Monday, October 29, 2007

long, long week ahead...

it's crunch time. i may have 2 days off, but i still have 200 pages of the world is flat and my assignment to go.

not to mention the textbook on comparative politics and public policy.

yup.

crunch time.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

a nugget of wisdom...

ok, i've given in to the FM bug and i've not felt inclined to blog much despite all the thoughts swirling around, but i think this deserves to be put up here to be shared.

it's a little something from thomas friedman's the world is flat and i think it's really special.

enjoy!

just think back to when you were a kid and you got your first fire truck or doll or doctor's kit or astronaut's helmet, and you told everyone you wanted to be a fireman or a fashion model or a doctor or an astronaut when you grew up. that innocent passion for a certain job, without knowing the salary or the working hours or the preparation required, is what you need to get back in touch with. it's that childlike feeling of "i want to do that because i want to do that - and i don't have to explain why" that we all need to rediscover. to put it simply: you need to rediscover your inner fire truck. we all have one, and when you find it, you'll know it.

Monday, October 22, 2007

here's what you missed on the morning express...

a brilliant joke from the flying dutchman... if not 100% accurately transcribed by me...

Here's a sad story. A man sees a family of children about to be put out on the street. Distraught, he goes to the one place where he feels can help them - the church. He finds the priest, with his voice cracking, and says, "Father, there's this family in your neighbourhood that's about to lose their home. The father has passed away, the mother is seriously ill and the children are starving. They will be put out into the cold, hard world if someone can't pay their rent, which amounts to around six hundred and fifty dollars."

The priest goes, "Oh my, that's terrible. May I find out who you are?"

The man, taking out his handkerchief to wipe away his tears, says, "I'm their landlord."

busy busy busy...

as usual, so many things to write about, but so little time...

amidst the work, studying, FM08, there's so many things to blog about ranging from the interesting sunday i just had to feminism versus male chauvanism and even transcribing jokes from the morning express.

shall try to get writing...

ok fine. getting off FM enough to get writing. =P

watch this space.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

another musing on why we can't we all just get along...

i've been holding this back a while cos i haven't had the time. for confidentiality reasons, i'm not mentioning names because to me it is a rather sensitive issue. but basically, a friend of mine has a catholic friend who is dating a muslim. and her parents are giving her absolute hell for it.

sidetrack a little bit.

i know we often slag ang mohs and criticise them for their moral looseness, but after my last module on comparative politics, i really developed a real sense of admiration for ang moh culture through my sagely professor, dr peter denman.

you see, the good 73-year old doc, who's seen a heckuva lot in his time, told us about his family and how one of his daughters married a muslim.

now, what i feel is really wonderful about his story is how he interacts with his son-in-law. doc denman's an episcopal, an american anglican to put it simply, and hearing the story of how his daughter was married in not one, but TWO ceremonies, one christian and the other islamic. on top of that, the doc reads the quran and discusses religious teachings with his son-in-law who also reads the bible.

i don't know for sure if his daughter converted, but judging from the way things went, it sounds as if she didn't.

coming back to my first para, doc denman's story just seems impossible in a singaporean setting. firstly, while this probably wouldn't happen with all families, how often have we heard our parents warned us not to date someone from a totally different race or religion? i know we're not caucasian and the caucasians aren't us, but wouldn't it be so much better if people trusted their kids to make the right choice? love is universal and transcends all things, does it not?

secondly, if his daughter really didn't convert, it would be the first time i've heard of such a case. why do some people and families insist on conversion? would you still love your partner even though he/she doesn't want to leave their faith for yours? would you hold it against him or her? would that still be love in the first place? i'm still a firm believer that religion shouldn't be imposed on anyone, even your spouse.

i'm not saying that the west has got things right entirely. hell, no. if that were so, we wouldn't have afghanistan or iraq or osama bin laden. but looking at doc denman and my friend's friend as well my own experiences, i still think we all have a long, long way to go and grow.

Sunday, October 07, 2007

finally... some bragging rights...

well, not entirely the best right considering i have a '-' attached to my A, but i'm glad nonetheless. finally got my first A, even with the little dash there, it's something to be happy about.

and united smacked wigan a good 4-0. hopefully this keeps up.

plus i topped the sc fantasy league for once. woot.

it's a good weekend.

Friday, October 05, 2007

song break...

Hey There Delilah
Plain White T's

Hey there Delilah
What's it like in New York city
I'm a thousand miles away
But girl tonight you look so pretty
Yes you do
Times Square can't shine as bright as you
I swear it's true

Hey there Delilah
Don't you worry about the distance
I'm right there if you get lonely
Give this song another listen
Close your eyes
Listen to my voice
It's my disguise
I'm by your side

Ohhh, its what you do to me
Oh, it's what you do to me
Ohhh, its what you do to me
Oh, it's what you do to me
What you do to me

Hey there Delilah
I know times are gettin' hard
But just believe me girl
Some day I'll pay the bills with this guitar
We'll have it good
We'll have the life we knew we would
My word is good

Hey there Delilah
I've got so much left to say,
If every simple song I wrote to you
would take your breath away
I'd write it all.
Even more in love with me you'd fall
We'd have it all

Ohhh, it's what you do to me
Oh, it's what you do to me
Ohhh, it's what you do to me
Oh, it's what you do to me

A thousand miles seems pretty far
But they've got planes and trains and cars
I'd walk to you if I had no other way
Our friends would all make fun of us
And we'll just laugh along because
We know that none of them have felt this way
Delilah I can promise you
That by the time that we get through
The world will never ever be the same
And you're to blame

Hey there Delilah
You be good and don't you miss me
Two more years and you'll be done with school
And I'll be making history like I do
You'll know it's all because of you
We can do whatever we want to
Hey there Delilah here's to you
This one's for you

Ohhh, it's what you do to me
Oh, it's what you do to me
Oh, it's what you do to me
What you do to me
Oh oh oh...

Thursday, October 04, 2007

as heard on class 95... glen ong rocks.

(to the tune of "london bridge is falling down")

stamford bridge is falling down
falling down, falling down
stamford bridge is falling down
without mourinho

who the hell is avram grant?
avram grant, avram grant?
who the hell is avram grant?
he looks like a couch potato