Eternity on a Rock

Dreamt

2017-02-12T08:10:00.002+08:00

Dreamt I was dying.

I woke up alive,

Only to realise I was still,

Dreaming and dying.

12 Feb 2017

Curse of the Outliers

2016-08-05T10:29:00.005+08:00

Short passage by me, inspired after reading "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell.

Curse of the Outliers

What we are good at, is also our curse.

Because we are destined to defend our knowledge of the subject matter and not deny any chance to flaunt it.

Though we dread the drudgery associated with the routine, our pride and ego does not deny any glory and gladly soak ourselves in bath of compliments and praises.

The time we spend, trying to be better at what we do, is acknowledged and through the hours committed, we are qualified by our peers.

What we are good at, which defines us, must motivate us to overcome routine drudgery.

Lighting candles in the dark,
One flame at a time.
Looking forward,
It will always look bleak.
Look back once in a while,
And it will motivate you to keep moving forward.

Today is Friday 5th August 2016.

Curse of the Outliers

2016-08-05T10:29:00.000+08:00

I too am doing this!

2016-07-11T15:47:00.002+08:00

Prostitutes and Wine

Sultan Murad IV, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1623-1640, would often anonymously go into the midst of the people and see their state. One evening, he felt an uneasiness in himself and the urge to go out. He called for his head of security and and out they went. They came to a busy vicinity,and found a man lying on the ground. The Sultan prodded him but he was dead and the people were going about their own business. Nobody seemed to care about the dead man lying on the ground.

The Sultan called upon the people. they didn't recognize him and asked him what he wanted. He said, "Why is this man lying dead on the ground and why does no one seem to care?
Where is his family? "They replied, "He is so and so, the drunkard and fornicator!"
The Sultan said, "Is he not from the Ummah of Muhammad SAW? Now help me carry him to his house" The people carried the dead man with the Sultan to his house and once they reached, they all left. The Sultan and his assistant remained.

When the man's wife saw his dead body, she began weeping. She said to his dead body, "Allah have mercy on you! O friend of Allah! I bear witness that you are from the pious ones.
"The Sultan was bewildered. He said, "How is he from the pious ones when the people say such and such things about him. So much so that no one even cared he was dead?"
She replied, "I was expecting that. My husband would go to the tavern every night and buy as much wine as he could. He would then bring it home and pour it all down the drain. He would then say, "I saved the Muslims a little today." He would then go to a prostitute, give her some money and tell her to close her door till the morning. He would then return home for a second time and say, "Today I saved a young woman and the youth of the believers from vice."

The people would see him buy wine and they would see him go to the prostitutes and they would consequently talk about him. One day I said to him, "When you die, there will be no one to bathe you, there will be no one to pray over you and there will be no one to bury you!"
He laughed and replied, "Don't fear, the Sultan of the believers, along with the pious ones shall pray over my body. "The Sultan began crying. He said, "By Allah! He has said the truth, for I am Sultan Murad. Tomorrow we shall bathe him, pray over him and bury him." And it so happened that the Sultan, the scholars, the pious people and the masses prayed over him.

We judge people by what we see and what we hear from others. Only if we were to see what was concealed in their hearts, a secret between them and their Lord.

"O you who believe, abstain from many of the suspicions. Some suspicions are sins. And do not be curious (to find out faults of others), and do not backbite one another. Does one of you like that he eats the flesh of his dead brother? You would abhor it. And fear Allah. Surely Allah is Most-

Relenting, Very-Merciful." (49:12)

A random Sunday morning thought

2016-01-10T09:50:00.002+08:00

冰山一角，能沉船。

Massive Star Wars Spoiler Alert

2015-12-16T11:29:00.001+08:00

Coming from someone whom loves Starwars so much and can't help doing a spoiler for all fans.

This is a big spoiler.

Just a huge Starwars spoiler, nothing else to see here

Coming undone onto new beginnings

2015-10-30T12:05:00.000+08:00

小时候，喜欢学魔术。
有可能，骗的人多了，
变成，自己很难相信别人。
对人，对事，都含有太多戒心。
因为略懂科学，障眼法，心理学和一些江湖骗术，
导致自己再也无法相信这世上会有真正的奇迹了。

Many things to unlearn.
This is day #1.

Man made evolution and its effects back on Humans

2015-10-28T10:55:00.000+08:00

The raging fires in Indonesia has caused the destruction many flora and fauna in the affected regions. Those whom can escape have done so by flying away or scurrying off away from the hotspots.

Particular species of apes, such as the Orang Utans, have been seen congregating near urbanised areas, as they have lost their forest homes. The younglings of the species have even ventured into human homes, foraging for food and have caused quite a few raised eyebrows.

In recent weeks, the behaviour of these "migratory" apes seem to be almost similar to those of the homeless humans. The apes could have seen how the homeless construct their own makeshift shelters using discarded garbage and the apes are copying the actions, learning how to shelter themselves from rain and shine, in absence of their natural rainforest canopies.

As observed by a member of the voluntary forces, SSG Amin Wadaseh, "They (the orang utans) are constantly gathering in groups at the edge of the urban areas, peering and observing us in the night, and in the morning, we'd realise some of our food supplies are mysteriously gone".

Wildlife Conservationist Action (WCA)'s Animal Behavioural Specialist shared with our agency, "It is normal for animals whom have lost their habitat and foraging territory, to enter into uncharted territories of predators, and risk life and limb for satisfying their own hunger. And in this case, they are venturing into urban areas, with lots of food that are easily accessible."

"However, human food may not be the best solution as it is laced with many unnatural ingredients and the long term impact on these animals consuming human food could not be predicted.", says WCA's Isaiah Ubirevar.

We may be forcing their accelerated evolution unknowingly.
And like it or not, at the rate we are destroying their habitat, we are bound to share our urban habitat with them at a certain tipping point.

Source : Evolution Today

Are we creating new memories or reliving the memories?

2015-08-24T14:33:00.001+08:00

A breaking discovery on the study on rat's brains when the animals have just died.

Near-death experiences are 'electrical surge in dying brain'
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-23672150

In Dying Brains, Signs of Heightened Consciousness
http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/08/12/in-dying-brains-signs-of-heightened-consciousness/

Both articles mention the activity of the brain were increased after death, particular this set of activity, named gamma waves/oscillations. In the latter article, it elaborates that the low-gamma waves are associated with familiarity in memory [ ie seeing something not for the first time ].

In the above BBC's article, scientists call it the "Brain's last hurrah". It's last burst of fire... activating as much neurons into overdrive.

During this heightened peak, could it be possible that the brain, sensing that it is dying, triggers a vivid dream that is a recollection of the memories since birth, allows it to relive every moment in life within the precious few minutes left? [ Think of the movie "Inception" in the 2nd layer dream where dream time is sped up and dream years can be condensed into realtime minutes ].

And if that is true, what makes you so sure that this moment now, is not part of your dying brain's recollection of memories, and not ,actually creating a new one [ aka you are still alive and breathing ]?

Good monday to you.

Singapore Meme

2014-12-08T01:47:00.001+08:00

#udunchibai

Comparative and Superlative

2014-11-26T13:55:00.002+08:00

Just saw this word being used like it's a superlative.

As described by the Merriam Webster dictionary (online)

Honest hon·est \ˈä-nəst\

: good and truthful : not lying, stealing, or cheating

If it was a superlative ( due to presence of the 'est' suffix ), then a median truthful person will be called "honer" (comparative)?

And the adjective without comparatives or superlatives is .....
"hone" or "hon"?

Just another day pondering over senseless thoughts.

Ramblings of a non-IPhone user

2014-09-16T13:37:00.000+08:00

By limiting production and supply, you create the mass desire of senseless need to own something limited in numbers to satisfy their quest to be unique and different.

For the claim to be the first few in being different, the privileged few are then penalized the most for its depreciation instead of being rewarded in their efforts to support a new launched product that has got no history of usage, sturdiness and safety [disregarding previous iterations of the product].

6-9 months later, the whole process is repeated with the consumers none the wiser.

I have to thank Apple, for opening the eyes of those whom now see clearly.

In my next life...

2014-08-08T16:56:00.003+08:00

Japanese Tuna Otah

2014-08-06T20:48:00.001+08:00

Jap tuna otah.

If you are reading this,

don't believe everything Franklin says.

Trained Bloodlust

2014-07-01T13:03:00.001+08:00

After the first 6 months of training, I was bloodthirsty and ready to go for war..

They gave me 6 men to train, after another 6 months, we were ready for a war that didn't happen. We were proficient with the myriad of weapons and field-craft and camouflage.

Each time we fought fake enemies with blanks, we also had to fight our urge to buttstroke them with our rifles or stab them with the bayonets as if they were real enemies. The bloodlust was unmistakably strong in each and every one of us.

Another 12 months of continuous training passed by and they gave us our lives back, to let us integrate back to society and be ready to kill again when the time beckons.

Unknown to most, we are called back yearly to make sure that we still have the killer instinct and that we are still considered proficient with our killing tools. And as bloodlust brothers unite yearly for a short period of 14-21 days, the activities we did together in our yearly reunion are best kept unpublished and unwritten, for the details are too ghastly to be spoken or printed. And with each reunion, the bloodlust is often satisfied, by and large, in order to maintain a sane mind when returning to normal life for the next 12 months.

With age, only after 10 or more yearly reunions, could the bloodlust be kept at bay. And it can be said that after 10 years, the bloodlust accumulated during the first year of full time service could be laid to rest. No more handling the tools of killing, no more bloodlust brothers as each will go their own way. Turning our head away from each other sometimes when we occasionally bump into each other in public. For we can't say we were proud of "all" the things we had done together previously and for the fact that we know we are unable to reminisce properly if we are no longer in the service.

For the time rendered in full 2.5 years of service and the yearly reservists training so our leaders can say that we have a deterrent force that is effective.

Happy SAF Day 2014!

Bloodlust

Happy 5th Birthday Nathaniel Neo

2014-06-13T10:59:00.001+08:00

Cheekier by the day, this day marks his 5th year of existence on the planet and in our lives.

Fresh from the oven 5 years ago
Nathaniel, Neo Qi Harng
When he was born, I wrote this poem for him.

Been cheeky since 13 June 2009

School concert where he was waving to his mummy

Classic rattan chair picture

Clapping cos' he is happy to be having a staycation

Tonsil Stones smells like sh*t

2014-05-29T17:16:00.001+08:00

What are tonsil stones?

They are soft beady like particles stuck at the tonsils and this is common in adults.
They are one of the causes of bad breath and are sometimes dislodged when coughing or gargling the mouth.

This is how it looks like inside the mouth where these tonsil stones are lodged.

Tonsil Stone lodged in mouth cavity

Sometimes when we cough or experience the gag reflex, it might be dislodged and if accidentally or intentionally crushed, it emits a very foul odour.

This is because tonsil stones are bacteria, dead cells, decaying leftover and mucus that has calcified over time.

Dislodged Tonsil Stone outside mouth cavity

Our tonsils have many small crevices like a sponge that traps infectious particles that can enter via our mouth to our digestive system. Needless to say, it traps also host of other stuff such as our mucus, bits of food, etc.

Though the term tonsil stones make it sounds as bad as kidney stones, they are not as severe as they sound. No evidence though that if left alone, it will lead to other more serious life threatening conditions.

So how to get rid of them on your own and start having fresher breath?

Here are some methods I gathered over the net.

1) Gargle profusely [more at the back of the mouth cavity]
Use solution of warm water and salt to be more effective.
Carbonated water or mouthwash is also suggested for gargling.

2) Use a cotton bud and torchlight and mirror
Exercise caution and care in order not to damage the soft tissues at the tonsils.
Some bleeding is normal but be gentle.
Some say it is like squeezing a zit [ pimple ]
You have to gently press the tissue around it and not on the stone itself to dislodge it.

3) Use a oral irrigator [ basically water hose with a curved nozzle tip to reach blind areas ]
Start with small pressure in order not to cause any damage to tissues at tonsils.
[ See pic and info here ]

4) Hard Tongue Thrashing
Press the back of your tongue on the roof of the mouth, thrash the contact surfaces back and forth
repeatedly, try to create a vacuum in between them to dislodge the tonsil stones.

There are known clinical methods such as taking a prescribed oral antibiotic and having them professionally removed or having the tonsils removed altogether with a surgical procedure.

I personally had tried 1, 2 and 4 and I have managed to dislodged all the visible tonsil stones and am confident about my breath [ although I still need better conversational skills ].

That being said, tonsil stones will still be occurring over time as they continue to trap crap in the crevices of the tonsils, so there are some preventive measures to exercise as well.

a) Drink more water more often
b) Clean the back of the tongue regularly with a scraper
c) Brush teeth after every meal
d) Hard gargling with mouthwash [ step 4 above ]

Hardened Tonsil stones "may" cause infections to the cavity as they scratch the soft tissues around it.
Not too sure if they will be fully digested in accidentally swallowed but I could not find any medical studies relating to the long term effect of swallowing hardened tonsil stones.

There are studies instead, on the tonsils and how they become more of a hindrance with age.

Here are where I did my online research.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonsillolith

http://www.breathmd.com/tonsil-stones.php

http://www.healthguidehq.com/tonsil-stones-removal.html

http://www.wikihow.com/Remove-Tonsil-Stones-(Tonsiliths)

Share it if you think someone else needs a fresher breath!
Like it if my article has benefited you!

FarBird sez wise words

2014-05-09T13:08:00.000+08:00

Look what I found from the sea!

2014-03-13T20:53:00.001+08:00

A seashell

My conspiracy theory movie

2014-03-11T14:05:00.003+08:00

2 high value central intelligence targets are spotted in Asia.
A team of 7 Bourne operatives sent after them.
2 highly trained operatives boarded the same carrier as them, using pseudo travel documents.
5 of the other operatives continued their land support roles to organize and activate Plan B if necessary.

Knowing the destination to have 72 hours "No visa required" transit regulations, they must take action before it lands so as to prevent the targets from changing identity again and boarding another plane and shaking the trace off forever.

A H-Hour was designated, before takeoff, to ensure the targets are taken out before landing.

Remaining 5 operative received no news from the 2 Bournes onboard, 30mins after H-hour, activated Plan B.
Called for support from "conveniently" nearby battle frigate to initiate clean up operations.
Radio jamming, debris clean up, etc all done within 2-3 hours of the night.
All that was left was slick from the cleanup at dawn

No black box, no debris, mission accomplished.
Collateral damage unbeknownst to everyone else.

My Opinion of Section 377A of the Singapore Penal Code

2014-02-20T11:51:00.000+08:00

According to Wikipedia's definition of the 377A of the Singapore Penal code, this is the summary..

Any male person who, in public or private, commits, or abets the commission of, or procures or attempts to procure the commission by any male person of, any act of gross indecency with another male person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 2 years.

Much debate over this issue recently in Singapore.. Between gay rights activists and anti-gay(pro-377A) religious groups and its related personnel.

If the 377A gets repealed, that will mean that our government openly accepts the choice to be gay and allow gay marriages. As a parent myself, this may be worrying as our children will see same sex couples showing affection publicly and it will be seen as an acceptable choice of sexual preference.

As an individual, I am aware of the presence of "them" whom is different since when I was a child myself. And as I grew into a teenager, I was somewhat homophobic and could not stand being near "them" because it was considered a social stigma (even with the small social circle I had at that young age). We made fun of the whole idea of not being straight and called names to those(guys) whom were effeminate in their behaviour. Nicknames which we learnt from our parents and friends.

Along with my maturing years, I have thought about why people are the way they are. If being gay is a condition that one is born with or was it due to psychological trauma during the cognitive development years or was it just some freudian fantasy that got out of hand. Or it was simply a choice made that once decided was difficult to switch. As an engineer, I did some research online(with Google) but none of the studies were conclusive. In any case, my university years(1997-2001) in UK changed my mind completely.

As a foreign student in the UK, with Chinese ethnicity, one expects some exposure to racism in one form or another. Can't really blame the locals, they were mostly drunk when they were being the most frank. But the feeling I got when I was singled out for ridicule due to my race was simply "shitty". My race and skin colour was not something that I can change and there is no easy way to change their opinion of my race. Confronting just one person or group that gave the racist remark or discriminative opinion was not going to affect the general consensus anyway.

So most of the time I just walked away quietly, pretending not to hear what they say even though their remarks echo distinctly even after I leave and it stings me like a broken glass embedded in my flesh.

Yes, there are laws which discourage racial discrimination but no one carries a 24 hour audio and video device, constantly recording, with them to prove the act of racism. And even if there is proof, they will mostly get away with a light slap on the palm and a warning not to do it again. You can not stop generations of culture and disillusioned supremacy with a single law. Passing the law does not mean such people with that kind of thinking does not exist.

No one can understand how discrimination feels like until they themselves are exposed to discrimination. I am straight and I fear of being discriminated for being straight if one day the number of non-heterosexuals overcomes the heterosexuals. Pass a law to ensure the heterosexuals maintain a higher proportion in the nation? By doing that, doesn't it mean we are doing the same?

The 377A with origins tracing to 1938 under the British rule is still being studied on why it was passed back then. Modern science, psychology and modern thinking had evolved leaps and bounds since then. We cannot simply accept a law just because we are unable to understand it. And with the law, that does not mean these folks do not exist.

Like racism, being homophobic is discrimination. I have seen foreign students stay indoors in fear of discrimination. Thankfully for them, their time in a foreign land is only 3-4 years.

The argument presented by local religious groups and their related personnel is that, if we accept socially that homosexuals are the way they are, are we soon to accept murderers and pedophiles for what their chosen mentality?

If evolution presents to us in the near future with a monkey that can talk and think like a human,

will your church doors be open to it if it chooses to believe in the same God?

Well, the choice of sexual preference and orientation does not hurt anyone, right? Unless they coerce that thinking into another unwilling person into performing carnal acts with them, then that technically will be rape and hence subjected to another penal code which makes sense. Being a murderer or pedophile is a totally different subject matter and it doesn't make sense to relate to them for argument sake.

As a parent, I wish for my children to be straight and be functional adults that will eventually bear children of their own. That perhaps was my parents expectation of me and their parents expectation of them.

My parents expected me to be a doctor but I became an engineer instead. So how?

Our thinking is somewhat the product of generations of old school thinking. The concept that we have the breeding organs and should use them as per what Nature intended.

Then how we explain when one is born blind or without limbs?
Or one born with 2 male reproductive organs [ that lucky bastard ]
The fact is that there are quirks in how Nature works. It happens and no one can understand why.
Did we pass a law to say that these people should not exist because they were born this way?

I have worked with people with different sexual preference professionally and I concur that they function the same, professionally and socially, like any other person and should be treated with equal respect.

As with racial discrimination, people just fear what they do not know. Yes, I admit that I fear my children will one day come out of the closet to tell me their sexual orientation and I will not get any grandchildren of my own. Yes, I fear that the public acceptance of gays will mean public affections being displayed in view of the young children and they may be influenced to choose freely their orientation.

Because I do not know how or when can one become gay. Is it a pre-birth condition or trauma during teenage years or just lousy parenting causing them to decide their preference?

Does watching violence on TV influence a child to be violent?

Or will it reflect that violence causes hurt and lets a child watching realise that violence is bad?

I can't say I agree or disagree with the 377A or make a stand to keep or repeal 377A.
I only have this to say that with or without the 377A, we cannot deny the existence of homosexuals.
We cannot affirm that the social acceptance of gays will increase the proportion of the population being gay. ( Sadly, the social stigma of the subject means there isn't much studies done to make a point )

Murderers and pedophiles may be sick in the mind to want to cause hurt to others.
But I know for sure that if anyone suppresses their innate feelings long enough due to fear of discrimination, their mind will be sick also and may be compelled to unleash something even worse.

Sad to say that, this is Singapore. We complain and complain but things hardly go the way the people want. We have a elected government that thinks and decides for us for our future's sake.

Maybe the day when the Singapore's car ownership COE system (which we complain most about) works to the citizens' advantage, that be the day we see some due changes to whatever law we want to repeal sensibly.

This is my own opinion and is intended as a light-hearted leisure article

for anyone whom chooses to read.

Freedom of choice.

Family Photo CNY 2014 with the Kohs

2014-02-10T16:46:00.000+08:00

It was not an easy task getting everyone to make time on a particular day for a family portrait.

But we did.

And it was worth the effort making time together to spend time together as a family.

Night out with Isabel (Father & Daughter Bonding Time)

2013-12-24T11:27:00.000+08:00

This was our outing at the Night Safari [ Just father and daughter bonding ]

1 x Mac dinner for 2 at $12
2 x Night Safari entry tickets at $58,
2 x printed pictures of me and Isabel at $50,
1 x plasma ball novelty gift at $48,
1 x bottle of Ribena at $4,
1 x outrageous parking of $8 for < 3 hrs....

Total bill for her belated birthday experience ~ S$180

Setting the benchmark for her future dates and prospective BFs... Priceless..

It's hard to say no to her

10 Years of Wisdom

2013-12-05T19:50:00.001+08:00

Marriage is a funny concept.

We make the choice at an age where our acquired wisdom is lesser than the eagerness/wilfulness to follow our hearts.

As the years passed, the wisdom gained makes us keep the faith of our choice regardless of right or wrong.

We were all young once and we all heeded the calling of the heart.

We will not be young again nor have the courage to foolishly make mistakes like our younger selves.

Ten years on, I hope we are wiser and continue to remember that we followed our hearts once...

So let us choose to continue having faith in our younger selves while we look again in ten years time and laugh at ourselves again in 2023.

Colorful
1437.

I may not have millions but the millions out there will not be like me at all.

Rage

2013-11-11T12:53:00.001+08:00

I woke up with this rage that is consuming.
Sickened by everything I built painstaking.
Everything that was important now seemed pointless.
A jar once full now only potential for emptiness.
This day shall be day zero.
From today onwards, I shall be known as Nero!