JB Jeyaretnam - He Never Give Up

Veteran opposition politician Mr JB Jeyaretnam dies of heart failure at about 1:30am on Tuesday, 30 Sep 2008. (read here). You can find out a lot ore about this man from the internet.

As a relatively young ape who start to tune in to Singapore's political scene, I've heard quite a bit about him (in the past) but never really seen him in action. Anecdotal evidence (coffeeshop and taxi driver talks) showed that he was a man who perservered and convicted to his cause. He was sued to bankruptcy but that did not deter him from going back into politics. When he was discharged from backruptcy and formed a new politcal party earlier this year called Reform Party, I was like

"oh great! NOW, I can see this man in action. Let's see how he'll stand up to the ruling party in the next GE."

Shortly after the inaugural dinner of the Reform Party, he took steps to continue his relentless pursuits (seen here and here) with regards to the Jurong GRC by-election.

I'm sad to see such a man, who against all odds stays true to his belief, depart from us.

Some Dreams Can Never Be Fulfilled, Can They?

Don't be mistaken. I'm not in this particular video neither am I related to these musicians... except I played the same musical piece back in my school days.



Those were the days. Those were one of the proudest moments of my life. Thinking of such moments makes me sigh. Listening to musical pieces like these, overtures that I had played before, almost make me cry. It is such a pity that more than a decade of music passion has gone to dust to be replaced by mundane rat-race. Hope the next generation gets more opportunities to develope their potential and not be moulded to whatever field the state wants them.

Singapore Short Stories - Terrorists Plans Foiled

" FIVE more Singaporean members of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist network have been released by the Internal Security Department (ISD), after they were assessed as no longer posing a security threat that required detention." (Today, 16 Sep 2008)

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Did you know how some of them were arrested in the first place and why one of their plans were foiled? Well, according to The Kin Jio Leaf, they had actually sent in Foreign Talents who are supposed to be THE experts to carry out the attacks.

When the first FT arrived, he was supposed to go to this pre-rented flat to assemble the bomb. When he got there, found out that he was only given a room in that flat (rental high la) and there were other Foreign Workers (chio chio Dragon Ladies) in the other rooms. "What the heck", he thought "maybe I can even date the dragon ladies out and get lucky"...he didn't. The next thing he know, ICA and MOM stormed the flat. The dragon ladies are illegal overstayers... he being in the same flat was investigated also.

"Sir, although you got proper document to be here but we found that you are conducting a small business at home without a permit!" The MOM and ICA officers noted, confiscated his devices thinking that he was making a MP3 player and sent him back.

The second guy was smarter now (with more budget). Rented the whole flat, assembled the bomb, got to the void deck and...stomach pain (must be the curry fishhead the previous night). So painful that he left the bag at the void deck, ran up to his flat and "bombed" the toilet first. When he returned, the bag was lost...garung guni man picked it up, stripped it apart and sold it at Sungei Road.

Third guy got the bomb prepared and headed to the MRT. (He was planning to bomb Raffles Place Station actually). However, he couldn't squeeze into the train. Tried taking a bus, also the same problem. Then he called for a cab. He was running late (need to set if off during peak hours) so when he arrived, didn't bother to pay the taxi driver and made a dash for the station. Afterall, he's a terrorist what! However, the taxi driver happened to be a sprinter and can break ice with his fist....so the terrorist kena abish abish and broke his jaw. The taxi driver realising he has caused grievous hurt, chabo-ed. When the terrorist picked himself up, he realised the bomb is lost...again...in Sungei Road in pieces.

Finally, the terrorist head said, "I think we should get the locals to do the job. They know the place better"

Being Singaporeans, those newly recruited guys wanted to be very sure of the assignment so they took picutres, videocam etc. They made a scan through all the regulatory requirement to ensure that they do not need a permit to carry out the act. They did a cost-benefit-analysis, send to the supervisor for recommendation, manager for support and eventually to head office director for approval... but by then the US found those pictures and alerted the SGP government...
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It's Not Just The Men...

Reading An Eligible Beauty from Today, I felt inclined to tell ex-Miss Singapore, Ms Teo, that not only Singaporean men have little confidence in dating women with "higher qualifications", Singaporean women too, believes so.

Relating a personal experience - I was falling head over heels over a girl... many years back... way before I know wifey. (Pardon me but at this juncture, I must admit that I have to thread very very carefully in case wifey turns white, green and red and then I get a broken head and a wounded knee... after she break my head with a bat and made me kneel on cockle shells :p)

As the years progress, our path diverge. To put it simply, she went to uni and I went into poly and we lost contact a couple of years after that. Interesting part was when I talked to my friends about her, many of them (mostly women) asked if I was at all concerned that she'd be a graduate and I a diploma/others. I couldn't and still can't understand what has an academic certificate got to do with a relationship? Isn't the ability to communicate and share happiness (and misery) more important? We're not applying for a job, are we?

Anyway, to cut the long story short, we lost contact not because of the differences in our academic qualifications but simply, we've left adolescence and sought our life objectives in different path.

I've found one of my life objectives - wifey, I wonder if she has found hers? Or perhaps she, like Ms Teo is "over qualified" that not many potential suitors dared to ask?

I've to stop writing now... gotta take out the thrash...now where did I leave the bat and cockle shells...

More Than Just Medals

If I am proud of the Singapore paddlers, I'm more proud (pardon my poor vocab) of Yip Ping Siew and Laurentia Tan. Pin Siew (swimming) and Laurentia (equestrian) are two of the six athletes representing Singapore for the Paralympic 2008. The other four athletes are Ting Chee Keong Eric (athletics), Lim Kok Liang Desiree and Tan Wei Qiang Jovin (sailing) and Theresa Goh (swimming).

Pin Siew won a gold and silver medal for swimming....
Laurentia won two bronze medal for equestrian.

Just their names alone sound soooo heartlander Singaporean.

I tried to google their names and hardly find any information on the web relating to their background except Laurentia. These people give me great motivation to better myself and are living prove of mind over matters... or perhaps in the case of Laurentia who suffered from cerebral palsy, more than just mind... faith is equally important too.

Congratulations to all of you! You've done us proud!

Congratulations Team Singapore

I had actually wanted to post this much earlier and before I can complete what I started... the dampening announcement and followed by well... anyway,let's move on or in this case, move back.
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The last Singapore got an Olympic medal (silver in weight lifting) was back in 1950 by Tan Howe Liang. Before I go on, please don't forget this man. I'll come back to him later.

In this 2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing, the Singapore Women's table tennis team won another silver medal. In spite of what some may say about the paddlers being foreign imports, I feel proud for them, especially Li Jiawei who has been living and training in Singapore since 1995 and representing Singapore for more than 10 years!

Well done ladies!

But I hope they don't stop there and continue to push themselves further, like the true sportsman, Tan Howe Liang.

Personally, I feel that Tan Howe Liang deserves more credit than is due to him. He worked as a clerk and a mechanic to finance his own training and expenses. He wasn't there for the citizenship or for the prize money. He made a commitment to his father that he would be the strongest man and fulfilled his promise. Conviction was what brought him there.

Sports, like most other pursuits should not be simply about winning a medal or getting a certification. We should pursue our own dreams and not medals and certificates because medals and certificates are nothing more than a "tick boxes" in the long long list of life.

A Good Blog

If you noticed, I have added the blog - Think Happiness into one of the links.

I first came to this blog when I was linked to one of it's article called Meeting David Marshall In 1994. ...and I was impressed, especially the mention of the lack of fire in the bellies of our youths these days. The post made me think that perhaps it was too much of a good life that we have less and less of people who are committed to Singapore and its citizens.

I went on to read some of the other posts and haven't really found any article that I disagree with. Most are focused on positive thinking - looking at things from a brighter side, taking the initiative to get something good done. I will visit this site every now and then.