Dr Phil
Ready Steady Cook
Judge Judy
Rules of Engagement
The Bold and the Beautiful
Deal or No Deal
Ah the joys of uni-free, textbook-free and assignment-free weekday afternoons!
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Friday, December 16, 2011
On the North-South MRT line breakdown
I am reposting the statement made by Singapore's Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew on Channel News Asia online:
[Writing in his Facebook, Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew said: "I have been following the incident of the MRT breakdown from Cambodia. I am especially concerned over the well-being of the people who were reported to be trapped in the trains for an extended period of time before they made their way to safety.
"There have been a number of train disruptions in recent days. I do not know if these are isolated incidents or whether there are systemic and more serious underlying issues causing these breakdowns.
"We will therefore conduct a thorough health check on our train systems, determine how the faults happened and also whether the maintenance, communication and recovery processes were adhered to and can be further improved.
"I have asked LTA to assemble a team of relevant experts, including possibly relevant overseas experts (emphasis added) to help us in this review." ]
I am curious to know if possibly overseas experts would know what is wrong with the possibly systematic breakdowns of Singapore's proudly acclaimed world class train transport network. If something breaks down in the company, it might just simply mean someone in th SMRT is blungeing on the job. Simple. Why do u need a foreigner to tell you what is wrong with your family? You dun trust your staff to tell you what is wrong?
[Writing in his Facebook, Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew said: "I have been following the incident of the MRT breakdown from Cambodia. I am especially concerned over the well-being of the people who were reported to be trapped in the trains for an extended period of time before they made their way to safety.
"There have been a number of train disruptions in recent days. I do not know if these are isolated incidents or whether there are systemic and more serious underlying issues causing these breakdowns.
"We will therefore conduct a thorough health check on our train systems, determine how the faults happened and also whether the maintenance, communication and recovery processes were adhered to and can be further improved.
"I have asked LTA to assemble a team of relevant experts, including possibly relevant overseas experts (emphasis added) to help us in this review." ]
I am curious to know if possibly overseas experts would know what is wrong with the possibly systematic breakdowns of Singapore's proudly acclaimed world class train transport network. If something breaks down in the company, it might just simply mean someone in th SMRT is blungeing on the job. Simple. Why do u need a foreigner to tell you what is wrong with your family? You dun trust your staff to tell you what is wrong?
Friday, December 09, 2011
I would think they would be cleverer
On the bus enroute to work this morning, I chanced upon a Channel News Asia article about Italian far-left group Federazione Anarchica Informale (FAI) sending a letter bomb to the Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackermann. The mail room staff had intercepted the suspicious looking brown envelope and alerted the police where upon X-ray and all sorts of fancy stuff worthy of CSI evidence collection, FAI was found to proudly proclaim their ingenuity in this.
Surely the people in FAI must have wanted publicity over this stunt they pulled and not so desperate in sending Josef a letter so that their message get sent across. Surely they must known that the mail room staff would look at this strange brown envelope, deduced that this ain't Josef's secret love letter and got the police involved in this. And once the police got involved, the media would have whiffed a scent of news-worthiness and reported on the mass media. And hence whatever message FAI wanted to get out, got their relevant audience.
If I were Josef, I might even feel offended and insulted because all FAI wanted was my position in Deutsche Bank and the security my job would have provided me as a platform for worldwide fame. FAI dun want to send me love letters telling me what a good job I have done. They are not even interested to check if I would be in the building to receive the letter.
Chey!
Surely the people in FAI must have wanted publicity over this stunt they pulled and not so desperate in sending Josef a letter so that their message get sent across. Surely they must known that the mail room staff would look at this strange brown envelope, deduced that this ain't Josef's secret love letter and got the police involved in this. And once the police got involved, the media would have whiffed a scent of news-worthiness and reported on the mass media. And hence whatever message FAI wanted to get out, got their relevant audience.
If I were Josef, I might even feel offended and insulted because all FAI wanted was my position in Deutsche Bank and the security my job would have provided me as a platform for worldwide fame. FAI dun want to send me love letters telling me what a good job I have done. They are not even interested to check if I would be in the building to receive the letter.
Chey!
Monday, December 05, 2011
Beautiful on the inside and out
Hubby and I were out on Saturday night and were waiting for the public transport from the busy Railway Square at Central. We could not help but to notice that with the witching hour fast approaching, the party throngers started pouring out from the train stations, across the roads and into wherever the party is at. At the same time as well, a few were pre-drunk at home to save on binge-ing expensively at the clubs and were stumbling dangerous across the roads in the midst of tooting cars and swearing drivers.
Both of us also started to comment and discuss on the dresscode of the party people. There was a significant number of females in tight revealing dresses and seemingly towering heels meant for performing artists on stilts. Painted in the latest and most attractive makeup money can buy, the total look is completed by the exact amount of accessories and matching hand-clutches.
In contrast, the boys did seemed a little drab in their shirts, pants or jeans and shoes.
The look continues in couples as well. Stunning women in beautiful sparkly revealing dresses tip-toeing hand in hand with men in black or white non-descript shirt/t-shirt and pants and equally boring shoes.
Why is that? Do the boys think there is no need to dress up when going to party because all they want to do is to drink and have a good time with the boys? Do they not think they need to dress up to attract/flirt with the opposite sex? What is the purpose of girls dressing up all sparkly and revealing to the party? To have a good time partying among the girls? Or to hopefully present a good image to the opposite sex so that the boys will want to party with the girls? And in the couple context, why is there an imbalance of the dresscode?
Hubby commented that if the event calls for it and if I am dressed up to the nines, he promised me he would at least try to match in terms of the formality of my dress and would never dream of wearing a t-shirt, but it seemed from our observation that the boys looked very comfortable in their party gear (or the lack of it) and the girls went all out and left nothing in their body unadorned.
If it is but-for the purpose of attraction and flirting with the opposite sex in the party context, Hubby and I could not help but continue our observations with antecedotal examples.
For all our similarities with the animal kingdom, we have always known that males are the attractive ones and females are generally larger in size presumably to be able to carry babies to terms and also duller in colour, as they do not have the need to attract the opposite sex. This concept is totally opposite in the human race that night.
First example that came to mind were the guppies, where the colourful males distincted greatly from the females from their vibrant tail colours and the slimmer bodies.
Then the male lions with beautiful head of hair, ferocious roar and beautiful posture. Females? They just looked like the bigger size of the baby lions, nothing outstanding.
Male peacocks used their full colourful fan colours to attract the dull, fat female peacocks.
And last but not least, the handsome male deers used their beautiful antlers to beckon to the female deers to let them know they are the best partners to have baby deers together.
But us homo sapiens? Girls it seems are obsessed with dressing up to be the most attractive on the dance floor. And by dressing up, it was also observed to be dressing down revealingly in dresses with daring bust lines and short hems, and high heels that are neither good for your body nor good for your feet. Why?
I guess until one day that it is accepted that boys and girls are accepted no matter what they wear, this question will remain unanswered.
Both of us also started to comment and discuss on the dresscode of the party people. There was a significant number of females in tight revealing dresses and seemingly towering heels meant for performing artists on stilts. Painted in the latest and most attractive makeup money can buy, the total look is completed by the exact amount of accessories and matching hand-clutches.
In contrast, the boys did seemed a little drab in their shirts, pants or jeans and shoes.
The look continues in couples as well. Stunning women in beautiful sparkly revealing dresses tip-toeing hand in hand with men in black or white non-descript shirt/t-shirt and pants and equally boring shoes.
Why is that? Do the boys think there is no need to dress up when going to party because all they want to do is to drink and have a good time with the boys? Do they not think they need to dress up to attract/flirt with the opposite sex? What is the purpose of girls dressing up all sparkly and revealing to the party? To have a good time partying among the girls? Or to hopefully present a good image to the opposite sex so that the boys will want to party with the girls? And in the couple context, why is there an imbalance of the dresscode?
Hubby commented that if the event calls for it and if I am dressed up to the nines, he promised me he would at least try to match in terms of the formality of my dress and would never dream of wearing a t-shirt, but it seemed from our observation that the boys looked very comfortable in their party gear (or the lack of it) and the girls went all out and left nothing in their body unadorned.
If it is but-for the purpose of attraction and flirting with the opposite sex in the party context, Hubby and I could not help but continue our observations with antecedotal examples.
For all our similarities with the animal kingdom, we have always known that males are the attractive ones and females are generally larger in size presumably to be able to carry babies to terms and also duller in colour, as they do not have the need to attract the opposite sex. This concept is totally opposite in the human race that night.
First example that came to mind were the guppies, where the colourful males distincted greatly from the females from their vibrant tail colours and the slimmer bodies.
Then the male lions with beautiful head of hair, ferocious roar and beautiful posture. Females? They just looked like the bigger size of the baby lions, nothing outstanding.
Male peacocks used their full colourful fan colours to attract the dull, fat female peacocks.
And last but not least, the handsome male deers used their beautiful antlers to beckon to the female deers to let them know they are the best partners to have baby deers together.
But us homo sapiens? Girls it seems are obsessed with dressing up to be the most attractive on the dance floor. And by dressing up, it was also observed to be dressing down revealingly in dresses with daring bust lines and short hems, and high heels that are neither good for your body nor good for your feet. Why?
I guess until one day that it is accepted that boys and girls are accepted no matter what they wear, this question will remain unanswered.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Huh, what did I do?
I would think the laissez faire style of customer service (or even the total lack thereof) is the bane of every consumer who had to endure such poor customer experience everytime they meet a person who provides a service face to face. I am not surprise that lotsa people are preferring the online shopping experience more and more, to the increasing dismay of retailers.
In the retail industry myself as a probie, here are a couple of analogies of strange customers who, in my humble opinion, perhaps should belong to the online shopping world.
One lady came in the store, smiling and greeting and all, asked me for a little price brochure for a little old lady. I told her we dun have the little price brochures anymore, but I gave her a neat price comparison table printout and a complimentary CD on the different products which she can view on her computer or laptop. Her face darkens, grabs the printout from me and stormed out of the store. Her loud parting shot,'You are disgusting!'
Woah.
Another guy in another day came into the store. I greeted him and asked if i could help.
He said he had cash and he wanted to pay his bill. I said sure, this way please, turned around and searched for a free register in my pheripheral vision. I found one, turned back to the customer and saw him storming out of the store.
Woah. Woah.
Consumers and service providers can recount numerous horror stories to point and blame each other but with my 'years of customer service' (ahem, blush and chortle), I sincerely believe that as long as service providers are sincere in their treatment of customers and honestly provide the services required; and all the customers are realistic in their expectations and not to hope for magic and miracles (which service providers are not able to anyway. They are not magicians, they only work for a salary), the world would be a much much better place.
In the retail industry myself as a probie, here are a couple of analogies of strange customers who, in my humble opinion, perhaps should belong to the online shopping world.
One lady came in the store, smiling and greeting and all, asked me for a little price brochure for a little old lady. I told her we dun have the little price brochures anymore, but I gave her a neat price comparison table printout and a complimentary CD on the different products which she can view on her computer or laptop. Her face darkens, grabs the printout from me and stormed out of the store. Her loud parting shot,'You are disgusting!'
Woah.
Another guy in another day came into the store. I greeted him and asked if i could help.
He said he had cash and he wanted to pay his bill. I said sure, this way please, turned around and searched for a free register in my pheripheral vision. I found one, turned back to the customer and saw him storming out of the store.
Woah. Woah.
Consumers and service providers can recount numerous horror stories to point and blame each other but with my 'years of customer service' (ahem, blush and chortle), I sincerely believe that as long as service providers are sincere in their treatment of customers and honestly provide the services required; and all the customers are realistic in their expectations and not to hope for magic and miracles (which service providers are not able to anyway. They are not magicians, they only work for a salary), the world would be a much much better place.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Fallowed land
As the farmers have left their land to fallow in hope of a better harvest the next time they return, likewise I have left my blog, inadvertantly to renew and revive. Now that the weeds are taller than me, I can now commence clearing the land and seeking out the gems that have flourished on my land. My blog. I have stories I need to tell.
Leaving you now briefly until the next time.
Dare you to move.
Leaving you now briefly until the next time.
Dare you to move.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Bed, O Bed. wherefore art thou Bed?
A fellow Russian classmate raised an interesting point: Australian uni system force-feed you 3 months of hard readings, classes, lectures, tutorials, assignments, exams, sleeplessness, stress and depression and leaves you hanging out to dry over summer with nothing to do.
After 1.5 months of lawyerly intensity, I am just happy to go to bed on the dot at 11.30pm tonight and hug my hubby while I drift off to sleep with no intention to wake up at 2am to cram in readings or assignments.
Bliss.
After 1.5 months of lawyerly intensity, I am just happy to go to bed on the dot at 11.30pm tonight and hug my hubby while I drift off to sleep with no intention to wake up at 2am to cram in readings or assignments.
Bliss.
Thursday, March 03, 2011
Anybody out there?
1st week into school and I am starting to feel lonely.
There is no one from Singapore! There are so many classmates from England, Australia and of course our fav China, HK and Taiwan but I have yet to meet anyone who is studying JD in UNSW. JD seems to be a unpopular course to Singaporeans. Maybe it is because it is not accepted to the Singapore Law Society yet. Hey you hear me SLS? Let me take the bar after I graduate pls!
I see everyone garbling in Mandarin, native Aussie and some other foreign languages and I am starting to feel lonely. No one want to speak to me in Singlish...
Note to self: start speaking to my Chinese classmates in Mandarin and make friends.
There is no one from Singapore! There are so many classmates from England, Australia and of course our fav China, HK and Taiwan but I have yet to meet anyone who is studying JD in UNSW. JD seems to be a unpopular course to Singaporeans. Maybe it is because it is not accepted to the Singapore Law Society yet. Hey you hear me SLS? Let me take the bar after I graduate pls!
I see everyone garbling in Mandarin, native Aussie and some other foreign languages and I am starting to feel lonely. No one want to speak to me in Singlish...
Note to self: start speaking to my Chinese classmates in Mandarin and make friends.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Never let You go
Lord, You're more than anything
You're more than gold
More than anything
Lord, You're everything to me
I will never let you go
Never ever let you go
Your love is higher, higher than the heaven
Your mercy is deeper, deeper than the earth
Your grace is wider, wider than the ocean
I will never let you go
Never ever let you go
You're more than gold
More than anything
Lord, You're everything to me
I will never let you go
Never ever let you go
Your love is higher, higher than the heaven
Your mercy is deeper, deeper than the earth
Your grace is wider, wider than the ocean
I will never let you go
Never ever let you go
Thursday, February 03, 2011
Wonder Feliway
Probably did not mention here before but we took Emi on an epic road trip driving from Sydney to Melbourne and return. I was a bit worried if Emi can take on 10hours to and another 10 hours back in a car as I have heard cats are sensitive little things with regards to new places.
And as usual, I turned to the great o wise internet and was advised by many strangers that cats are hardy animals and they travel up and down the east and west coasts of US without skipping a beat. With us away for 3 days, I sorta have no choice but to bring her along with us.
All was ok after the road trip from Melbourne. Emi was acting a little fidgetty but it was expected of a cat who have experienced 3 new places, the car, the motel and my sis's friend's home who is willing to care for her 2 days in Melbourne, in a span of 72 hours.
But then we soon realise Emi was acting more aggressive then before. She would not come when called and when we wanted to stroke her on her back, she turned her head and bit us on our hand. And because Ernest brushes her everyday, he soon realises that her hair is wearing really thin and we can see her pink skin soon!
I was pretty worried and brought her to the vet. The vet said it might be the road trip as Emi is a house cat and she has never been to strange places and to add to the stress, it was a new place to another new place for 72 hours continously. She said the best way is to make her as comfortable as possible at home. She added that the balding of her hair is due to self-inflicted over grooming most probably due to stress. The vet says if she is not improving in the next 2 weeks, she can prescribe valium for Emi. Valium?! Gosh....
I spoken to another of my friend who is a vet and she kindly advised me on alternative calming therapies such as the pet essential oil Dermoscent to make Emi's hair shine again and Feliway to calm her down and relax her.
I got the Dermoscent on Emi and it smells heavenly. Emi is now a walking and mewing lavender basket and once she tried licking it off her back and she coughed and recoiled at the taste. The Dermoscent stayed on like a charm.
Then I got Feliway diffuser and plugged it on last night. I know I shouldn't be too excited and all, but the result is pretty much instanteneous! When the diffuser is switched on, Emi came to me within minutes, purred and allowed me to pet and stroke her.
She looked calmer and mellower. Feliway is a wonder! No more road trips for the cat! In fact, Emi is not leaving this apartment ever!
And as usual, I turned to the great o wise internet and was advised by many strangers that cats are hardy animals and they travel up and down the east and west coasts of US without skipping a beat. With us away for 3 days, I sorta have no choice but to bring her along with us.
All was ok after the road trip from Melbourne. Emi was acting a little fidgetty but it was expected of a cat who have experienced 3 new places, the car, the motel and my sis's friend's home who is willing to care for her 2 days in Melbourne, in a span of 72 hours.
But then we soon realise Emi was acting more aggressive then before. She would not come when called and when we wanted to stroke her on her back, she turned her head and bit us on our hand. And because Ernest brushes her everyday, he soon realises that her hair is wearing really thin and we can see her pink skin soon!
I was pretty worried and brought her to the vet. The vet said it might be the road trip as Emi is a house cat and she has never been to strange places and to add to the stress, it was a new place to another new place for 72 hours continously. She said the best way is to make her as comfortable as possible at home. She added that the balding of her hair is due to self-inflicted over grooming most probably due to stress. The vet says if she is not improving in the next 2 weeks, she can prescribe valium for Emi. Valium?! Gosh....
I spoken to another of my friend who is a vet and she kindly advised me on alternative calming therapies such as the pet essential oil Dermoscent to make Emi's hair shine again and Feliway to calm her down and relax her.
I got the Dermoscent on Emi and it smells heavenly. Emi is now a walking and mewing lavender basket and once she tried licking it off her back and she coughed and recoiled at the taste. The Dermoscent stayed on like a charm.
Then I got Feliway diffuser and plugged it on last night. I know I shouldn't be too excited and all, but the result is pretty much instanteneous! When the diffuser is switched on, Emi came to me within minutes, purred and allowed me to pet and stroke her.
She looked calmer and mellower. Feliway is a wonder! No more road trips for the cat! In fact, Emi is not leaving this apartment ever!
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Happy Australis DayXHunter Valley Grapes Hunt
Photo-blog.
166kms to go. We better hurry up.
The vineyard.
The grapes. The muse, the red (or black), the dried and the green.
The art gallery. The saving grace of air conditioning and live dragonflies trapped indoors.
The outdoor art sculptures. Free and scorched under the sun.
The bronze birds having a brief respite beside the pond.
Can a beer in the Valley quench the heat? Nope, not at all.
On the way home now, the heat is just too much for us.
Dinner pit-stop in Epping. My Ironman quite defeated by the heat and the hunger. Best soon doo boo Sydney, undeniable.
Today's adventures, iPhone style.
Happy Australia Day everyone!
166kms to go. We better hurry up.
The vineyard.
The grapes. The muse, the red (or black), the dried and the green.
The art gallery. The saving grace of air conditioning and live dragonflies trapped indoors.
The outdoor art sculptures. Free and scorched under the sun.
The bronze birds having a brief respite beside the pond.
Can a beer in the Valley quench the heat? Nope, not at all.
On the way home now, the heat is just too much for us.
Dinner pit-stop in Epping. My Ironman quite defeated by the heat and the hunger. Best soon doo boo Sydney, undeniable.
Today's adventures, iPhone style.
Happy Australia Day everyone!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Spa in the morning
I think Emi is just like Jamie Cuaca sometimes, her life is devoted entirely to good naps, gourmet food and luxurious spa sessions by her owner slaves.
Jamie Cuaca who is going through a messy divorce at the moment, is the MD of Manolo Blahnik Singapore and has $93 million to conquer and divide with her estranged husband. The Singapore newspaper reportedly ran news article on how typical her beauty treatments are as a tai-tai.
Get this: weekly vitamin C drip with an aesthetic doctor, facial mask twice daily, Peter Thomas Oxygen Mask from Sephora and sometimes use the rosewater toner from Italian brand Officina de' Tornabuoni from LS Philosophy to hydrate her skin after cleansing.
Tell me how life can be any worse than that other than the divorce.
Can I just be Emi for one day? Massage pls!!!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
The View
I love waking up in the morning just at the break of dawn, sitting at Ernest's favourite Tulip dining table with the magnificent view of the city. The road to and fro the city is so quiet with hardly any cars. We are only 6km from the city and for Singaporeans, to put in perspective, we are practically living in Bugis with the view of Singapore downtown.
We are indeed blessed.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Port Lincoln Crustacean Delights
One of the perks of working in an airline, especially the largest regional airline in Australia, you have favours from colleagues and associates to link you up with Australia's freshest produce. They say you will never starve in Australia, where ever you are, you will get the fresh produce from the ground or off the sea to sustain yourself.
This gorgeous weekend was spent enjoying some fresh Port Lincoln oysters specially flown in from South Australia which was just shucked yesterday morning at the farm.
Our friend threw in a bottle of Veuve Clicquot champer to be shared among 11 people who were crowding around the table with cameras like proper Asian tourists ooh-ing and aah-ing over the opening of the box in which 15 dozens oysters had flown in. And it began an afternoon of decadence which will never be repeated again because of the sheer amount of oysters eaten that day per person.
It was funny recounting the episode when I went to collect the box from the freight company. The freight company must have just offloaded a plane full of pets because I saw a lot of pet containers by the side of the entrances awaiting collection and a number of people queuing inside to get paperwork stamped and then collect the critters. So I joined the queue together with mainly mums and pops waiting to collect their cat, rabbit or dogs who have flown interstate.
When it was my turn, the lady at the counter asked,'so you are collecting your dog today, luv?' 'Nope, my pet are a box of oysters thanks.'I told her and she threw back her head and laughed. I like to think I have made her day.
Friday, October 01, 2010
Driving me nuts
If you have told me I would be driving everyday to work 9 years ago, I would have laughed in your face.
I passed my driving only after 6 times and after a few dangerous accidents which involved a lot of money, tears and harsh words between love ones, I finally wised up and drive professionally.
And that's something you know about me.
Until the next time, ponder on this: if you have a choice of super mutant power, what power would you choose?
I passed my driving only after 6 times and after a few dangerous accidents which involved a lot of money, tears and harsh words between love ones, I finally wised up and drive professionally.
And that's something you know about me.
Until the next time, ponder on this: if you have a choice of super mutant power, what power would you choose?
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Dreams
I will not apologise for my absence from my blog.
Everything in my life is governed by bursts of spontenaity, which is quite typical of Leos. I suddenly will have craving for Easyway bubbletea and I do not mind driving around just to get my fix, but sometimes, I will just settle for plain water and detests anything sweet.
Anyway, I wanna talk about my dream.
I had a weird one this morning. I dreamt of going to the Malaysian consulate to renounce my Malaysian citizenship. Why I am still a Malaysian is not a concept or question I ask in my dream. Anyway, the consulate is located in an airport (weird again) and Ernest and I combed the airport trying to find the office.
So I reached the office and a Chinese lady in tudung had to give me an interview. I dunno why, in my dream, Ernest bursts forth with an unusual amount of energy, gave the lady a hug and tried to give her a 'How are you?!' kinda kiss on the side of her cheek.
The lady jumped in fright and I mini-screamed to ask Ernest to stop doing that. The lady was really cheesed but still she proceeded to ask me to write down my name and my Australian address on a piece of paper as a proof that I am living overseas and will not be coming back to Malaysia.
Then I proceeded to tell her about myself, how I left Malaysia when I was about 5 years old and grew up and Singapore. And also how at age 21 years old, I have to make a choice where I am going to stay. Then the lady said,' well then it seemed you already renounced your Malaysian citizenship right? You are a Singaporean right?'
Then the alarm rang and I woke up. What a weird dream!
Everything in my life is governed by bursts of spontenaity, which is quite typical of Leos. I suddenly will have craving for Easyway bubbletea and I do not mind driving around just to get my fix, but sometimes, I will just settle for plain water and detests anything sweet.
Anyway, I wanna talk about my dream.
I had a weird one this morning. I dreamt of going to the Malaysian consulate to renounce my Malaysian citizenship. Why I am still a Malaysian is not a concept or question I ask in my dream. Anyway, the consulate is located in an airport (weird again) and Ernest and I combed the airport trying to find the office.
So I reached the office and a Chinese lady in tudung had to give me an interview. I dunno why, in my dream, Ernest bursts forth with an unusual amount of energy, gave the lady a hug and tried to give her a 'How are you?!' kinda kiss on the side of her cheek.
The lady jumped in fright and I mini-screamed to ask Ernest to stop doing that. The lady was really cheesed but still she proceeded to ask me to write down my name and my Australian address on a piece of paper as a proof that I am living overseas and will not be coming back to Malaysia.
Then I proceeded to tell her about myself, how I left Malaysia when I was about 5 years old and grew up and Singapore. And also how at age 21 years old, I have to make a choice where I am going to stay. Then the lady said,' well then it seemed you already renounced your Malaysian citizenship right? You are a Singaporean right?'
Then the alarm rang and I woke up. What a weird dream!
Friday, August 06, 2010
Solace
The last time the same episode happened, I buried myself underneath my blanket in the smoldering heat that was the typical Singapore weather many years ago and cried and cried and cried; wondering why the world was crashing down around me. I actually toyed with the idea that a world sans me might be a better place afterall and I will no longer take up precious breathing place.
This time, it was less dramatic. But it happened at the wrong place and the wrong time. I could feel my windpipes closing in and I could not breathe. I GOT to get out of my house. I had to run away. I caught a bus into the city and sat there with tears streaming down my face continuously. Despair just set in and I just sat there on the bus while Centennial Park streamed past in a hazy green blur and the loneliness sets in.
Shopping in the city alone is a good idea, the good side of my brain tells me. Or so the good side thinks. I wandered up and down Pitt Street and the tears did not stop. I had to quickly pinch the edge of my eyes as the tears threatened to spill down my face as I tried not to look out of place amongst the happy tourists and euphorical shoppers with their loot.
I saw Kino and something tugged at my heart. Perhaps the books have something to offer, my mind tells my brain. And so it did. I immersed myself entirely to glorious Japanese consumerism magazines with smiley skinny models looking at me blanky on the covers, books that tells me there are 101 ways to make coffee-themed desserts and Ann Rice for that entire afternoon.
Towards the end on Chapter 2 of The Vampire Amand, the thought just came into my mind; that I was perhaps exactly what the men has described in 1943: the woman who indulges in hysteria because she has time on her hand to 'ponder'. No, I did not ponder and therefore had that sudden avalanche. It just drenched me from head to toe like an unwelcomed shower on a cold day; I try to put reason to my behaviour.
The next few days were really hard. I was still feeling a little off but had to be nonchalant about it at work. Today, I thought it is perfect. Day off, I can shop to my heart's content! But, hey, I went to Dymocks, bought myself Marley and Me and sought comfort from a dog.
Time heals. Theoretically.
This time, it was less dramatic. But it happened at the wrong place and the wrong time. I could feel my windpipes closing in and I could not breathe. I GOT to get out of my house. I had to run away. I caught a bus into the city and sat there with tears streaming down my face continuously. Despair just set in and I just sat there on the bus while Centennial Park streamed past in a hazy green blur and the loneliness sets in.
Shopping in the city alone is a good idea, the good side of my brain tells me. Or so the good side thinks. I wandered up and down Pitt Street and the tears did not stop. I had to quickly pinch the edge of my eyes as the tears threatened to spill down my face as I tried not to look out of place amongst the happy tourists and euphorical shoppers with their loot.
I saw Kino and something tugged at my heart. Perhaps the books have something to offer, my mind tells my brain. And so it did. I immersed myself entirely to glorious Japanese consumerism magazines with smiley skinny models looking at me blanky on the covers, books that tells me there are 101 ways to make coffee-themed desserts and Ann Rice for that entire afternoon.
Towards the end on Chapter 2 of The Vampire Amand, the thought just came into my mind; that I was perhaps exactly what the men has described in 1943: the woman who indulges in hysteria because she has time on her hand to 'ponder'. No, I did not ponder and therefore had that sudden avalanche. It just drenched me from head to toe like an unwelcomed shower on a cold day; I try to put reason to my behaviour.
The next few days were really hard. I was still feeling a little off but had to be nonchalant about it at work. Today, I thought it is perfect. Day off, I can shop to my heart's content! But, hey, I went to Dymocks, bought myself Marley and Me and sought comfort from a dog.
Time heals. Theoretically.
Monday, August 02, 2010
Sunday, August 01, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
La Femme
As part of my on-going law education, we were assigned a piece of feminist critique as part of our 'critical skills learning process.' It was a piece written by Prue Vines, our Law Professor, Mehera San Roque, our Law Lecturer and Emily Rumble, a law student all at UNSW titled 'Is "nervous shock" still a feminist issue? The duty of care and psychiatric injury in Australia'.
I overheard some of the male students in my class discuss the review piece as a waste of time, that the statistics provided in the review was biased and was not worth a class's worth of time discussing it. I was almost smiling to myself at that point, but of course the alpha males do not like a feminist critique of anything that may or may not be male-oriented; in this case, the law.
Yes, to be honest, I am definitely not well-read or knowledgeable enough to make any criticism or praise any points in that specific article. However, it did pique my interests towards some of the thinking in the article where 'psychiatric injury has been marginalised as a form of harm', that 'these were injuries seen to inflict women' where 'majority of the plaintiffs in such cases have been and continued to be women'.
It does not help when judges in cases like these will more incline to rule in cases where physical injuries are more apparent than perhaps imaginery hysteria or emotional feelings, which were largely to be thought to be more of women's realm.
There were also some discussion about basic law principles in talking about the actions of a 'reasonable man' or 'person' and if a reasonable person of normal fortitude would suffer psychiatric harm in a certain incident. That brings back the feminist critique of where and how judges would base their standard of a reasonable person. Would this reasonable person be a man? Or a woman?
From the article, there were some references to a quote from Chamallas and Kerber in 1943 about traumatic neurosis often drawn by American courts in their analysis of shock cases where they agree that men would also be exposed to trival impacts or psychic stimuli as often as women does, but how the man would behave afterwords will be different from that of women. Man are usually the breadwinner and therefore would be focused on the tasks of his job. No time to be sad. Whereas women who are usually at home, has more time to ponder on the experience and may develop further into psychiatric syptoms. You can't help but laugh right?
And true to a certain extent too, I was reading some news online yesterday and chanced upon an article where a study has been done on couples who have experienced miscarriage and the doctors had actually followed up with both the husband and the wife frequently within a year to find out their emotional response towards this painful episode and see if, as the phrase goes, time will heal the pain. It was found that only less that 10% of the men were still affected emotionally by the miscarriage one year after it happened as compared to about 40% of women, not taking into consideration if the women in question had suffered any other post-traumatic symptoms after the event or had stayed at home to 'ponder' over the matter or had went back to work.
But all these discussion about biaseness aside, I am glad that judges in Australia has taken a positive step in recognising that nervous shock and psychiatric harm is a recognisable injury as much as a physical one. And that fact that after the judgement on Wick's case a month back reaffirmed that a consideration of duty of care and the reasonable forseeability has won out and it has nothing to do with the fact that the plaintiff was a man or a woman.
Let's look at the Biblical side of things. I was quite led to read up about Esther, the mightly woman of God in the old Testament. I truly think she is the old world's Princess Diana. As aptly described by the Bible, she was beautiful, glamorous and she was so attractive that King Ahasuerus made her his Queen, taking over the then Queen Vashti.
Visual representation of how Esther might have looked like.
It was quite a time too because King Ahasuerus was the king over 127 provinces which was historically recorded from India to Ethopia. Esther was a Jew and because being a Jew at that time in King Ahasuerus 's citadel was quite a sensitive issue, she of course did not tell the King she was one.
Anyway, this evil guy Haman had a beef with Queen Esther's uncle Mr Modecai. He just could not stand Mordecai and plotted to get rid of him by telling the King that the Jews in his land were not keeping the King's law and got the King to decree to kill all Jews.
To kill all Jews means Queen Esther's head is not safe too, no? Well, Mr Modecai was quite horrified at the decree and pleaded with the Queen to do something.
I really like Queen Esther's shrewd plans. I think Queen Esther in her time must be a strategic master of war or something. In the Romance of the 3 Kingdoms, I might even liken Queen Esther to Zhuge Liang.
The Queen was a little worried about barging into the King to plead for her people. Afterall, he is the King. So she put on her most beautiful clothes and went to the King's court and pose. The Kinga saw her from far away and ask for her to come to him.
The King told her to request from him whatever she wants and he is willing to give up half of his kingdom to her, he says. She didn't say anything still, but said she wanted to prepare a banquet for the King and want to invite Haman to dinner as well.
So the King and Haman went to dinner. After the dinner, the King asked the Queen again what does she want? She still did not tell the King of her plea but says she want to invite the King and Haman back again for dinner tomorrow night.
It must be something in the food that the King could not sleep that night, so he asked his historian to read to him. So the historian reminded the King of all Modecai's good deeds to the King. Then the King felt really good and went to sleep. -_-|||
The next day, Haman saw Modecai again and was reminded of how pissed he felt. He told himself to remind the King on carrying out the decree to kill all Jews which will include Mordecai. Then the King met up with Haman and asked Haman to suggest a way to reward a person with whom the King is well pleased. Haman, thinking that person was himself, said that the King should clothe him in beautiful clothes, give him the King's ring and richly reward him.
So the King said OK, we shall do that to Mordecai, Haman was mortified. Then Mordecai told the King his relationship with the Queen. The Queen implored with the King in tears to save her people from Haman and informed the King fully of Haman's conspiracy to kill all the Jews in the land. The Kings gave to the Queen Haman's house and the Queen then pass a decree against Haman's decree and everyone is safe.
So clever right? Queen Esther is now my new hero. Who says the Old Testament is boring?
I overheard some of the male students in my class discuss the review piece as a waste of time, that the statistics provided in the review was biased and was not worth a class's worth of time discussing it. I was almost smiling to myself at that point, but of course the alpha males do not like a feminist critique of anything that may or may not be male-oriented; in this case, the law.
Yes, to be honest, I am definitely not well-read or knowledgeable enough to make any criticism or praise any points in that specific article. However, it did pique my interests towards some of the thinking in the article where 'psychiatric injury has been marginalised as a form of harm', that 'these were injuries seen to inflict women' where 'majority of the plaintiffs in such cases have been and continued to be women'.
It does not help when judges in cases like these will more incline to rule in cases where physical injuries are more apparent than perhaps imaginery hysteria or emotional feelings, which were largely to be thought to be more of women's realm.
There were also some discussion about basic law principles in talking about the actions of a 'reasonable man' or 'person' and if a reasonable person of normal fortitude would suffer psychiatric harm in a certain incident. That brings back the feminist critique of where and how judges would base their standard of a reasonable person. Would this reasonable person be a man? Or a woman?
From the article, there were some references to a quote from Chamallas and Kerber in 1943 about traumatic neurosis often drawn by American courts in their analysis of shock cases where they agree that men would also be exposed to trival impacts or psychic stimuli as often as women does, but how the man would behave afterwords will be different from that of women. Man are usually the breadwinner and therefore would be focused on the tasks of his job. No time to be sad. Whereas women who are usually at home, has more time to ponder on the experience and may develop further into psychiatric syptoms. You can't help but laugh right?
And true to a certain extent too, I was reading some news online yesterday and chanced upon an article where a study has been done on couples who have experienced miscarriage and the doctors had actually followed up with both the husband and the wife frequently within a year to find out their emotional response towards this painful episode and see if, as the phrase goes, time will heal the pain. It was found that only less that 10% of the men were still affected emotionally by the miscarriage one year after it happened as compared to about 40% of women, not taking into consideration if the women in question had suffered any other post-traumatic symptoms after the event or had stayed at home to 'ponder' over the matter or had went back to work.
But all these discussion about biaseness aside, I am glad that judges in Australia has taken a positive step in recognising that nervous shock and psychiatric harm is a recognisable injury as much as a physical one. And that fact that after the judgement on Wick's case a month back reaffirmed that a consideration of duty of care and the reasonable forseeability has won out and it has nothing to do with the fact that the plaintiff was a man or a woman.
Let's look at the Biblical side of things. I was quite led to read up about Esther, the mightly woman of God in the old Testament. I truly think she is the old world's Princess Diana. As aptly described by the Bible, she was beautiful, glamorous and she was so attractive that King Ahasuerus made her his Queen, taking over the then Queen Vashti.
Visual representation of how Esther might have looked like.
It was quite a time too because King Ahasuerus was the king over 127 provinces which was historically recorded from India to Ethopia. Esther was a Jew and because being a Jew at that time in King Ahasuerus 's citadel was quite a sensitive issue, she of course did not tell the King she was one.
Anyway, this evil guy Haman had a beef with Queen Esther's uncle Mr Modecai. He just could not stand Mordecai and plotted to get rid of him by telling the King that the Jews in his land were not keeping the King's law and got the King to decree to kill all Jews.
To kill all Jews means Queen Esther's head is not safe too, no? Well, Mr Modecai was quite horrified at the decree and pleaded with the Queen to do something.
I really like Queen Esther's shrewd plans. I think Queen Esther in her time must be a strategic master of war or something. In the Romance of the 3 Kingdoms, I might even liken Queen Esther to Zhuge Liang.
The Queen was a little worried about barging into the King to plead for her people. Afterall, he is the King. So she put on her most beautiful clothes and went to the King's court and pose. The Kinga saw her from far away and ask for her to come to him.
The King told her to request from him whatever she wants and he is willing to give up half of his kingdom to her, he says. She didn't say anything still, but said she wanted to prepare a banquet for the King and want to invite Haman to dinner as well.
So the King and Haman went to dinner. After the dinner, the King asked the Queen again what does she want? She still did not tell the King of her plea but says she want to invite the King and Haman back again for dinner tomorrow night.
It must be something in the food that the King could not sleep that night, so he asked his historian to read to him. So the historian reminded the King of all Modecai's good deeds to the King. Then the King felt really good and went to sleep. -_-|||
The next day, Haman saw Modecai again and was reminded of how pissed he felt. He told himself to remind the King on carrying out the decree to kill all Jews which will include Mordecai. Then the King met up with Haman and asked Haman to suggest a way to reward a person with whom the King is well pleased. Haman, thinking that person was himself, said that the King should clothe him in beautiful clothes, give him the King's ring and richly reward him.
So the King said OK, we shall do that to Mordecai, Haman was mortified. Then Mordecai told the King his relationship with the Queen. The Queen implored with the King in tears to save her people from Haman and informed the King fully of Haman's conspiracy to kill all the Jews in the land. The Kings gave to the Queen Haman's house and the Queen then pass a decree against Haman's decree and everyone is safe.
So clever right? Queen Esther is now my new hero. Who says the Old Testament is boring?
Makanan
I have many times extolled the virtues of leisure lunches on Fridays with fellow colleagues. Everyone should try it sometimes. This is to all Singaporeans living in Australia: we found bak chor mee in Randwick.
Company is great although it is a bit strange trying to teach non-Singaporeans how to eat bak chor mee.
Bak chor mee, mee kia.
Sorely missing the pig liver pieces and the choice of kway tiao. Otherwise, taste is as authentic as it gets.
Bak kut teh, KL style with herbs
Soup is flavourful, I just wish there were more.
Sambal egg
The sambal is really a blast!
Chicken rice
Colleague's feedback was the rice is ok, chicken is so-so, chilli is pooh-pooh
Milo Godzilla
Very filling
Muah Chee
The muah chee is more salty than sweet as compared to the Singapore's version. I think they put in salt in the glutinious rice flour. And it costs 5 times as much. This precious little plate is $5.
Company is great although it is a bit strange trying to teach non-Singaporeans how to eat bak chor mee.
Colleague A: so how do we eat this?
Me: you just stir the mince pork through the noodles and eat loh.
A: what about the soup? you pour it in the noodles?
Me: no, you eat one mouthful of noodles, and take one mouthful of soup; or you can drink the soup after you finish the noodles.
A: chilli? can I eat the chilli?
Me: yes, you can, if you can bear the spicy-ness.
A: what is this yellow pieces? can i eat it?
Me: yes, it's pork lard. very yummy!
A: And what about spring-onions? Can I take it out?
Me: -_-
Singaporean colleague: LOL
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
I has friends
I am very much into Blinkymummy's blog and has been her silent stalker reader for a while now. When I read about Blinkymummy's friend, there was some 感触 about my own friends and how I am shaped for life just by the friends around me.
Firstly I am truly thankful for the 2 groups of girlfriends who grew up with me. Without them, Eliss will not be who she is. Nurtured by laughter, gossips and little nuggets of life that we shared, we have made life together.
First group of girlfriends, D, P & A were my bestest friends in secondary school. I dunno why, but I was constantly out of pocket-money then and P always always extended her generousity to me everytime without fail. 4 of us hanged out at Northpoint after school everyday and closer towards the end of our secondary school life, we got to know a group of boys who were delinquents in their own rights and P married one of them and I got my heart broken for the 1st time in my life by another one. D was the funny one and she is the one who could accept everyone for who they are. A, the ever hardworking and conscientous student, helped us every step of the way for our 'O' levels. I think I was the rebellious one then, proudly proclaiming every bad stuff I did to D, P & A; the first shoplift, the first fight, the first kiss, the first traunt from school.
The 4 of us moved around school like a cell. We eat together, study together, cry together and even worked together in a part time job at Junction 8 during school holidays. When the teachers addressed us, they addressed us as a group. There is no dispute that the 4 of us are one. Even when we are now adults, everyone of us is a bridesmaid for each other's wedding. We have only one wedding left to do. When is that going to happen, A???
The 2nd group of girlfriends were from my poly years (readers from Australia= tafe). When you grow older, it seemed to me keeping clinches gets harder and harder. You get a close friend or two at the beginning. You add more friends along the way and you might just lose some as well. In poly, there isn't a fixed set of friends which I would call a group specifically, but class 3B14 were the most notorious bunch there were. We skipped a tutorial completely because we hated the tutor and made our Japanese teacher cry because we did not turn up for an external event en masse when we promised her we will come.
We skipped lectures to go karaoke in the afternoons and held mini fishing (or was it prawns? I must be getting old) events in school as part of our curriculum and won the top award for the best event. We had our very own class tee and I loved the fact we like to take photos of ourselves so much that whenever I see photos of class 3B14 laughing and hugging and falling over each other in my albums, I could not help but smile. Wonder women!
There were so many memories that I could not finish typing them out but I really thank God for all of them. Every single one of them. Although we are all grown up now and leading our separate lives, I am very glad that everytime we meet (although it may be once a year now for me), the jokes were still so familar and the conversations just flowed. Flowed like we just met last week.
I am truly appreciative of my friends. 朋友是一生的!
I thank you as well, reader, for being my friend and reading my blog thus far.
Firstly I am truly thankful for the 2 groups of girlfriends who grew up with me. Without them, Eliss will not be who she is. Nurtured by laughter, gossips and little nuggets of life that we shared, we have made life together.
First group of girlfriends, D, P & A were my bestest friends in secondary school. I dunno why, but I was constantly out of pocket-money then and P always always extended her generousity to me everytime without fail. 4 of us hanged out at Northpoint after school everyday and closer towards the end of our secondary school life, we got to know a group of boys who were delinquents in their own rights and P married one of them and I got my heart broken for the 1st time in my life by another one. D was the funny one and she is the one who could accept everyone for who they are. A, the ever hardworking and conscientous student, helped us every step of the way for our 'O' levels. I think I was the rebellious one then, proudly proclaiming every bad stuff I did to D, P & A; the first shoplift, the first fight, the first kiss, the first traunt from school.
The 4 of us moved around school like a cell. We eat together, study together, cry together and even worked together in a part time job at Junction 8 during school holidays. When the teachers addressed us, they addressed us as a group. There is no dispute that the 4 of us are one. Even when we are now adults, everyone of us is a bridesmaid for each other's wedding. We have only one wedding left to do. When is that going to happen, A???
The 2nd group of girlfriends were from my poly years (readers from Australia= tafe). When you grow older, it seemed to me keeping clinches gets harder and harder. You get a close friend or two at the beginning. You add more friends along the way and you might just lose some as well. In poly, there isn't a fixed set of friends which I would call a group specifically, but class 3B14 were the most notorious bunch there were. We skipped a tutorial completely because we hated the tutor and made our Japanese teacher cry because we did not turn up for an external event en masse when we promised her we will come.
We skipped lectures to go karaoke in the afternoons and held mini fishing (or was it prawns? I must be getting old) events in school as part of our curriculum and won the top award for the best event. We had our very own class tee and I loved the fact we like to take photos of ourselves so much that whenever I see photos of class 3B14 laughing and hugging and falling over each other in my albums, I could not help but smile. Wonder women!
There were so many memories that I could not finish typing them out but I really thank God for all of them. Every single one of them. Although we are all grown up now and leading our separate lives, I am very glad that everytime we meet (although it may be once a year now for me), the jokes were still so familar and the conversations just flowed. Flowed like we just met last week.
I am truly appreciative of my friends. 朋友是一生的!
I thank you as well, reader, for being my friend and reading my blog thus far.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
I lup you long long, Ernest
Friday, July 23, 2010
Busy this week
It would be boring to show you the busy bits, so I will just showcase the fun bits for this week.
chillax-ing with colleagues
chillax-ing with colleagues
Golden Century - place of noms and yums.
Dun leave Sydney without trying their food for all y'all tourists!
Thank you Mr and Ms Crustaceans for making us full and happy.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
33°53′49″S 151°10′45″E
Did I have to write something about Newtown, Sydney? It is a relatively well-known suburb and everyone, residents and tourists alike, knows about Newtown. How funky the place is. Where you get gorgeous food. You could walk along King Street, hop into strange little shops and get lost in the worlds of books, Sydney's little known designers, shoes and 2nd-hand gems.
Newtown is where the weird and beautiful take precedence. Graffiti and street art, theatre, live music and festivals are but some of the charming aspects of the neighbourhood. Newtown is the place to sit in a roadside cafe and gawk at passer-bys or be seen yourself. So if you are well-dressed or badly-dressed, everyone gives you the look-over and you are suppose to return the compliment.
What I like about Newtown and I will never get tired of it, is this creative energy and the vibrancy that the shops give off. I love just to immerse myself here for a couple of hours and emerge out of Newtown as yeasty as Andy Warhol and as gastronomically-inclined as Matt Preston.
And of course special mentions to my fav chicken shop Clems and fav coffee roaster Campos.
I was there again last Sat and something that I saw gave me quite a laugh. For fellow Singaporeans and people who have travelled to Singapore and visited Geylang, you will certainly be accosted as you walk down the street by peddlers selling contraband cigarettes out of plastic bags on the floor next to a parked dodgy-looking, heavily tinted unmarked vans with other fellow peddlers hanging off the sides of the van's open doors smoking and frequently glancing around to ensure no nasty surprises from the police. 'Hey ah di ah, this one duty-free. Cheap one. Guarantee real stuff. You want or not?' was the sales talk.
That day in Newtown, we were accosted by similar shifty-eyed peddlers next to a parked dodgy-looking, heavily tinted unmarked vans with other fellow peddlers hanging off the sides of the van's open doors smoking and frequently glancing around to ensure no nasty surprises from the police. 'Hey mate! See these strawberries? Freshly picked, guranteed cheaper than those from the supermarket. You want a box? Real cheap!' Contraband strawberries. Well, I never!
Newtown is where the weird and beautiful take precedence. Graffiti and street art, theatre, live music and festivals are but some of the charming aspects of the neighbourhood. Newtown is the place to sit in a roadside cafe and gawk at passer-bys or be seen yourself. So if you are well-dressed or badly-dressed, everyone gives you the look-over and you are suppose to return the compliment.
What I like about Newtown and I will never get tired of it, is this creative energy and the vibrancy that the shops give off. I love just to immerse myself here for a couple of hours and emerge out of Newtown as yeasty as Andy Warhol and as gastronomically-inclined as Matt Preston.
And of course special mentions to my fav chicken shop Clems and fav coffee roaster Campos.
I was there again last Sat and something that I saw gave me quite a laugh. For fellow Singaporeans and people who have travelled to Singapore and visited Geylang, you will certainly be accosted as you walk down the street by peddlers selling contraband cigarettes out of plastic bags on the floor next to a parked dodgy-looking, heavily tinted unmarked vans with other fellow peddlers hanging off the sides of the van's open doors smoking and frequently glancing around to ensure no nasty surprises from the police. 'Hey ah di ah, this one duty-free. Cheap one. Guarantee real stuff. You want or not?' was the sales talk.
That day in Newtown, we were accosted by similar shifty-eyed peddlers next to a parked dodgy-looking, heavily tinted unmarked vans with other fellow peddlers hanging off the sides of the van's open doors smoking and frequently glancing around to ensure no nasty surprises from the police. 'Hey mate! See these strawberries? Freshly picked, guranteed cheaper than those from the supermarket. You want a box? Real cheap!' Contraband strawberries. Well, I never!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Summary & Commentary on Book of Habakkuk, The Old Testament Bible, New King James version
Following on the summary of the Book of James in the New Testament, I read the Book of Habakkuk in the Old Testament Bible. There are only 3 chapters in the Book so it is relatively easy for the 1st speed-read through. However, as with all Old Testament Books, the chapters are fraud with double meanings, heavy words and histories unknown to me, so the context and the inferences may be lost through my interpretation.
I became fascinated with the Book of Habakkuk when I was very young. In the Sunday School for kids, we memorised all the Books of the Bible by singing The BOB (Books of Bible) Song. There are many versions out there on youtube at the moment, but I like this one the most:
Anyway, as I was saying, I was drawn to Habakkuk because of the strange name. You dun pronoun the word 'ha-bah-cook' and forget it easily. Plus on last Sunday's preaching, PJ was saying Habakkuk is an interesting read, so I read it up. It was, and still is, quite an extraordinary book.
Habakkuk is the name of a prophet who lived in 500 to 600BC in the land of Judah (many schools of thoughts on this one), where internal strife and wickedness is prevalent in Judah (everyone agreed on this point); according to Richard D Patterson. You can click on the link for a more thorough read on Habakkuk, but I must say for a non-theologian layman like me, you might be wishing you are more knowledgeable first about all things theology before you clicked on the link, just like how i felt.
Habakkuk the Prophet revealed to the people of Judah some of the prophecies he has received from God and the way Habakkuk has written this 3 books has shown great passion and conviction for the Word that is from God. The prophecy, I would say, is in time for the current lawlessness and despair in the land.
Chapter 1
Habakkuk was praying when the Word of God came to him in the form of a prophecy.
In fact, he was complaining to God! He complained that God did not hear his prayers. This drama king was saying 'Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds.' (v3). Seems to me he was speaking the people's mind at that point in time in Judah. The Lord revealed to him to wait and see, if He will not work a miracle to remove the injustice.
Then Habakkuk petitioned on his 2nd complaint on behalf of the people again: why God did not punish the evil people?
Chapter 2
In Chapter 2, the Lord replied to Habakkuk's 2nd question: delay is definitely not denial.
The Lord lists the following that will be corrected for arrogant people:
1) desires are not upright, wine betrays him and he will never have rest. He will be 'as greedy as the grave and like death is never satisfied'. I love the Biblical descriptions! So vivid and straight to the point. No beating about the bush on this one.
2) to those who builds his wealth by being unjust, you will be ruined!
3) to those who prospers in crime, the Lord will see you will be exhausted by nothing, no matter how much effort you put in
4) to those who are perverted, it will be your turn to be shamed and be exposed.
5) to those who idolises, all that you value will be valueless.
Chapter 3
In this chapter, Habakkuk ended the prophecy with the exaltation of God, where he 'stand in awe of' God's deeds, God's glory 'covered the heavens', God's praise 'praise filled the earth', verse 4: 'His splendour was like the sunrise; rays flashed from his hand, where his power was hidden'.
Habakkuk was extolling God's wonderful name, His power and His majesty and that he could not bear to live a minute on earth without the wonderful fear of God. Just like James, Habakkuk is adamant to face trials with joy and he will rejoice in the Lord, no matter what; because the Lord is his strength and the Lord 'makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights' (v19).
One point of interest I realise is, James could have read about Habakkuk when he wrote his letter to the 12 tribes! See verse 17 where Habakkuk was saying about fig trees, vines and the olives, James had the exact same description in James Chapter 3 (?!).
It is very encouraging to me to know that James and Habakkuk are such positive people and indeed strong men of God. I was quite touched that whatever they were going through in their place in history is still applicable to us in modern times, where our battles are how good we can perform at work, how much money you can make or for the students- how well you study. Every problem is just a mountain you can pray over to be moved. If you can see this, there should be virtually no despair you can feel over any obstacles in life. To end, I leave you with this old song that I thought sums up my feelings as I was composing this post. I hope you like it too. To the fig trees, vines and the olives that God has created for us. ^^
He knows my name, by Tommy Walker
I have a Maker
He formed my heart
Before even time began
My life was in his hands
I have a Father
He calls me His own
He'll never leave me
No matter where I go
Chorus:
He knows my name
He knows my every thought
He sees each tear that falls
And He hears me when I call
I became fascinated with the Book of Habakkuk when I was very young. In the Sunday School for kids, we memorised all the Books of the Bible by singing The BOB (Books of Bible) Song. There are many versions out there on youtube at the moment, but I like this one the most:
Anyway, as I was saying, I was drawn to Habakkuk because of the strange name. You dun pronoun the word 'ha-bah-cook' and forget it easily. Plus on last Sunday's preaching, PJ was saying Habakkuk is an interesting read, so I read it up. It was, and still is, quite an extraordinary book.
Habakkuk is the name of a prophet who lived in 500 to 600BC in the land of Judah (many schools of thoughts on this one), where internal strife and wickedness is prevalent in Judah (everyone agreed on this point); according to Richard D Patterson. You can click on the link for a more thorough read on Habakkuk, but I must say for a non-theologian layman like me, you might be wishing you are more knowledgeable first about all things theology before you clicked on the link, just like how i felt.
Habakkuk the Prophet revealed to the people of Judah some of the prophecies he has received from God and the way Habakkuk has written this 3 books has shown great passion and conviction for the Word that is from God. The prophecy, I would say, is in time for the current lawlessness and despair in the land.
Chapter 1
Habakkuk was praying when the Word of God came to him in the form of a prophecy.
In fact, he was complaining to God! He complained that God did not hear his prayers. This drama king was saying 'Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds.' (v3). Seems to me he was speaking the people's mind at that point in time in Judah. The Lord revealed to him to wait and see, if He will not work a miracle to remove the injustice.
Then Habakkuk petitioned on his 2nd complaint on behalf of the people again: why God did not punish the evil people?
Chapter 2
In Chapter 2, the Lord replied to Habakkuk's 2nd question: delay is definitely not denial.
The Lord lists the following that will be corrected for arrogant people:
1) desires are not upright, wine betrays him and he will never have rest. He will be 'as greedy as the grave and like death is never satisfied'. I love the Biblical descriptions! So vivid and straight to the point. No beating about the bush on this one.
2) to those who builds his wealth by being unjust, you will be ruined!
3) to those who prospers in crime, the Lord will see you will be exhausted by nothing, no matter how much effort you put in
4) to those who are perverted, it will be your turn to be shamed and be exposed.
5) to those who idolises, all that you value will be valueless.
Chapter 3
In this chapter, Habakkuk ended the prophecy with the exaltation of God, where he 'stand in awe of' God's deeds, God's glory 'covered the heavens', God's praise 'praise filled the earth', verse 4: 'His splendour was like the sunrise; rays flashed from his hand, where his power was hidden'.
Habakkuk was extolling God's wonderful name, His power and His majesty and that he could not bear to live a minute on earth without the wonderful fear of God. Just like James, Habakkuk is adamant to face trials with joy and he will rejoice in the Lord, no matter what; because the Lord is his strength and the Lord 'makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights' (v19).
One point of interest I realise is, James could have read about Habakkuk when he wrote his letter to the 12 tribes! See verse 17 where Habakkuk was saying about fig trees, vines and the olives, James had the exact same description in James Chapter 3 (?!).
It is very encouraging to me to know that James and Habakkuk are such positive people and indeed strong men of God. I was quite touched that whatever they were going through in their place in history is still applicable to us in modern times, where our battles are how good we can perform at work, how much money you can make or for the students- how well you study. Every problem is just a mountain you can pray over to be moved. If you can see this, there should be virtually no despair you can feel over any obstacles in life. To end, I leave you with this old song that I thought sums up my feelings as I was composing this post. I hope you like it too. To the fig trees, vines and the olives that God has created for us. ^^
He knows my name, by Tommy Walker
I have a Maker
He formed my heart
Before even time began
My life was in his hands
I have a Father
He calls me His own
He'll never leave me
No matter where I go
Chorus:
He knows my name
He knows my every thought
He sees each tear that falls
And He hears me when I call
Friday, July 16, 2010
Relaxing Friday?
NOT!
In between last minutes prepares for some important events for company next week, battling with arrogant publishers and attending the farewell cake session for our beloved receptionist who is leaving us after 3.5years, I really do not have much chance to breathe today.
And I am totally regretting my choice of lunch today - MSG-laden Vietnamese pho that made me hungry 1 hour after sitting in my tummy.
Angtsy.....(@.@)
In between last minutes prepares for some important events for company next week, battling with arrogant publishers and attending the farewell cake session for our beloved receptionist who is leaving us after 3.5years, I really do not have much chance to breathe today.
And I am totally regretting my choice of lunch today - MSG-laden Vietnamese pho that made me hungry 1 hour after sitting in my tummy.
Angtsy.....(@.@)
Thursday, July 15, 2010
The return of the prodigal daughter
Dear Blog,
I was so upset yesterday. My darling Masterchef was cooking some yummy looking lamp-chops in the kitchen and the whole house started to filled with the heady aroma of lamb sizzling away on the stove top and the smoke from the pan. I had to open the balcony door to let the smoke out.
Emi of course started sniffing around the balcony area being the curious animal cats are. We didn't think much of it cos she is a scaredy-cat (no pun intended) and she normally do not dare to go further than the general area of the balcony door.
Lamp chops done and we settled down for a delicious dinner and the real Masterchef on TV.
After 15 minutes, I started to feel a bit weird out cos it was way too quiet in the living room. Usually we will be surrounded by the 'ling, ling, ling' sound of our stealth little cat's bell but the tinkling sound is missing from the living room.
I started calling, 'Emi, Emi' and looked around the living room, under the sofa, her bed, bathroom, kitchen. No Emi!
I quickly took out her favourite snacks and shook the bag. I know for a fact my baby will come running whenever she hears the sound of the snacks. But this time, no Emi!
My hands started to sweat and my heart pounded really loudly. Ernest even looked over the balcony railings and started putting on his jacket and wanting to go to the ground floor to see if he can find a body.
For my immense fear of looking straight down from heights, I forced myself to look at the ground from my balcony and tried to keep calm as I tried to tell Ernest I really could not see any body or blood splatter on the ground and suggested he start to knock on neighbour's door to see if Emi was at any of the neighbours' balcony as our ledges are all connected.
When Ernest was walking out of the door, I continued my snack shaking at the balcony and calling her name all the time. Suddenly, I saw a little head poking out from a neighbour's balcony 2 doors down and reflection of 2 small eyes flashed at me. Emi is safe! She is just at the neighbour's!
I yelled at Ernest to come back and shook the snacks loudly to tempt her back. The nimble little baby of ours tip-toed her way back to us with all her fur standing and fluffed up because of fear. Or cold. Or both.
I quickly scouped her up and closed the balcony door. All the time, I told her,'Emi, you are back! You are back!' Ernest and I tried to calm her down by stroking her in front of the heater on her favourite red cushion and feeding her some snacks.
She promptly fell asleep after a while, quite tired out with her adventures yesterday night.
Lesson learned: balcony doors are not to be kept opened for an extended period of time anymore.
Sobs,
Eliss.
I was so upset yesterday. My darling Masterchef was cooking some yummy looking lamp-chops in the kitchen and the whole house started to filled with the heady aroma of lamb sizzling away on the stove top and the smoke from the pan. I had to open the balcony door to let the smoke out.
Emi of course started sniffing around the balcony area being the curious animal cats are. We didn't think much of it cos she is a scaredy-cat (no pun intended) and she normally do not dare to go further than the general area of the balcony door.
Lamp chops done and we settled down for a delicious dinner and the real Masterchef on TV.
After 15 minutes, I started to feel a bit weird out cos it was way too quiet in the living room. Usually we will be surrounded by the 'ling, ling, ling' sound of our stealth little cat's bell but the tinkling sound is missing from the living room.
I started calling, 'Emi, Emi' and looked around the living room, under the sofa, her bed, bathroom, kitchen. No Emi!
I quickly took out her favourite snacks and shook the bag. I know for a fact my baby will come running whenever she hears the sound of the snacks. But this time, no Emi!
My hands started to sweat and my heart pounded really loudly. Ernest even looked over the balcony railings and started putting on his jacket and wanting to go to the ground floor to see if he can find a body.
For my immense fear of looking straight down from heights, I forced myself to look at the ground from my balcony and tried to keep calm as I tried to tell Ernest I really could not see any body or blood splatter on the ground and suggested he start to knock on neighbour's door to see if Emi was at any of the neighbours' balcony as our ledges are all connected.
When Ernest was walking out of the door, I continued my snack shaking at the balcony and calling her name all the time. Suddenly, I saw a little head poking out from a neighbour's balcony 2 doors down and reflection of 2 small eyes flashed at me. Emi is safe! She is just at the neighbour's!
I yelled at Ernest to come back and shook the snacks loudly to tempt her back. The nimble little baby of ours tip-toed her way back to us with all her fur standing and fluffed up because of fear. Or cold. Or both.
I quickly scouped her up and closed the balcony door. All the time, I told her,'Emi, you are back! You are back!' Ernest and I tried to calm her down by stroking her in front of the heater on her favourite red cushion and feeding her some snacks.
She promptly fell asleep after a while, quite tired out with her adventures yesterday night.
Lesson learned: balcony doors are not to be kept opened for an extended period of time anymore.
Sobs,
Eliss.
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