 days. This is requires multiple shifts and extreme vigilance of the officers protecting our coastline.

On the INS Dehli, we saw the toughest guard. This guard was probably not bigger in size, but definitely biggest in endurance. Standing under the strongest sun with a helmet, bulletproof vest for 4 hours. Most people would probably quavered under 4 mins.

Thoughts on Shanghai

2011-05-19T00:40:00.000+08:00

Spending a few days in the economic capital of China left me comparing and wondering if China really going to be the next big thing. Firstly, I was not in Beijing (the adminstrative capital) but in Shanghai. The last time I stepped into China was decades ago. Doing the temporal comparison will require deep hypnosis into my subconscious, that it if, the memories are still there.

Shanghai is undoubtedly a modern city. I was reading their English Papers (Global Times) and an article was criticizing about some professor does not consider Shanghai to be metropolitan. If you think Straits Times was bad enough, you havent read this. A few pages was dedicated to criticizing critics and praising the Chinese government. Of course there were some issues raised in other pages.

I drive away from the debate of metropolitan, but there are a few areas that needed to be improved on for Shanghai (and China, for that matter) to move forward and kill that senseless metropolitan debate.

Firstly, Service. Developed economies focus on service. Shanghai, and many coastal cities, have evolving economies. They do not transit from one phase and evolved and skipped a few phases. As such, as major sectors have problems and the Central Government must act quickly. Coming back, there is literally no service standards. Even though China tourists are mainly Chinese Nationals themselves, that is no reason not to raise service standards. Providing service should be on 'automatic' (without request) rather than on manual (ask and you shall receive that only, no extras). Bigger/international hotels should have some staff that knows another language. Staring blankly to a foreign language is not the way either.

One reason, i think, that hinders service is their culture. It is not in their culture to service. Furthermore, with one child policy, means that service is one of the last things people want to do (look at Singapore). There is also not much incentive for service personnel to do more. Perhaps, when the internal tourism majority reduces, the companies and government will start looking into their service standards.

A modern city have a well connected transport system. I was told that the Shanghai metro is a sardine can everyday (a little less on Sundays) and roads jam up every now and then. I was also told that Shanghai is the only place in China with a similar COE to control cars and coming up with a ERP system. This 'told' is subject to confirmation. Anyway, if 15 metro lines connecting the city is insufficient, adding more lines will not alleviate the problem to a large extend. At least frequencies of trains are high. Perhaps, a better public bus system will help commuters, that is if jams become less frequent. Yet, there seemed to be only one traffic rule around, that is, "cross as long as no one gets hurt".

Despite the city modern look, it is still filled with un-modern habits. People (perhaps internal tourists) are still spitting anyhow on the streets. It will take decades for this habit to die out. Littering is also common, but do note if Singapore as the population of human flow as Shanghai, littering will become a problem as well. The city can modernize its facade anytime, readily. But modernizing its people is an uphill task.

Speaking about hygiene relates to China's once famous (doorless) toilets. Most toilets have changed, probably in preparation of last year Expo. However, i will not be surprised to find doorless toilets on the outskirts. Coming back, most toilets exudes a natural toilet smell. I believe it is due to the high usage rates.

Despite the city capitalist outlook, communism ideology is very much strong. Many websites have been denied access. That is an double edged sword. The government does not want the country to spin out of control (look at USSR), and for now, that is way to go. But the government must know when the lift such restrictions. If not, it will one limit their economic growth (then again, that might not be a bad thing as well).

One would think being in China means things are done their style. Apparently, that wasn't the case. The classical Singaporean case of 'No U Turn Syndrome' surfaced. Interestingly, it surfaced on developer Captialand's Raffles City Shopping Center. Its Food Republic (Yes, i am still in Shanghai) items could only be bought used their high tech card, no cash accepted. So much for high tech, so much for going global.

Of course, all is not gloomy out there. There is strong recycling efforts around. The city Maglev train is commendable. Bins are pretty much in reach. There are terms that are not interchangeable due to cultural difference and one should note about that. Things are cheaper relatively (International brands are standard prices anyway) but they have a lower purchasing power parity. Perhaps, it would take someone to appreciate the city better and see more of its good.

Leadership.

2011-05-10T19:47:00.000+08:00

This post reflects on the author personal experiences and does not coincide with recent political events. However, there are undeniable links. The author does not wish to speculate and such links will be drawn by the readers' individual perspectives.

There are many things in life where a fine line is drawn across large grey areas. The idea of a good leadership, in my opinion, is another zen-ish ideology. It is all about balancing very contradicting qualities on across many dimensions. That means, standing on a point where all those fine lines intersects. Of course, there are many qualities, due to inattention span (of both the author and likely the readers) some a few that the author feel strongly for will be mentioned.

A new kind quality dimension have appeared over the recent years. It is the "On-the-ground" vs "ivory towers". Being "on-the-ground" is indeed a literal term. Today, subordinates are so intellectual that that are sometimes compelled to challenge authority (once again, a grey area). Leaders need to be 'on-the-ground' to feel subordinates frustrations and challenges. Feeling is one thing, removing is another. The leader, if possible, help in reducing or eliminating such obstacles. A happy worker is a motivated worker. That helps in lifting morale and efficiency. However, being too 'on the ground' is no good. Every little issue will become your issue. Furthermore, the leaders' eyes on the ground can interfere with subordinates work. It will appear to be an oversupervision which can create undue suspicion and stress.

However, sitting atop of the ivory tower or going remote control is not the the way either. It makes people lose their sense of belonging to their work and organization. A supervisory role is insufficient as it alienates and makes the leader appear out of touch. Clearly, a balance must be struck. A leader must appear "in his ivory tower" to cultivate independent workers while being on the ground to motivate worker. Each subordinate and organization have different cultures, there is no hard and fast rule to how of much each is needed and situations may arise differently. A good leader then must search out his own balance and equilibrium between "up there" and "down here".

The next two qualities are somewhat interlinked for the fact that they appear synonymous. That is being assertive/firm and condescending/flexible. It appears similar for the first pair but not so for the second. Sometimes, when people make decisions, some are not unpopular, change is almost unpopular (be it for better or worse). Yet it is up to the leader to assert good decisions and policies and be firm with it. Afterall, there is no indecisive leader. Yet, the leader must be condescending to obtain views and opinions about his/her decisions. It is also part of flexibility to bend policies according to situations and/or make changes into plans. Plans are not meant to deal with the unexpected and it is the call of the leader to see the ground, make changes and be firm with it.

Having said that, in fact, a first good impression counts more. Judging is wrong but the human minds have to judge so that it works less. It is so lazy that it takes alot to make a bad perspective good (on the other hand, little effort to make a good impression bad). Even with said qualities, a bad impression is a strong barrier to leading people. However, impressions and perspectives are very individual. An image could be perceived very differently across individuals. All is not lost though, the human mind works so well with stereotypes that if one can pull it off the first time, things are going to get easy. That is what perhaps defines charisma.

Social hype

2011-03-30T00:57:00.000+08:00

New social media, is something everyone tries to grasp, understand and use it to their advantage. Yet, its viral is so strong that it can seriously spin out of one control. We have seen many examples of a careless insensitive statement plagued by furore only to be appeased by a simple apology. That can do for now, as the public is a generally forgetful lot. Furthermore, newer 'juicier' content overwhelms the public pretty fast.

I am no communications major nor sociologist expert. But yet, with billions of tweets, facebook status and tumblr photos, what actually grabs attention? Perhaps, it is the middle class.The mainstream everyday news is about the middle class. To be more exact, it is an aspiring middle class (by the fact of using middle class, the underclass is largely absorbed and/or ignored). I shall first move on to talk about cheap clothes from Bugis.

Somebody became a talking point because (in my opinion) her definition of 'uncultured' people went totally off. No one likes one who talk loudly and shove and push around. Yet, correlation doesnt mean causation. No doubt these two can be stereotypical traits. Yet, to another few, there may be reasons behind such behavior. Firstly, the attack on the middle class as unbecoming is unacceptable. The goal of the largely permeable middle class aspires to be the upper class and such behavior do not reflect such a goal.

Secondly, 'cheap' clothes from bugis is too sweeping. Perhaps cheap clothes are sourced elsewhere too. They might be undoubtedly cheap but the correlation of uncultured people buying cheap clothes is too far off and worse still, to relate to a busy shopping area. Now the middle class one is pissing off includes bosses, workers and customers. Really, to ensure bugis does not sell cheap clothes, the bugis tax will implemented to anyone who buys stuff from there. In addition, a gantry will be built in place to limit uncultured people away.

Thirdly, a local fails the Singapore geography and labels Bukit Batok nearby Holland V. I am clueless on this and i hope someone will enlighten me from her point of view. A further assumption she makes appears to give is that there is no heartland in that area, when actually, is a heartland ( or semi-heartland). The area is littered with a good mix of private and public housing which makes one wonder if Holland V has a special aura to make people cultured. If so, then uncultured people should be there more often to absorb the aura.

Of course, no one is entirely wrong, we should also take in good faith to ensure one does not disturb the peace of others (by talking loudly or blasting your music for that matter) and be patient (no one likes a shove, really). Her only fault lies about her definition. If her definition is better tweaked, it would have become a joke and a rallying point, instead of becoming a furore. Then everyone misses the idea of the social grace that everyone else needs.

In fact, one wonders if such comments reeks of elitism and/or dumbness. It appears it doesnt fit properly into either categories but appears to have elements of both. There will always be two sides to a coin and supporters, no matter how few are bound to exist.

My Maid, Our Army (Photo credits from Mrbrown.com)

Social hype comes in all forms, after the audio, we have something very visual. A photo of a National Fulltime Serviceman (NSF) and his maid carrying his backpack sent people cringe in fear, horror and disbelief. However, why the uptightness? Afterall, this concerns a select few males. However, the picture, simply just disregarded the tough two years that many have experienced. It is certainly a disgrace and tarnishes the reputation. It makes people think guys have it easy. Unfortunately, that isnt the case.

The nonchalant attitude towards the fieldpack does reflect his sense of the need and importance towards his belongings and to a larger extent, defence. Truly, no one except yourself will have to carry that piece of rock during wartime. However, if one waits till wartime to carry it. It is then truly nothing but a rock. This explains the importance of training and conditioning. When the time comes, our equipment are assets, not liabilities and we have to treat them like one. Yeah, perhaps the maid was fieldpack certified under some work skills qualification scheme.

As our affluence grows, having maids are not unique anymore. Yet, a line must be drawn on personal responsibilities. There would have to be certain things, at the end of the day, must be done by our own hands. That has to learned. If not, it is a nation of softies we are building, soft in strength and in mind.

The photo did not just get the guys talking, but also caught attention of the other gender. Then it appears to shoot down the gender stereotype of strong and responsibility guy. As long as it doesnt stretch into the soldier stereotype, i think the concern would not be as strong as what it is now.

Once again, our poor guy might really be suffering from some physical ailment which prevents him from carrying his pack. If so our guy there will have a way out. Yet, perhaps it time to wonder more importantly, what values NS can impart to boys in reality. A new approach towards nation building must conceptualise. The days of knowing who is who cannot count as nation building. It should be about the future and defend this ideal to the end. Yet, the current social and political situation doesnt seem to support this very well.

With elections round the corner, a slew of fresh faces are appearing. I think responses to their media appearances regardless they are negative or positive. I think exposure is key now. Yet, age still does play a role in politics. Perhaps a better word is maturity and image projection is very much necessary. It doesnt reflect well on most people to use to much word fillers. Still at the end of the day, I wonder how not bringing parents to USS is regretful, as if USS has closed down or my condolences ( following this line of thought means either closed (hypothetical) or closed (truely, hence condolences to your regret, please do not misunderstand. If not, the author would have to blog about himself sometime soon).

I will comment about the incident in Japan. Somehow it appears very hard to pen down

Another Lion Heart, another Flying Eagle

2011-03-05T14:20:00.000+08:00

Months ago, there was a commentary about how the Singapore government could replicate the defence posture adopted by New Zealand. Once again, it is was a poor article failing to note geopolitics factors and climate of both countries. With recent defence budget cuts in UK and US, it is certainly tempting to think how a reduction in defence can make a difference to the country.

Unfortunately, theory and reality often have a striking mismatch. Often, the theory says a reduction in defence means the ability to pour money into societal needs, such as healthcare and/or education. (Due to the lack of time, I shall not quote exact statistics, but they are out there.) Despite reductions in defence spending, NZ healthcare indicators did not show significant improvements. Following major defence cuts to support the ailing healthcare situation in UK, it can be likely that there will be no significant changes as well.

Despite that, one might argue that it does not apply and that theory does hold some water. However, there is no chance to witness that in Singapore. The 2011 Defence budget rose by 5.4% to over $12 billion. This is procure new toys such as the Heron-1 UAV, SPYDER air defence system and contract to replace the aging Fearless class Patrol Vessels. In order to support the transition in the 3G SAF framework, defence budget have been rising year on year since (at least) 2003.

A rising defence budget can be scary. It could be easily misunderstood as an arms escalation or an arms race. The prelude to previous World Wars was a competition between who had a bigger pie for spending. Hence, our defence posture must be strong, firm and clear. If there is a reasonable situation for spending, it should be carried out. At the same time, there is a need to ensure neighbors are understanding our needs and not misunderstand into something offensive. Deterrence has been a two-pronged approach with sharp teeth and a warm handshake. They are not mutually exclusive.

Hence the idea of a extensive budget cut is neither possible as well. Crippling a defence force can have serious consequences. I am going to move into hypothetical assumptions and opinions of my own. If NZ have had enough manpower and resources, it probably need not have required international assistance for its recent earthquake. Yet, this is unforeseen and definitely not a blame game or whatever. I am just toying the above idea in my head. Her neighbour, Australia, rejected international assistance to its floods last year. Australia is another country having rising defence budget to modernise its forces especially on its aircraft and naval fleets.
Perhaps this relates to the old saying of "Train an army for a thousand days, use them for a moment" (literal translation). Today, threats are multi-faceted and our defence forces must not only be able to quell conventional threats, as well as terrorist movements, HADR and other peacekeeping roles. To have such an army means the need to spend more to equip them with an assets of skills.

The SAF has from one POI battalion to now, a full active brigade (in fact, the only full active brigade) to address homeland security and island defence protection. We have also moved on the engage a larger international role with the assumption of Commander, CTF151 for a second time and more peacekeeping duties in Afghanistan. Our men are also actively involved in assisting our friends in times of help. Another Ops Flying Eagle (SAF codename for any international HADR) and Ops Lion Heart (SCDF/SPF codename) is doing its best to help in the Christchurch earthquake. My condolences to the quake and all the best to our men and women flying the Singapore flag overseas. With that, we know our forces are always ready, to be the first and foremost to any occasion.

11 rambles

2011-02-12T16:53:00.000+08:00

I will be damned if i actually left this place in derelict. School restarted amidst a holiday mood. In fact, it was more than nua-ing than to holiday. I think results for the first quizzes will spell how nua i was. I am pretty much afraid that the academic flame in me is dying. I shall survive the next 6 months and experience a different ball game, literally. Unfortunately, the road to that ball game has a tedious administrative process. In another less tedious process witnessed the rectification of my grades.

For the first time in my life, i heard the comment "What's there to talk about psychology?" Clearly, it either shows inept social skills or psychology knowledge. Either way, it is good to change major. On hindsight, there may be other situational factors arising to that comment. But social skills would still come into play. Otherwise (applying onto general contexts), bullshit would have looked smelly.

January saw the hype of military activities. A 2nd batch of BMT recruits POP-ed at Marina Bay. A medal ceremony and citation awarded to personnel and units that completed their stint in Afghanistan under the auspices of ISAF (International Security Assistance Force). 123 Sqn inaugurated SAF first naval helicopters. Unfortunately, not all news are good as the end of January concluded with yet another death of a serviceman. Once again, it will be hard to find answers, issues and solutions to such a death. My condolences.

A political (somehow, i rather term it as social) issue is the recent MM Lee comments on the local Muslim community. Politicians went quick to downplay sensitive statements such as context and worst case scenario thinking. Yet, strictly speaking, we are constantly divided into our smaller communities no matter how. Ironically, the only time we feel collectively Singaporean is when we are out of this little island. Otherwise, the Singaporean identity is as arcane as unicorns. Really, I have appreciated my general electives modules of History and Pluralism.

On another side of the Earth, Unrest in Tusinia and Egypt overshadowed peace talks between Korea. And the reason why 'geopolitics' is often heard is because politics is linked to geography and also history in this case. Egypt, to the commoner is better known as land of mummies and pyramids or just another desert nation. Yet, Egypt sits on the world busiest shipping route since Industrial Revolution (afterall, Suez Canal opened during the revolution). Anytime a blockade will see the two most populous nations sorely lacking of raw materials and tons of other things. That will create a chain reaction of economic chaos.

Politics also cannot avoid military maneuver's. Egyptian military joined in protests while preventing looting. The Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) launched Operation Pyramid to evacuate fellow Malaysians out of the troubled country. On the note, many will make references between neighbours. Yet, it is fruitless to compare Ops Pyramid to the SAF 1997 evacuation ops in Cambodia. Neither side is superior due to the lack of relevant data from the SAF Ops. Partly is due to the fact of the social media rise and Civil-Military Relations (CMR) have evolved drastically.

Nonetheless, it is good to evaluate both Ops. Once again, it should be noted it is not about comparing and determining who is better. On the first note, the distance covered by the Pyramid far surpasses its counterpart already. Pyramid crossed 5 time zones and 8 air clearances with a estimated 7500km distance.

A total of 3 TUDM (Royal Malaysian Air Force) C-130 Hercules, a pair of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) B-747 jumbos and an AirAsia A330 airliner took part in the Operation. What is commendable is the actual requisition of civil resources and quickly putting them into operational use without delay and rehearsal. With a total of 19 C-130 medium tactical airlift aircraft, putting 3 into duty looked abit too little. Yet, the C-130 range of about 3800km does not fully suit the operational distance, and landing and refuelling has to made multiple times. Perhaps if the yet-to-be-delivered Airbus A400M was operational, lesser pitstop and clearance would have been possible. Hence, it makes practical sense for civil requisition and certainly giving some form of comfort for the 800 evacuees.Furthermore, another ship was (already) on civil requisition (doing duty on the Gulf of Aden) was made available to Pyramid along with several special forces elements. A medical team also tagged on the flights.

On the other hand, SAF flew six flights of C-130 in and out of Cambodia in 1997. It is not known if 6 aircraft was put on duty or a few aircraft did a total of 6 sorties. Assuming that all C-130 have been delivered before 1997, putting 6 out of 10 aircraft to operational use sounded risky. The simple operation made a medical team along, forming the presumtion that multiple sorties were made between a few aircrafts. By nightfall, the operation concluded with 450 persons evacuated.

**Information on Ops Pyramid were taken from http://kementah.blogspot.com/ while SAF 1997 Ops information (or the lack of) is sourced across MINDEF websites. **

04/10 BMT POP

2011-01-08T18:59:00.002+08:00

Today saw the 2nd batch of BMT recruits having their POP at the Marina Bay Floating Platform. This time, a total of 18 companies (compared to previous 13) were in the POP. Needless to say, the stink also increased as well.

Overhearing a recruit comment was that the last company didnt have time to rest at all, they reached, changed and paraded. Casualty rate still stood at one today, making these recruits a worthy commendable praise.

Unfortunately, the army learning maxim is retain the good stuff and improve on the bad ones, so we are staring at a 99% similar invitation card. However, the changes that we felt was worse off. Entry was only via the stairwell instead of the main road as well. I think they wanted to prevent delay, and peharps they could let earlycomers stroll onto the road while direct latecomers into the stairwell, that would save some people from the stink.

And the goody bag was missing of poncho and tissue paper. I think that would have really helped for wet seats. They could start issuing gas masks if they had the bugdet too. The Guest-of-Honour talked too much.

First in eleven

2011-01-03T14:58:00.000+08:00

It is 2011. But it might be just another day for some people. This year marks a new beginning and a even stark change later this year. Yet, it is a year of new and also old. Some stay will stay and some will change. For that, one woll anticipate the changes and the constants, for better and worse.

Forecasting is always good, while that preparation is not sufficient and unnecessary to some, it still serves as something to anticipate about. Here goes. Below is a list of key events.

Key Events list.
January: Dress Number 1 - Ceremonial. // BMT POP at Marina Bay (probably not attending).
May: IMDEX 2011. // a possible familiy trip, more possibly clashing with IMDEX 2011.
July: SAF Day Parade 2011 (Not sure if I have the chance to catch it). // 75th POP.
August: NDP 2011. // Off to Buffalo.

There is also a Air Force Open House next year, unknown of a possible date yet, but it is likely i might have the chance to attend. There is a an impending change for life in blue. Anyway, there is an ICT slated for a possible July that hopefully i can attend. That's all for the key events this year.

Rounding ten

2010-12-29T11:05:00.008+08:00

The last post of the year usually serves as an review. This post will be such unless otherwise. As mentioned previously, resolutions are a puzzling issue for some. They make them, forget them and make again. In a certain way it comes as a of goal setting. Yet, most people annual goals are pretty similar to companies shareholders. The list often run into a cliche few.

While I am not a calender year resolution person, There are good highlights to be noted for this year and also major crosses. Let's start with the bad first.

Perhaps two major crosses here (or rather the two i could think of) are getting an IPPT Silver and something related to life in blue. I told myself i would not be squeezing in the crowds but doing something else. But i guess, i would be squeezing in the crowds again. In a certain sense, I am not particularly bothered, especially for the latter.I learned something about life and with regards to context, isn't very positive, but i learned.

On a positive note, it has been a good academic year. Target settings were fully met, pending an error check outcome. I sound like giving an annual report. Anyway, what was more impactful was faculty members impacting positively on academic life. One shed the typical image of a boring lecturer, while the other needs to shed to see goodness. However, it is a loss that a good lecturer will not be lecturing anymore. Summer semester was really good. Sitting back in known instructors class made life easier as one knows what to expect and expected scores were collected (one pending a double check outcome).

It also has been a good time in defence interest. Attended SA2010, NOH2010, NDP 2010 and the inaugural BMT2010 POP Parade in chronological order. This year also marks the homecoming of F-15SG and HIMARS into SAF. Despite a small brush with OSA, things have been relatively good. I skipped this year ICT. Hopefully, i can clear this outstanding ICT in time.

This year also formalises 3 areas that I wanted to niche into. The first two have already been mentioned (psychology and defence) and the third have been somewhat neglected. Political science is might kinda remain as a dream for me. Anyway, with elections set for next year, i think there would be more learning points from there.

Overall, seems to be have been a good year, despite some things being in status quo. Next year will be even better, that would be for the next post.

an hedonia

2010-12-27T11:44:00.000+08:00

Holidays is the start of a hectic life without books. This is quoted from someone. I think that pretty much spells out a student life. Yet, it makes one wonder when the pace of life will slow down for us. When one is six feet under?? Week 1 of holidays was running errands here and there. Week 2 took a technically slower, which the main highlight was finishing a drama in 3 days. The next 2 weeks will allow me to settle into holiday mood properly. That spells the start of another semester again.

I got a very poor unexpected grade. Denial does help. Denial is always the first form of internal coping mechanism. By the fact having that grade meant i failed or borderline pass my finals. However, I will be willing to accept a lesson of complacency. The outcome awaits ...

As the year draws to a close, it is pretty much the time for Resolutions again. Yet, I wonder how many people actually remember whatever they wrote and even achieved for the year. I struggled to remember them, and I am disheartened to say i did not managed to achieve one of them. That is for the round up post coming soon.

My cynicism on queueing got the better of me. For one, i dislike queues and crowds, but i do not have social phobia or anything, i just require a larger personal space, that's all. I am pretty fine in strange, new and unusual settings otherwise. So there is certain person who was laughing at my cynicism, for my sarcasm was shooting myself in the foot as I was in the queue as well. Perhaps I shall let live, at least my sarcasm had its cartharsis and somebody left thinking I was a retard, happily.

It is always an irony that anhedonia sets upon on such times. Maybe it is something I (should have) get used to ...

fallen update

2010-12-15T13:40:00.000+08:00

It has been long since an update. I will do a quick round up then. It has been a difficult semester, however, there wasn't an easy semester to begin with. Despite an imminent drop in GPA (afterall, it has been dropping.), I think I have learned much from this semester, be it in academic or non-academic life.

I said i would be doing something on Work, Ethics and Professionalism. But I guess that does not warrant a full post now. As said, i draw experiences and thoughts from different context. Hence there should not be speculation that i am bitching about people. For one, I hate to micro-manage, it certainly feels good to have have control. But rather than controlling humans with mind, i choose to control my myself.

Team members/colleagues/friends are pretty much human too, with their own set of thinking and working styles. It is never easy to blend a style, especially when people face different pressure and commitments differently. Yet, unfortunately, a wiki style teamwork can only happen on the web, also facing its own set of problems. It is never easy to manage people and this semester proves that neither extreme work, and a balance should be sought.

While everyone face different commitments and pressure differently, there must be a proper set time towards each and every responsibility. It is nothing easy either, as establishing identity is probably a continuous process, and defining oneself occurs at every moment. That does not mean each task is valued differently, in fact, all tasks should be of equal importance and value.

It also means one should see dedication in each and every part of the task. While prioritising seems to make work finish faster, dedicated parts will smoothen out problems later. Since there is equivalent tasks. It means proper time management should be seen through, not via coming late or early just because we are somebody. Because, everyone is somebody in a sense.

And by the fact that even there is a somebody status, all the more one should be there to settle stuff, and not just leave people to die (not in literal sense). The value of a team member hinges on the team itself, no matter good one is, the team strongest player is the weakest link. In extreme rare occasion ans circumstances would some member be so damn bloody pivotal to create a miracle. But I guess, the realistic part is stop praying and get everyone on the same track. In a sense, i forgot. In another sense, there is only so much to one's reaction range.

Humans are the most social animals of all. Even Technology evolved just to make us socialise, in one or another. Unfortunately, despite the highly innate sociable nature, it doesn't mean we need to have 2000 friends on facebook. That is something too expensive and exhaustive to upkeep. Hence, somewhere in a certain theory states that an ideal group should just be limited to 5-7 persons. Thus, social satisfaction probably shapes an inverse U curve along with the number of friends.

This actually means friction and displeasure will set in. It is not easy when we start to have more and more social circles and attending to different circles at the same time. Then we people start to micro in on the smallest thing, the way one walk can easily irritate the other person. And best of all, gossip takes place. It is inevitable, but one have to hope is the the truth will not get distorted.

Another intangible thing i learnt was Determination. It could be better defined into willpower or similar. Yet, this virtue of will (achieved during Erikson second psychosocial stage of autonomy vs shame and doubt) is necessary in allowing one to have that last dash or impetus to accomplish tasks. It is disheartening. I would certainly live with failures than to regrets.

The recent Wikileaks saga prompts to wonder further and beyond. What is their motive? Or the bigger picture behind their motive? Afterall, whatever that was released was more of an open secret than to anything else. There might be something bigger and unknown to their workings, something as questionable as why their motives.

What will you defend?

2010-11-05T16:59:00.000+08:00

What will you defend??

These four words were the very tagline of Singapore Total Defence Day 2008 (Interestingly, the Total Defence 2010 tagline is "I will"). Total Defence, is another uniquely Singapore concept, which defines defence not only in military strength, but also in civil,economic, psychological, social strenght. In short, every Singaporean has a role to play in the defence of Singapore.

A certain peculiar question that had opened a can of worms recently is certainly not new. As the years goes by, the society demographics changes. Add on the growing disenchanment from a slew of social-economic policies, the question seeps into the limelight: 'Who/what are we actually defending for?'

The arguement is simple, as mentioned in the earlier paragraph. The question was raised by an Operationally Ready National Servicemen (ORNSmen) Officer to Senior Minister (SM) Goh. He is not alone as many ORNSmen are sharing the same sentiments. In fact, the younger generation, particularly the pre-enlistees, do not see a need to 'waste' 2 years of their lives.

A form of damage control has been done, once again by our state media. Statistics were released to show that 14 and 16 year olds show partriotism and willingness to defend. Yet, it is heartening to know these kids (if true) are not the only willing ones. There appears to be a equal divide of opinions to this issue.

Unfortunately, defence is a public good. Foreigners will enjoy the unintended effects of it, whether we like it or not. That doesn't warrant each and every one of us to give up, to defend our very loved ones or things that we hold dear to in this soil.

This is not the age of xenophobia, for there is a love-hate relationship with the foreigners. As one forum aptly voices his opinion "Be your own boss, and hire Singaporeans only, then you will realise the need for foreign talents/workers". This is the best time to question our identity too, for it is question hard to answer even for a nation that declared independence in 1776, much less a young nation like Singapore.

If so, then this should be a time for enthocentrism. Already, the stage seems pretty much set. A new identity will be forged if people can unite together and acheive a certain goal together. That is one of the lofty goals that Nation Service was designed for. While there are subtle differences and restrictions in a sensitive place called defence, the overall experience from touching with people from all walks of life cannot be discounted. Still , there is a need for everyone (including foreigners as well) to put down their individual differences and work together. What divides us now will split us in times of a real military crisis.

The National Service Recognition Award (NSRA) served as a token became misinterepted and marginalised. But there is only so much a government can do. Money will never be enough to entice people to defend, becuase defence is priceless. However, reaching out to the public (meaning a outreaching and understanding Public Affairs Department) , making people understand that NS is critical and necessary, making ORNSmen feel appreciated and also proper ulitisation of NSmen. These efforts must be planned out in a delicate manner (by the government, ministry policy planners and more importantly; the private sector), and handled in a sensitive approach (MINDEF PAFF and the media). Any misunderstandings will create a wave of dissent as seen earlier.

NS commanders must understand this, and seek out to educate his men, to guide and align the whole battalion/brigade/division/army to a same idea. That's unity, this unity must be one without fallacy and be lost in the chase for fame and recognition. The drawing up of a Combined Arms Division (CAD) in 1997 meant that there is no difference in status, as a regular serviceman, ORNSmen or a National Servicemen Full-time (NSF). Tthere is no order to who goes out there first when crisis strike, for the fact that everyone will go out at the same time, on the same frontline.

If danger falls upon us, we will see those who have the ability to flee will flee. This fleeing group will include more than just foreigners. For that reason, we are not defending for these foreigners.

At the end of the day, I have nothing much against our officer, but I pose him the question: "What will you defend?"

deadlines

2010-10-31T23:14:00.001+08:00

October, the month of deadlines is over. November is all set to be busier with 3 quzzies, 3 presentations and 1 project due. Not to mention a bunch of importantly adminstrative stuff such as bidding, holidays (or rather the lack of it) and non-academic crap.

Once again, things are re-defining on how i look at Professionalism, Work Ethics and Team Dynamics. Surely, I can be better in all these areas. I will review this again when the semester/year officially ends. The hectic time have seemed to made me neglect certain things. 3 mods wasn't that relaxing it seems. I thought it was long that i updated this space, and apparently, it wasn't as long as I thought. Talk about time flies. Perhaps time is an enduring one.

In the meantime, I seem to be finding solace in the weirdest song.
親像魚死底花園

Urban (and) jungle

2010-10-16T18:07:00.004+08:00

The recent trends in warfare seems to have made people blind to the most basic war terrain: the jungle. Ok, if you are living in North Africa and/or Middle East and/or Mongolia, maybe the desert will be your war terrain, but let's put this into local context.

One would easily think urbanisation of cities would have eliminated this terrain. That is on the contrary. Cities are not surrounded by more cities or towns but the forest/jungle/deserts. Roads linking from city to city are likely to cut across forested and/or mountainous terrain. Main Supply Routes (MSRs) will too become vulnerable if basic jungle fighting skills are neglected or lost.

Jungle warfare, as one would put it, it nothing easily. The US Marines Pacific Campaign in WWII and later the US involvement in the Vietnam War did tell us how difficult can jungle warfare turn out to be. However, as warfare evolved with modern times, jungle warfare seems to have taken a backseat.

Perhaps the Vietnam War was the last of the major battles in history that had to content with trees. Modern theatre of operations have become largely urbanized or open terrain (read: desert) and with heavy use of air and naval power.

Air and naval support in jungle warfare is often impeded by the terrain itself, thick canopies and the lack of proper MSRs can prove deadly.

Urbanization today put warfare into an entirely different context. The need to balance innocent civilians, media and the injured with enemy elements hidden in between proved tricky. Once in a while, there are unsurprising news of the innocent being killed or injured. Furthermore, the abundance of opportunities for IED attacks also meant that the any offensive force needs to be highly defensive at the same time. Honing and balancing such skills require a large effort.Till today, IED attacks are as common as day and night, and still taking out lives.

Recent shifts in training doctrine addresses the growing need of having the critical skills in urban warfare operations (UO). Firstly, was the hardware, armour, vehicles, weapons and tools were slowly introduced, developed, trialed and redeveloped into hardened tactics that we have. The software, the training of soldiers also took step by step, training skills to meet up with the hardware, tweaking of outdated training indicators and courses and development of new doctrines. The hardware and software went hand in hand and complemented each other.

This is largely seen in the Singapore Armed Forces, when an Infantry Battalion (I would like to add another that was long at it) was head-spearing new doctrines, skills and technology for UO. Now, we have a myriad of tools to aid our soldiers, with optical balls, Battlefield Management Systems and round-corner firing devices. Hardware included the introduction of the Terrex Infantry Carrier Vehicle (ICV) and a training institute devoted to the Terrex ICV operations. A newer Standard obstacle course (known as VOC) will address the growing need to suit training indicators for UO.

But in this frenzy for being UO ready, it seems that we have neglected the basic jungle fighting skills. While most training evaluations still largely stay within the 'jungle setting', there seems to be neglect towards training doctrine. Whether it is has been revised till perfection is certainly unknown. But it appears that training skills still remains the same for a time too long.

Even with a UO upper hand, as long as the Infantry cannot properly manage the jungle terrain, MSRs will be threatened and complications will develop. Siege, lack of support and a long drawn battle will be things any operations will not want to see. While certain UO capabilities will aid in the usual warfare, there would not be widespread application. A new question should be posed to all developing UO doctrines, "Can this be applied in jungle warfare too?". Certainly, one would not want to risk an white elephant, no matter how small.

**This post reflects a personal idea that might probably come across as naive. Because the underlying question here might have been properly addressed which the author may have no idea of. But the author wish that if so, he could be properly answered too.**

Meanwhile, (a rough count of ) 7 Herons, 5 Orchids, (estimated) 5 Ridges, 3 Sapphires (and a fourth coming up) is a testimonial to a certain organisation have towards international peacekeeping missions.

u ntitled

2010-10-09T20:09:00.000+08:00

This post is a consolidation of afterthoughts. In fact, in might even be in a mess as thoughts develop over time randomly. As said, this is not a reflection of the current mood.

It is so puzzling that issue(s) are still revolving around . It is perhaps that is does with something so intangible this time. This is so intangible that it cant be quantified that there is no means for change. This is a very different setback. Everytime a setback is encountered (regardless of issue), identify the weakness, move on and improve. Yet, for this case, it stops at move on. Or perhaps, it was that an avalanche occured, without knowing why and how.

Yet, knowing is usually not crucial here. In an usual counselling session (the "therapist" was yours truely), an advice given out to a few was that unless knowing will make one happy then go ahead. The irony here is the truth hurts, knowlegde is pain. How can knowing make one happy then? It stems from the fact that so long as one's unanwsered questions get satisfactory answers, it might do one good instead.

And life sometimes is filled with painful decisions, but is that even benefical, even in short run???

Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for." -Bob Marley

While this place is often surrounded with complex words and abstract ideas, there are still times where it is hard to express some ideas/beliefs/thoughts/feelings in verbal or non verbal format. Which means persuasive ability tends to take a dive. Perhaps it is partly due to fact that there wasnt full conviction. No one would know what tomorrow can bring anyway. Over-rationality can be a killer. Yet, if over-rationality was stronger, one would be easily stopped for thinking too much. But that has to develop from a behaviour construct that was analyzed by a few levels. Despite the double-egde paradox, it would likely be more of a good one than a negative one.

Behaviour constructs unfortunately, are as well read as to the common man and the psychologist. There is not much difference on the first level. The reason behind how one behaves or says is equally understood. But the deeper reason behind the reason is often unknown. Psychologists only understand this deeper level upon testing. Which implies thinking does help to identify the most possible reason and direct tests towards there. (that's another issue)

That relates to some infatuation thing. This quote (by someone else) acrossed paths and it worth putting up here: "Love is what actually remains, when the feeling we know as love (infatuation) fades"

The worst thing about lying is when you cant even deceive yourself and being an utter failure at it. It opened up to more thinking. A resolution was reached, but not found. There is this sinking feeling to realise something is forever gone. It is not known if this was something rational to feel about.

At the very least, cognitive dissonance of 'no hope = no disappointment' has not set in yet.

BMTC POP @ The Float

2010-10-04T22:46:00.000+08:00

Having a young armed forces means that any small milestone along the way gets magnified. A lot of these milestones also tend to be inaugural too. Furthermore, as a learning army, it is always leveraging on previous milestones to achieve bigger milestones. For the first time, the Singapore Army Basic Military Training Centre (BMTC) held its Passing Out Parade (POP) for its recruits at the floating platform at Marina Bay.

It also scores a few other firsts. It marks the first time such a big intake of 3200 recruits will pass out together. That is more than a full brigade size. In lieu of this POP, the army broke another first by creating their key BMT event, a 24km route march, right into the heartlands.

Usually, the 24km route march takes place a few days before the POP to allow recruits to rest well. Furthermore, the route travese across the plain green jungle in Pulau Tekong, home of the recruits.

The march of the recruits

Making change and milestones do need reasons. The explanation behind this inaugural event is to create a sense of pride and loyalty towards what these recruits have trained hard for. It is to protect the country, our homes, our people, and our city. This route march brings the recruits across such scenes, the houses that dot the coastline that they marched through, the onlookers and people who stook gwaking as they passed them, and the POP venue overlooking the city skyline.

Such ideals are lofty and commendable. How much of these would be instilled into the 3200 recruits is worth questioning. But looking at how much the expression the recruits have on their POP seems to have brought down this question into the trash.

The POP against the city skyline.

And surely, when Our Army makes a decision, no stone in planning was left unturned. An event like this requires a huge combat service support component and it does pull off pretty well. Vehicle support in terms of ambulances and safety rovers was such a number that a supposedly media vehicle had disappeared at the last minute. This is probably a blessing in disguise. At this point of time, it is unknown how many medics and Medical Officers were on standby for this. But looking at the amount of safety specialists along the way, it appears that safety and training rigour was kept at a optimal balance. While it is not known how many have fallen out along the route march, perhaps only one recruit have fainted during the parade itself might be an indicator.

I must dare say these 3200 recruits have shown everything a soldier needs. My BMT + POP probably never looked that tough, and for them to survive this is certainly an epitome.

Invitation cards and leaflets given out were professionally done. What could be further included could be all those Company Best names. Surely, they wouldn;t mind. One of the leaflet mapped out their route march and landmarks they came across. That reiterate the earlier point that was made, and gives the public a good feel of what this is meant to be. A complementary bottle of water and bread was also given out to the guests. The food pack included tissues and a poncho in case of bad weather.

Perhaps, the only few things to nitpick about is the long interlude and the stink. The long interlude was necessary, to allow the recruits to send arms and account for everything, take a quick break and re-enter the parade. Yet, this is the first time, and i pretty sue if things continue, the process will be improved upon and the interlude turns shorter.

The passing out of 03/10 batch of recruits

As for the stink, surely, anyone who have marched 24km would stink terribly. I havent imagined what happens when a group of them appears in public transport. Anyway, it would also be too demanding to request for 3200 recruits to be showered. Which is why the word is nitpick.

The poetry

2010-09-26T03:17:00.000+08:00

Before I start proper, here are some thoughts on Resident Evil: ow does a 9mm round have an equal ballistics impact onto the wall of 5.56mm. That LAV is certainly no 20-wheeler, so why give a 8X8 (8 wheeler) a 20 wheeler name and you show people it is just a 8 wheeler? Have I mentioned the pistol incredilble range? And something is amiss in the tiltrotor technology they featured ...

My cynicism is spreading over to the other movie. Gundam 00:Awakening of the Trailblazer. Really a flower in the middle of nowhere. Of course, on hindsight it is the impossible made possible. The belief of can do, will do ... mind over matter, the usual. There is always some underlying subtle truth and realities we need to learn from. I havent figure what's the takeaway for this yet.

Life is an irony when things you searched for seems so hard to appear, and that the minute you stop wanting it. It appears everywhere you searched for. Did those blueberry or wheat have an secret devious agenda? It is also pretty ironical when editing seems as hard as editing. It is equally ironical when when a thought of 'not thinking about it' is penned down. Ok, humans have all modernised from 'pen to paper' to 'keyboard to screen'. Would Humans one day skip all these mundae steps and go 'thoughts to everyone'?

Leave:
Thou shalt leave,
to seek thy faith.
Finders Keepers it'd be,
and thou will leave.

Read: Life

2010-09-19T22:56:00.001+08:00

People always say life is a cycle. Interestingly, this revolving cycle doesnt mean that it happen to the individual but can re-occur onto someone else. Weirdest conversations can take place at the weirdest time. Yet, it can appear to be very circular in nature, as for which exact side of nature is the circular one, no one knows. For the fact that no strong defense or assualt could be deployed. But time will tell.

A new hypothesis surfaced onto me, that most forumers have a certain pychosis them. I am pretty gald my psychosis have not reached consciousness. By then, someone please lock me up. Perhaps, my psychosis falls onto unkinky innate objects (note the adjectives). Yet, these are the places to be taken with a pinch of salt. For armchair critics do blow the biggest horn (Yes, I seem to be shooting myself in the foot, go ahead, i will get a new feet later) and truth gets blurred, lost and forgetten.

Life usually means taking a step out, land on a nail and pull that nail out, and take the next step forward. There may be another nail, or it might be a soft comfy carpert, we will never know. But the focus is not what one lands on. The excitement of life lies in taking that step out. because it is always difficult, challenging yet fun. When we are done with that step, The nail might be painful,but there is always something good about the whole issue. It can be positively or negatively enlightening, but it is still enlightening. But this enlightenment does not stop one from moving. Ideas from enlightment is always about changing, moving to make things better.

Certainly, history tells us Enlightenment Ideas of Locke (and others which names i can be bothered to check and spell) did have wonderous and distratous impact onto Europe and America. This idea did spread into Asia and other parts more slowly. For the individual, enlighentment from personal experience for future events can vary. Which explains why PTSD can develop from a simple shock for some, and some go on as normal after a plane crash. That but individual experience cannot be simply applied onto someone else, simply because everyone is different. And a different prognosis should be applied. Whether it is individual response stereotypy or stimulus response specificity (it might be the latter), no one knows.

Perhaps being selfish to oneself is the best outcome for long term. It might be painful with an area of effect. But one cant sure of which would possibly be less painful if one decides to less selfish. Even to be less selfish, there is also pain from within. Yet, there is always something out there for pain alleviation. It is not the best medicine, but it would be as good as it gets. But painkillers dont last. How long can one endure? Yet, once again, time would prove everything ...

I am having writier's block now. Surely, not at the manic stage of my bipolarity.Not that I blog when I am crazy. In case people miss my crap, here you go. And yes, I am growing a garden here, but this is not new either (If you could understand this line, then ignore this line. Damn, am i further klonfusing people?). But C'est la vie

2010-09-05T19:21:00.000+08:00

I was pretty tempted to publish post earlier. It is going to be interesting as it is going to touch on my 3 areas of knowlegde fields. The national day rally is a hot topic. I always wonder if it is fortunate or unfortunate that i usually cant be bothered to watch it. And so I grab highlights from PMO Press Releases and the news.

The speech had a significant section decidated to immigrants related issues. There is a fine line between xenophobia and enthocentrism. We must know where we are standing. Both aren't very good looking terms, but having enthocentrism can means that we are step closer to forging our very own identity as a nation on a whole.But are we? Unfortunately, if this enthocentrism is confined along to racial lines, then this country will suffer a greater divide. And there, making enthocentrism into a nationwide thing would then be xenophobic.

But who is the foreigner here? Is it us or them? We are as foreign as them to us. The view towards immigrants must be rational. Afterall, we are also a nation of immigrants compounded together. So long they want to be in our society, they should be ready to intergrate into our culture. The next question is "Does that means they lose their roots in this multi-ethnic society?" Definitely to a certain extent, yes. However, all this changes do not happen overnight. If their practices do not fit into our social norms, then it is either be ready to drop them, or be such an overwhelming force that that particular practice becomes the culture.

That is no easy feat either. The land of freedom and opportunity is still grappling from immigration woes since 1776. From targeting Irish at the beginning to Hispanics today, their intergation of society, possibly have not started yet. But this is a very wrong view. By the time USA had Irish intergrated into the society, they had another new group of immigrants to worry about. I believe this is what we are facing now. Unfortunately, the main groups of immigrants seems to be equally large. Neither we have the ability to start xenophobic reactions, that would be very hurting.

Yet, our immigrants must know what they are in here for, and not treat this place like an hotel, for we are no hotel. For that fact, even hotel guest have a role in maintaining the hotel cleaniless.(Imagine a guest that came and shredded 50% of your linen stocks, broke 30% of your kitchenware and electric appliances, you get my point.) So being part of the hotel means adhering to hotel rules and surely, shine in this little place, and that more immigrants will influx in, for we are also a land of immigrants.

Coming back to the speech, therearent much distinction into his citizens/PR/foreigners debate. For the fact that we are different in different circumstances and making this ground look apparently level is a tricky thing.
And thus, NS was dangled as a political carrot. Interestingly, carrot was kept away in a safe so that one gets a moudly carrot at the end of it. What's interesting is the purpose of this carrot is a internal generating one. At the end of day, the carrots goes back to that bigger safe. Once again, the role and flow and money generating cycle without the actual use of money. How clever (I apologise for the loss of economics technical terms). Furthermore, by comparatively equating a carrot to an intangible issue complicates the whole issue. Now we all think in carrots. That is very wrong.

There is no price tag we can put on defence. This explains our highly monetary spending relative to our neighbours (I shall skip that misleading GDP% crap). Secondly, if carrots can be place in defence, does that means our soldiers can be bought over in tons of carrots. There wold be a tipping point for this but i hope that tipping point is at the very far end. Lastly, we some even not recieving any carrots, this can of worms has been fully opened, that more disgruntled voices ae emerging. It also technically means years of national education towards the NS issue has failed and needs to change. And that is more that just flashy ads or some performatory talks. For NS to be understood, it needs to capture the minds of the parents, the young and most importantly the armed forces (and para-military force as well) itself. Any of the ingredient missing and we have trouble. We will see how this carrot turns out, be it econonimcal or political.

I seems to have good observational skills and delayed analysis. There always a difference in counselling and psychology itself. It means I sux at the former, usually. Interestingly, we all have our fears and anxieties. I once did an essay on PTSD and found it interesting. Now another anxiety issue interests me. Agoraphobia, ie, fear of the marketplace (crowds). There exists a long list of weird and recognisable phobias. Which means having a phobia is relatively normal. This poses a question of, if it is normal, why does it need psychological attention? That because it will reach a point where the psychological behaviour will impair daily functioning of the person's life.

Fear is an emotional state of immediate alarm in response to a serious known threat to one's well being. Anxiety, is also an emotional state alarm in response to some vague sense of threat or danger. In another simple terms, fear is for current danger, while anxiety is for future orientated threats. Both do produce the same physiological responses such heart rate increases, sweating and muscle tension to name a few.

My post is getting long and I shall cut it short. Phobia means a particular stimulus will trigger off blah.Thus in agoraphobia, people fear of being at crowded places. Usually, it comes with having a panic attack in a crowded place which creates an irrational belief in having another panic attack while being out in the crowds. Of course this is one of its etiology. Stressfull Environment and substance abuse can lead to development of agoraphobia. Another possible cause is that impairment in spatial orientation can cause fear and panic to such people.

A panic attack can be very life wrenching moments of a person's life, even for that half a minute. It is as though one is losing control and feels the fear of dying along with muscle discomfort in parts of the body; dizziness and trembling; not to mention the usual heart rate, sweatingand muscle tensions. The immediate need to escape from the feeling of imminent danger is also very real. For that, Agoraphobics usually have panic disorder tagged along with them. Actually is pretty much the other way round. Howver, panic symptoms aggravate agoraphobia, but not vice versa.

Still, fear and anxiety is still a normal state. This is due to the unpredictability of the future (trust me, this is a good thing for that you wouldnt want to know you will die tomorrow). Still, the future is nothing to be afraid of, because in the long run, the the future is (can) only be better.

You know when the skies are dark but the sun is strong and bright and shining ... There is this unspeakable mixed feeling in me. and Yes, it also doesnt seem right either.

The month of Renaissance

2010-08-31T18:52:00.000+08:00

I thereby declare August the month of Renaissance.

No, I did not had the time turned back into 14th century Europe (or 12th century for that matter). Neither I am a arts person. Renaissance means rebirth in French. I was thinking along the lines of renewal, and Renaissance seem to have more punch.

Anyway, it seems that the jaded feeling has wore off once again. And that the feeling ready is back in me. This has been generally a good month. The holidays could be longer though. All the outings and watching drama serials filled most of the time. The post holiday mood is still in the air. And I am still pretty much unfinished in watching though.

In life there is always a trade off. Having a nice timetable means I have tough modules. Nothing too unmanagable, I hope.

break broken

2010-08-25T12:52:00.000+08:00

Usually, life isn't smooth sailing. So I got a call regarding sensitive information and OSA. This would probably come sooner or later. This one however, makes me wonder about any possible repercussions. Internet serves to share information, which this spot tries to fulfil this role in a certain topic or area of interest. Not suprisingly, this spot was already under watchful eyes since long long ago. It was abit unexpected since, if any, this call would have came earlier.

It was unexpected it another sense that it didn't came to me as sensitive information. It was never my intention to cause trouble or break any rule in the first place or even place problems to operational duties. Afterall, there were times it came close. But I guess this is it. So for this, I sincerely apologise for the inconvience caused. Probably, a email flew around 20 times to various people and a particular call was made. Not to mention to amount of other persons who got CC-ed and BCC-ed. Really, so I admit my mistake.

Afterall, such stuff are not explicitly stated. The rule dont go "Oh, you cannot say about having Gundams, VF-1 Valkyrie and Transformers: Robots in disguise". So, this has to come explicit to me. Perhaps, MSD people are having the final laugh. Still, I didn't quite understand the deeper rationale behind this. But such a action is understandable and to be complied.

This relates to Media management. There are two sides to a coin. Of course, We often grugde about how restricted (or restrictive) the media is. Yet there are good things to come out of it. I am not writing this because MSD gave me a slap in the face but because this is going to make sense. Poor media management and good are very relative and contextual terms. But there times where controlled media do make situations bettter.

This relates to the recent bus hijakcing case in Manila, The Philippines. Poor media management broke everything down. Reporters had a field day though. With reporters able to be volunteered to be hostaged, hijacker able to make public radio broadcast and watching police tactics from TV. Clearly, many things were sorely lacking in the event. Negotiations broke down, killing started. There was no good safety perimeter either. Police tactics were very unplanned and untrained. In the first place, it makes one wonder why more elite forces didn't come into the picture. Having all these ingredients, we have 8 tourists killed.

If media management was better, it could have scored a few points more. The hijacker access to media already made everything more difficult. Cutting this link out would have gave surprise element to police tactics. It would also give the hijacker more uncertainty and anxiety, key elements in breaking down a suspect psychologically. It would probably have gave negotiations a better shot too. But without media, we wouldn't have a better story. Between a better story and a more severe tragedy, i think the media must be more rationale and sensible. Which is why a better story is missing here, but i am sure, a even better story will surface down the road by others, in a more glorious manner. Talk about delayed gratification.

And once again, my indecisiveness is killing me.

The break ..

2010-08-18T00:58:00.000+08:00

I think I vaguely had an insight to why people play politiics. Of course, the usual notion is for fame and power, pretty straightforward. Yet, there could be a further underlying reason behind. That is the power-wielding person is either not up to the mark, or that he just stepped onto the wrong toes. I feel sorry for the latter. Then again, if one is up to the mark, i suppose at least lends more power to his positionfor a short period of time. Because rumours can be very damaging. There is nothing known as one-time propaganda. Ideas and thoughts are built over time, meaning, a constant flow of brainwashing (which explains why nagging actually make sense over time). It can be subtle yet strong.

And sadly, politics play make people sick of organisations, which can be a partial reason for high attrition rates in certain places. My insight formulates from a horrible thought, which is very against what I believed (Irony, i know). When the time comes, the decision for the former will be chosen. It is still early,and I hope won't even take this path.

I think my grades are suffering from a depression. As when I thought I could get over with this slide, I was informed that it could probably make a dent if I am going to do post grad in the US. For now, I am in a good path for laying the foundations of a good post grad opportunity. However, there is certainly more than to life than studies. Yet, the opportunity for Ph.D in US is very very much different, and probably with better academia. Perhaps it is best to take one step at a time... and somethings, certainly do need good planning.

With half the holidays gone (yes, it flies at Mach 10, no doubt about it), i need to also wonder what to do. It had been an eventful first week with NDP and sending off and some other outings. And I also finished watching this US drama "Lie to me" Season 1 in 2 days. Having said that, week 1 of break (aka holidays) doesnt sound geekified still. I think i have a liking Eli Loker and his radical honesty. Anyway, there is still between what is real and reel. Microexpressions probably are not seen by the naked eye by the miliseconds. I suspect there is error on the electrodes placement. But other than that, most general minor details are also taken care of. That easily wins local productions (Look, you dun bloody hold a gun with one hand. )

Now, where's season 2 ??? Oh, and I have yet to get my hands on SC2.

July Watchlist

2010-07-27T23:02:00.001+08:00

Before I start proper, I think sometimes the way people show concern gets either misunderstood or disapproval. These two terms differ, but the latter is good intentions linked to wrong or poor methods. What can become worse is when this concern may seem to further put other relevant people in bad light. This possibility is extreme and unlikely. But since we are no mind-readers with crystal balls, we will never be able to know accurately.

We can question methods and the what and the how, but definitely not the why. It think the good intentions must be realised although it probably makes a mess out of things. Unfortunately, behaviour is a set of repetitive actions, and little can help to change all these wrong methods. But 'little' do mean all is not lost, but it is going to be a long and hard process, survive it and things may look brighter next time. I think I am getting abit lost here, but i hope my intended audience(s) get the meaning.

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I think i finish my movie watchlist for July. Inception was a good movie. I think most movie goers have a watch-and-forget attitude towards movies. Which explains why little cognitive processes work and then it becomes a vicious cycle, because they dont work their brains on and off screens. This might be a semi spoiler for Inception. ....

I think what Nolan (director for Inception) is trying to tell us is that everything is a dream. I belong to the 'he is still in a dream'camp. Really, having said that, My take is that everything is a dream, nothing is real. The movie is not real, and everything in the movie is not real but a dream. Even the movie itself is a representation of ideas, aka dreams.

I am no Freudian here and so I wont go into the meaning of dreams. But the movie idea follows Freud closely, dreams are a representation of the subconscious, and our subconscious do inadvertently control us consciously. So, inserting an idea into subconscious will eventually guide the conscuious behaviour. And (following the freudian perspective) when our conscious and subconscious clash and throw off a delicate balance, we turn 'hysterical' (aka mentally ill). I am not sure if being in the related field helped me to understand this better. But I am pretty sure there are things we can take away from movies too.

The movie shows Dom in a lift with key regrets a his storeys (or stories). This is common to everyone, we all have regrests in life, and surely, become unforgettable memories in our lifes (hence shelved into the subconscious). But what Dom has allowed is letting his regrets take over if his life, which allows us to see him messing every 'dream' job he has. It draws parallels, that if one keeps living in the past and full of regrets, your life is going to be pretty messed up as well. Certainly, i think everyone will not want that. Regrets will always live with us, but it is how we stubbornly hold on it for a unreasonably long period of time. Moving with a baggage is a tiring jounery. Keep the baggage light, and life might be easily to forge ahead.

I caught a local production Old Cow vs Young Grass. Somehow it was a very weird lead combination. A local 'rigid' funnyman and Taiwan Xingguang III contestant, LIN YUXUAN. Please do not ask me why I watched this.The answer is obvious. Unfortunately, being a local production meant low bugdet and etc. IMO, the climax wasn't handled well enough, in both acting and directing terms. Laughs that are subtle puns at the government andsociety which has somewhat become cliche. I think this makes us think about new trends and if we should be accpeting of it (and the movie seems to imply yes). Another sidenote to pick up, is once again, put down the past and seek the future positively and you will be rewarded ...

This was an impromtu decision and there was trouble finding seats. I wonder if what's the buzz for this show. And then, i wonder what's with kids in late night shows as well. Surely a flying ice cube is one of the last thing u need amidst a movie. Luckily, the family scooted away fast ...

The last on my watchlist was Despicable me. It is definitely a stress relief as there are many laughing points. This one scores high on the cuteness rating. I was too pre-occuiped that Ihavent really understood the movie. I suppose being evil isn't the most rewarding thing on Earth .

And Monday didn't go as expected, but i am pretty sure good things are round the corner ... and hell, it better be...

Eventful mix

2010-07-20T23:11:00.003+08:00

Once again, I am honoured to receive praises about this little space. I think it is more about the shifting trends of blogs and the maturity of the audience. Of course, I am constantly aware of the improving feedback, but wait till I am free. ...

It is once again not very pleasing to find another person by encircled by darkness, or more specifically, negative thoughts. I would go into the same tirade of the natural tendency for negative thoughts and the stupidity. I hope considerate and relevant reader(s) will refer to the older posts. Perhaps in way, it is good to have negativity around. I wonder if suppression and autoimmunity has significant links.

NDP CR4 was a horror was "my" trusted camera becoming non-functional. I am so caught up with school and moving house that sending it for repair has become very much delayed. I am not putting much hope in getting it repaired, neither a new DSLR... Yet, new information were gleaned from CR4 and also confirmation to earlier guesses.

Once again, there was a clash between the NDP publicity side and the way soldiers were acting on the ground. Both sides are not in any wrong nor differed much in their perspective, but perhaps a common ground could be reached between "Come down to see our NDP vehicles parked in Kallang" and "where are you all from" .

Moving house highlighted several cool stuff. Look, I am not complaining and neither in the position to due to the fact that i havent helped much. But here goes. For some reason, there was only one spoon left for the next few days. Then, as suspected, the contractor messed up all the phone lines. I think i should officially have a "Director, Infocommunications Technology" title in the house. There are still things I havent accustomed to. For one, the room faces the main road and very soon, i will be able to differentiate all the engine sounds in the world. For two, I made a slight mistake resulting in 2 different bed for the room. It is always hard to subscribe between confirmity or contrast and I think for that, I have to live with some whines for the next few months.

Midterms for Summer II totally reversed my grades aim, but luckily, it still looks on track. I will survive this.... Well, let's just say I am gald I got my score. SO much for studying and not studying ... ... ...

The 22nd July.

2010-07-05T01:26:00.002+08:00

I need to thank all those for their well wishes and greetings. I am sincerely overwhelmed by that number. Well, I wasn't expecting that many. Ok so there goes.

Still, a few asked if I feel happier or any difference. To my dismal (hopefully not theirs, i am not pouring cold water, hopefully), that there is a slight element of anhedonia because everything still feels pretty much the same. Or rather, nothing much has changed. Well, if you get what I mean, then thanks. If not, let's leave this on the superfical level.

Of course, this is not the time to mope, but rather, await for things to get better. There are reasons why people seek change. There isn't much control over events our life, sad to say. Let it be, and who knows, that ray of sunshine will appear golden.

Toy Story 3 weekend ...

2010-06-28T15:26:00.002+08:00

The last time anyone watched the original Toy Story in theatres was in 1995. Having said that, many are likely around 5 to 7 ages. Probably just mastered what was 136 - 36 + 17 -102. That is exactly, 15; 15 years ago.

Toy Story (1995) raked in 360 million in revenue, while Toy Story 2 (1999) raked in 485 million. This time, with a film 20 million dollarsto make, producers may have difficulty replicating success. Firstly, and sadly as a matter of fact. Many has outgrown animated films. The kids in Toy Story 1 (just like Andy) are now somewhat abandoning the film (just like Toy Story 3). Secondly, it is the same plot with totally different spice. This is still a good movie to catch, that is, if one likes animated films in the first place.
It is still nevertheless touching, as along with the previous two movies. And I think alot can be learnt, even from 'cartoons'. Perhaps it is some kind of recency effect, i saw this soon enough.

When your unwavering beliefs get hit by an asteroid, it is always natural to stop, rethink, or change it. I have not seen the end of this cognitive dissonance yet. But I hope I will never see this. It is hard, for wondering why one goes through so much but is still at the same spot. Life never fails to throw lemons, sometimes big, sometimes small. But if one can be stuck with the same belief for years, I think one should 'see the world' first before letting the onset of cognitive dissonance develop.
Which Andy's toys have faithfully been with him for so long, was struck with the cognitive dissonance of abandoning Andy first. But well, upon 'seeing the world', things change and the toys goes through alot to get back to Andy.

The toys, also do finally realize 'being for Andy' doesn't mean being beside with him physically. I think that can apply to life also. Sometimes, having doesn't neccessarily mean having physically. At the end of the day Andy gave away Woody with great reluctance, not that he doesn't want Woody anymore, but knowing, Woody will be happier being played with than being beside him. This is not heart pain, i suppose, it is something positive, greater.

I cant seem to explain this in words. And sometimes, words are insufficient to spell everything. Which is why humans have a abstract frontal cortex. I shall end here. But a heartfelt thanks to everyone i met up over the weekend (including friday). And even, one photo is not enough ... but make do with it.

Personal notes to CR1 (Updated)

2010-06-20T17:32:00.005+08:00

Had a field day at the NDP 2010 Combined Rehearsal (CR) 1. It is was too happening for good. I have 300 photos and some and not suitable for public domain. I suppose i will sort them out after exams.

These are short personal observations notes on the parade and Mobile Column.

No New Colours to the Parade. No sights of replaced Colours either.Small Supporting contingents that will split near the Grandstand as their Marchpast.

First female KAH for the Parade this year (and a larger role for next year).

Mobile column lasts for about 12 minutes.First exhibition of many vehicles across combat arms, combat support and combat service support elements for the Mobile Column.

A piecemeal for Engineer fans (ie Combat engineers) is the HSTB mounted on the Engineer Variant Bronco ATTC.

Spotted "Stealth" Navy trailer and a pair of "Stealth Tonners". Even more stealthy is a new vehicle to the Armour family, but not on public display. This very heavy vehicle will support the Mobile Column from behind the scenes, which will likely to go unappreciated by the masses anyway. With a MLC 70 label, it is likely to be the heaviest vehicle in the SAF to date.

Home Team elements are not to be missed either. Sadly, only a select few from the SCDF array of appliances.

Unique showcase of our overseas operationss by our Armed Forces (to Afghanistan) , Police Force (to the UN Mission in Timor Leste) and SCDF (to various Ops Lion Heart in Taiwan, China and Indonesia)

Flypast and airshow segment is spiced only by the F-15SG display and a complimentary G550 flypast.

The Stupidity

2010-06-01T22:40:00.000+08:00

**This post is written in personal capacity and may lack full scienctific wisdom. This post is dedicated to those who keep feeling stupid**

"I feel ... ... i feel ... ... ". Everytime we feel something, it is our emotions, and so we will see words associated with happiness, elation, calm, fear, anxiety, surprise, anger, excitement, joy and pleasure. The words have been somewhat primed, and perhaps there is a tinge of positive feelings that puts you in a slighty elvated mood now.

However, we inevitably would sometimes say "I feel stupid". Yet, Stupidity isn't a emotion. So how do we feel stupid? Before I go on further, let's better 'define' emotion. There are two major theories in relation to emotion. James-Lange theory states emotions are feelings which come about as a result of physiological arousal due to an event, rather than being their cause. On the other hand, Schacter's two-factor theory argues that emotion is a combination of two components (factors): physiological arousal and cognition. That is, we use our cognition (brain logical thinking) to sort out the physiological arousal and then identify the emotion is us.

Perhaps there do exist some form of physiological arousal to stupidity, but untill then studipity clearly isn't an emotion. So why do we feel stupid? Perhaps it is to due to the laziness in writing. Thus, a proper possible statement would go "I feel I am so stupid ... " and this is a likely higher level statement that was derived from our cognitions. Because one has the physiological response to a stimulus event and made one utter in disbelief why one would have done that. Likely, it comes with emotions relating to current or temporary gratification from that event and post-emotions with the likes of remorse, anger and/or even sadness.

To put the above paragraph in a context for easier understanding, suppose one totally ignored studying for a test for something lazier, let's list some common distractions like the bed, the TV, the weather and the dog. This leaves one messed up for the test and go into self blame, with regert (I should have studied), anger (I SHOULD HAVE studied instead of ...) and or sadness (there goes my grades). Unfortunately, go through and emotional roller coaster throws one off allostatic balance of emotions. That is one is likely to undergo stress and alot of other further complications which I couldn't be bothered to type and you couldn't be bothered to read. So let's leave here.

Which in saying, one should stop chronically feeling "stupid". Remember, everything these days is about balance and moderate. We should have too little of something, nor too much of everything. It is like sadness, supressing sadness is bad for health, negative emotions do need an outlet, we need that carthasis effect. But being sad for a long long time will qualify one for a mental disorder.

And hence, one should have a control over our emotions, not the other way round. Certainly, it is a world of difference between control and over-control. Since our cognitive apprasial works in such a magnificent way to match arousal and emotions, this very cognitive apprasial can also help us to feel better, faster and stronger. (I am not dishing out therapy here, and neither am I qualified to do so).

Because our emotions, cognitions and actions overlap significantly, it can be said that emotions and behaviours significantly influence and affect thinking, just as thinking influences emotions and behaviours. Which means one will go into a self defeating vicious cycle. If one is sad, we would behave sadly, perhaps the lack of mood and appetite, and then we think negatively, which makes us feel sadder, and it continues. Pulling this plug requires work at the thinking, not behaviour, as our thinking moves behaviour, not the other way round. (This neither a psychology conference to discuss which theory is better or flawed, neither are most of my readers psych-kies, but do note alot of theories do fly around with regards to everything i have said, and i doesnt mean I have been crapping either.)

To do this, one needs to adopt a flexible, un-dogmatic, self-helping and efficient belief system and constructive life philosophy about adversities and human desires and preferences. For this, one need to recognise 3 premises: (1) That the concepts and philosophies of life of unconditional self-acceptance, other-acceptance, and life-acceptance are effective philosophies of life in achieving mental wellness and mental health. (2) We are all inherently fallible and imperfect and that they had better accept their and other human being's totality and humanity. (3) That people had better accept life with its hassles and difficulties not always in accordance with their wants, while trying to change what they can change and live as elegantly as possible with what they can not change.

As for (1), it might harder to understand, but in short, as long as we accept our once in a while 'stupidity' as normal, we may find that it is that stupid afterall. And certainly, if feeling stupid may be a very strong psychological stressor. So long so as one stop feeling 'stupid', one can look forward to a better less-stressed lifestyle.

All in all, it means controlling our emotions to moderation is important, should not overly let ourself go up and down too drastically. That is, if one realise you are entering a whirlpool of negative emotions and thoughts. Tell yourself STOP, and walk out of it. Other than this, emotions should be free to let out for carthasis and allostasis. =D

I suppose this is lenghty piece of alien text for some. I will just end here, anyway further droning can send boredom to extinction. I certainly do hope this helps ... ...

Navy Open House 2010

2010-05-27T20:44:00.000+08:00

The Navy Open House 2010 was an eye-opener for me. Firstly, I (and even my group) did not expect such a huge crowd and long queues at the ferry service in the early morning. To my very extreme dismal, I got permanently split up from the group at the ferry shuttle service since.

I was stopped for too long with an over friendly ME1 personnel. He was trying to impress me with the new MDES scheme. Sure, this is the first public appearance of MDES rank after the recent implementation last month. I do not know if this was part of the game to impress the public with the MDES scheme or that I (or rather 'we', with another fellow forumer) looked like potential MDES personnel(s). This did not only occurred with one but across the many interactions with other Navy MDES personnel. The Navy, i suppose due to their nature of their job, are mostly media savvy, friendly and public engaging.The rain brought me (us) a full guided tour to the MV Swift Rescue, Patrol Vessels (PV) and Mine Counter Mine Vessel (MCMV) but long snake lines to the Frigates (FFS) and Landing Ship Tank (LST) (Picture below). The queues wasnt that bad and actually meant for worst case scenario. A estimated 30 mins queue took about 15 mins while a stated 1 hour wait was just about 30 minutes too.
The MV Swift Rescue is one of the 'new' additional into the RSN family. Notably, it is a civillian ship, hence flying the state ensign instead of the naval ensign. It is built and maintained by ST Marine, from the navigation, maintainence to Deep Sea Rescue ops, are all done by civillians. The only RSN personnel would be the medical team to do resus, treatment and helivac. And other further operations that is required by the MV Swift Rescue will also be done by RSN personnel.

Below: A Deep Seach and Rescue Six (DSAR 6) from the MV Swift Rescue.
The spilt up meant that the main group went for something better and I didnt have the chance. However, take home ideas were a better understanding of the MSTF and the Navy Orbat. The 3G SAF meant that Orbat have changed here and there but without a proper picture in my head.
On a side note, the PVs (above) have their ASW capability taken off after reorganised into MSTF. The MCMV squadron is also now under MSTF command. The MSTF however, supposedly with the ability to conduct inter-agencies ops, still seems abit disjointed when I asked people on te ground how it works. Perhaps this occured at Higher HQ level. And perhaps, there is a lack of interaction between people on the ground. I think this void could be filled up soon.

I am still puzzled by the fact that the LARC-Vs (above) are still considered 'classified' even after high public appearances for the past few years. The MCMV mine disposal vehicle (below) is also one of the few classified equipment shown in this open house.

However, it always takes 1 bad news to overwhelm all the good news. The MINDEF Public Affairs (PAFF) is now under scrunity of why it released news of a injured regular personnel but cover-up for another National Service Full-time soldier. Surely, a NSF is no less important than a regular when the citizen's army worked as a integrated force. Enemy bullets would never make a distinction between a regular, NSF or ORNSmen. Which is why the concept of combined arms division and intergrated strike capabilites of the SAF holds of paramount importance.

Gone were the days we would see the director of PAFF himself writing to the press to clarify any misunderstandings that would arise from the public. These days, the current director at the helm certainly has other ideas, but these ideas, apparently are very damaging to the idea of public trust to MINDEF and the military defence.
This to a further extend can easily affect the idea of total defence. Psychological defence would be shaken if we have no confidence that our defence would function properly even for peace time. Then, our military defence rests on the very power of the citizens, if such cover-ups of incidents carry on, we would see people afraid to stand at the frontline for defence.

The civil service always worked for leadership renewal. Many are waiting with their abated breaths for renewal at PAFF. Perhaps that renewal should come sooner than expected.

Meanwhile, this is week 2 of 6 for Summer 1 sem. So far so good, hope that things keep this way. Life is going to get more busy...

Home Team Convention 2010

2010-05-24T11:27:00.004+08:00

Damn,I am laggin behind my posts...

The Home Team Convention 2010 (HTC2010) seems to be focused more on community outreach than to showing its actual capability and keeping Singapore safe and secure. This is apt for this year tagline of "A role for everyone". Community outreach refers to what the community itself can help to keep our streets safe from fire; crime; smuggling and gambling addiction.

Current capabilities of the Home Team (the collective term for all organisations under the Ministry of Home Affairs umbrella) are showcased with the likes of Police and Civil Defence (SCDF) dogs, the Police Special Operations Command (SOC) Tenix 4X4 Armoured Personnel Carrier, the SCDF HAZMAT Migation Vehicle (HMV) and Heavy Rescue Tender (HRT), not to mention the elite forces of our Prisions counterpart, the Singapore Prisions Emergency Action Response (SPEAR) team.

However focus seemed to be on concept capabilities such as the Police Coast Guard (PCG) Command and Control Suvelliance Barge (C2SB), Police Public Transport Security Command (TranSCOM), Immigrations and Customs Authority (ICA) new training concepts and passport vending machine concepts.

In the sense of community role, volunteer booths from the Volunteer Special Constabulary (VSC) and the Civil Defence Auxillary Unit (CDAU) were present. In supporting the concept of CCSP, the Home Team Cadet Corps and the schools also helped in manning booths are explaining their roles in the community. Being relaxed allows the community to go further in being vigilant. With this in mind, the HTNS recreation centre set up booths for air rifle, Archery and Wall climbing.

I hope my readers are still with me after a barrage of alien terms and what not. And those who know me well enough will know that despite the elaboration, I wil go back to talk about the blue stuff, for now the PCG C2SB concept. The C2SB will work in tandem with the new Patrol and Interdiction boats (These PIBs are set to replace the PT class). As our Singapore Territorial Waters is very cluttered, the C2SB will monitor (via radar) the big ships. The pockets of space in between the big ships are a blind spot to the C2SB. This area will be patrolled by the PIBs. Another way to put the idea across is that the C2SB is a divisional command centre while POLCOM will be a main HQ.

I suppose the need for 4 decks is to have a bigger on site (or rather mobile) command center in support for Maritime Security Task Force (MSTF). Afterall, the helipad seems obvious to be in support of RSN ops. However, how the C2SB area of command will overlap Gul Regional Base and Brani Regional Base is what I am still unsure of.

One question that will come in is that is there a costly need for it? Certainly, have anyone seen an Ambulance Command Post, Fire Command Post (by the way, all Shopping Centres have a Fire Command Centre), Police Forward Command Post? The need to have a mobile Command Post allows resources to be organised and mobilised faster. The on scene commander have sufficient space and area to hold meetings and make tactical decisions faster and easier.

This is where the C2SB likely to come in, current MSTF assests are the PV vessels which are old boats meaning cramped spaces to hold an inter-agencies meeting. Not to mention PCG and ICA vessels would have problems in their own space (imagine holding a board meeting in a car). A land based command post would mean reaction time lag. While our 3 nautical mile (5.5Km) STW is small, and it probably takes single digits minutes to reach incident point. But minutes matter in special operations, not to mention if any possible helivac is needed. Furthermore a watch tower near incident area means better eyes for the situation, less reliance on radar or radio communications.

The C2SB and PIB concepts are sure to appear in Police Day Carnival again. Whichever PCG officer at the booth must be prepared to take on questions.

-----

Ok, something less technical for the brain. This is a 37 minute video on the uniqueness of humans. I am pretty sure my readers here dun have 37 minutes to spare, so here is the rundown. The speaker, is Robert Sapolsky; authour of "Why Zebra don't get uclers", for the graduating class of Stanford students in 2009. The first 4 minutes is an introduction to Sapolsky himself. The next 27 minutes is Sapolsky himself saying why we are not as unique as we thought.

We have the same neurological system as a fruit fly and that we only have 1/3 more genes than a fruit fly. So it isn't our genes that make us unique. Neither is our Theory of mind; culture and/or empathy. Other Primates have them too. But it is our theory of mind that is so complicated that we create a humane culture that can empathise not only our close ones, but also to starving kids in Africa and refugees and survivors from natural disasters. So Sapolsky says, with this slight difference, go out there and change the world into a better place. That was his line to Stanford students. But I suppose it doesn't only apply to them, but to everyone else.

This is a long video,the crux is at the last 6 minutes or so.

Off to do homework. Which class would ask one to do meditation for homework ??? ;)

The Bicentennial

2010-05-13T00:18:00.000+08:00

This marks my 200th post. I am still overly affected by the minor dip in my grades. It is still a nice number, and i hope it stays that way minimally. Which i guess caused a flat effect in my trip ... ...

I managed to Shutter Island on the outbound flight. The Airbus A380 interior is neater and better furnished. There was also a wider variety of in-flight entertainment. This is probably for catered for flights over 10 hours in mind. I guess costs and other depreciating factors prevented SIA to carry out refurbishment of the older planes. Anyway, Shutter Island is a psychological thriller. At the end, it seems to question who is really mad and truely, on how we define madness, insane and recovery.

The weather in HKG is once again cloudy/foggy. I didnt take much photos, i guess there wasnt much left to shoot for me. Mainly was eating rather than shopping. Since there wasnt even a hint of a sale. But the outlet stores expanded considerably. Much to my disappointment, the French restaurant i was craving for became Michelin rated. It meant no more cheap French buffet.

Having nothing much left to do. A hasty and short venture was made to Macau. Stepping into Venitian casino is indeed an eye-opener. Really, it is a sort of place where vices gather. Prostitution and illegal money lending was obvious. And whether this illegal money lending is part of a money laundering scheme is unknown.

This makes very much wanting to be in anti-vice ops for a moment. Not saying that vice is wrong. It is defined as morally wrong but gives pleasure. It is not about discussing vice here, but rather the fact that vices do bring about crimes. Another perspective is that the casino brings the crime out into the limelight, rather than staying underground. Whatever the stance is, a crime is a crime and law enforcement will reach it one day.

The flight back was served with the usual Haagen Diaz ice cream and a turbulence for comfort. Unfortunately, SQ865 was an old B772. Ok, flight number doesn't help.The plane spotter would say 9V-SQB was an old plane (delivered in late 1997) with scratches on the window made sunset shots a futile effort. Watched a Japanese film, as all Japanese romance films, more non verbal communications than verbal ones. This film would likely be rated NC16 for some nude scenes, i suppose.

http://asianmediawiki.com/Sayonara_Itsuka

And this trip made me understand better about SQ fleet deployments. Sure, there is wiki but watching your A380 wait 1 hour for takeoff looking at other planes is a total ball game. I didn't take much photos here. I think I went on a plane trip than a HKG trip.

Yet, this trip made me missed out Psyc Scene, which i think i would have not cared about my air ticket if I was alone. Finally, this is Mio broadband is crap. Really, i think ISP should not promise so much when they can deliver. SO what if our internet penetration rates is higher than that of US? Compare a laggy 6 Mbps and a standard 56k dial up. The answer is probably no much difference. The latter could even be better.

Empty end

2010-05-02T08:57:00.002+08:00

Coming out of my last paper was weird. That was, it all suddenly felt empty and numb. To simply put it, it means there was neither a sense of eurpohia nor negative feelings. Perhaps any sense of elation was numbed the eventual fact that my GPA is going down no matter how.

Despite being comforted that my UGC grade didnt give me a new low, my grades ae going into a trough. Hmm, I hope betters news can surface, though I am not countin on it. And another negating factor is a clash of an air ticket and Psy Scene 2010. I am surely missing out on a good opportunity and perhaps this might never come again. I think i really need a better organiser or plans or wadever.

I managed finish reading 'Outliers'. In short,what it takes to be successful depends on hard work, birth month and era and also your cultural legacy. Meaning, successful people, aka the outliers, arent really outliers. It is like having a psychological disorder not only due to one reason but a mixture of biopsychosocial factors. Still, i am pretty unconvinced by the birth month factor.

The hard work is a tough realisation. 10000 hours of hard work for a chance of success coupled with the right timing. So, hard work people, you never know when the time becomes 'right' anyway. I guess my aim for this short break is clearing up my unfinished reads, so that I can have new reads ...

The Police Coast Guard has unveil a Command and Control (C2) vessel/barge for enhanced ops. While aesthetics could be the last on every military hardware list, this C2 vessel is really an 'eyesore' (Quoted). PCG is not a military outfit, and hence, police forces are usually otherwise known as paramilitary uniformed forces.

The proposed 80m long, 30m wide, 4 storey high vessel will also have a helipad. It is likely that it acts as a deterrence than enforcement once again. Since there are no pirate intrusions into Singapore Territorial Waters (STW) since 1993, i doubt any pirates or illegal immigrants will enter via Straits of Singapore. Furthermore, the Straits is pretty much crowded already, the major problem might be a lack of good anchor sites for the vessel. I will see how this goes at the Home Team Convention 2010. Watch this space ...

April Rush

2010-04-11T00:44:00.000+08:00

This week was week rush. I just realised that is less than 10 days to my exams. However, Grades Forecasting Division is not bringing in good news. GPA is all set to drop (the issue here is to what extent) , and I am likely to collect my first B in three sems. For the uninitated, my modules are graded A, A-, B+, B, B- and so on. I will, forge ahead to debunk this forecast. Then again, my forecasts are usually quite accurate. On the other hand, i need to develop such accuracy in stocks...

Which means having the Professionalism trait in our studies. Even if it means dying in the module, efforts made till the end are of the highest quality. That sounds alot like responsibility.
But no, a simple analogy would be a chef. His responsibility is to cook hygenic and edible food. A professional chef is one who will leave his customers smiling and coming back for more. A professional chef will never be scared of standing infront of the oil and smoke for hours. Just like a professional soldier will never whine about having mud on his face.

Perhaps one key trait seen in professionalism (or rather at the epitome of professionalism) is alacrity. Alacrity is doing things fast, but that does not equal to haste makes waste. And professionalism also means you see things till the end, to the best of quality. Responsibility does not include the last 5 words.

And being professional means separating work from home, home from work and school from work, home from school. We can set this professional attitude in us in everything. It doesnt just have to be confined to a certain task or area or place. It can be to everything. It can mean things as simple as ironing your clothes. A well-pressed shirt doesn't mean you have a good iron, nor your good skills in ironing. Though both are elements nessecary, the invisible element is something called pride.

While pride and alacrity are correlated to professional, this is probably a chicken and egg question. I am not starting a definition essay here. At the end of the day, never do something for the sake of doing. Especially, when you are not forced to. Sure, there are compelling factors. But it does not mean we have to follow it.

As this sem draws to a close,another highlight is the "consultancy service" to certain modules and people. I am no whiz kid, and i did seek related help too. Nevertheless, i am pretty glad I could help out, though at the expense of myself sometimes, i feel. I think it is easier to poke nose into other people business than to your own. This service is split into three queues: pirority, normal and please go die. Ok, no one is queueing up at the latter...

This week raised an interesting question: To what extend, does a military command/order becomes unreasonable? My answer, 10 mins later, was that at the point of order, there is no time to think or question and furthermore, refute. It could be only after the incident when an AAR is carried out (if in the first place, it is being done so). And at that time, would one whistleblow, and also putting yourself at risk for war crime trial too? I doubt so.

A recent leaked pentagon video of an Apache attack helicopter shooting Iraqi civillians raised a storm. This storm is a big storm, because 2 Reuters reporters were killed. Would this wuha be smaller if it was just innocent Iraqi civillians? While pentagon did not give a earlier reply for the reporter's deaths 2 years ago, it is now forced to reply that the pilot and WSO mistook them as insurgents (with the camera being mistook as a weapon, yeah, it shoots, i know).

I am not questioning the reason. It could have been true. Being in a helicopter means one can be easily shot down. Would you risk yourself being killed? The video showed chase and attempts to disengage help from others (also assumed to be the same groups of insurgents). Such is the cruelty of war. You dont take chance, and you shoot to kill. Cos if you do, you will probably die.

And professionalism means answering this failure/error honourably.The cause of death is finally answered. This week is such a whirl that i have not fully analysed the video, nor i would have time in this month.

The irony in preventing a war is to have a strong deterrence. And our deterrence is further blostered by the F-15SG Strike Eagles homecoming and inauguration into an existing squadron of F-5s. In fact, this strength of this deterrence is likely to be displayed once again at this year NDP, along with other new toys.

Jack-in-the-box

2010-03-21T23:54:00.000+08:00

Here goes again. What does one think when you look at the title (Jack-in-the box)? I dont know what you will think, but i hope you didn't fared decently for association tests. For me, it is about surprise.

Life is full of surprises, that is how one strictly defines surprise. Things are hardly that way when one have good forecasting. But when things go out of prediction, one gets deeply affected. OK, coming back. I finished my Jack-in-a-box duty for the previous 2 days. Once again, the uniqueness of an individual dawned upon me.

It has been months since i last wrapped a present. Thankfull, all came out nice and good, expect for the last one which kinda ran out of wrapping paper. And for that matter, i do wrap my presents if I have them in my hands. Who said guys cant wrap presents for nuts? Of course, there's someone to learn from, not hands on, but the watch from afar and learn kind.

And pulling off a surprise takes alot of effort, which means I dun usually start anything (nor organise outings) unless the ball is in my hands. Which also spells why i often a support role (quoted: "with varying mileage"). And certainly why one will see the phrase/motto "In Dedicated Support" somewhere. And this support tend to encompass anything. And certainly, this 'mileage' goes beyond who, but also includes where/when/how/what. And I highly presume the amount of dedicated support is pretty much dedicated because of my current status.

What kind of Jack-in-the-box appeared this week for you? Is it an angelic jack or a devilish one? What goodness actually oozed out from the devilish jack? Think about it... and you might just feel better ... ...

Lastly, I shall end with two quotes, the latter being something I had in my mind for a pretty long time. With respect to that, I hope someone can challenge me and say it is wrong. The first, is something you wouldnt want to wake up on a sunday morning to see it. (Or rather, on any other morning and maybe specifically, anytime) Then again, I might be having expectations too high. Maybe I am, then there would be a conflict resolution which needs to be confronted with.

"Ignorance is not an excuse for incompetency. What fuels this incompetency is disinterest, makes things worse." ( For that, I shall better myself. And I realised this had appeared online earlier. )

"Appreciating something is using it, not thanking it only."

Penguin Missile

2010-03-14T23:17:00.005+08:00

Look at this title. What is the very first image that flashes across your mind? If you had just watched Alice (in Wonderland), you could be forgiven if you think someone is literally launching penguins off missile loaders.

But if you have read today's (14th March 2010) Sunday Times, you will definitely luagh at it. The Sunday Times ran an informative report about the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) latest addition (Ok, it was ordered in 2005, delivered in 2009 and undergoing training now); the S-70 Seahawks helicopters. The helicopter is tasked with Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW); equipped with electronic suites, sonars and radars to detect hostile subs. It is armed with torpedos to take out hostilities if necessary.

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_502071.html

The web version doesnt tell much error, thankfully perhaps. Our dear reporter have seemed to copy and paste information from Wikipedia to fill up his half page report. Upon reading about penguin missiles, you would have laughed your head off. For the unheard, you would probably think that we are poaching penguins from Antartica. For the well-informed, you will laugh your head off because we didn't buy any Penguins (not for the zoo). Or perhaps our reporter had top secret information.

I suspect that the MINDEF PAFF thinks everything is secret that lead our reporter to resort to wiki. Since the defence correspodent left. The reporter that has been covering defence news has been switched twice. It is probably not the reporter fault. Yet, if this published article needed PAFF vetting, how could anyone sorely missed out the peguin missile error?

But the error ridden story didn't end there. It then says that the S-70Bs are the RSN first weapon equipped aircraft. Ok, maybe our Fokker-50 Maritime Patrol Aircraft are armed with Penguins (literally) instead of Harpoons missiles.

Thinking that our S-70 is godlike, he thinks that it also can be equipped with Aster Missile. So what is a ASW chopper doing with a Surface-to-Air Missile? In the first place, how does a moving chopper sound like a surface platform to you? If he wants to link it with the ship capability, he has a very strong grammar error.

Does this means a government-linked paper can ignore about accuracy and crediblity? Or is that since we have no choice so you would have to feed us bullshit?

That faltering feeling is still in me. Maybe that's burnout. Or in a sense, a stranded kind of feeling. And to a certain form of dismal, i realised my high profile wasn't high enough. Or rather, it is in a wrong tactic. Haiz, seems like this sem is not going too well. Maybe I need some cognitive therapy about my expectations. I shall muster the last of my energy for the next few weeks.

Meanwhile, it is time to make a decision where to go. Somehow, the lack of GSM over the like for the sea is too overwhelming. Hmm ...

Faltering ..

2010-02-28T21:50:00.001+08:00

My dear followers may probably my one line at the last paragaph in my previous post that "I think i am becoming pretty high profile in a certain class, ... " My fear was confirmed last week. Of course, high profile here means high profile in the positive way. Yet, such high profile comes with a price. The expectation to do well, from the lecturer, and of course, the on lookers. Then studying the particular module would have become not for yourself but rather, for others.

Furthermore, the risks of failure will surely come with snide remarks. Not that one would be spared if he does well anyway. I am not afraid of failing. I am afraid of not meeting up to my own expectations. And if I dont, it is my problem, it is not any newsworthy story to be published. People's expectation is a form of additional stress. Haiz, well. And then after a week of mid terms, it seems that i have kinda faltered in this challenging sem. OF course, there is still a glimmer of hope. And I will hold on to it...

This week is abuzz with the Budget news. For now, there is no GST hike(due to an impending election). Meanwhile, we can buy more duty free beer or wine to celebrate this small news. This reminds me of flexible taxation that the Mughal Empire (dun ask me who, for i have no need to remember that). Taxing more popular products and realigning taxes to different incomes. Which makes sense to do that for property as well, right?

Yet, the context here is different. The new AV tax on property will deeply entrench the middle class. The middle class is always at a pecular sandwiched position. They might not qualify for any incentives that can have given them some relief. Then they might subject to other forms of taxations. Suddenly, staying in the middle seems so hard. Of course, we always seek to climb higher. In this little city, it is either investments or the lottery. Investments can stem from a wide variety, but usually, in futures or property. If the new property tax set in, this means that investing in property will demand lesser returns.

Futhermore, this taxation would not starve off would be investors. If the government is not able to forecast demand, both speculative (for investing) and actual (for living). The perhaps, there should be a change in methology to forecast demand. (The above 2 paragraphs is of a personal comment without any technical data)

If the results of the methodology is flawed, does it mean that this process is useless? Clearly not, it just means that the methodology requires tweaks and stronger vadility.

I reached a new drinking limit yesterday. And it tells me, never to reach anything near that again, much less beyond that.

Airshow

2010-02-12T21:04:00.002+08:00

There's a biennal event in Singapore that greatly interest plane spotters, military nuts fanatics, military officials and their related businessmen. Perhaps you can include a sprinkle of rich people that has money to burn. This year is the Singapore Airshow 2010 (Formely known as Asian Aersopace, but has since moved their venue to Hong Kong).

It comes abit of dismal that the 2008 edition started off with great fanfare with few acrobatic teams coming in to perform, not to mention a plethora of other planes on static display.But the 2010 saw lesser enthusiasm from exhibitors and air forces worldwide.

This year round saw only 9 flying aircraft, with situations abound during flying. And sadly, there is much of a difference in the static displays of the previous event. The Global Hawk UAV and the F-35 Lightning II is still on the exact same spot. The many models of small private aircraft is beyond me. One noteable airframe spotted was the Bombardier Bash 8 Q400 (Such a long model name is beyond me too.) in airBaltic colours. Even the USAF static contingent was largely similar with F-15Es, P-3, C-27 and the KC-135.

What's different, or new this time, is the retiring F-111 Aardvark from Australia. A engine problem saw it being grounded from the 3rd day of the show. Two Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT) , T-50 from Korea and M-346 from Italy. The RSAF is currently selecting an AJT are these are the two strong contenders. My bet goes to the T-50 for its better operability and configurability, from what I see. The Koreans seemed more friendly than the Italians, possibly due to the fact that they dun know English really well. The Koreans hardselling tactics were noted, with the lion head painted on the tail of the flying and static aircrafts. Notably the aircraft was also grounded for flying too close.

The RSAF Hermes 450 UAV was on static, I managed to get some indirect answers though. An 8 yr old Chinook, a AH-64 Apache and a Blk 52+ F-16D was also on display. Nothing too fanciful. Inside the exhibtion booths, freebies were up for grabs, recyclable bags are the in thing now. MINDEF was giving out streamers and handphone screen wiper. For awhile, pilots become celebrities by signing on posters. Dont ask me why either.

The key highlight was that going with a group of specialised knowlegde people. I learned alot in photography and military nuts. Once again, I extend my thanks to these people, the organisers of SA 2010 and also "ChineseJunk" for the lobang. Anyway, the registration is damn cool. A SMS registration code is sent to your phone. An screen with a infra-red sensor scans the code and woohoo, your trade pass is printed out instantly. I wonder about this future use. Maybe i will do a write uo when I figure out its exact technology.

Something now see the light of the public is the Projected Line Charge (PLC). This equipment was seen at the ST booth. Unfortunately, the person incharge of introducing the equipment wasnt around. Not that I have no idea what the equipment can or cannot do, but rather about its origin and etc. Photos are up on my facebook, which I am very sure my regular readers here all have me on their facebook.

- - - -

We grow up learning that we should be nice to people and throw in a helping hand if possible. In official terms, we should think about the consequences when we act in goodwill. Especially when dealing with organisations that loves black and white. For the first time, acting in goodwill brought about more trouble, to the person and the others who received the goodwill. Which someone spelt out that, one should not offer goodwill so readily. Then what, should we see someone "die" (not literally)? If you die, it is not my problem? This particular saga would have the same outcome anyway. Which makes me wonder why someone volunteering in an organisation that helps the community would say something so paradoxical. Nevertheless, my stance remains unchanged. If you are my friend, you are worth helping, till ... pointlessness occur.

Perhaps the older has seen more and know the dire consequences. I think much about it at first. And it turned out to be nothing much, till now. Not that the older foresaw such a outcome either. But then nothing significant should come out of this saga.

On another issue, we all will invaribly take sides upon learning more details of a situation. Sometimes, learning more somebody can be so scary. Then again, it is people's perception. Never mind the post-information effect. It is still pretty much right. If you can digest a book and answer questions, great. But if you cant answer questions out of that book, then you shouldnt feel too proud either. I think i am becoming pretty high profile in a certain class, I know nuts about history, but i know about politics and technology. I hope I am not becoming anybody's intellectual bully. Then again, the lecture goes haywire if nobody answers ...

Lastly, Happy CNY !!!
(Darkness, once again, devours me as the festivities set in, life's great)

Hectic post

2010-01-31T23:57:00.001+08:00

It is just start of the year and I am making plans and forecasts all the way till next year end. Cool shit. Forecasting is a good thing. Forecasting with no data is like Nostradamus though. I am forecasting things like costs, my volunteering issues, and of course, the end. Convincing my parents is another thing. If all works well, I should be going over next year, then there might be a slight problem of graduating by next year. I love forecasting, everything possible (positive) shit gets mapped out. Sure the worst is there, but think positive. Our natural tendency to think negative is already there. Life would surely be better when we look from the other side.

Then, it is just start of the semester and it feels like hectic. Pray that a burnout wouldnt occur. Maintaining grades is of an utmost issue here. (Of course, there is something else, but then it will come when it come) Furthermore, I seemed to have taken up another module: LAW.

I am not sure where I will end up, or what I will face, but I hope I will never face that. Truely, whatever skills our military/police/medical personnel possess, is something that we actually wish we never have to use and apply. Our basic aggression drive might want us to experience this, but our ego will come in to balance up this.

What happen when you are forced to take sides between friends? Or maybe, the balance out the relations between both parties? Sometimes, misunderstandings can be easily solved, but the dust can still somewhat stay on. Then again, you wonder is such a person really a friend? The question today is not who is a friend or not. But rather, what should you do, when hmm, one sees a breaking away.

Do you try to hmm, apply glue, or just let it tear away? So what happens when one is in the middle? Become the brigde? Or just be at both sides, since both sides are usually mutually exclusive? Surely, if the feeling is mutual, we can easily ignore what's left at the end. What if it isn't? Where should one take the stand to? The majority or the outlier? What if any form of action or stance is bound to ruffle the feathers of either side?

Ultimately, one can't please everybody. Some people have that trait to be there for friends, regardless. So,if such a situation occur, what should one do? Of course, apply glue has failed, so do one just leave it? Maybe, but such a person will have to iron out the nature of his integrity and the outcome of such a situation. Sometimes, it is just weird, for the outlier, one wold seem fake infront of the rest. For the rest, you might neglect the outlier.

At the end of the day, doesn't this seems to be an ignited fused detonator waiting to explode? One will never wish to see the effects of it. Time might not allow.

This will be a hetic week. Will update about this hectic week, in particular, Airshow 2010, watch this space

Here's the reason why one should never get a (1) Violent and (2) fat girlfriend:
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/World/Story/STIStory_480723.html

Hmm, there goes another, when is it my turn???

the first week

2010-01-17T23:33:00.000+08:00

I have always have that pride in me that I am no frog in the well. Ask me anything and I would have a faint idea about, usually. I am not saying I am all knowing. Because in today information age, where knowlegde is being updated every second, all-knowing has become an ideal. In ancient times however, it was so hard to get knowlegde, that Zhuge Liang was a prized possession.

Coming back, there is always questions that I can't answer and topics that I don't and will probably never know. With that, it is always a notion not only in me, but probably in everyone else, that the thirst for knowlegde is not about winning others, but rather, furthering oneself. Definitely an easier way to digest knowlegde.

Yet, this week, the start of semster, tells me a different story. That, it is useless to hold terabytes of knowlegde. If anyone is has terabytes of knowlegde, he is proabably just a walking hard disk drive. The next step after having knowlegde, is to critically analyse it. It is just like knowing all the bus routes, but then, never thinking about how to improve/implement/redesign the bus routes.

I could answer the item behind Industrial Revolution is coal, but unable to answer further that because coal burns better than wood. I could answer the thirst for gold during early Colonial Europe was because gold was a standard currency, but unable to answer that those Europeans were dumb enough to 'make' gold. Then again, I wonder what was with alchemy, if that's the case.

This has come back to the dilemma of achieving depth or breadth. It appears that acheving breadth is not the focus. I realised that months ago, only to realise that I was out of touch and going back again. The focus, should still be depth, specialising and analysing. Today, with world connectivity, knowlegde can be at our fingertips at anytime. That means, focusing on breadth can be anytime easily. but not depth. To analyse anything in depth (or in layman terms, chim-ology) requires a working mind. To pick out any factual anomaly requires breadth, but arguementive anomaly would require the active mind. With that, I shall go back into specialising in a few key areas, despite even my breadth in these areas are wide. That will be my knowlegde focus now.

And I have no idea why its the first week of school and it seems that everyone is already stressing each other out.

In SAF, every two years signifies an end of tour and move on to something thing else. There are command, intructors and staff tours common to both the Officers and WOSE corps, and of course, PC and SM tours respectively. Now comes a time where the Chief of Defence Force (CDF) is being rotated. Current Chief of Army (COA) MG Neo will take over LG Kuek, while current 9DIV/Inf Commander BG Chan Chun Sing will then take over as COA. I am assuming former Chief of Air Force MG Ng Chee Kern was a close contender for the CDF post.

While such rotational policy is common, I feel that LG Kuek should see through his O.N.E SAF vision.

Operationalise the first spiral of the third- generation SAF.
Nurture first-class people in a world-class organisation.
Engage our people towards stronger commitment and greater excellence.

On one look, it seems that the surface has been touched on. But with another change of leadership, would the momentum carry on? Or will the new CDF seek new refreshing changes? No doubt change is the only constant. Perhaps LG Kuek should see through his vision.

Operationalising has been a very great fanfare to milnuts. HIMARS and F-15SG are due for this year NDP, the leopards Bn is soon moving towards FOC. On the lower level saw new uniform change, new iLBVs, the ACMS. Terrex would soon become part and parcel of an infantry life. No doubt, the first part looked pretty much complete.

However, the N and E parts looked pretty much untouched. True that new schemes (MDES) and new ranks will be implemented. But how are people reacting to it.The uptake rate is a mere pre-indicator because people aren't in the system yet. This Nurturing part looks set but the verdict is stillout there.

As for the engagement part, I guess, this is the most difficult component in his vision. Ultimately, he realise is that any kind of enduring change must begin in the hearts and minds of the people. We can only forge stronger integration if we can change the culture, thinking and behaviour of the people about how they should work together. It sounds obvious, but it isn’t always easy. If this actually come true, all of us, be it regulars, NSFs or NSmen, will experience a better NS stint. Thre successful indicator of this will be that less people will say SAF is a Serve and Fuck off organisation. ... Still i suppose, a vision, will always remain a vision.

Here's his interview then:
http://www.mindef.gov.sg/imindef/publications/cyberpioneer/people/2007/jul07_people.html

When there's an earthquake, send an aircraft carrier. It helps, they need jet fuel, missiles and bombs and you hogging their airport because you are forever behaving like some white supremacist. I wonder what's US motive in helping Haiti's earthquake. The government is revolved so much around politics and money that it is odd to help just like that. Now they have been accused of holding up the French, just to allow US aircraft to fly. Great PR move.

Went to Ubin for a short walk. Managed to catch A380 on camera. I think I need a camera with a wider screen. I thought most shots i took were bad but it turned out ok ...

I left 1Xvest to look for, for my CNY. I hope I can find it ...

I have a bad feeling in me. I hope I am wrong ... ... ...

Leftover of 2009

2010-01-06T11:53:00.002+08:00

If you are expecting a kind of summary of 2009 and some resolution crap for 2010. You are going to be so wrong. The only thing brought over from 2009 to 2010 is my 4 boxes of plane and 1X tank, which I have no idea how to "colour" them. Which means they would still be in mint condition. An airbrush investment would cost an initial $400. and add add the need to buy CNY stuff. I am gonna be so broke for this month.

I went for a countdown outing. Being cheapo meant that you would squeeze along the crowds to get a good view of the fireworks. Seriously, I have no idea what's there to countdown for, but still went ahead with it anyway. It was quite a pretty bad situation. The Esplanade Bridge was full and cut off as early as 10. Which meant that I ended up in Padang, with a lucky spot that could see almost everything lest a tree branch. It seems that kiasu-ism is rearing its head at such events too. Which means that other than being cheapo, you would need to be early, way early. Then again, it is likely that I might be there again, with another purpose.

Fireworks is something that you see the same thing every year but still get awed by it on the spot, nevertheless. And Udders waffles seems to be nicer than their ice cream ...

Another observation made is an evident security crunch at the Marina area. The usual staffing of Auxillary Police Officers (APOs) is bolstered by other security agencies. I assume this is part of the operations under Project Guardian. I am still analysing this queer project. Finer details of Police Operations is also poses an interesting question. As for this, I no have knowledge of this.

Then, we are told told where and why is blocked till late. I suppose things on the ground could get abit better. While this multi agency approach adds considerable manpower, the command link seems kinda disjointed.

http://kitchentigress.blogspot.com/2010/01/ocbcs-birthday-cake.html

The above link is a pretty absurd thing that occurred. Yet, it reflected the very realities of life. This particular blogger when to OCBC on Sunday, and demanded for a birthday cake as with the advertisement. Her demands were met at the end of the day after a long talk with one teller, one supervisor and the manager.

This reflected three things. One, advertisements are often exaggerated that seems to promise sky. Technically, dont promise what you cant deliver. Which seems to remind me of the recent Navy advertisement. I am waiting for an SAF advertisement that shows a clock at 5.30am, and people rousing for reveille and 5BX.

Second, this nation is full of unreasonable customers. At least, OCBC did manage to prove customer service at the end of the day. Oh, forget GEMS, now it is called ONE! (Outstanding aNd Expectional) Service. Which reminds me no more fulgy blue uniform at the airport anymore. SATS is taking up this ONE! service and changed their uniform to a much nicer peach shade, what an relief to the eyes.

Third, by blogging such an exploit only reflects a certain kind of maturity. While sarcasm is directed towards the first point, by bitching about the finally free cake (out of the manager and bank teller pocket probably) doesnt sound abit overboard. Then again, the internet has seemed to become a platform for stupidity. Imagine Stomp. No wait, that's brings horror. Sometimes, I admire that ability to bitch about everything behind a screen and not actually having the guts to correct that situation at that time.

The end, it reminds us that while freedom of speech does exists to a certain extend here, please write with your brains, if one has any in the first place.

Life: Man proposes, Heaven disposes. Why doesn't Heaven dispose all the bad things away instead ?? Then what's the point in making plans then? This is irritating.
IPPT later... hope it goes well ...

Pew pew pew is over

2009-12-22T00:14:00.000+08:00

I still can't seem to understand the link between "enjoy your company" and "draw the line". At least, it is clearer in my case. While I have always been a supporter of plationicism, it is harder to accept now. I have been wondering if I am useless, then convincing myself again, that I was less useless, the outcome is the same anyway.

It is gratifying to know friends (and yes, my dear cousin, too) are always there. But my forecast prediction ability is so good sometimes that usually i can a re-affirmation. Hence, it is good to get something insightful. Advice from friends will be remembered.

Perhaps I am not sad anymore, but the element of irritatedness is still there. Can I qualify for children MDD instead ??? Hmm, I thought I was ok. ... ... ... ...

Alright, passed my shooting, one down, 3 more to go.

The Peace Vanguard detachment had 20 AH-64D Apaches. With 8 still under PV det and 12 in 120 Sqn currently, it makes one wonder that if 6 was at EX FS and another estimated 4 were in Wallaby,what was left of 120 Sqn? I got my answer already. And it is really assuring to know that our defence capability is 24/7 ready, regardless of our overseas training/detachment/peace operations.

The armed forces earned themselves another black mark with the news of another unit cheating in the Best Unit Competition. Somehow, i think it is rather known that nobody follows the whole set of 'by right' rules. It is obvious that higher command wants results that they can be proud of. But when results are gotten thru' shoddy means, who is to blame? The higher command, the ones responsible or those facilitating?

The intent of the higher command can only go so far, lets achieve this target. But why is this so? Does the problem lie in the system as well? Did hordes of commanders chased the Best Combat Unit title so mindless that they forgot why and how? Are too many indicators pegged to this meaningless title or are there too many indicators in it? Perhaps, it was a one off incident that the Commandos did this such a thing the last time. But this time, it happened at another unit, meaning to say that the human factor is not wholly to blame. Why are senior commanders tempted do this? Surely, a cost benefit analysis told them something is at stake. If so, should we all relook at how this BCU is bringing us to? Mindless commanders who want that recognition, promotions, and pride. The latter is the most incomprehesible within most ranks of NSFs and NSmen.

No doubt, fitness and knowlegde/skills competency is basic soldiering. These are the two components, not ONE or the other. Then the most important soldiering ability that will never be measured in IPPT/SOC/ATEC or BCU for that matter. The camderieme and the determination and ability to lead the men on. The end result might be seen in ATEC, but the failure to capture its essence, is something worth pondering about. The idea of 'ONE SAF' is probably just another idea that will never easily take flight in this old system.

not there yet

2009-12-10T10:38:00.006+08:00

Exams has unofficially ended. One more to go next week and i hope I have the heart to study still. Yet, so far so good. Hope it ends well. Then again, life will throw you something worse than lemons at times.

Hmm, I have been specialising that i forgot about generalising to the extend that I am missing out on alot of news. Perhaps these two must go hand in hand. This will become even harder.

NO disrepect to the dead and missing, but somehow, my heart does feel like RSS Courageous. That doesn't mean I will go bersek. Extreme is not in my dictionary. Today will be a good psychological training. The textbook says that penning down negative thoughts is good for stress reduction. But I think there has to be a line between that and emo. Hmm, to what extend is the catharsis effect?

Perhaps it is not about how people die but whethere one can be resurrected. And then, if it is over, one should just move on. Because maybe the truth hurts. I guess it is better to lose to nothing. Then again, moving on always have the simplest instruction yet hardest to follow. Apparently, my friend say I appear stronger than him. So, this will end soon. RWWWWWWAAAAARRRRRRHHHHHHH

Lastly, I think i need to set a proper training regime ... ... and I wonder where I should choose ... ...Sadly, lead and sea dont match.

它带你来骗我说渴望的有可能有希望

End is near

2009-11-25T22:47:00.000+08:00

It is a bewilderment to me that I am always rushing at the end of the sem. As if by rushing, the sem would complete earlier. The rush is over which means the sem is ending, and also means the exams are coming which also means the exams will end and the holidays will come and also means the next sem of horror will start soon and the cycle goes on.

In short, there is a sense a jadedness. And this rush let me learned something. The rush might just means a measly a few points. But the appreciation in delivering quality standards is worth more than marks. To hell with leechers. And yes, I am bitching. The end of lessons means I see one less cockster around. It is understandable that people make mistakes, but not some random dumb mistake everytime. Ok just to admit my imperfection, i almost lost a school property yesterday in my absent-mindedness.

Somehow, when a mega essay for you to finish and another 8000 thousand things on your mind, it easy to mess thing ups. Yes, it might sound like an excuse. But it sounds more plausible than "I searched the entire bookshop and I couldn't find this file." I shall spare some cockster some sarcasm. Nowadays, it is so hard to bitch about someone else because people will say you are like someone else. Then again, at least i tell other relevant people about this and not behind their backs.

With regards to that, internet is a public place. It is akin potting plants outside your corridor to let people who walks past see. If you have a locked blog, it jus means your plants are inside the house. That doesn't mean theives (hackers) cant see them. So please dun assume no one reads your blog. Then again, it seems that my 'shoe rack' look pretty empty.

It appears that maximum gay grades for this sem would be abit off. I am not sure how this will work out. I hope to bag two full As, at least. And, it bloody means I should start studying. And apparently, when everyone is supposedly busy with work. they are all over msn and fb too.

And fb has the lamest groups/fan pages ever. Of course we all share the same sentiment that"I texted you in 2 secs, dun take hours to reply" but as a fb group? Hmm ... anyway, a random search came up with this " Instead of "Fuck the Police!, how about you "STOP BREAKING THE LAW RETARD". Maybe there is group called "There are some questions that you shouldn't ask your boss".

And to end this, here are another 2 quotes that I learned this sem. "I am not sure, I am talking off the top of my head" (i.e to ensure no responsibility taken). " ... ... Some people deserve to die" (Cocksters, in a different sense, should just bury themselves) ...

OBservations

2009-11-08T20:15:00.009+08:00

Politicans are funny creatures. When they carry American balls, they step on Chinese tails. When they carry Chinese balls, they step on Taiwanese tails (and vice versa). And the Chinese (or as a matter of fact, PRCs) should differentiate between race and nationality. Untill you can settle your internal ethnic strife, you should stop lumping both together and think you are great. Doesn't mean that you have more people than mines and you can have a big ego. A nuclear bomb will wipe all of us off the same. Acheive for a Multi-polar world ideal first before anything else.

As I was studying, the ironical part of my notes tells me education, money do not bring happiness to people. Great! I should stop studying, then. People are said to have twice as any negative emotions than positive emotions naturally. Does answer why I see so 'emo-ness' on some blogs some times? While supression of emotions is not encouraged, neither is dwelling on it. The only point I beg to differ is "Seeing happy people makes you happy easily too." Hmm, not in all context, certainly. And I have no idea why FB and blogger (google) can lag at the same time.

As much as I seem to be trying to be keeping about my life in blue a low profile, my subconscious seems to be telling everyone about it. Hmm, I think I need to have a stronger ego. Hmm, my hunch is right that HIMARS would be in action for Ex Forging Sabre. I shall look at official reports before making further inferences. Afterall, I am not clear of the arty ORBAT too. I await news from a ex reporter. If RazorTV does good clips, i guess, that will make my work easier.

2 questions for the week.
Does fear leads to arms race or arms race leads to fear?
Is there similarity in differences or differences in similarity?

Weekend observation:
Mocha is listed as a no-no.

Coffee Bean exists to serve Starbucks spillover crowd.

People who say students should not hog tables, either have never been a student or forgot that they sat on a table for 3 hours and spent lesser than what some mugger did.

Please do not smoke in the toilet. You don't pee/shit 5m outside building entrances either. (I am not against smoking, but please use some discretion and be cosiderate.)

With that, hedonism or individualism =/= lack of social graciousness

Peace!!

2009-10-18T12:02:00.000+08:00

This year Nobel peace prize goes to US President Obama. The question is, how much has he really done to peace? No doubt his statements or ideas or doctrine towards the Middle East is a very hopeful one, but how much have that been realised? Seriously, zero. His guantanamo bay prison have not been closed, but only converted to 'other purposes'. How much of peace is that? North Korea is still seen as a unstable compliant. When they are happy they say let's talk and the next day they and shooting missiles all over the place.

In the global reach, there is the Terrorism and a threatening N.Korea (due to the media?). Since his inception, these two issues have not seen much improvement. Then there is still the Africa concern. Certainly, he have not gone down to road of Ghandi and Ang Sung Su Ki doesn't mean he should be denied a chance at the Peace Prize. But all talk and no action seems abit too much. Political Ideals must be met with political will. But in the US, political will is fuelled by something very nasty. Whatever he says might not see the day of tomorrow. If a Black President can speak so much of equality, he better make sure he makes good of it. If not, then liek everything else, is a hoax. With that, I think some multi million minister can be in the run for UN. Ironically, so much for peace, Pakistan Army HQ got attacked the next day. So much for peace.

Next, the passion to teach should not be blinded by the uniform. Yes, no doubt the student-teacher line must remain clear. That doesn't mean the teacher is almightly. The passion to teach must see three areas. The most important fact that is recognising everyone has different learning capabilities. The next is that one must have patience to see the student attain some enlightment. The last is that your teaching style may not conform to everyone. Hence, the set of skills required must be wide and fleixble.

Having said that, of course you must have the natural liking to your group of students. The last thing that a teacher should have is this mentality: "I am good in this so I can teach this, and so you better listen to me" Anyone who fail to receive feedback will naturally lag back, regardless a teacher or a student. Then I wonder how some people are selected for such a job. Which is why, teaching passionate people is always a draw, and the teacher should never seek to kill this passion in them but to further ignite it. That is another hallmark of a good teacher.

It is always an experience gained in training. Be it in the physical skills and the non physical ones. No doubt some form of jadedness is setting into everybody, but we are all still hanging there. It is quite sad to see people give up half way. Which saw one of them almost breaking down when one almost had to face that situation. Someone it is weird to see someone younger dishing out good advice to someone older. Usually it is the other away around. This still brings me a very stark reality that I may have to handle daily.

Coming back to say, I probably do have a lack of patience. Perhaps I should be and see how things develop.

And lastly, Integrity is something I should hold on more tightly to.

||| ||| ||| || ||| ||| ||

2009-10-02T19:02:00.005+08:00

I had a sort of blessing in disguise incident the other day while heading down for training. I forgot my shirt and hopped onto a cab without thinking. Coincidentally, the driver was an ex regular and discussed about the reasons he left. While there is no perfect system, the best system would be flawed when the people in the system starts becoming lazy. Then again, it might be that we often full of inertia. But certainly,the force was compelled to switch to a new system someday, or better or worse. It is against everything to quote or say the exact details. Whatever it may be, it certainly gave me more insights and preparation to whatever I will be facing in future. And it is taking me great strength to write this now.

I had the blessing in diguise thing way before this. An incident that had me eating home cooked food for the next few days and insights into the barcode evolution. Just as saying this, google trends picked up "invention of barcode" as one of its top searches. Cos today google used its barcode for its search engine. No coincidence here though. I am not tracking its history but rather its changes.

Barcodes intended use was to keep track the amount of inventories in a grocery store. While its msot primitive idea was a punch card system, it never really took off as it was the Great Depression. Yet, it was only till 1948 that the idea came around again. A group of graduate students worked on the idea and filed for its patent in 1949. The patent was issued only 3 years later. Despite its original aim was to label railway cars, it found its way into grocery inventory management and became famous.

Today, we have moved on into making barcodes better. The common lines that we see now is known as linear barcodes. A matrix code, also known as a 2D barcode or simply a 2D code, is a two-dimensional way of representing information. It is similar to a linear (1-dimensional) barcode, but has more data representation capability. Today, there appears to be quite a number of variations in the 2D code too. If one has no idea what is this, think about the weird square was digital patches on some adverts. In fact, a better application is seen in hospitals.

Let's say a patient is tagged with a barcode. When a nurse gives medicine to a patient in a hospital, the nurse can scan barcode on the wristband on the patient and make sure that the patient is the right patient. The nurse can then scan the barcode on medicine to verify if it is the right medicine at the right dose at the right time by the right route.

With a 2D code, everything and be done with one scan (on the patient instead of both patient and medicine) and also able to provide additional patient data such as age, sex, and other allergies. (Right medicine would avoid allergies but not state the allergy).

What's there left to evolve? The rise of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Device) would probably change things. However production costs is still high (at 50 cents USD compared to a 3 cents barcode), yet changes are slowly taking taking place. Wal-mart, is now switching its to RFID tags for its supply chain management. Its accuracy enabled Wal-mart to reduce Out-of-Stocks by 30 percent for products selling between 0.1 and 15 units a day. Other benefits of using RFID include the reduction of labor costs, the simplification of business processes, and the reduction of inventory inaccuracies. Its top 100 supplies are now standardised to Walmart RFID-EPC tags and that smaller suppliers would follow suit in time to come.

Back to our sunny island. Our ERP systems uses a RFID system to 'suck' our money. The ez-link card and its successor are also based on RFID technology. The use have caught on into the military medicine as well. I am not sure if this is at implementation or trial stage, but soldiers with RFID tags can be given immediate treatment as the tag immediately shows his medical conditions (past and current) without the need to ask so much, thereby reducing time and focus on treatments immediately. If hospitals take up this scheme. It will easily eliminate the idea of doctors asking the patient the routine questions at every round. More importantly, avoiding the alien scenario of a Hokkien only patient and an Indian doctor. (There is no racism intended, it was my personal observation, and that nurses were too busy and not proficient enough that the translator was a patient from the other bed, I can't imagine a class A ward)

Yet, like everything else, the RFID tag has its pros and cons. It questions whethere we could be easily tracked, and also the loss of privacy as there are security loopholes to the RFID technology. Yet, these issues would be sorted out with Wal-mart and DoD spearheading the developments. Would barcode go into the path of Dodos as well? Only time will tell ... ...

I am rather intrigued with the term bipolar disorder. Because my understanding of this term appears to be different from somebody who claims having bipolar disorder. I did heard of acute manic stage, but not acute depressive stage. Then again, it does support the fact it causes fraud, poor langauge command, cat fight and cheating. I waiting to see what further 'symptoms' or 'effects' of bipolar disorder have. This is new, and should be considered for the DSM. Really.

I seemed to be hit with a ViruS. Then again, the oversensitive is lost in thoughts easily. Finally, a salute to the men and women at Ops Lion Heart and Ops Flying Eagle in Padang 2009.

The revs

2009-09-20T23:13:00.005+08:00

Hmm, just some updates. It appears that the worst is over. But I am still feeling jaded. I am supposed to digest 160 wall of texts. But the effort doesn't seems to be empowering enough. Then again, life is full of mixed signals. Sometimes, when people ask if 'I could read people's mind (cos i am studying psychology)' I wish i could answer 'yes' instead 'yea, when you buy me one.' And I realised I need to re-shift my blog focus back, because my writing is veering off academically proper.

If one need to recall about what you are studying, either something is seriously wrong with the person, or something is seriously wrong with the insitution. Then, the only wrong seems to be that somebody is a flower vase. Boomzzz.

Sometimes, the news do deliver jokes on the front page. A certain minster from the other side of the causeway told reporters that their culture is being stolen, and it seems that everything that you can find in their country has to be culturally theirs. It sounds as good as Palin has foreign policy experience because Russia is beside Alaska. Because, I really have no idea how 'HAINANESE chicken rice' can be culturally theirs. For a moment, I thought I used to have a little red book. I hope someone can explain to me about this. The next thing they will do say that their language is also stolen, and their lands.... Hmm, wait a minute, I think they have done that already. I am not being a nationalist here. I am laughing at politicians, as usual.

Honing one's expertise is hard. Being active on milnuts wasn't easy, neither was exploring sarcasm into an academic piece of work. So I wonder if make military stuff the next academic piece of work would take off into a masterpiece. I already got bored of checking updates from Jane's. I was supposed to do sociological insights on an article, and ended up with a psychological assessement. I guess, that explains why. But the engine sounds warm now. It better be ...

http://urbanup.com/2771924

Next post : the 'barcode evolution' ... Generally, this topic is very wiki-able, but just from my POV. Hope I time to firm up my thoughts ...

the left turns

2009-09-13T12:46:00.002+08:00

Somehow, it there is a saying that goes, "When you are down, you are really down". Of course, in life, there are peaks and valleys to go through. However, humans tend to feel that peaks are shortlived and valleys seems to be a long drudgery.

The damned self conflicting thing is that one studied emotions and depression before. Luckily monday and thursdays nights seems to be only thing that alienate me away from otherwise, depression. And then the bloodly 'emotional well being at time of event'. So much for psychology. Ok, so in general, I am down but not out.

My mum is in hospital, apparently,she is fine, but the staff and system seems to be pissing me off. I shouldn't go into some mindless whining, but then it is still a confirming experience to avoid NUH if possible.

And yesterday, i experienced the coolest shit by seeing tyre caps fly 3 lanes away. Life's Great ... ...

Perhaps the only other consoling thing for the week, is that i met up with former ST defence correspodent earlier. Learned alot from him. The AOH experience is great. For once, I really felt like I ORD-ed as i even forgot what LIMA tape was known as ( I described as the ''colour name" tape). Maybe it is time for me to relearn again. After the AOH experience,I suspect that the pioneer variant is going to be either dumb or real horror, probably, even both.

in a flash ..

2009-09-04T00:27:00.003+08:00

In a flash, school reopened. I didn't do much in the holidays, unfortunately. Coming back, I am still rather split if I should change classes. Class venue is so screw that I wonder what each admin dept were thinking about booking venues at that time. I can't imagine what's going to happen in the remaining sems. There seems to be problem warming up my engine... ... I think I should take my modules at a more leisurely pace in future. Sometimes, it is good not to think so much ... ... ... .... ....

Trainings have started. I hope I am able to cope, at least is it physical related lessons for now. When the theory comes, i hope i dun spout law in psyc class or psyc in law class. Nonetheless, it isn't easy getting that 3.60. It has to do with intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and the dissonance theory that will take place if it is more than 3.60. Hence, it doesn't really matter if it is just 3.60. It is nice to hear people are doing the same thing for the same reasons. Be it for the past or future. I hope everything goes well.

Then again, I am doing something relating to OSA again, this time, even closer. Maybe I should just close down this place. Afterall, anything on the internet is public. Probably I might just post less. The other day. A drink driver got sentenced to 4 years jail and a fine.

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_423617.html

The main point was, he ran past 3 road blocks before getting arrested. He rammed straight at a police officer whom fired a shot to stop the car. Apparently that didn't work. Either the driver thought he was on crazy taxi, or that he is beyond drunk. 16 charges, already some of them were probably serious enough to get him black bean rice for a longer period. An interesting note is that, it was the first shot fired from a Traffic Police officer since its inception, and furthermore, a volunteer. Then again, drawing out arms is not as fanciful as one think.

Lastly, finally SAF announced the procurement of the Terrex. looking at the order form, it looks to be equipping a Battalion first. SInce all 7 variants are purchase, it seems a vital change is occurring. An AE variant is also included, it sounds like to me that a AVLB is going to be ontop of the terrex. Then again, it looks weird to have a bridge ontop of a wheeled vehicle. One thing for sure, no more STB... Then again, I am a ORNSmen, albeit, a very active one ...

:)

2009-08-16T23:45:00.000+08:00

Hmm, it has been a good week. Friday in particular. First of all, i finally received the VSC reply via SMS. An official letter should come on Monday or Tuesday. After months of wait, it has finally come, and lucky, my pre-emptive plans to accommodate its coming have not been wasted. It could have been better, that my forecast was somewhat accurate. It is going to be tough, both physically and mentally exhausting, and also to need to build new relations. Somehow, i think I am glad that I already know a few before anything starts. I hope there will be good support.

Then I managed to catch Potter. I guess it was the fact that not reading the book made me feel that the film didn't feel like more than 2 hours. Other than the movie itself, the whole thing felt "messy". Either it is messy or that it is messing me up. Coming back, i couldn't believe my eyes when I saw my results. I actually clicked refreshed twice and checked my name to ensure I wasn't dreaming. My results were better than I expected,and I am not going to bother about the details. This just comes as added stress for me to maintain my score for the next semester. Coupled with my VSC trainings, I hope I can manage. The horror comes in as morning tuesday lessons. Other than this particular blip, everything should go well.

I finished reading The Dark templar Saga Part three and the TVB drama 'A Great Way to Care'. The drama, feels abit like 'watch this if you havent get enough of PSY101'. but then, given this in a hospital/police setting, it should easily glue people down to their seats. Then, for the first time I managed to find loopholes in a TVB drama, hehx ... I am now faced with painting difficulties with my model kits that it would be halted for a long time till i decide if i should and how to paint them.

And here's the N5800 review: The first charge lasted for 4 days,with 1 hour of MP3/radio playing at full blast, 30 mins of games, 30 mins of GPS/map navigation. 50 SMS and about 20 mins of talktime and a few pics. The rest of the time is in standby mode. A few downsides is that there doesn't seems to be a stopwatch/timer, nor flashlight (the camera has flash) and the accelerometer seems to lag by a wee bit. A few of my chinese songs ended up titled as ??? ??? and that some songs apparently had problems with the balance stereo. Other than that, it is a good phone, with its maps and web surfing. typing sms can be chosen between mini QWETRY or full QWERTY keyboard, handwriting or the usual alphanumeric pad. The Stylus is useful for ppl without fingernails. But stylus is hard to use on a bus. The expressmusic function is well placed.

That's all for now, I guess ...

ARRRGGHHH

2009-08-10T18:30:00.000+08:00

ITS finally holidays! But it has been dampened by a nice little message for MINDEF. Thanks. It is pretty much a wonder that how "few" the ORNS brigades have in 3DIV. With a mob manning, it sure come with 2XMob brief, YES, no doubt, 2... TWO!!! Exams are over. I hope i get some decent grades. But then again, my predictions are rarely off. It wouldn't be too bad but just maintaining that GPA in long run seems uncertain.

Anyway, liquid assets are flowing out faster than than paper assets coming in. It is not consoling, since paper assets can literally turn into paper anytime. I think I should continue my nerd plans to finish up my 8 books, 5 model kits and 1tvb drama to watch. In short, it is 'wallet xiong'. That doesn't mean I will rot at home.

It has been a whirl for the past weekend. I have been flying from west to east, east to west, west to east, west to east, east to west and some additional bits of west. Taking a step back to look at things isn't as easy as it seems. Humans fear of the unknown, hence, they take a plethora of steps to minimise their fear. Still, there are some who wittingly jump into the fear of unknown. Afterall, no pain, no gain. Maybe I should leave it as it is.

Just got my N5800, hehex. I just realised I wasn't the only few crazy ones to wait for a letter for months. I heard more seems to be applying. As Napoleon Hill said, "Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements. " A friend introduced me to this and it gave me a renewed vigour to wait. The letter hasn't come yet, it is now estimated to appear in Sept. I hope it comes soonner, i am missing out opportunities because of the wait. Hiazzz...

I know National Day is over,but here goes... ...

HORMAT BENDERA, HORMAT SENJA TA

Finally but not ...

2009-07-26T00:07:00.000+08:00

I am finally back with blogging. LolX, that bloody communications assignment has finally ended, thanks to the few who supported.

It is funny to see how even before the first semester ends, bad blood is brewing between some people already. Not really bad blood, but just dislike. Not anything in particular, but there is no bell curve here, it doesn't matter if you put down another classmate in front of everybody. The lecturer is something one should be wary of, not your classmate. Dislike and bad blood is totally different. I think I am still in the process of warming up. I think I am still not that bad yet, hah. Hopefully, it gets better in next sem, where half the ppl are different again.

I finally decided to throw my money somewhere. It seems now like a bad decision. I just hope there positive signs will come soon.

The other day, i was pretty compelled to label it as joke of the year to a particular headlines. I think we are, first again, in the world, by asking a ex-CEO to return to that position. Much has been in talk about her position already. So the internet probably had a field day ranting about that incident. On one hand people spoke about transparency, the other hand people came and left as mysteriously.

Went Ubin again and saw USNS Tippercanone again. Some luck there. managed to take some shots. Blogger is being dumb. I managed to flag my own blog. I duno what will happen. Exams are coming and I wonder if I can make it. I hope so. Till then ... Meanwhile Mafia Wars, anybody?

LASTLY!!!! WHERE IN THE ^@$*$^%*$*^@% IS MY LETTER ! ! ! ! ! ! !!

Metal Wings

2009-07-11T21:40:00.000+08:00

I was strongly advised to run a post about this. Before that, I am wearing metal teeth now. THe only kind of thing now, with metallic wings are something called aircraft. There are many categorisations. For example, fixed wing and rotary wings (helicopters), or military and civilian and commercial. But today, lines between each group are getting blurred today.

A good example is the V-22 Osprey. It is a tilt rotor aircraft, meaning it able to lift off as a helicopter but fly like a plane. Now in service with the USMC as the MV-22. Its tilt rotor classification arose as it didn't exactly fit into a fixed wing nor a rotary wing. Now, Bell (under Boeing) is rolling out a similar design for the civilian market.

This post should be about what kind of planes I like. Needless to say, the RSAF inventory is a confirmed. The F-15SGs and Block 52+ F16C/Ds have too much exposure. I am not going into that. The F-5s are retiring soon. What makes this tiny air force stands out among the rest in the region is its combat support aircrafts. The KC-135R Stratotanker, an mid-air refuelling aircraft, is the first of its kind in the region. Our aircraft range is extended thanks to this mega fellow here. There are 2 types of refuelling systems. One is the boom stick (boom and receptacle) and the other is probe (prode and drouge). The KC-135 employs the boom stick at the end of its fuelsage (main body).

Then the Early Airborne Warning (AEW), E-2C is soon retiring. Since the aircraft is built for naval use in its inception. It is the only aircraft in the local inventory that folds its wings. This old guard is being phased out as its mechnical radar is fast becoming absolute in modern times. Now G550 (cilivan platform used in military) phalcon, uses a eletrconically pahsed array radar that is more flexible n faster in scanning areas. The plane itself is faster (jet engine vs turbo prop) and having a higher operational range.

Fokker 50 the only fixed wing that have a civilian and military purpose. The Fokker 50 itself, is used as a utility transport aircraft (UTA). often for VIP purposes such as such flying the CAF around. Take note that this is not anyone personal plane. The Maritime Partol Aircraft (MPA), is a Fokker 50, is armed with Harpoon missiles, sonars, radars and other maritime surveillance systems.

The 121 Sqn operates 4 UTAs and 5 MPAs. With the incoming of the G550 training aircraft. I suspect that the UTA might soon have less importance.

Lastly, the model i like hanging most is the C-130 Hercules. It has become today one of the most widely used aircraft capable of every mission that one can think of. It is a pity that the RSAF operational needs require it as a tatical airlift medium and some as a refuelling aircrafts. My most favourite variant of all is the AC-130 Spooky/Spectre.

It is an aerial gunship with 105mm howitzer, gatling gun and a 40mm cannon at its port side. Some other variants include an electronics warfare suite, special ops support, surveillance, SAR, propaganda and refueling tanker. Its civilian version includes variants that are used in fire fighting and pesticide spraying. The C130 has also proven itself to able to take off and land into aircraft carriers, snow/ice terrains and unprepared runways. It is proven itself so much that the C-130J Super Hercules is likely to remain in action for the next decade or so, despite with newer airlift planes like the C-27J.

Coming back, other aircrafts that i have a personal liking to are the B-52 Stratofortress. The largest bomber ever built is laying to waste at most boneyards in the US. Despite its lack of stealth, it is slightly faster and able to carry abt 40% more payload compared to the B-2. I guess, that is the only 8 engined plane that is still flying today.

Next another mega jumbo known as the An 225. The one and only plane on Earth is capable of airlifting 225 tons of payload, the highest of all planes. Its role in the Cold War was to piggyback Russian Space Shuttle for their launch. Today, the plane is managed by Aeroflot, and its recent notable activity was transporting reconstruction supplies in Iraq.

Another Russian aircraft that got me interest was the Su-47. Despite the idea of forward swept wings floated around for a long time. But it was Sukhoi was managed to combine that element into a fighter plane. The NG X-29 was built in 1984 as a pure experimental aircraft while this Su-47 is more a demonstrator and prototype. In fact, Sukhoi is trying to market its Su-47 out. But I guess, the stigma of Russian planes is still fresh in people's mind. And just before anyone gets mistaken, the difference between Russian planes and China planes is that the former created the designs themselves.

One easy misconception that most people have is that rotary wings can land anywhere compared to fixed wing. Unfortunately, that is not true, helicopters must find a flat ground, without debris that might get kicked up by the rotors' downwash. The EC 365 Dauphin 2, gets its name simply because it looked like a dolphin.

The above EC-365AS updated civillian variant (known as EC-155) is in GFS colours. While GFS primary role is in SAR, heli evac, fire-fighting and police airlift, the Dauphin is also designated as VIP transport.

The other rotary wing that had my attention is the RAH 66. Designated as a stealth helicopter, the inception of the Commanche into the US Army got canceled due to the rise of combat UAVs. It had internal bays for its rockets and missiles and also a stowable 20mm cannon. So afar it looked like some harmless transport chopper that can be deadly. Anyway, nowdays, with gun turrets and hydra rockets mountable even on OHs (Observation Helicopters), seeing a hostile helicopter is not consoling. The idea of sleath is low radar signature anyway.

With that, I end this. Lastly, I make a last appeal for peopleto help me comment on my communications blog. My marks are going to be affected .... ....
http://wocelotmumbles.blogspot.com/

*Photos courtesy of Eurocopter, airliners.net, wikimedia and Boeing.

Stars, stripes and mango tango

2009-07-05T16:08:00.000+08:00

Ok, I celebrated my birthday yesterday. I would say due to space, budget constraints, I wasn't able to extend my invite to some groups of people. I say sorry here. I got abit irritated by the preparation stage, which is the reason why there was two caterer. I hope the one tt I ordered was clearly better. Hehex. My mum was trying to hardsell me her fren caterer that I gave up. Then she want to do much deserts which I was wondering why, since they will already be deserts. My idea is that,since it is mine, I should be planning and doing, not my parents. Then again, I have to thank them to putting up and helping out the decorations with me. Though I still didn't really like the balloons idea.

I sincerely hope that the food was great, I am sure the almond jelly was superb. I think i should have a bigger cake. Because there wasn't enuff leftover for me to eat ... Haiz. The cake was costly but nice. I know not everyone likes mango. But too bad. it is one of my favourite flavours. Needless to ask about my favourite desert. Then again, it is hard to find quality desert around.

My presents can be catogorised into 3 groups. Model Kits, Books, and others. Just FYI, I do have experience doing planes (previously V-22 and RAH-66). Honestly, planes (and ships) are much hard to build and detail compared to gundams. I prefer gundams better. The reason is that if I want to have planes, i want to detail it to resemble in RSAF colours. But then again, due to the heavy modifications and etc during procurement, there is no exact model out there looking in RSAF specification. And, I am not that professional enough to add in those details. Then again with 5 model kits and 3 books (not to mention the 4 books on hand), I wonder when I will clear this backlog. It is likely i will paint the F-16C to Black Knight colours.

Others are random stuff that i guess I would put to good use. What came out of my expectation is the amount of ang pao collected. I didn't expect this in such times. I thank them for the generosity. Yet, this amount only covered my total cost. Well, I have worked that out already.

And my utmost thanks to my best friend who have been in the same school with me since time immemorial. Yet, he nevers to do to silly stuff ... hehex. My apologies to leaving out my uni frens for the cake shot. I have been getting more and more absent minded recently ... damn.

Lastly, this weekend is a birthday marathon week. It was nice yesterday to meet another VSC-to-be. Suprisingly, it seems that we are going to be in the same batch. Whew, now, when was age a factor for this? It is good to know 2 ppl around my age even before the training started. I hope this goes well. We are all becoming Sauropods. When will the darned letter come ??

A Beggar Ramblings

2009-06-13T14:18:00.001+08:00

It is a wonder why a 100 marks exams just become a 10% in the total weightage, needs to cause one to pull his hair out. Anyway, as humans, even so more as students, we have everything to complain about ... from the type and number of questions to the lecturers and even to the venue.
I ain't complaining ... I am just beginning to feel that like some starved beggar begging for food. I hope this goes well though ...

The other day, i experienced a weird apology. It went something like, I am so sorry for saying something so big. Actually, that was a simple reminder on some issue that we often overlook. I once again, wonder is it just that the perceived 'chim' talk gives one a geek/nerd label that everyone wants to avoid? Or that is it just Asians remaining humble? I guess, when i find out someday, this blog will have to close. Anway, these days, i have been rambling about myself and not what's happening in the world. This is sadly because i have been blogging chim-ology for my communications blog (which is graded) that leaves me afraid to blog now. 5 out of 7 posts already. Soon, perhaps ...

Once again, I beg for support to give some intellectual comments for my communication blogposts. (I told u I felt like a beggar) Because the number of comments also help in the marks. Please Please Please and Thanks Thanks Thanks ... ... ...

http://wocelotmumbles.blogspot.com/2009/05/post-001-perception.html
http://wocelotmumbles.blogspot.com/2009/05/ii-sarcasm.html
http://wocelotmumbles.blogspot.com/2009/05/three-tintin.html
http://wocelotmumbles.blogspot.com/2009/06/004-groupthink.html
http://wocelotmumbles.blogspot.com/2009/06/five.html

Anyway, whatever that i felt on the earlier 2 or 3 weeks earlier was gone. I guess I pretty much forgotten that that it was a characterists of a Cancerian untill someone asked me something realted to it the other day. So much for the darned bloodly shell. Watched Angels and Demons the on that day. Even though not reading the book, i felt that the book would be much nicer. So much for Dan Brown, his writing style is getting cliche.

I have drawn up a wishlist and an expected list ... As i am looking towards the mystery of what gives, i hope this goes well. I wonder if i should order Roast Lamb ... Lastly, it is time to divest my assests in that dumb bank ... ...

New product names

2009-05-23T01:10:00.001+08:00

Before I get onto the topic proper, it has been a whirl. Suddenly it is week3, and another 3 more weeks, it is midterms!?!?! ZOMG! Anyway, i hope to get a laptop soon. But then, putting it to proper and good use, will be an ultimate goal. I hope i achieve it.

The other day in English class, i gave a blank answer for lust. It set me thinking. People do have passion, dreams, interests. But how much does one go for it? Do we keep trying till we achieve? Where is the line between futile and unwavering? Where is the line between persistence and pragmatic? I guess i am more of the latter. Not because I am cowardly or wat. Maybe abit of unambitious. Unambitious doesn't mean one has no plans. In fact, i have like 800 ideas in my head waiting to explode. But the realities of life are real. Yet, we are still in a stage of ideals development. So, it might be too early to say anything.

WARNING: Perceived vulgarities ahead.

After all the market research, surveys, sampling, case studies, experiments, you are so already to name your product and see it on the shelves. If u think naming is easy, think again. Someday, we will need to plough through the existing 6,912 living languages (thankfully, this number is decreasing) and the other dozen of thousands of dialects that probably exists.

Some years ago, Google tried to match eBay by having this similar service called Gbuy (http://ocelot4788.blogspot.com/2006/06/google-new-service.html). I guess our friends at google realised that Gbuy sounded anything but proper here. And probably have thrown that idea into cold storage. Or that 3 years on, they haven't thought of anything better than Gbuy.

Not wanting to be outdone, Microsoft decided that they also should be on the receiving end of such jokes.

With the help of twitter, Cibai raged over the internet immediately within an hour. Read it here: http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/default.aspx?id=78035 . Just before miscommunications occur, Cibai is a generic static analyzer by Microsoft. It is now the top 3 items searched on google. Just as what was done with Gbuy, here are some foreseeable conversations that will occur in future.

EDB can allow Cibai to base here, with their welcoming banner: Singapore welcomes Microsoft and its Cibai ...

"Hi, I would like to work for Cibai ... "

"Hello? Cibai tech support? What, you are not Cibai? Then where is this place?"

"With the help Cibai, our team has found out that analysing ... ... ... ... "

"Thanks to Cibai, if not, life would have been much harder ... ... "

There are some others that linked cibai with Digg and also laptop, due to its creative copyright, u might want to read it here: http://www.mrbrown.com/blog/2009/05/cibai-the-latest-trending-topic-on-twitter.html . Lastly, we need to thank Microsoft for their entertainment, and giving a whole light to something that isn't very nice to be spoken about. Talk about rebranding ... ...

LASTLY, My communications module requires us to do a blogpost relating wat we learnt and stuff each WEEK. It is probably one level higher than whatever u read here. But i do hope i do get some support. One needs to have about 12 intellectual comments (that improve n further discussion) to get a good grade. Other helpful comments are more than welcome also. I hope my beloved readers (as if there are alot, but thanks) do help.

Here's the a glimpse 1st post: What we perceive formulates our understanding in people and events happening around us. Hence, we assume that the more information we get, the better our perception is and a better understanding. Here's the 2nd:However, this does not necessarily hold truth all the time. Read more here: http://wocelotmumbles.blogspot.com/2009/05/post-001-perception.html

Here's the 2nd: What kind of speech act do you often use? Do you pepper it with large doses of humour? Or that the minute you open your mouth, u start blabbering with technical jargon that leaves people lost in a vocabulary overdose? Read more here: http://wocelotmumbles.blogspot.com/2009/05/ii-sarcasm.html

THANKS!!!!!

School's in ...

2009-05-13T09:19:00.001+08:00

Ok, school have started and what not's. Finding my way around is chicken feet, just that coming to school on time is pretty much horrific. Can u imagine it takes 45 mins to 1hr to travel 8KM ?? Anyway, small quizzes are like every other week, with projects up n coming. I seriously wonder how am i going to cope when we are allowed to take 5 modules in Fall n Spring Semesters.

That aside, something left me pondering. I guess, i am just too different. Yet, that again makes me ponder how did i have people listening to my rubbish for 10yrs and counting. Somehow, somewhere still didn't make much sense. Perhaps, in this age, the definition of friends is getting blurred. And no, my best friend is not google ... ... ...

With psychology, and rhetorics stemming from philosophy, it makes me wonder how "free" people are at that time. In philosophy, there is a school of thought called skepticism. It just defies everything with the view that at least one thing is certain, but if by being certain we mean absolute or unconditional certainty, then it is doubtful if it is rational to claim to be certain about anything. Meaning, how can you sure that are are seeing this, and not dreaming of it? How are you so sure that u aren't dreaming, that ur brain dreams you are reading this? Basically, it proposes a set of 5W1Hs to every Why, When, How, etc , which pretty much borders to the fallacy of Question begging.

The recapture of MSK gives some people a sigh of relief. That also destroyed some other rumours that were made earlier. If authorities still didn't know, it was the fault of the toilet window nor the fence. Clearly, it was that 4 hours lag time that gave him all the time in the world to escape. PCG only tighten the borders after the alert was given. By the time the SAF was roped in, we were already doing much of a futile search already. Somehow, i wonder why the report came only 1 month later, and not even later. Certainly, more intelligence could have been gathered. I suspect the agencies on both side had a little tiff. I saw a harmless picture of MSK selling ramly burgers on the internet. I wonder if that was real. Maybe, he should stick with ramly burgers instead ...

And the joke of week comes from our 90cents newspaper. Where the 'reactivated' 428 Fighter Sqn, part of the 366th Fighter Wing under the USAF Air Combat Commmand, becomes " part of RSAF 428 Fighter Sqn". And sources say that they will be the highlight of NDP2010 ...

Labour Day

2009-05-01T11:21:00.004+08:00

I guess, the only labourious thing so far is posting this piece of post up ... It is darn labourious because darned blogger is refusing to upload photos ...

Treasure map (above), the work station (below), with added text (far below) ...

Actually, I can't say i really did a good job. There was a short phase where i fumbled over everything, and that was not at the start. I made occasional mistakes too. I still refer to the maxim of "Everyone is indispensable but replaceable" ... It could have been someone else, and he could have probably done a better job than me, who knows? Other than the general duties of an office boy, there were other tasks like test invigilator, retrieving assignments, call operator and the occasional tech support among others.

All I can say is that the additional tech support was a plus. It didn't take much to guess ABP on FF3 was blocking the portal login. Yet, I guess, it has to do with experience, cos i experienced the same thing. That does not mean others would be disadvantaged. As long as we filled or job scope, helped to the best we could. That would be enough. This could be considered abit out of the job scope ...

All the more, by being a call operator aint easy. This post aint about the gripes, so i shall leave it to another day. Just that I came up with this hypothesis the other day that "There must be some kind of amnesic spores around in the school. If not, there wouldn't be this "I am forever lost in SIM" group of people. " "So, there should be some form of emitter" ... "Yea, probably, the aircon ..."

So i had my orientation, I was rather surprised at the big group. And that i saw a few more familiar faces there. Once again, the maxim of "Plan as usual, cock up as usual" applies. I am not saying it was bad or anything. I am saying that there were alot of unforeseen circumstances, such as weather and participants behaviour/reaction. Perhaps, if there was something to nitpick about, i felt that the planning was somewhat too decentralised, which again, due to many factors. That aside, the games were otherwise new and refreshing, though i felt i wasn't of much help... lolx.

Somebody gave a kind of "I am a big shot" arua , feeling, to me. I still can't exactly point out why, or how or what. Yet, that arua, still makes me abit uncomfortable. Anyway, I attended the Parents briefing as well. And i have to say that the parents concerns were largely unfounded. Yes, perhaps they are the only footing the bill. But then raising questions like "What if the instructor dun like my child and give him poor grades?" seems abit exaggerated. Then there is this parent that goes "I think u shldn't put that as 'Resign" but as ... ... ... " Really, we take your feedback so seriously. And he rudely asked "Excuse me, but who are you?" when the manager answered his question. Really, that person is just a passer-by and answering for fun. My observations to this parent is that the kid is gonna be stressed because this parent is likely an autocratic person. I wish i could confirm my observations/hypothesis ... but well ... ...

Anyway, i finished up remaining kits before school starts. It was quite hard to colour marker 00+Raiser due to the lack of pictures in the manual. I had to google for them. Sorry for the poor shots ... ...

The handing over of the Exia GN drive to 00

Apparently, Gundams salute will their left hand.

Celestial Being Action Base

The one and only picture of the Blaze Zaku, he needs to lose weight before he enters my display case.

Lastly, VSC hasn't replied me .... RRRWWWWAAAAARRRRRRHHHH !!!

The April post

2009-04-10T09:36:00.005+08:00

I can't be bothered to post these days ... lolx. Here comes the post of the month. Full of random shit, i guess. Meanwhile, geo challenge is the new thing to me this month... lolx

There is this nice little phrase that some of us have come across during our NS stint. It is called "Chui Gong, Lampa Song" (literally, the mouth speaks and the balls are happy). I must have been gald that this phrase didn't hit me during my 2 years. I might say this would be rather unfortunate. Cos i might be facing this for the next 10 yrs.

I tried upon exploring the explanation. But it got me worked up. Seriously, i am still missing the point of why i am given $13.50 to attend the SAME BLOODY talk that was given to me 2 months ago. I will miss the point if i further commented about the venue. The duplication of the talk itself is already one point that needs to be ironed out, regardless of venue, though a better venue would have been much appreciated.

Yet,I wonder if highlighting this issue would work. The draft is all ready. But if it doesn't work. What's the point of sending it? Somehow, if his big idea on cohesion is sincerely true, then the mail would had to have some effect. Hmmm ...

I just learned a very good tactic on "How to absolve yourself from mistakes". Simply, just tell people that it none of your business. Taking a leaf from our certain stat board called NEA.

It must probably have been a horror to see a popular food stall being embroiled in a massive food poisoning case claiming 2 lives so far. The most one-off comment was that the temporary hawker centre is not managed by NEA. Then who? Private contractors? How are they assessed when tenders are given out? What are the guidelines and their responsibility?

Clearly, able to catch more than 50 rats in a few days meant that the rats didn't go there for a holiday. The hygiene problem was already there, and a spark was needed to blow things out of proportion. Anyway, i do not know if those rats are linked to that watever bacteria. NEA seems to be trying to do some damage control here. But somehow the statement of "the centre is not managed by NEA" sounds abit 'out-of-the picture'. Then comes health minister CGLPS of public toilet hygiene. I think this is pretty much explanatory. Neither can I explain how sometimes we need to pay 10cents to step into a dirty toilet.

Suddenly, it seems that the hygiene grading and what so ever checks become more of a formality than an enforcement. So, after a bomb has been dropped. Everyone is scurrying around to enforce something or salvage something. Was this something that could have seriously avoided in the first place?

Speaking about formality, just to say that it is not only in gov agencies that do things for the sake of doing. It occurs to MNCs also. I wonder if flexibility would simply triumph formality someday. And then, to armchair critics, administrative lags and lapses does not only occur to big organisations. It can also hit SMEs, or any organisation undergoing structural changes.

Yet, to simply to it across, it just means that no organisation can actually achieve that theoritical point of organisational and economic effeciency. Formality procedures will supercede so as to safeguard the employee and organisation.

Speaking on the topic of formality, it is only orgnaisations that need formalities. Most of the time, in meeting people, there is still some sort of formality procedures. For example, people will introduce themselves and shake hands when meeting each other for the first time. Imagine if we cut that out, go up to a random stranger and give him a slap on his back and holler "hey, how are you!!" ... Chances are the next slap is on your face ...

The lesson is: At the end of the day, a formality is still a formality, it cannot be skipped nor avoided because it is a formality.

Anyway, i refer to the new blog whom linked me a few days ago. It can be say that, if we have a problem at this stage of our life, it would easily fall into 3 main categories. For example, money is something that is never enough. Even, i myself for example, have a few ideas on 'if i had that kind of money'. Yet, the maxim here is, money is never enuff. No point fretting over it. There should be a time to spend or pamper yourself abit, there should be times where one needs to save. If we have the chance now to grow our coffers and be dependent, that would be the most ideal. But, would there be a difference, if we start out a few years late?

I dun think so. Just like, i might have the amt to make some small investments. But then again, there is no point in tying myself down yet. Turning everything into paper assets.

What's more for this month .... Hmm, ok, apparently, ah sang (阿桑) just passed away this month. It comes a surprise to many, as her illness went somewhat unreported. It is quite a pity when good singers have no luck, and u wonder why some people or groups can become regional stars when .... ... ... Anyway, her rise to stardom was the song << 葉子 >> , apparently, a friend was telling me about her other song. I didn't know just by its title, untill I hear the song. Anyway, the title is <<一直很安靜>> one of the songs for the chinese drama, Chinese Paladin. (N CP3 is in the works, coming soon... lolx, all the pretty actress got replaced. Needless to say wherether i will be catching this)

Oh, and, apparently, i felt quite bad for irritating/troubling my course co-ordinator. I hope she doesn't mind. Anyway, tml is last day and orientation ish next week ... Look out for the may post, i guess. I suspect it is gonna be another mhappening month soon ...

2009-03-29T18:42:00.002+08:00

Went on a hike at Ubin with some people today. The only complaint was the humidity levels. This was the first i utilised my hydration pack for non-military use. I think i shld stuff h2o in it, rather than normal h2o. A 9 ~ 10km hike lasted for 3 hours with rest in between. We ended up spoil the biker's fun over at the bike trails. It is has been a long time since I did a long distance walk. I came home feeling abit off.

It is nice to see sights from Ubin and at Ubin again. It brings back memories.A pity is that i came out in a rush, forgetting my camera. It is lucky that i wore longs to avoid to multitude of mozzies. The sad thing is that i left my jungle hat around in one of the resting huts. Anyway, as if i will use it again. Hehex

(Photo courtesy of fellow hiker, Thanks)

We spotted (or rather Me first) a United States Naval Ship (USNS) from their Military Sealift Command. UNSN Tippecanoe is a Henry J. Kaiser-class fleet replenishment oiler. No prizes for guess where it was heading to. It is rare to see such a big ship going into the Johor Straits. Making the yatch, ferries looking mini size. Not to mention the PCG vessel that was escorting behind Tippecanoe. One point to note is that USNS ships fly the US flag instead of the USN flag due to their non-commissioned status. (Photo courtesy of Wikipedia @ wiki commons)

Are you one of the supporters of Earth Hour 2009? So what did u really do, to 'support' the event? Yet, are our 'green' efforts just that one-off? The idea of Earth Hour is just spreading eco-friendliness in us, in our daily lives, not jsut that particular hour. Yet, alot of people are starting to have a misconception towards that event. Every hour should be a 'Earth Hour', not just 28th April 8.30pm (GMT+8) ...

Talk is cheap. So here are some ways as suggestions.

Reduce: Request not to have a carrier/plastic bag for 1 or 2 items if possible. Even better, is bring ur own bag. (which the latter is starting to grow evident in aunties)

Recycle: Throw recyclable stuff into respective bins. Sad to say, the 'recycling' idea has not really caught on. With ill-placed recycling bins often becoming another rubbish dump.

Reuse: Plastic bags as trash bag. Try to fully utilise them before disposing them.

They said "傻人有傻福" (Sha ren you sha fu) . That's is the only thing that came to my mind when i read of thei particular incident. A lady who was in a stationary car, got hit by a oncoming train, survived because a group of students rescued her immediately after the bang. In the very first place, her car would still be nice and running and that she need not go into hospital or thanking that group of students, IF she didn't place/park/move her car along the railway tracks. Seriously, the train wouldn;t be able to stop in time, it would likely derail if tt happened. and was anyone expecting no trains along the railway tracks? Or that one was thinking that was the expressway?

Random: If there was a facebook group with the name "I am forever lost in SIM", it would have a lot of members. And, just for your information, "Regional Marketing" isn't a program course in SIM. So is "Staff Medical Claims" and "Library" and "QCD" ... Thanks.

Maybe I am not just ready for it

2009-03-22T14:05:00.000+08:00

When i received the call on monday, it gave me a "Am i dreaming feeling", only to had it dispelled the next day when i received the mail. Just to sum up, i am not putting much hope, my original concerns abt the interview was much unfounded. Yet, there are two points i may not pass this VSC interview. Firstly, the interviewers feel that I am too young. I guess, maybe that's why the average age of VSC (at least from what i saw) seems to be over 30 or just going to 30. The second point might be a more in depth look into the first point. That my life experiences ain't enuff to share. Frustratingly, i managed to think of an example only after the interview. What's new, eh ?

Something to share though, an interview isn't as scary as it seems. A chat with other people while waiting is good. And realised that one was (before my era) in 3rd Bde BRC, while another was even way way b4 my era where the unit was at its previous camp. While it is said that the psychometric test would half the number, it not a accurate gauge also.

I wouldn't be surprised if many think i am crazy or watever. I learnt from somewhere that not everyone interests and passion are in line with the norm. In some cases, they get labelled all sorts of things. Yet, sometimes, these group of people come in handy in times of need that u would be glad uknew such people. I am not talking abt VSC here, i am saying of a particular hobby. In such, i have learnt to respect others interests and hobbies.

Also, I am not the navie kid who doesn't know abt the darkness (other than culture) about the force. So, is my decision still a rash and implusive one? I dun think so. Neither I think the other 30+ applicants and the 1000 over VSC personnel, which i think that what the interview is for. Perhaps, if the interviewers think i should jsut concentrate on my studies first. Then perhaps, i will try again a few years down the road. Anyway, the acceptance/rejection letter will come in 2 or 3 weeks time. We shall see.

Speaking about hobbies, I was pretty appalled by the fact that some cute little journalist (22nd March Sunday Times, lifestyle P16) wrote that " The definition of a geek is ... ... obsessed about an uncool hooby ... ... like assembly model kits. ... ... Nerds, ... ... are simply people who thinks they are smart ... ... like to show distinctions between similar words. "

While everyone has the rights to make a label of out everyone, once again, unfortunately, she seems to have fallen into the same category of people who have labelled me crazy. Her labels, would likely stem from a very unpleasant experience with a person with such hobby. That doesn't make everyone in this hobby idiots.

The need to go into the tiniest detail, getting the right colour/shade, spending hours getting a model kit into shape and most importantly, the satisfication of admiring the final product, just gets discredited by "uncool hobby". It builds up patience and discerning qualities in a person, where an error would spoil the whole model kit.

I supposed i escaped from the definition of nerds. At least i try to go as layman as possible nowadays when speaking, and technical with people who knows more. My technical knowlegde is neither of a professional or a elementary beginner. But yet, this is one point i try to take note nowadays.

At least i agreed with what she wrote towards the end of the article. In this age of google and wikipedia, it seems unacceptable to hear "I dun know". Stupidity can be forgiven. The worse is "Help me find out ... .... ..... ...... " Why, my google different from yours? Ie, to say, u can ask why, because knowlegde is unlimited. But pls, laziness on the web is worse. How much does it take one to type something in a search engine(s) ? And even more horrible to assume 'my' google is better than 'yours' . Great, u can spend hours on facebook but doesn't know what's beyond facebook in your web browser.

Quoted "Ignorance is bliss, but it is not something to be proud of."

Work Work

2009-03-08T10:52:00.000+08:00

Due to the conflict of interest as a temp staff and a future student, i shall not go into details. Yet, working in SIM did let me see things in a different light and set me thinking alot alot into the next few years.

Other than money, the time and rigour that will be required is certainly no joke. Simply to say, there is a need to cherish the next few years of study. If not, it will just a waste of time. I wonder how much drive i have in me to last. I certainly hope that it lasts. And as the usual me, a number of "what if's" were formulated for the next few months (i told u it set me thinking alot alot).Yet, most of them are still open ended because this is just life, i guess ...

Alright, uncertainties aren't meant to be spelled out. Anyway, I am just an office boy. Beyond the norm office duties are invigilating for class tests. Kinda weird where in some instances,more than half the class is older than me.

I was pretty amazed that there is this photocopier that allows hard copies to be scanned in pdf files. And so was the stapler function in it. Still, there seems to be an imaginary tag labelled "Max payload: X kg" for a person my size. Finally i will be working on next sat for their open house. I hope i will be really working throughout without the need for me to transform into green. N that reminds me that i need to complete my field pack list with a very limited credits.

And my first Jap song in my mp3 player ... Speaking about player, my N5800 is out. But unfortunately, it is still below my budget. Looks like i shall have to wait. =(

A surprise encounter (updated on the bloody valentine)

2009-02-18T21:43:00.003+08:00

I met my pri sch friend at the psychometric test. I was surprised but yet expected. Surprised to see him at the test, expected him to appear in the force someday. Actually, I realised that he sort of tell me, just not realising it is him. My sharp eyes has failed me.

I suppose i can say the contents of the test here. But there was this intriguing part where these few questions had the same obvious answer. I wonder what is the analysis over these few questions. It is pretty interesting that while it is stated on "Educational Certificates", most brought their whole life of certs. Is it me who is still new to interviews or that there is kiasu-ism on their part? Anyway, it will be more than a month before i receive news of any sort. Hopefully... ...

Speaking of surprise, a small outing in the evening had a surprise with a gatecrasher. Which is why i always had the belief that "Never come uninvited".

As another week pass, it seems that some things are falling into place. I am now working and (will be soon) studying in the same place. Hopefully, there is more to come ... ... ...hopefully ... ...

I forgot to add that my Mob brief was honestly a waste of time. While as first timers, there is no wrong in having a detailed brief. And there is no wrong in stressing that in a NSmen cycle, the maxim is that the earlier everyone is there, the earlier things get done and the earlier we finish. So, technically there is no wrong in asking us to appear within a short time limit. Regardless of NS BUC or not.

The wrong comes in treating NSmen as "idle at home" personnel. The wrong comes in the idea behind cohesion. While cohesiveness does play a part, it doesn't necessarily means that we have to gather under the official SAF100, or under an unofficial excuse relating to SAF100 (the latter is even worse). If i see u no happy, u serve me another 40 SAF100 to see u. I will still see u no happy. If i see u happy, even the next X yrs no have any SAF100, i will still msn/fb/sms/meet u ...

My Dear CO, u understand or not? Let's compare a 40yr old walking and a 20 yr old carrying 20kg of rice, walking. The no-brainer question is who walks faster ? (If my NS CO does really bother abt the so called cohesiveness. He shld come across this and drop me a email, really. I will be waiting). And there seems to be this saying that the next 6 months after u ORD. There shld not be any SAF100. I just hope it is just a saying. But as usual, SAF f up.

Btw, have u heard about rehearsal for Mob? Either it is plain kiasu (for BUC, which i think it doesn't sound nice at all) or that SAF treats its OPERATIONALLY READY NATIONAL SERVICEMEN like idiots .... once again ... ...

The CNY Thread

2009-01-26T23:40:00.000+08:00

I got a pleasant surprise before the start of the festive occasion. Despite it still being too early to tell, i just want share the elation. No, it is not a job. I will be going for VSC psychometric test. It is just a start of a long process. I just hope everything goes well ...

----------

The Chinese New Year holidays is a much watched about holidays. This is because, with luck, the two consecutive holidays will coincide with the weekends to give a 4 day break to most people ... just like this year. For exploited cheap labour (read: NSFs), it is also the worry that comes b4 the holidays. The worry of getting any duties during this festive period. The worst thing is that ur COY or Bn might be all Chinese or around there. So if the arrow hits u, u have to LLST, cry one corner and do the duty ...

Then comes the preparation for CNY. It is pretty standard.
Clean up the house (possibly with the inclusion of ur wardrobe and bookshelves).

Stock up CNY goodies (with bak kwa still hitting hitting near $48, i think u might want to bbq the salesperson instead ... ).

decorate the house with festive items. (The 'chun lian' in my house is the same every year. Hence, i am given a 'wat's the meaning' lecture every year. You will possibly think my next sentence is "I can almost recite the couplet n meaning behind it" ... but no, cos i have forgetten the couplet).

Buy ur CNY clothes. ( technically, the most horrible part of the preparation for me. )

AS the period looms closer, u start blaming yourself for not meeting ur 'New Year Resolutions' for last year, or start blaming for yourself for other issues... So for this year, u are pretty much going to answer an array of the SAME questions again fielded by ur close relatives, friends and dog (that is, if ur dog could talk just once a year)...

"U still studying ar?"/(U this yr O/A/ Final Yr in somewhere liao hor, how is it?)
"Where u working at?"
"Got girlfriend/boyfriend or not?, oh, y dun have, u so handsome/pretty mah ..." (for those attached) "So When getting married ??"

To lessen ur agony of answer the SAME questions again. Here are some suggestions.

1) Use Placards. Expecting those qns, u can write ur answers on placards, whenever they ask that qn, raise that particular placard... If u think some bigger is needed, Signboards or banners are welcome ... but u will need a lorry if u are visting ...

2) Presentation Style. A more portable method, it also save others from the agony of ur ulgy, illegible handwriting ... Use a laptop and projector, save the Q&A into ur blog, powerpoint, watever, and present it under the head "I shall not answer these qns, pls read urselves". A more socially acceptable one is, "Frequently Ask Questions" ... But u probably need to $ for a lappie n a projector ...

U are also going to entertain the same comments that probably is the same for the past few years ...

"Wah, u have grow taller hor ... (like i have been at 175cm for the past 4 yrs, hello?) who taller ar, u or ... , compare leh ... wah so u/he/she is taller, aiyo, i tot u/he/she is taller leh"

But no, i am not saying that my relatives are a pain or wat so ever. Pls do not misunderstand. Of course, personally, i also want to know how some of my cousins or relatives are doing. Are they ok or not ... ... I am just welcoming this festive season with a little abit of lameness and sarcasm (wat else) ...

Meanwhile, I wish ALL my readers (There aren't many anyway) a Happy CNY ...

Nua @ home 04

2009-01-23T13:46:00.004+08:00

I have done up my display stand ... I still feel pretty wasted that my black marker is spoiled and the whole Singapore seems to have run out of stock for it. I sorted them by series ...

Ground floor: Gundam Wing ( all ready made resin material) + 1/72 RAH66 Commanche on Helipad

Level 2 - Gundam Seed (Destiny) ... I think my Strike Rouge has the best marker colour job so far

Level 3- Misc. My 1st MG model (Shin Musha) + Leopard from Gundam X and Model Number 29: 1/1700 Minerva

Level 4 (Top floor) - Gundam OO. Only 2, more to come. Planning to have Riser, Archer, Arios ... but looks at wallet ...

Perm Sect Tan Yong Soon get rapped for talking about the trip with his family to France recently. Many feel that he deserved it not because of the amount of money spent but because of the wrong timing and insentivity as stated. An amount of 46K, is something, alot of Singaporeans do not make in a year. Yet, the most amazing thing was a 5weeks leave. While it is possible to delegate and finish any loose ends before a 5 weeks hiatus, how many of us, can actually get a 5 weeks leave for an interest pursuit. It was noted that his wife works in the private sector.

Surely, they have to ability to enjoy and we should limit them beacuse we cannot afford it. He is earning more than $1million annually. (a recent report states that Senior Perm Sects and entry grade Ministers will recieve $1.54million this yr, I believe he would be at a lower pay scale.)

Yet, it is always PAP style to drag on a small and withered issue. The result is often disastrous. Just when the issue seems over, our MP Charles Chong (whom have probably played LOTR too much) come to label us 'lesser mortals being enivous". If we were 'lesser mortals', are u implying that u r of a higher class? What, lvl 1- lesser mortals, lvl2 -mortals, lvl 3 - senior mortals, lvl 4 -MPs and PSs ... lvl 180 - king ?? ??

It seems that the issue now will be 'downplayed' as newspapers will have more than enuff to report on the recent budget. Just as well, if not, another wrong word will make a mess in further entanglement. Or that we are just too critical ??

One day, 2 birds were chatting.
Bird A: I sick of tired being a bird, the humans scare us, shoot us and kill us.
Bird B: Alright, u wana revenge ? (Actually, stop whining and go n die)
A: Sure, how?
B: U c tt big flying sliver bird? Fly into the round thing below its wing. It will make humans die ...
A: Ok **Flies towards the target
B: Finally, 1 less bird to snatch food from me.

That was the black box collected from the bird that flew into US Airways Flight 1549. Till today, i am still pretty amazed that how the bird actually lost is GPS and fly into a engine. Birds are often wary of planes and vice versa. Most will try to avoid each other. I suspect that the pilot was dozing and didn't see oncoming birds. Installing traffic lights are useless because we realised that dogs,cats, rats, frogs, etc ... dun really understand lights. We need to start a campaign to educate them on road safety. Really ... ...

Nua@ Home 03

2009-01-16T12:26:00.000+08:00

I have just finished reading "Blackwater: The Rise of the world most Powerful Mercenary" . It was pretty much different from what I was expecting. It felt like a "Bash Bush/The Republicans/neo-conservatives" book. A friend commented that "Isn't that what u liked see?" . Because the nature of the book wasn't political for a start, reading the political bashing seemed to felt that the book was aimed at the bashing rather than the topic itself.

Yet, the 'bash' was not unfounded, as the book looks into how the forces of the conservatives and Republicans helped in the rheotic rise of the company. Generally, the book looks into the negativity surrounding the profileration of such private security companies, making Blackwater its main focus. The greatest insight, IMO, was the DoD long term plan to outsource its back-end logistics (which they had already done so) and other support functions. Thus, relieving the military of secondary roles and focus into its primary role.

Because, it seems that we are moving towards that direction. With falling birth rates resulting in fewer conscripts (and even fewer regulars), the effectiveness of our uniformed services will be somewhat undermined. Already, outsouring plans has already begun in the Home Team. For the policing sector, we are seeing an increasing role of AFPs such as CISCO and AETOS in major national events such as NDP. I have also noticed that AETOS is appearing in traffic and road enforcement activities. The SCDF has already started outsourcing (from a dated ST report) its non-emergency ambluance services(aka the 1777 hotline) and will tender out more of 1777 to contractors.

As for the SAF, food and part of its logistics and maintainence has been outsourced to SFI and ST Engg respectively. Certainly, more will set to come (which i dun think it is safe to write it out here). Which makes me wonder where those PES C personnel will go someday.

The second book i started and halfway completed is "The natural economist". This book, will be good for non-economics ppl, because it is very layman, leaving out a huge chunk of technical terms missing. Which means a easy read for me, thus explaining why i am halfway there in such a short span. Which means a new book will soon come, unless some idiot start to 'airmail' my "Age of Turbulence" back

My other activity is refurbishing my Gundam display stand. As it is still mainly in the works, better pictures will appear later. And that with me the only one lazing at home, a chunk of housework is automatically outsourced to me, including spring cleaning. I dun mind anyway.

Lastly, here are 3 Ways to Great (MMO FPS) game:

1) Label everyone who kills u a hacker. Yes, u are so pro that the guy who can kill u probably hacks... It has to be it.

2) Label everyone a noob. Really, only noobs kill u with a L96/G36E/UMP/grenade/knife/pistol/shotgun/AR/SMG.

3) Be a hacker/glitcher/chammer. It gives u great excitement when ppl ask u to FO when u hack/glitch/cham. Amazingly, only u need to cheat to win ...

Meanwhile, i am beginning to suspect that my emails are actually sent to Mars or even Pluto ...

Nua@Home 02

2008-12-26T17:32:00.000+08:00

BEWARE: WALL OF TEXT COMING UP( DOWN, technically speaking)

It is just the same idea with the electricity bills. When oil prices goes up, it is BECAUSE of oil prices that's why fares/bills/prices goes up. But when oil prices come tumbling down, they say "Nono, there is other factors too."

A check on SMRT profits from train services, and SBST bus services, seem to signify that fares can go down by at least an average of 5cents per trip. while still retaining a modest profit. This is based on the previous fiscal year reports. This 5 cents does seem small. But to a needy family, (assuming a family of 4, every person takes a to n fro trip daily, it will save $12) this can probably mean another meal for all of them. Did our dear minister actually realise this?

“You want it to be free, do you want the GST to go up to 8.5% to run a completely free bus and train system?”

We should not be overboard by asking a free public transport system. But by the minister words, does it mean that if GST is at 8.5%, we will get our free public transport service? Afterall, our GST will eventually rise to 10%, on the context (or pretext) of helping the needy.

He responsed to further requests for transport subsidies by saying

“There are only two persons who pay when it comes to public transport fares. One, I use - I pay. Or two, I use - you help me subsidise my ride. What happens when you subsidise my rides? That means the taxpayers are now paying.”

I think we seriously need to define between 'me', 'I' and 'you'. Erm when was the last time our minister actually took a bus or train? So, where does the amount of fines collected go to? The dustbin? There are issues that need to be improved on, be it the fare structures, service standards and accessibility. However, it seems that only the accessibility issue is being tackled in the long run, while the other 2 seems to be side-stepped. I wonder who had the cheek to implement 'seatless' cabins ...

--------------------------------------------------

This was copied from elsewhere, and shortened and edited. And, my display cabinet is here. But there are some troubleshooting that needs to be settled first. I wonder with like 11 episodes left on OO S2, how will they wrap up everything, another multiple kills in 1 ep?? Meanwhile. I am like 40% rotten at home ...

1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?
A lot, like getting a license, standing for 12hrs straight ... and ... ...

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I forgot what i made, but will still make some anyway.

3. What countries did you visit?
Taiwan, HK, Australia, Taiwan

4. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
Say, a place in uni ... but i am not counting much on it ...

5. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Hmm, for the positive one, i guess it should be the day where one of my men told me "Sarge, u are great" from the bottom of his heart.
As for the negative one .... lemme think ... ...

6. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Coming pretty unexpected to me was the marksmen, n dumb SAF have not paid me for tt yet.

7. What was your biggest failure?
I guess, i didn't improve of my weakness(s) much.

8. What was the best thing you bought?
It will be a 'coming soon' glass cabinet for my model kits.

9. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
Some irresponsible kengster whom i tot as a friend

10. Where did most of your money go?
The standard: food,clothes, model kits, transport
11. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Visiting Gundam Base Taipei for the 1st time

12. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? Neutral
ii. thinner or fatter? Still the same piece of skin n bones
iii. richer or poorer? guess, a tiny teeny whiny bit richer ..

13. What was your favorite TV programme?
TVB Forensic Heroes 2

14. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Yea, see Q9

15. What was the best book you read?
Blackwater: The rise of the world most powerful mercenary

16. What was your favorite film of this year?
Red Cliff, and Dark knight

17. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Nth much on that day seriously, it was a Friday and I had to book in . 20

18. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
If Q4 came true this yr

19. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Same as before ??? Am I boring???

20. What kept you sane?
Actually, i am insane

21. What political issue stirred you the most?
The idea of "only PAP works for SG" that they tried to hard sell so hard

22. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008:

Every person or event that an occurred is actually akin to a iceberg. It cannot be judged alone by what u see or hear only. It must be from what u see AND hear, and what others see AND hear, and how the event/person speaks for itself

In short: Never draw conclusions too hastily

Nua@Home 01

2008-12-15T00:50:00.005+08:00

I came across this. Have fun killing time. Damn, I think I sux, lol ... ... I think most local drivers should fare around the same. Pls take note of the mph to km/h difference ...

Created by The Car Connection

There are news abound that Swissport Singapore may quit Changi. The ground services handlers only services merely 7 airlines. Since it started operations at Changi in 2005, Swissport has chalked up losses of more than $50 million. There is a possibility that it will sell its business, to rival SATS.

Somehow, i doubt Temasek Holdings will be tempted to buy another loss-making unit. After the high profile buying of ABC Learning Company, Merrill Lynch and other finanical compaines, they have kept pretty low profile about it. Only the recent selling of its power units and on sale SFI seems to point out something very worrying. Another loss unit is very likely to create a dent in their profits, and rake in all the pent-up displeasure towards TH.

Their main profits earners will likely come from SMRT, whom no matter due to increased operation costs or watever other reasons, able to post higher returns every year. It also has been a rather good year for ST Engg. Other than clinching a major ship repair deal, a likely sale of its Bronco to UK might even further open up Europe markets for ST.

I have already filled up that certain form ... but ... ... wrongly. WTF, i think i sux (How come these 4 words sounds familiar?!?). Yet, no one has been able to give a a detailed yes and no. But it makes sense in simplicity. Maybe, I will just make do with it ... or ... ...

I will personally burn down Bandai if they release an add-on for Cherudim ... I can't wait for O Raiser and GN Archer to be out ... Hmm, should i go GBT again ??? I thought they would continue and make GN Arms for Virtue and Kyrios. But nvm. My black tracer pen is broken and that darn JEC will close for long than expected. Looks like my Zaku Phantom will wait ...

Come April 2009 ... FMA2 !!! !!!

Awaited posting ...

2008-12-06T11:38:00.003+08:00

I just took a 4th flight of year n returned. I think it is quite a record for the year ... Yet, I think it is time to try other airlines other than SQ. Till now, i haven't fully understood why SQ inbound flights are always so much better than outbound ones. Be it the menu or the inflight entertainment system. I am not sure, but somehow, my inbound flight will always have Hagen Daaz ice cream for dessert ... and the inflight entertainment would have an additional playlist function and alot of movies to select from. Is it just me or that it is the way they do business ???

It has been a long time since the whole family went out a on a trip together. The only spoiler was this old tour guide who essentially seemed to be a 28MB (yes, no typo, is it 28MB) ipod shuffle. The consolation on the bus was that this auntie trying means and ways to malu the guide. And looking at the COG at the Marty's Shrine gave me some new ideas. I was pretty disappointed at the trip to GBT, No new sets ! ! ! ! ! !

The minute i touched down, i was filled with news of horror. Thailand airports were shut by protesters, (If Thai Airways can sue these protesters successfully, i am sure that we can start suing local-money-eating companies here) and the horrific Mumbai Attacks. My condolences to the family and friends of the Late Ms Lo Hwei Yen. It really comes that when so many killings happen across the globe, it still comes as greatly shocking when a fellow Singaporean is gone in such a manner.

Terrorist, once again, are people we should never be afraid of. For the fact that they are brainwashed cowards that attack on innocent civillians, whom , at the end of the day, have never offended them in any way. And that, by carrying out these attacks, i wonder, how does it achieve their so-called jihad ? ? ?

If u recieved a letter with a hint that u got robbed by Singapore Power, te days are soon over. Because electricity bills will come down by 25%. WOW. That means, previously,ur bill is $100. Then is rose to $122. Now, it is $91.5. Great man, $8.5 can buy me another 2 meals. Wow, i really need to thank Singapore Power. When oil prices fell by more than 40%, bills fell by only 25%. That, when bills needed a raise, it was PURELY on oil prices, and that when it fell. u said it was dependent on a number of other factors? I believe that the selling of our power plants to others will have implications in future.

By buying Citigroup, Merril Lynch and selling away power plants and SFI. Isn't that obivous? By that there is need to keep records rosy, only by selling away assests. After is mess of shit in the financial markets clears., the financial and investments landscape will change. Will having these assest still be beneficial in long term? Firstly, trust in these companies need to be built from scratch ... Take note that the parent holding company will still need to post profits every year. If not, the CEO will take the flak again.

And of all irony, in such times, the government has shockingly announced a pay cut. (I was along that line that they will follow their pay rise plan, albiet a smaller one ... to comply with their maxim of "Ministers need high pay to remain competitive while workers need low pay to remain competitive") Sounds great. But people still complain. The complaint (in ST) follows that private compaines will follow suit and give pay cuts in such a tight time for workers. Eh, no cut, u kao pei, cut u also kao pei. But a 20% pay cut in a $6million dollar salary has a difference to a 3% cut in a $1200 salary. I just hope that pay rises in future can follow according ... ...

I was at (i think) Kino, and saw this book (at current affairs sections, forgot the title). But then, i realised i still have 3 books at hand. After reading the introduction of Blackwater (not even chapter one), I feel that they should change the title from " Blackwater: The rise of the world most powerful mercenary" to "Blackwater: The kind of fucking companies that shouldn't exisited" . It seems to be a politically charged book. Welcome to the democracy of USA, huh ...

And lastly, I wonder anyone is as jobless as me .... and that whether I should fill up a certain application form ...

ORD LOH

2008-11-17T23:51:00.000+08:00

I am too lazy to do anything nowadays ... haiz. It feels weird typing this. Maybe that's the reason this post is pretty much delayed ...

My NS experience has been a very big eye-opener to me, be it in the technical skills or life skills. I didn't have enough kick in blowing up things. But i think if that chance comes, i will whine abt it anyway. I am even more grateful that i was posted to a specialised vocation that enabled me to see how a bn works, on the whole. I will remember the days with my SISPEC section, and the handful of ppl (mostly my section) in ETI. Not to mention my unit, where we all 'shag bodoh' together ... I find it a pity not able to work with my first yr PC for long. I believe there was more to learn from him. I need to take my hat off to the first year specs. It seems to me that, they were slogging all the way in their NS stint. And that there were learning points from their different working styles and character. Or that isit that so called difference between the "jc batch and the poly batch" ...

I think i am lucky that i managed to bond with my section well. Yet, I believe my litmus test was in ROC when I walked (almost) all the way with the platoon. Despite the occasional(?) trouble making, i feel grateful. One highlight was the combat shoot where i saw whole-hearted cooperation.

Timeline (and events):

01/07 BMTC 'B' COY
43rd BSLC 'H' COY
01/07 CESC (FE)

NDP'07

(Posted to) 5SIR 13th Mono

EX SAFKAR INDOPURA '07
ATEC Stage 1
OPS Bacinet
OVL
ATEC Stage 2
EX HIGH NOON '08
NDP '08
EX WALLABY '08

---ORD!!!!---

I wonder how the first ICT will feel like. Meanwhile, i am feeling wtf because i received a Manning notice just 5 days after I ORD. Well, at least it wasn't a call up. But I hope u get what i mean.

Wallaby 08 (no fire mentioned here)

2008-11-07T23:00:00.001+08:00

I am back from Ex Wallaby. It is a dust eating place ...Fortunately, i was based in those better camps, with canteen and GSM reception. I still wonder how there is GSM on certain lone trees? The antenna hidden in the tree ??? It is said that wildlife was common in the area ... yet, of my 5 days out in the field, there was only 4 sightings of wallabies... I managed to shot one ...and it looks pretty much photoshopped...

I was mentally prepared that i will experience a 'no water' period, and it did happen. It was lucky that it didn't affect me much. I came to realise that some idiotic fools didn't understood the so called water rationing. When i related that an idiot used 9 pails (a quick poll in my tentage showed on average 3, max 4...) of water, i was told that some fool bathed with the running water from the tap. It is not a surprise that water ran out this way ...

It didn't experience much outfield due to my injury, the warrant made me vehicle bound. It was pretty boring, i would have rather risked it and walked. But i guess not much would have believed me. Hence, i became the CSS unit for whoever on my vehicle. This was also a rare chance to understood how hard work we put into ATEC Stage2. When officers knew that we were from 5SIR, the next question was "So, are u the legendary 5SIR who fought ATEC in ROC recently?" Honestly, the recently was like 6 months ago. And whether we were that legendary, i am not sure. I supposed overseas ATEC will create more stories to tell... I believe this 3GDS would have their would stories too. Whether did it supercede us, i duno. It guess in theat span of 4 or 5 days, there are certain to be stories of greatness and blunders to be told. Whether which will outshine depends much on their grade, i guess...

New military toys often generate alot of interest and jittery around. The time when RSAF ordered the F-15E, it came with huge package of missiles and bombs enough to blow anyone away. The recent annoucement of the 1st F-15SG delievery in May, along with its electronics systems, again wow-ing many people. The F-15SG comes with a updated AESA radar, locally developed HUD systems, Sniper X targeting pods, n IRST pods. This is what is known, and there is another list of unknowns. Hopefully, the F-15SG will make in appearance in local airshow soon, which somehow i doubt it.

A new page of history will be proudly remembered as the US elects its first black President into the White House. Whether the next few years will also be proudly remember is the next question. The new president will need to fix the financial crisis, revive the Doha Round, find a common ground on international climate change issues and lastly, improve international relations. The incumbent made UN a tool rather than an institution. The strength of UN lies in the participation of its members. If the US attitude towards the UN continues. Then 'hostile' powers will continue to take UN as a paper force. Quote from the movie Team America "We will be so angry ... that ... We will ... ... ... send a letter to tell you we are very angry." I think the most funny part is that when they went hysteria when they lost their intelligence. It felt more like they lost their intelligence ...

So 'Change is in the Air' is the new 'in' for now. Between change and rewarding the incumbent, i think i would choose the former too. Which many others around the world wondered when will a similar 'Change is in the Air' is going to occur ... ... For the region, it still has a long long way to go. For this small sunny island, it took has some way to go. Despite the many unpopular policies (the most funny one was the hike in electricity bills despite falling oil prices was not fun to most people), the incumbent is still stronger than the opposition.

There are many things to settle since i returned back. My first priority was to blog, which happened only 2 days later. I am still 2 episodes behind in Gundam 00, Clean my kit bag and let it mold for the next 2 years. Finish blog hopping, Try to find a job and upload whatever photos. Flickr seems to be pissing me again ....

Lastly, I think if i could hone my instincts, i could be better off as a fortune-teller ...

The 3rd flight

2008-10-19T11:32:00.000+08:00

Withing hrs, i shall take my 3rd flight of year out of Singapore ... (And the 4th one coming soon).

Just to update ... I sort of injured my foot last week. I had a puncture wound on my right foot. SO i have been limping around for the past week. It was a very special cut. Because u could see the fatty tissue of the foot, almost the bone, and a very nice mini hollow pipe tunnel towards the small toe. I wonder if that means this mini pipe tunnel actually exists in our foot. I went into A&E and that puncture wound required 4 stitches. Yet, i felt i was in the zoo for the treatment. A group of supposedly diver medics were looking, and that the student nurse was .... as the name suggests. Oh, and i noted that half the ppl who in A&E had leg injures. The moral of the story is that a harmless looking fridge can actually be very menacing ...

Back to the flight, i got abit pissed and sort of regretted while cleaning up all the stuff. Australia has tons of immigration rules to adhere to. In simplicity, it means no grain of sand can enter and exit Australia. Ie to say, I will experience the same horror again before i come back. Just as when one thought that helmet is unnecessary after ATEC stage 2 ... Did i mentioned i will once again, become safety spec for the like xth time ? ? ?

I will also miss the next 3 eps of Gundam 00 Season 2. I think those fan subs groups are some extremely hardworking and dedicated people, creating subtitles within 1 to 2 days. Shinsen Subs rox ... I thought, watching the 1st season, that Sunrise and Bandai threw away the idea of Linear Catapult, but it is back ... Maybe i should buy Ptolemaios 2 instead ... hehe

I think i have set my eye on a phone after i ORD. It is the new Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. (I think another Nokia and i will become its die-hard fan. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?) The bad news is, i got a feeling it won't be available in Singapore that soon ... Although some say as early as Q4 this year. But i think it will come next year. Hopefully, the price will look modest enough ... If not, i will be scratching my head again, or maybe, i should start scrimping again ... (Pictures from HWZ, thanks)

2008-10-09T00:19:00.001+08:00

I getting abit irritated over the recent displeasure over the proposed foreign workers dormitory at Serangoon Gardens. Certainly, no one would be happy if the government decides to place a dormitory right in front of ur house. Be it in Teban, Jurong, Yishun or Serangoon Gardens. It doesn't matter whether the area will become more noisy (due to some rowdy workers) and congested, or that u "feel abit more unsafe" (probably the LTA needs build more street lamps, which u probably will be re-directed to Nparks or Town Council or everywhere else which is not in charge of the street lamps) or that the property of urs is going to drop $100k after it. The effects are the same everywhere ...

It seems that the feelings of the heartlanders seem somewhat ignored, when MPs seems to be placating those livng in Serangoon Gardens. Why, the needs of the rich more important? I got a feeling that the gov will go ahead and build whatever there. Since when was petitions useful, anyway...

It is said that the best thing to do with your money now is to 'hold cash' ... It sounds ironic when inflation is at 7% ... But that is probably better than an uncertainty that ur dollars may just disappear the next day. There is this phrase that goes "Whoever experienced the Great Depression vowed never to let the same event occur again" I think the 'whoever' had all passed on. When magazines start to draw parallels with the current credit crisis and the Great Depression, something is certainly not right.

I used to think that banks are the best place to work, because they will never fall. Now, reality prove otherwise. For our economy which has been trying to further develop the finance sector, i think it is going to be more than a slight recession or anything else. While 'we' are to come out more resilient, we will still be as vulnerable to global fluctuations anytime.

Some has lay finger to the liberal democracy at work. That is democracy for people, people abuses it, (As for communism, it abuses people.) be it in the anywhere in the world, whether US or Thailand, or our little red dot here ...

The wisdom tooth operation was not as scary/painful (or what adjectives) as i thought. Suddenly, i am having second thoughts to Wallaby. Anyway, i will become safety spec (like again) for the xth time ... Just when I thought i need not wear my helmet again before I ORD, so, my thought was wrong... zzz. Gundam 00 Season 2 is out (like finally)... But somehow, the influx of characters got me messed me ... Think i need to rewatch season 1 again ... I read an article the other day saying that full-stop was dead ... i think he might be just wrong ... or that i am abusing the full-stop ????

Countdown: 50

2008-09-22T13:45:00.000+08:00

I got a feeling that terrorists had a very bad experience during their stay in Marriott. That's why after Indonesia years ago, now it is Pakistan. Ok, lame shit aside. it is pretty much scary to have 600kg of explosives... It created a 8m deep crater. Sometimes, i really wonder their cause. Their warped ideologies have harmed more innocent than ever. We need to root them out, by employing both soft and hard methods ... Not to be outdone, Spain militant group, ETA, labelled as terrorists by some, set off two car bombs. I suppose they didn't have the moolas for 600kg of explosives. Whatever, these sadists should just disappear from Earth as well. As if the world doesn't have enough problems now with the financial crisis ...

My S3, OC, down to the new birds asked me a question even i dun think i can have a proper answer for it. "Why u wana go wallaby?" with a shake head motion ... Somehow, it does seem a rash decision. But it is too late for regrets. Firstly, it is gonna be cold, hot and dusty. That is the least worries of all. The next two factors seems abit bigger. I am going to face that irritating old geezer once more, now not as an evaluation, but as an umpire. Chances will be slim if the interaction is a positive one. Lastly, i will have like 7 days off (+ 1 day leave, but there goes) left uncleared ... lol ...

I need to jot down about what happen during 11th SEP -15th SEP. But then, it is pretty much low profile and hence it shall be it point form ...

Timberland is officially one of my favourite brands
Never eat French cuisine for like the next X mths ?!?
I actually mixed up runway directions for TO/L .... zzz zzz
Ionized air can kill ...
Toblerone can be costly

The 4th Gen ipod nano is out. Damn, i should have waited. At least, i predicted that screen orientation will appear. Hehex. S.H.E album is releasing soon/released ... Jay's is up and coming. Can't wait for his next “中国风” piece of poetry and music ... But i haven't got tired of 青花瓷 yet. The question is .... where is my yanzi !?!?!!

Ok, now u can't eat Wall's or Magnum. Maybe it is time to stock up Haagen Dazs or Andersons' in ur fridge. But the most irritating item that is Off The Shelves now is Oreo Wafer Sticks .... zzz.

Engage

2008-09-10T16:41:00.000+08:00

The situation in Thai politics now aptly describe one saying "You can't please everybody". In the book '1984', it says that the middle class will struggle to rise to enjoy the riches of the higher class, while the lower class will also struggle to rise to ditch away the sufferings of the lower class. This cycle of rise is ever present, be it on the individual or on the society (the cases of revolutions) .

Yet, in Thailand, only the middle and parts of the higher class are protesting. The majority rural poor still support the incumbent. So, even another election or coup or whatever. The supposedly Thaksin 'cronies' will still be in power. The cycle of turmoil will still ensure. Whoever who comes along next must quickly please both sides. But protesters are people who aren't easily satisfied. Especially when the main organisers are of a political party with an agenda. Sometimes, i wonder if some of the protesters have been influenced until that they wonder what exactly are they protesting for?

E-engagement. As quoted, if the gov doesn't bother about engagement offline, will there be sincerity in doing it online? Afterall, it will be a tricky place to engage. If relevant authorities reply in official capacity, will it mean that they are over monitoring. If replies are made in non-official capacity, will that mean a lack of sincerity? Whatever it does, the answers/replies will not be a series of SOP or non-answers again. If not, there is no point in doing engaging the online committee. The government needs to engage (the people) not because if have to, but because it wants to.

But Reality often hurts. Let's not decieve ourselves by believing anyone (including the gov) will engage because it wants to. However, this has to be done. There must be such a change. Because this will never happen means that our society will continue to question why there isn't Bill Gates or Warren Buffet here. I am not infering them of their wealth. I am infering them of their philanthropy. If engaging continues only on the surface (ie, because it have to), the top will never fully understand what happens on the ground. This applies to all organisations and everybody.

I ever experienced a case of "engage because it have to", the outcome was that the experience was unfruitful, useless because opinions and feelings were already so deeply entrenched that the minute engagement started, everyone felt that "this is a stupid and useless talk that didn't convince me of whatever it should". The government can have a million of such engagements, but it will never help to improve its popularity ... ...

The SAF Advanced Combat Man Systems (ACMS) will easily strike a chord among many as one thing: wayang. As usual, it looks good on paper, but somehow, there are some issues to be ironed out in implementation. Firstly, 8kg of electronics gear. Physical Fatigue will set in way before soldiers start fighting. Forget about 8, even 3 or 5kg of additional gear/equipment over a 25km tactical walk is no joke. Add in a hilly terrain, and there goes the soldiers. It is not that the soldiers are unable to fight after that, but fatigue will affect performance. Hopefully, whatever holy technology that is going to be implemented will become lighter. If not, we will all become nijia turtles with broken necks.

Secondly, as wayang depicts, that the soldier is seen holding a SAR21 Multi Modular Systems (MMS) variant. Having the integrated scope and LAD removed, a P-rail is installed, allowing modular equipment such as advanced optical sights, possibly grenade launcher and the so-called round corner camera. Yet, I got a feeling that this MMS variant would not become a Standard issue. The SAR21-M203 will be issued pretty much soon (a gut feeling, it seems to have already in issuing phase), replacing the lighter M16-M203 rifles. A stupid and cost wastage decision is to replace these SAR21-M203 even sooner. IMO, the MMS will not become a standard issue in the next decade or so.

However, it appears that this MMS variant will still be introduced. Possibly only to commanders. Yet, there is a strange feeling to this that i can't point out. Also, there is the new digital print uniform. There are alot of comments saying it is ugly. Certainly, MARPAT or CADPAT looks way nicer than ours. But reality speaking, the new colours shading have to suit "our" surroundings, hence brighter colours. It is another step forward towards modernisation. The only complain is that the 'rank at the chest'. Why Specs and below still have it at sleeves?

Lastly, i am not sure if it is coincidence or whatever, neither i know what actually happened. But i guess SAF hotline does work to a certain extend. But at the end of the day, it didn't affect me ... ...

The most awaited pictures ... (pls tell me if links are broken)

Gundam Collections

RSAF Open House 08

The hetic break

2008-08-30T23:05:00.006+08:00

Life: When you start to leave things behind, something/someone will come along and make u pick it up invariably, but only to drop it again. And the cycle continues. I am beginning to think i a, dumb. Whatever the reasons that occur on both sides of the even, i still feel dumb. I think there was a valid reason in making guard rest a directive ... ... ... ... ... ... ... I need directions but no one is offering a map to me.

Attended a disappearing talk. It is an event where as the speaker(s) drone on, people start to disappear. Actually it did happen in sch before. But this disappearing talk was godly. Only half filled threatre, and by the halfway mark, less than half (the people who attended) remained. Bought an Ipod Nano from COMEX, still sort of figuring and getting used to it. One thing they could learn from Creative is that having to option to orientate the screen ba. since the earphone jack is at the bottom. And, its earphones sux. But i won't blame them for this though. But i think i need to get some original ipod accessories. Also was a router+modem, now my house is wireless (like finally) ... wahahaha ...

I reached abit too late for the Aircraft rides. The Boeing Simulator was short but fun. I still cannot grasp that why the missile streaks appears on top of me instead of beside me. The missiles will fly upwards when launched??? Secondly, why must victory roll be done by a 360 degree left turn but not a right turn ???

It is a rare sight to see Fokker50 flying around, not to mention take off. F-16s from every Sqn seems to be on static display. I didn't count, but my guess it that every sqn was respresented, since there were different F-5s around too.

Managed to catch the Apache Arming Display, they did it in like close to 5 mins, but they only armed 2 Hellfire on each side instead of 4, and that the 30 mm m230 Chain Gun wasn't loaded at all ... looks impressive nonetheless. I seriously doubt that in actual ops, they will actually stand in one straight line and report that the aircraft is armed.

Arming Team Leader: Aircraft is armed and ready, Sir!
Pilot: Oei, stop standing there like an idiot and get out of the way b4 i shoot u, u dumbass ...
Arming Team Leader: :'(

One Missing thing that wasn't displayed was recruitment booth ... Or maybe it was too hidden that i didn't see it. There was this booth for ITE/Diploma grads .... but didn't see a full recruitment booth or smt like tt ...

I think the idea of this OH is to promote the 3G readiness of the RSAF. Yet, the S-70B, G550 CEAW and F-15SG is still not for display yet. The S-70B might feature in next yr (Navy, should be their turn liao) OH. but the other 2 toys will wait for quite sometime. I wonder if the G550 CEAW will take on a new Sqn number or re-use the current 111, used by the E-2c Hawkeye. But looking at how they re-used '120' (from a Uh-1H Sqn numberto a AH-64 Sqn number) ... i think i am talking crap here ... But hope they use new numbers ...

The stupid rain made me go home early ....

There is this De Coders Cafe, at Balmoral Plaza. It is similar to settlers... Somehow i dunno whether cramped or cosy should be the description ... But it certainly looked understaffed ...

Sounds like i am slated for Wallaby, the simplicity lies in guard duty+possibilities of even more comparing to umpiring in Wallaby ... I think the answer is obvious to me. But then, clearing leave and off will be a slight issue.

PICTURES for Gundam and RSAF OH ---> Coming soon, no worries this is not a vapourware ...

Update

2008-08-25T21:02:00.000+08:00

I decided to get a Ipod Nano. The Zen Mosaic was unable to convince me very much...

Anyway, this thread is here to say that i completed Gundam Shin Musha in like ~11hours. Just for the legs only, i took 3 n 1/2hrs. As all MG kits, each part has an small internal skeleton. But the leg internal skeleton has like 45 runners. Times 2 and tt will be 90 runners. I took my some time to understand how the leg internal skeleton worked. I must say that it was a piece of wonder, Bandai is getting better. I took 6hrs for the head, body, arms on day 1. The rest for day 2. I think even Exia + GN Arms wasn't even that long. The pictures will come soon. I am still sorting it out ...

Meanwhile, smile ....

Finally, a medal

2008-08-20T12:24:00.000+08:00

There must be some sort of objectivity here. Finally, they have won a medal. Or finally, after 48 years, Singapore finally get another sole sliver in the Olympics. Yet, this win is a much controversial one. The table tennis women double team were all born in China, 'imported' by Singapore and then took up citizenship here. It is rare to see our flag fly in International Sports arena, so kudos to them.

Yet, one must be grateful. Singapore gave them the chance and groomed them to be one of the best in the world. So, until the day i hear them say SG suxs in an offending manner, for me, they will still be treated as Singaporeans.

Then comes controversial part. That, they are not 'pure' Singaporeans. Yet, looking at the gobalised world today, how many people are actually 'pure'? With such high mobility today, it is not surprising to hear American-Born-Chinese or that quite a number of Hongkongers that are born and raised outside the city (and PRC included) before going back there. These might be different cases. But yet, as long as the person only IC is pink and can contribute positively, why not. The disdain for FTs in sports is probably brought over from the competitive labour market. FTs come in to threaten and 'steal' our jobs. Then, cheap labour from elsewhere seems to somewhat suppress low earners incomes. That's another topic for another day... At the end of the day, it is Singapore flag that flies, why bother so much about who does it? In retrospect, it may just seem that we are lousy and seems to buy the easy way out. Unfortunately, that is as truthful as ERP is going rise further.

The day when these people want a pure bred Singaporean to win a medal ... maybe, let's wait for another 48yrs. It is not impossible, but there two main factors to this. Firstly, is the Parents mentality. Every single parent want their child to succeed. Unfortunately, most of them see only the academic aspect. Hence, sports is seen as a waste of time, or that hindering the child path to academic success. In other nations where kids train as young as 10 or even earlier, how will our sports scene mature further if parents become so myopic.

Yet, we can't just point the finger at them. Our society and culture is so ingrained with such a maxim 'without a paper, u are useless'. Hence, the government need to step in. It has already has the Sport School, which will probably see more achievements as it matures. Yet, the government should do more in brainwashing that it is so good at. It cannot wait when we win medals to come out and say, sports is actually not bad. This not enough. For a start, the budget could give more towards NSAs. Or, SSC can start recognising more sport bodies as NSAs. Support the sport, not the athletes. For example, if we can spent millions on a certain athlete, why can't SSC give to the sport, so that many athletes can benefit? Never put your eggs in one basket, heard before? Yet, I can't deny that grooming a person is much easier than a whole sport itself. Sometimes, if the result show otherwise, is it time to rethink to policies?

And our dear PM finally realised that he is human and does make mistakes. For once, not everything starts with 'S' stands for Singapore, take GEMS for example, it is Go the Extra Mile for SERVICE. Oh, i forgot u didn't coined that the term out lar, sorry. Somehow, there seems to be some kind of fraud in the ERP and vehicle related revenue explanation. The only thing i could point out is that the Collora doesn't cost 100k as mentioned AFAIK. Perhaps, it did peak to that value due to COE. Secondly, although it is the same make/brand/model, the basis of comparison seems weak. Firstly, technology has advanced to make cheaper, efficient and better vehicles. Secondly, made in Japan and made in Thailand. Intelligence will tell you which one is cheaper to make and import. Ok, the PI Collora Axio cost around the same too. Furthermore, exchange rates are now different. The SGD has strengthen, hence making imports cheaper as well.

So, of everything, we save $54 .... in addition to the jams everywhere. Sounds like a scam to me. Every year, this is much talk about opening up and engaging the internet. Yet, till today, some feel that there is a evil plan behind this term 'engage'. On the media part, there seems to be small steps taken towards opening up. However, after HWZ was taken over by SPH, there is some sort of active censoring. Furthermore, the setup of a certain website for rubbish and stupidity journalism is giving a bad light to the internet domain. Not to say that the internet domain has been viewed in good light. Whethere, the outcome of 'engage' is for better or for the worse, yet to be seen.

As for asking the society to live graciously. The only comment I have is that ... It can only truely start when when organisations to people, people to organisations, people to people stop treating each other so 'neow' ... ...

2008-08-17T10:21:00.002+08:00

Finally, i am getting some sort of whole week off. But I doubt boredom will supecede.

I am contemplating whether to buy the Zen Mosaic or the Ipod Nano. Certainly, 10 out of 10 will tell me ipod. Yet, there is a plan to have a mp3 phone after i ORD, this is a gadget minimisation program. The first gadget to go is the PSP, after the ORD ... Speaking about it, there is not much games on PSP now, NDS looks better. Cost is one issue, the amount of gadgets is another issue. Yet, the Zen Mosaic doesn't look sleek enough ...

Uncasing of Colours

I managed to attend the Uncasing of Colours Ceremony during the NDP Preview, held at the lobby of Suntec Convention Centre. Colours, today, are more of a ceremonial purposes representing the pride and glory of its unit. The Uncasing of Colours forms up in what is know as hollow box formation. The 35 Regimental Colours will form up a in a U shape, while the State Colours will be in the centre of the box. However, due to the design of the venue where the pillar is at the centre of the formation, the State Colours are placed abit more right to the box. The Guard of Honour Contingents will form up, sort of like 'closing' the box , from left to right, namely SPF, RSAF, RSN and Army. (Drawing below)

The form up of the 35 Colours doesn't make sense at first sight. The SAFTI MI Colour will usually be the first, so by order, it should be at the start of the formation. However, here, the rightmost tip is the 3rd Bn, Singapore Infantry Regiment Regimental Colours. And then by ascending order, 2SIR, 1SIR, 1CDO, HQ CDO and finally SAFTI MI. This 'anomaly' only make sense at the end of the ceremony, when the colours march out to form up as Colours Party. The order of the Colours facilitates the form up into contingent level later. Only, this line of Colours is placed differently, while the rest of the Colours are placed according by order of the year they were awarded their Colours, with Imagery Support Group (awarded 1st July 2007) at the end.

About 7 RSMs will uncase the 35 Regimental Colours while State Colours have a Sergeant Major each to uncase their State Colours respectively. There is a Colour orderly for every Colour, standing in front of the Colour bearer, while the Colour Escort is behind the Colour bearer. The orderly will help the RSM to uncase the colour and hold on to the case thereafter.

A coincidence is that the two Regimental Colours with Streamers are directly opposite each other. The HQ CDO and the TASC are the only Regimental Colours with Streamers, awarded in recognition of their efforts to certain operations. The HQ CDO streamer, is inscribed CHANGI 1991 in recognition to the efforts that the SOF effectively killed 4 terrorists and rescued the hostages during the SQ hijack incident. The TASC streamer is inscribed TIMIKA 1996. Details of this operation is unknown ... ... NO pictures, maybe there might be... next year ...

Finally, there is no more NDP or anything thing left in my NSF cycle involving the word 'parade'. This word as effectively, once again, proved another amazing but uncontrolled maxim 'SAF: plan as usual, cock up as usual' . I think i have become jaded of parades, because most of the time, they are usually a waste of time ...

Later on is the ND Rally. I will not be surprised that another 3843783982 things will appear on almost everywhere to comment on his blunders that will possibly make, or that certain poses will become spoofed. On the serious note, comments about his speeches will appear.

Be it criticism or sarcasm, there is no perfect plan to the issues he is going to address. But there will always be better plan to it. We are in the age of questioning and we are no fools either. Although not everyone will be satisfied by explanation, no one will be pleased by the lack of (or inadequate) explanation.

EXpectations

2008-07-28T16:18:00.003+08:00

I just realised how easy is it to fail people expectations of you. It came like a megaton of TNT exploded. But I think i had to do it. Even though it is untimely, but change is always untimely. Yet, I think i need to be apologising. Not because i seemed to have taken a easy way out of things. (It was more of a by-product, and yes, i could have refused this by-product but then i would not have achieved my aim.) But that I have destroyed the expectations there. Yet, I still believe that it is still the right time. Even though many feel otherwise.

Managed to catch 'The Dark Knight' (like finally). My only complain was the cinema was too cold? I had to battle the freeze and lose focus on the script. But anyway, it is worth a re-watch. Heath Ledger as the Joker was really good, and (in someone else words) 'further immortalized by his untimely death'. I also have forgetten that there is still Two-Face as enemy. Now, many are wondering who's the next villian. After Joker, there's is a more common Penguin, Mr Freeze and Poison Ivy. Freeze and Ivy came out for the previous movie, and i doubt they wil appear. Penguin seems unlikely. There is still Clayface, Riddler and Catwoman. I think Clayface stands a chance, but i wonder how's the director goona pull it off. But that's his problem. I think I have finished the mega movies for July, namely Red Cliff and Dark Knight.

Anyway, for Red Cliff, I have a feeling that the scene of Zhuge Liang fanning the pigeons is deeper than it seems. But I can't put a finger to it. And did i mention that i had a movie commentor during this movie, who ONLY COULD comment after the characters names were named. Clearly, this guy played too much related games but dunno any bloody hell about the whole history. I admit i also duno much about the whole history. But hey, I didn't become a movie commentor. The next movie commentor i 'meet' will have his death, also for the next chair-pusher.

Red Cliff was more of a series of of battles which led to Cao Cao defeat and his depression. (Wikipedia called it Red Cliff Campaign). Notably, the key battle was the Battle of Red Cliff where Cao Cao's Navy was torched. Anyway, for the unknown, in the movie, the first battle was Battle of Changban, where Liu Bei tried to hold off Cao Cao for the retreating civillians, and where Zhao Yun returned with Liu Bei's son. The next was Battle to the southeast of Xiakou, where (in the movie the Eight Trigrams formation was fictionally depolyed.) The next was the Battle of Red Cliffs itself. After that, was the Battle of Jiangling.

The Dark Knight is very thought provoking. It's moral of the story seems that people are just meant to be made use of. When they needed Batman, and asked for him. And when they got threatened and didn't need him anymore due to Harvey, they requested his arrest. Are we really, that realistic? On the whole, the director didn't put humans in that bad light, when the two ships didn't blow. It was pretty unexpected for the convict to throw the denator out
Yet, this world is very real. If u r useless (or no value to be made use of), u will be out of the race. But under certain circumstances, if ur useless presence is around, just be nice to everybody n stop giving others trouble. If u have a job to do, stop the goddamn disappearing game. Yes, I have been on the fence for too long, I need to take a stand. To quote ' The fence is finally poking ur backside.' Yes, I shall now have a stand. Unfortunately, i shall join the majority and take the against side.

Lastly, Google Earth seems to have heeded calls to censor sensitive information away. A few weeks ago, I had a fully nice view of CNB, yet now, it is a patch of brown. So much for the information age. I guess CNB was too stunning to be shown. I have also completed Ataksuki, leaving Shin Musha untouched. I think that will be slated for my next 'long weekend'. I think pictures will come after a completed Shin Musha.