Sunday, November 8, 2009

Logicocks

Was eating Lor Mee with my old man yesterday morning at the kopitiam. As usual we start talking about what's been going on in town since I don't get much news inside of camp. Hot topic of the week? Unreasonable legislations...

1. Food Ban in SMRT

While I do commend their efforts to make train riding a much more enjoyable experience by banning people from eating and drinking food inside. Indeed, it can get pretty irritating if you're all dressed up and prepared for a crazy night at clarke quay, only to get your (insert brand here) perfume ruined by the smell of durian. Ok forget durian, how about curry puffs? Another problem brought about by food consumption in public transport is litter. No one likes to hold on to trash for 5 minutes, let alone an entire train ride that often lasts at least 30minutes. What to do? Throw it on the floor like everyone else :)

Still, why water? It doesn't stain, it doesn't stink, it doesn't even attract ants! What? some crazy terrorist is gonna prepare a bomb (i think you just need to throw an alkali metal into water and it'll explode). I find it highly illogical to ban water. Like I've said, it usually takes at least 30 minutes for an average train ride to reach it's destination, for the unfortunate it might even take close to an hour. What if we need a drink?

Better yet, there are people who are on medication. My dad points out that it might be too late for a victim of cardiac arrest to walk out of the train station just so that he can get some water to down his medication. Yes, he can always swallow the pills dry but not everyone is skilled enough to let it travel down your oesophagus smoothly without water. There might be assistants running along the train cabins equipped with water but how can we ensure that they're always in the right cabin at the right time?

2. Disposing of tissue into bowls and plates

This is an interesting take. From what I've been told. Clearing your used tissue paper/napkins into your plates and bowls might award you with a fine! What you should do is simply place them beside your used cutlery, with some weight on top to prevent the napkins from flying off onto the floor.

Then again there is a downside to this. Some of our dishes are kinda soupy, yet remains served on plates rather than bowls (i.e mee siam). Tilting the plates might mean spilling the leftovers which in turn equates to more work for cleaners. Yes I'm over-assuming, but we still have to consider these possibilities.

Speaking of cleaners. Here comes the ridiculous part. While we get fined for landing a 3-pointer into soup bowls, nothing happens to them cleaners for sweeping everything (including napkins) back. What? They can't be fined cuz they're making soup?

If you want to enforce that regulation, kindly make it mandatory for cleaners to come armed with 2 bins then, one for tissue paper, one for everything else!

On a different note, sometimes I feel that us NSFs are being view upon in an inappropriate light. Few questions to ask.

If a single army boy talks to a female friend, does it automatically mean he's in for sex?

Is a happy soldier an efficient one? Or would mindf**king them make them better?

Should we be proud of our protectors?

End of rant!

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Questioning Brotherhood

I got into trouble recently.

Not the serious kind... Just simply being confined in camp for something that wasn't really your fault.

You're new to the company, fresh from Tekong and have only spent close to a month with your new platoonmates.
Just so happens, another one of the new platoonmates decide to play punk and brought in a camera enabled phone, a contraband item. You know about it cuz he had went around taking photos of everyone.

Finally the day of judgement came... Suay suay the Military Police decides to raid us. One thing leads to another and here I am, booking out on a saturday evening instead of friday night like everyone else. The entire platoon was confined as it was a problem with platoon integrity; no one sounded off despite knowing the obvious.

But often we have to wonder, around me are people who consider each other as brothers. You're a new guy and if you were to whisteblow, that's an instant labelling of yourself as the bao toh kia(whistleblower).

"What would you do?" I ask.

If your friend does something bad and you know that you SHOULD report it.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Losing Your Purpose

Facebook's been real crazy nowadays...

I can't log in due to some 'site maintenance' that has been taking place since last week that forbids me to login. Before then, they would constantly recognize me as some new user with 0 friends. As a result, I wasn't able to comment on my friends' stuff, accept friend requests, upload random photos and most importantly, exist for a while.

Not being able to log in was the last draw, now I find myself wandering about the cyberspace aimlessly, I feel so detached from the world.

It's time I should ask this question though... What have I become? Am I being over reliant on facebook to handle my social circle? Most of all, is this glimpse of how people would behave should one day technology all over the world were to fail?

Saturday, September 26, 2009

After the rain...

After the rain

19th September 2009

Decided to crash Ming's macro shoot after seeing his status message on facebook. Was bored to death at home anyways and thought I haven't been shooting much. It was raining at that time, so the possibility of the shoot getting cancelled was there. Nevertheless, I headed down and to our luck, the rain had stopped by then. PERFECT MOMENT, I'd say. The remaining raindrops provide a pretty texture on stuff.

Nibbling Away
Right after the rain, things went back to normal. At least the backlog of things to do were clearing up. First up would definitely be feeding!

Spider Feasting All wrapped up

Some others were just busy minding their own business... Displaying the ultimate Tekong style of lepak-ing, staring into blank space...

Moth

Dragonfly

Snail

Mantis

I don't know what's it with spiders and macro photography... they just seem to match so easily... Like they were placed on this earth for macro photographers only hehe...

8 legged

YOU!

Spider's Den

St. Andrew's Cross Spider

St. Andrew's Cross Spider

Black and White Spider

We didn't stay there for long though... the place was infested with mozzies and I realised that the SAF issued repellent, while it works wonders, also damages my gore-tex jacket...

Note: I'm making this post simply because I know that some of you don't even bother visiting My Flickr Account!!!

Monday, September 21, 2009

Guess who wrote to STOMP?

As much as I dislike the idea of ego-pumped netizens nit-picking the dumbest of things, I just had to write it!

Seeing how a middle aged man can so shamelessly attempt to get on the stage without knowing the answer or worst yet, having failed to do so for the last 3 years, I wonder if the notion about asian people valuing their 'face' still holds.

Link to the STOMP article

Saturday, September 12, 2009

I refuse to title this with a cliche "POP" wordplay

I refuse to give in to the temptation to title this post like everyone else, POP this or POP that. All the low-level wordplay is beyond me, bah!

Nonetheless, I'm still going to blog about my recent graduation parade. After all, it marks the end of our 24km march and on a larger scale, our basic military training.

I still remember giving my mom a 5minute crash course on DSLR operation right before leaving the house to book in one last time, and it brings a smile to my face when I find a few underexposed photos taken at home while i was gone...

Still, she did remember to bring the camera to the parade and I'm thankful for that!

The 24km route march almost took my life, or at least i felt that way. The first 12 kilometers were pretty fine, considering the fact that we've been "condi+*&^%$#@$%^&*(*&^%$#&*(*&^%#@#$" haha! Still, what followed was a series of grueling walks on rocky paths, muddy puddles and vegetation that swing back in your face. To top it up, 2 of the 3 remaining legs started right when I felt my bladder filling... Hmmm... Poor time management? Maybe. Lousy bladder? Maybe. Simply suay? Could be...

Stupid things happened, such as walking so fast we had to stop cuz others couldn't catch up and holding my pee so hard i couldn't go fast lest i pee in my pants.

Nonetheless, I am proud to say that I have completed the torturous route march, a 'rite of passage' of every National Service Enlistee, the first step we all young singaporean males take towards reality... That our NS life has only begun!

The Parade was great, a proud moment not only for me, but rather my mom... The funniest moment came when the announcer invited them to come over and put on our jockey caps(accent it please~) and my mom just kept on snapping away on the camera (she doesn't understand english). Immediately after seeing other parents walking over, she just sprinted over, snapping along the way... -.-"

still remember what someone said...

"Bruce, is that your mom? damn kiasu leh!"

here're some photos which my mom took

Marching in


Kekanan Lurus (form up based on the right?) command... I have no idea why the audience clapped to this...


Marching by, though I'm not in the shot but I thought that my mom took a pretty nice shot doncha think?


Mom took this before putting my cap on


Mom says I look badass in this...


Of all moments, Mom had to take this while I had my eyes closed... she even missed the cap throwing part!

Monday, August 10, 2009

Coming Back Home

Six days and five nights, out in the wild. Out there in a place where mozzies, sandflies and things I don't know the name of bite. Out there in a place where everyone gets so tired, they can't be bothered to maintain their false fronts. Out there in a place where you experience heat rash for the first time.

It is a chargeable offence to disclose information about the military, so I will stop at the non-details.

Some time into our outfield training, we were given letters that our parents and loved ones have written. They contained words of encouragement, others had something more. One thing for sure was that they made everyone cry.

Of course, not everyone's parents wrote. My parents were one of them, not because they don't love me, but because they don't see the need and neither do I.

送信者 My Silent Kao Pei

My relationship with my parents is very special. We love each other, but we never say it out. They were rarely at home, always out there busy making ends meet (back then when gambling was our business, life was much more relaxed). The only times I'd see my parents are in the morning, when I decide to eat at the place my mom works at, or at night when dad comes home late.

Nevertheless, I try to spend as much time as possible with my parents whenever they are free. When they need something done, I'd try my best to do it for them, never to disappoint. Their expectations of me were simple too - So long as I'm happy, it's fine.

I think that it is through these little actions that a lot about our parent-child love is expressed. Things like my dad enjoying a few pints of ice cold tiger at night when I return home. Or when my mother decides to stay up late just so that she can help me was the mud off all my clothes and bags even when I've insisted on doing it myself.

I suppose they're never going to read this post, but I'm going to say it anyways. Thanks Mom and Dad! I LOVE YOU!

Haha I'm gonna go puke now. Ciao!