djkr and friends take on Life

poor ris low. fresh off singaporeans mocking her for her poor english, it has to come to light that miss ris low yi min was once convicted for credit card fraud. her plight curiously mirrors that of carrie prejean, the dethroned miss california, who first raised the ire of the LBGT community with her statements during the miss USA Pageant (‘i think i believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman’), which she credited to her faith. eventually, topless pictures of her were dug up and displayed on the world wide web for all to see, leading to furore (‘which good christian woman would pose topless?’) and her eventual fall from grace.

credit card fraud is no small matter. unlike miss prejean, whose only offense was speaking her mind and posing topless, what ris actually did was criminally wrong. stealing credit cards that were left on the counter by absent minded patients, she went on a shopping spree, pampering her self with gold chains (loud i am sure) and luxury meals.

by keeping quiet on the issue, ERM World Marketing, the organisers of the pageant, have done nothing help their own cause. if ris did not declare to ERM that she was once convicted in a court of law, ERM should speak up now to avoid further bad publicity. by not saying anything now, their silence is an admission of knowledge of her past. absurdly, in the straits times today, one ERM employee was quoted to have said “singaporeans did not pay for her’, in response to being told that Singaporeans were asking ris to be stripped of her crown.

it is a slap to the cheek really; while is true that we did not pay a cent for her, she is going to be representing singapore at an international event. we definitely have a stake in her and ERM should respond to the public appropriately. it also insinuates that ERM has a certain ‘control’ over the selection process; something which questions their intelligence. really? you let a person convicted of credit card fraud to join the pageant and even let her win it? you paid for this to happen?  naturally, i foresee a negative impact on the next edition of the pageant.

to be fair to ris, if razor tv did not run the embarrassing expose on her poor english, none of this might have happened. but in today’s day and age, especially with the rise of social media, one cannot expect to hide any details of one’s life, even more so if you are a celebrity. she (and the rest of the contestants) should have expected this to happen when she joined the pageant.

eventually, the biggest losers in the entire saga might actually be Singapore. with local pageants losing the public’s interest (that was once a time when mediacorp used to sponsor the pageant, i think it all went down hill after they pulled their sponsorship), poor results on the international stage, this farce might be a hammer blow to the ailing scene.

not that i actually watch TV anymore or care for who wins really.

IPPT. i always dread the time when i have to actually take it. maybe it is walking back into a camp again (i am one of those lucky few that don’t get called back during my holidays). maybe its just the pressure of having to pass the stations (stupid yes i know). or it could be just i really hate running 2.4km (don’t you?)

having been in san diego for 6 months and thus missed the opportunity to do ipt (for those of you that don’t know what ipt is – it is sort of like a get out of jail card; you don’t have to pass ippt if you attend ipt), i was really dreading doing ippt. actually no. i was really dreading the aftermath if i failed my ippt – that is remedial training, where you spend 20 sessions of 4 hours in camps training for IPPT. in fact, today while i was in bedok fcc, seeing those nsmen train for rt make me doubly determined not to go for rt. it seems like such a waste of time.

i do have to make a point that i feel standing broad jump is completely useless in IPPT. in fact, many fit people fail their IPPT solely because they cannot jump 216cm. my achilles heel has always been standing broad jump and for this IPPT i made sure that i trained for it.

to ensure that i didn’t have to attend the horror that was RT, i made it a point to train myself 2 months before my IPPT. i had help too. amin, my adm friend who i made while in san diego willingly helped to train me for IPPT, forcing me to run fartlags and timing 2.4 runs with me. he even brought a measuring tape to school to measure how far i could jump.

everything was going swimmingly to plan till 3 days ago, when i caught a throat infection. it certainly wasn’t  the best time to get one. struggling with the infection, i popped a pandol pill, took a red bull shot and headed to bedok fcc, still woozy.

i must admit it was quite daunting since doing my last IPPT one year ago. its just tests and the sort; you feel a sort of pressure to achieve, and if you failure, you feel miserable.

luckily this time, i cleared my pull up, shuttle run and situps (even though i had to push myself a little) quite easily. when it came to standing broad jump, i hesitated a long long while on the machine before taking the jump. i just had to get myself mentally ready. i swung my arms, tucked in my knees and launched myself forward. when you do a good jump, it just feels right. this one did to me. it is obviously not excellent, but considering the fact that last year i only jumped a palsy 207 cm, 221 is a great improvement.

my legs became slightly heavy before the 2.4km run. i speculated that it might have been the panadol; after all, i had never taken panadol before exercising before. it felt that my legs weren’t really there, which was obviously worrying. added to the fact that the weather was not on my side, i was not looking forward to the run.

the 2.4km run is something i really dread. your feet have to continuously pound the track at steady pace or you lose track of time. you must have the mental strength to keep going or you will fall behind. ignore the pain in your thighs and don’t give in.

as i ran around the track, my mind progressively went blank. the first few rounds i still could think coherently. as it went on, however, all i could think about was getting off the damn track and going home. actually no, my mind was like a white sheet of paper.

looking back, i don’t really know how i have been doing it, since my ns days. i managed to clear my 2.4 run in 11:52, which was definitely a nice surprise.

for the first tme since i ORDed, i passed my ippt, with a grand total of 15 points. however, i am most glad that i don’t have to go RT. that would have be an utterly horrible waste of time.

i wonder though if red bull and panadol has any weird side effects. oh well, i guess the $100 i will get for passing my IPPT will cover my medical fees if need be.

and so… i am back in singapore.

need to retool blog soon.

| |

CONDOLENCE LETTER FROM PRIME MINISTER LEE HSIEN LOONG ON DEMISE OF JB JEYARETNAM

30 September 2008

Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam
Mr Philip Jeyaretnam

Dear Kenneth and Philip Jeyaretnam

I was sad to learn that your father, Mr Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam, has passed away.

Mr JB Jeyaretnam was a Member of Parliament for Anson constituency from 1981 till 1986, and a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament from 1997 till 2001. He used to engage in heated debates in the House. Perhaps it was because he and the PAP never saw eye to eye on any major political issue and he sought by all means to demolish the PAP and our system of government. Unfortunately, this helped neither to build up a constructive opposition nor our Parliamentary tradition. Nevertheless, one had to respect Mr JB Jeyaretnam’s dogged tenacity to be active in politics at his age.

However, our differences were not personal. In 1993, one of you (Kenneth) wrote to Mr Goh Chok Tong, who was then Prime Minister, to say that you found employers in Singapore reluctant to offer you a job, and your only explanation was that the employers felt the authorities would not welcome your employment because of your name. Mr Goh replied with a letter which could be shown to prospective employers, to say that the government did not hold anything against you, and that employers should evaluate you fairly on your own merits, like any other candidate, because Singapore needed every talented person that it could find. Mr Goh had previously made the same point to your brother Philip, whom he had invited to lunch. I am therefore happy that both of you have established yourselves in Singapore.

Please accept my deepest condolences.

Yours sincerely

Lee Hsien Loong

could pm lee at least spare some decency to write jbj a proper letter? it is an insult to any person, a opposition mp regardless, to kick a person while he is dead, then glorify your own exploits. it is not like pm lee cannot write a proper letter. compare this to the letter he wrote for jurong mp, ong chit chung.

i am appalled really at the way pm lee (or his script writer) has crafted this letter. it is downright disappointing for a person in his position and stature to do such a thing. absolutely disgraceful.

Dear Mrs Ong,

1. I was shocked and deeply saddened when I received news this morning that Dr Ong Chit Chung had passed away suddenly. I had just had lunch with him a fortnight ago, to bounce off some ideas for my National Day Rally speech, and found him as committed and engaged in his work as a Member of Parliament as ever. My fellow Ministers and MPs are equally stunned and dismayed by the news. Some had played golf with him just on Sunday, and recall how Chit Chung was his usual jovial self, bringing cheer to those around him. We all find it hard to accept this loss.

2. We grieve over the passing of a valuable son of Singapore who made many contributions in his 20 years as an MP. Chit Chung was first elected in 1988 as MP for Bukit Batok, and remained in this ward when Bukit Batok became part of first Bukit Timah GRC, and then Jurong GRC. He worked hard to improve the lives of the residents under his care. He was an effective organiser and brought in many professionals and businessmen to contribute and help run the town council.

3. One important project was the Bukit Batok Community Club. Chit Chung helped raised funds to build it in 1992 and again in 1995 for its upgrading. Another yearly project was the fund raising for the Citizens’ Consultative Committee (CCC) Community Development and Welfare Fund which provided financial assistance and free meals to needy students and residents in Bukit Batok.

4. Chit Chung was a strong believer in efforts to promote inter-racial harmony in Singapore. He was close to the Malay ground in his constituency and set up a Malay Family Service Centre to provide counselling, tuition and other programmes to help Malay residents. He even appointed “penghulus” from among the Malay residents, in an effort to revive the kampong spirit.

5. Chit Chung’s diligence and sincerity drew him close to the voters of Bukit Batok. He remained their MP through five terms – three of them contested, which he won. In the last contested election in 2001, his Jurong GRC polled nearly 80% of votes cast. Chit Chung was a strong member of a strong PAP team, which scored a decisive and important victory which had national significance.

6. Chit Chung held deep convictions as a PAP stalwart and fought hard for what he believed in. During elections, he was an indispensable member of the PAP team. Not only did he campaign hard in his own constituency, but he mobilised his branch to help other candidates print and distribute materials, often working round the clock. He was totally dependable. After elections, Chit Chung would mentor the new MPs, showing them the ropes and helping them to settle in.

7. Chit Chung has served the country well in Government and Parliament. He was appointed Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs and Labour from 1991 to 1993. He was the Deputy Government Whip from 1994 to 2002. He was appointed the Chairman of two Government Parliamentary Committees (GPCs): for Education, and for Defence and Foreign Affairs. As a back-bencher, he spoke often and passionately on a wide range of issues, especially those close to his heart – education, or help for the socially disadvantaged. He empathised with the poor and had a strong desire to uplift them.

8. Chit Chung also had clear views on defence. He staunchly advocated a strong defence force and whole-heartedly supported National Service. This is perhaps not surprising: he had done his PhD on Operation Matador, the failed British plan to defend Malaya against a Japanese invasion in World War II, and published a book on this, to his great satisfaction. I remember the pride with which he showed me around the Battlebox at Fort Canning, which he had played a leading role in restoring. But he was not a hardline hawk; he was also active in efforts to help improve Singapore’s relations with our neighbours, using his position as GPC Chairman to good effect.

9. I will remember Chit Chung as a steadfast comrade who held true to his values and beliefs and spoke frankly because he cared. I also remember him as a family man with a loving wife constantly at his side and children they were obviously proud of. Chit Chung leaves behind many friends who will mourn his sudden loss. But he lived a full life, made significant contributions to the party and to Singapore, and had ample reason to be satisfied in what he had accomplished. My wife and I sincerely hope that these fond memories of Chit Chung will bring you strength and solace in your bereavement.

With deepest sympathies to you and your family

Yours sincerely

Lee Hsien Loong

i have always been here… just lazy to blog. I really should blog more often. oh well.

moving back to my old house after renovation is such a chore. but at least i am no longer staying in pasir ris. whoopeee.

bright like neon love was fun. my shirt cost me 16 dollars and i will never wear it again.

school is starting and i have accomplished nothing.

yay?

–

can i blogs more oftens? dunnos.

growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional. – chili davis

i read in the papers over the last weekend about an advertisement by dunkin donuts that raised controversy. interested in what might have cursed such a furore, i did a bit of research into the issue at hand. for the low down, here is a quick summary by new york times.

New York Times – 30/5/08- On May 7, Dunkin’ Donuts began running an ad on its Web site and others, featuring the celebrity chef Rachael Ray holding a cup of the company’s iced coffee while wearing a black-and-white fringed scarf. In the ad, which was shot in a studio, she is shown standing in front of trees with pink blossoms and a building with a distinctive spire.

On May 23, the conservative blog Little Green Footballs posted an item that likened Ms. Ray’s scarf to the type typically worn by Muslim extremists. The blog said that the ads “casually promote the symbol of Palestinian terrorism and the intifada, the keffiyeh, via Rachael Ray.”

Later that day, the conservative blogger Michelle Malkin chimed in, likening the scarf to a keffiyeh and calling it “jihadi chic.” Then the story, as they say on the Internet, went totally viral.

in short, conservatives in america are upset over the keffiyeh (its has not been conclusively proven it is a keffiyeh, but thats beside the point) and they say that dunkin donuts (which is an american donut brand for crying out loud!) is promoting muslim extremists. that is like saying al qaeda endorses living in caves, since their videos seem exclusively shot in them.

in a move i feel was unnecessary, dunkin donuts pulled the ad due to the criticism that was raised. after that, malkin ‘praised’ dunkin donuts for removing the ad. she further added:

“The keffiyeh, for the clueless, is the traditional scarf of Arab men that has come to symbolize murderous Palestinian jihad.”

might as well write “the us army uniform, for the clueless, is the traditional symbol of america that has to come to symbolize the senseless war in Iraq”

it is not fair to equate clothing to ideology. and it is worse to think that a scarf looks anything more than a scarf. its clutching at straws, trying to find fault in everything around you. while yes the palestine people may say that that piece of cloth represents their solidarity, its just a piece of cloth! i can respect your views as a conservative, but the moment you see flaws and condemn every other world view but your own, you basically lend no credence to your train of thought.

its almost scary for one how a simple fashion choice in an advertisement for one of america’s favourite foods can turn into a pr disaster for dunkin donuts. but i am quite amused at the things people can nitpick on. likewise for another coffee chain.

starbucks also has made news. for the clueless, starbucks have changed their logo (not sure permanent or temporarily) in favour of a more retro looking sign. so whats the issue now?

now the issue is that the new logo is a 2 tailed siren which harks back to their original logo, without the bare chest this time. its supposed to represent how good their coffee taste: like a siren’s song.

ok despite the ugliness of the logo (i hate it, prefer the old green one: charms the youth better then the new one), someone called mark dice (who after reading his website, i have decided is too full of himself) who leads a ‘christian group’ (no i don’t think it is one.) based in san diego has found fault with this logo, claiming it “has a naked woman on it with her legs spread like a prostitute”. please note that this ‘christian group’s’ founder is an avid youtuber and sells his products on his group’s website. (the media have been quoting the group as a christian group, but i beg to differ; its more conspiracy theory then anything else)

i agree that it looks really weird but its a mermaid with 2 tails – its pretty obvious right? its the same issue of trying to look too deep into things. and leave starbucks alone; i bet they will get enough stick from the world’s youth to tell them the new (or is it old?) logo is ugly as hell.

but its funny people can cook up a storm in a coffee cup.
–

i am switching to coffee bean. how about you?

a friend and i just had a crazy meal at botak jones. we ordered the most expensive fries item on the menu, costing 10.50 cents.

unless you are really hungry or you came with a party of 4, i do not recommend ordering this. unless you have sadomasochistic tendencies. it is as huge as a normal fish and chips order at botak jones. it may not seem like much, but consider the facts.

1. fries – thick crinkle cut – fill the entire plate.
2. this is then topped off with a huge goop of cheese – not cheese sauce in kfc- melted cheese, real mozzarella.
3. this is then further topped off with chili con carne – which has jalapeno peppers and beef
4. it came later then the fish and chips – meaning, we take longer to prepare. think about it.

it was good. but the more we ate, the fries slowly became more and more like a pie, due to the cheese and chili making the fries into a mashed like substance.

not to say pies are not good.
–

whoopass.

watching manchester united win the champions league trophy last thursday morning brought back some memories for me. it had been 50 years since the munich air distance and 9 years since the last european cup triumph. for one i remember vividly watching them beat bayern munich in 1999 at home.while not as dramatic as the final of 1999, this final was just as exciting.

when a football match has goals, yellow cards, balls hitting the woodwork, fantastic saves, clearances off the line and yellow and red cards, you know you have a gem. add penalty kicks into the mix, 1 missed kick and 2 saves and you have a classic. while liverpool fans may argue that the final of 2005 against ac milan is THE true champions league final classic, 1999 and 2008 will also be special in our hearts.

i mean seriously, when ronaldo missed, how many people thought john terry would miss too? my friends and i were watching the match at our old haunt of simpang and when we saw mr chelsea step up to take the kick, we were fearing the worst. of course, the fear gave way to jubilation when he missed the kick and the jubilation gave way to chair-waving jubilation when van dar sar saved anelka’s penalty. the random chelsea fans seated among the mostly red supporting crowd at simpang bedok left silently, as the rest of the fans sang glory glory man united into the morning light.
-
indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull was released on the 22 of may 2008 amidst high expectations. after all, it had been 19 years since the last indy movie. i myself am a huge indy fan. i always remember as a young boy having the classic scene from the lost ark etched into my memory; the giant boulder chasing after indy. with a bullwhip and fedora hat, you can’t say no to indy.

for one i was slightly disappointed with the crystal skull. sure, ford is back. as well as karen allen who portrayed marion ravenwood in the lost ark. i was a bit let down when i heard that john rhys-davis who plays sallah, indy’s digger friend in lost ark and last crusade would not be returning; i always loved his character.

ok enough digressing. what i loved about crystal skull? well, some of the old jokes. indy’s fear of snakes, his ability to get out of ANY situation and his deadpan attitude to life threatening situations. what i didn’t like about it? there seems to have been a certain amount of magic lost. cate blanchett, an australian playing a russian villian, doesn’t seem a strong enough adversary for indy. indy also seems to have lost the knack to solve puzzles himself, unlike the 1st and 3rd film.

well, it is indiana jones. so if you are a fan of the series, i would recommend watching it just for indy. it does not fully capture the magic from 19 years ago, but you will appreciate it nonetheless.

–
why does it have to be snakes?