off i go

i'm heading home in a few hour's time, my youngest brother will be flying off to taiwan this sat for one year (NS posting), and we are having a family dinner on fri. i hope to catch at least one rally while i'm at home, hee.. and hopefully can get some studying done for my last paper next thurs. if not i'll come back to sch on mon or tues.. for those of u who know my bro, dun hesitate to give him a call to wish him all the best. =)

a watershed day for s'pore?

hmm perhaps not quite.. it's only the nomination day. depending on what happen tmr, perhaps the watershed day is 6th may.. haha.. even though PAP should still retain the rule, things will definitely change after this GE. watch out for the next one.. that is when change will be visible..

anyway, pple ask me why am i so interested in this GE? or in politics in particular? aren't you going to vote for the PAP, since u are a regular? hmm i was kinda shocked! not wanting to reveal who i'm voting (cos i haven't decided yet!!) i just kept quiet.. but it's sad that pple have this perception that we as "civil servants" (what a paradox! only in s'pore are military men considered to be in the civil service.. faintz..) have to vote for the ruling party, or risk having less opportunities to further our career.. what nonsense! voting should and must be secret what! haiz.. but can't blame them for this, the spirit of fear has permeated our society, and i shall not comment on the reasons behind it..

back to discussing the nomination day. it's less than 11 hours away, and ends.. almost 12 hours later! haha.. jason said this is probably the shortest nomination period in the human race.. a bit exaggerating it lar.. but it's kinda true. 10:30am to 12 noon, on the same day. even when i was running for union election, i think the nomination period was over a few days. over here on this sunny little island, there are so many obstacles to winning an elections, and it starts even b4 everything.. hmm maybe they should be described as roadhumps, if everything is done right, it should all go smoothly. eg, a lot of pple don't know that the nomination forms must be collected 2 days b4 nomination day. some parties nearly forgot.. if they can almost forget, then what abt those who intend to run as independents, and have no "supporting crew" to assist them in such admin matters? i won't be surprised if there are independent candidates who turn up at the nomination centres without the forms.. moreover, i think there are many details to fill in, plus they need to find enough nominators and seconders for that many candidates. remember, this yr there are a lot more opposition candidates running for elections. i believe there should be strict criteria to be nominators and seconders, dun think any tom dick or harry can be one.. so unless the parties already have pple on standby, i doubt they can find at such short notice.. 2 days! not to forget the election deposit of $13.5K.. that's almost half my annual salary..

and then there's a campaigning period of, what, 8 days? what are they expected to acheive in 8 days? the residents have to work in the day, and so rallying can only be done at night. and then the rally sites have to be booked first, which apparently there are PAP members who will queue overnight at cantonment complex so as to get the choicest dates and places.. (potong pasir has only one approved rallying site.) i had hoped to go watch a rally, but i think this is unlikely now. my last paper is on the 4th, my FYP presentation is on the 5th. 6th is already the polling itself..

anyway, i wish the opposition parties all the best.. with so much stacked against them, it's not hard to sympathize with them.. =)

soccer friendly

for the past few days, i've been trying to organise a team for my church network in response to a invitation to a friendly match by a guy i talked to at mountbatten CC. they train there once in a while and they all live around that area. so i got a call from him, asking if we are available on the 27th may. i was caught by surprise, and i asked for more time to give a reply so that i can ask my team. so i have to call him within the next hour. guess i'll say yes, i already have 9 confirmed participants. hope to have at least 14, so that there will be rotation substitutions, otherwise a lot of us will "peng"!

but i've been reflecting on myself, and i'm afraid i seem to have lost it.. seemed to have lost focus on what is impt, what is the true purpose of it.. i've been cutting out cardboard, drawing out formations, thinking of strategies and how to brief the team.. blah blah.. in my strive for efficiency, i seemed to have lost my sense of effectiveness.. of inter-personal effectiveness. haiz.. i tried to set out in a slightly more professional direction, but it doesn't feel like the right approach. after all, there is no specific soccer-related aim in having this team. shall see how it goes on the 13th.. hopefully a lot of pple will turn up, and that the weather will be fine..

well, at least the strategy has been thought out. just need to test it out on the 13th. and so now i can focus on the pple factor. =)

19 April 2006: 56.5 kg

a tribute to Kaka

today the 22nd of april, is Kaka's 24th birthday. also i just had my first paper, which i think i did ok.. so to honour this special day., i've changed my old matrix wallpaper and matrix screensaver (3 yrs already!!) to a beautiful kaka wallpaper and adidas screensaver. =)

The player to watch out for at this world cup!!
p.s. and steven gerrard has pledged his future to liverpool, dismissing the speculation arising from real's announcement of him being their top target.

world cup 2006!!

Even though the next world cup is still 2 months away, the competition has been heating up recently. and i don't mean the nations playing in it, not brazil nor england nor italy. of course they are making preparations, but the race only starts after they end their domestic leagues. i was referring to the rivalry btwn nike and adidas. you can find lots of clips abt joga bonita (nike's campaign abt playing beautiful football) on youtube, where they showcase exciting stars such as ronaldinho, robinho, henry, ibrahimovic, and many more. i was wondering why there isn't any adidas ads on youtube. it was only ytd when i went to adidas.com/football then i realised it's probably cos adidas videos can't be downloaded. i watched a few from the website and was amazed by the contrast with nike.

was searching of the name of the boots i wanted to get (+predator absolute), when i saw the video of "impossible team" abt two boys playing soccer on a sandy pitch. they took turns to name players that they want on their own names, and they really appeared out of nowhere! there were kaka, zidane, cisse, beckham, defoe, lampard.. and surprise surprise.. Beckenbauer!! one of the best german players ever, from pele's generation no less, he's now the president of the organising committee of this yr's world cup held in germany. his fren laughed when jose chose beckenbauer, but look at his face when he really appeared, in 70's style football kit.. haha.. then zidane whispered in his ear to suggest platini, a french great.. reviving the wonderful rivalry btwn these 2 legends of football.. haha..

both nike's and adidas' focus are strikingly different. while nike celebrates the individual and tries to promote their brand of "beautiful football", adidas seeks to keep football a team game. watch the videos of cole vs cisse and the others, and u will see why. in those videos, those star players are matched up (wonderful selection here, plays on the intense rivalries some countries have for each other) and given 2 hours to find 10 fellow countrymen, 10 ordinary pple from the streets and play a full game against each other. wearing adidas jerseys of their national colour, singing their national anthem b4 the match (without any music), it's hard not to play at their very best.. but at the end of the day, a game is still just a game, but new frens are made.. adidas didn't forget this part.. heartening to see them shaking hands, sharing drinks and jokes, exchanging jerseys, at the end of it all..

oh and the +predator absolute!! it looks so cool.. saw from last night's match that riquelme wears the same boots too. read from the website the many features that this edition of predator have: and external heel counter for added protection of the Achilles tendon and increased stability, a split outsole to increase feel of the pitch without compromising stability, offset lacing and ergonimically correct fold-over tongue for a cleaner larger kicking surface. not to forget that it is the lightest and most powerful Predator boots ever!!

catching the soccer fever

caught these few videos cos a fren sent the link to one, then i was bored from studying and so searched for more.. if u haven't already known, i'm put in charge of soccer in my church network. somehow i'm surprised that no one has taken this up b4 me, considering how popular soccer is among youths in singapore. i see this as a very good chance to: (1) bond the boys in the network across different cell groups, (2) to reach out to frens or strangers alike thru playing soccer and getting to know them, (3) to sweat it out once in a while and keep fit.

anyway if i have a choice, i would rather my team be like this, and not like this. why? go watch the videos first, and tell me what u think..

why would i choose the team with old fogies? not becos they beat their opponents soundly, but cos their bond is strong, sprinkled with humour and good o' love and passion for the game. even at their age, they still crack jokes like schboys in the locker room, and clap and shout to motivate the whole team and run out of the tunnel altogether. what camaraderie! whereas in the other video, though their ball tricks were really cool and nice to watch, a team (or at least an amateur team like ours) is made up of individuals. there's no point doing all those tricks if a simple pass would suffice.. well, i'm just glad that so far, no one has been like that. though we are prone to scoring own goals.. (i did it once in hall 9, josh scored a beauty at mountbatten.. haha)

i watched the juventus vs cagliari match on sat night. was surprised to see that juve played with the same system that i had in mind for my team. was drawing out some stuff after watching them play on the 8th of april, and came up with a variant of 4-5-1 formation for the team. 4 flat defence, 1 holding midfielder, 2 wingers, 2 attacking midfielders, and 1 striker. when going forward, we will have 3 attacking the box and 2 down the flanks. i put 1 holding midfielder cos i see someone with great potential for that role. got some pple in mind for the other key positions too, all i need now are a striker, a defender who can call the line, and a goalkeeper. suggestions anyone?

i also thought of a design of a jersey, should we ever get one.. a white jersey with a bit of red trimmings at the collar and the sleeve. white for purity! took this pic of the soccer jersey of my winning eleven team (which is undefeated for 3 seasons, and won all the leagues and cups it participated.. hee) any resemblence to ac milan or liverpool is purely coincidental.. really!!

oh i realised patrick viera wears the same boots as kaka and adrian mutu. anyway the game ended in a 1-all draw. juventus scored from a corner at the last second.. yes, it was really the last second!! very very drama, and the ref even red-carded 2 cagliari players cos they protested something. there wasn't even a replay, cos it was the last second.. i watched so many of these comeback matches these few weeks. AC milan in the champions league, and myself scoring 2 late goals in the final ten mins to snatch a draw.. hee hee more self-advertisement..

well, for the uninitiated, the "old fogies" are actually living legends of english football. the coach is bobby robson.. the first shot of someone waking up is peter shilton, england's best goalkeeper ever.. stuart pearce's phone rang during the pep-talk.. peter beardsley was riding the bike.. jack charlton (of all pple!) was given a yellow card.. haha.. real cool ad, huh?

Good Friday

ytd was good friday. a day of sacrificial love, a day of salvation, a day of miracles, a day when His blood washed away the sins of humankind.. i just got back from the harvest event of my network at TCT, and it was only when our cell were sharing among ourselves our salvation story did i realise that last yr good friday i was here too! i was telling them that last yr, my fren jasmine had invited me to watch a dance musical called "Star Light". i can't remember the storyline fully, but i know i was touched, and so i filled in the form given to newcomers. a few days later Josh called me. i remember i was playing my xbox at home that day. chit chat a little and found out that, hey, he's from the navy too! and he was my junior batch! so qiao, haha.. so we talk cock a while more, then he invited me to go service with him at TC. so i went, and got to know julian, kenny, kenneth and mark. and that is how i joined their cell group.
went for encounter weekend with mark and kenneth, stayed in jason's room as he was in US, so i saved a bit of money.. got to know them better from that few days. that was in july 05. nothing much happened until dec, where there was The Big Move, The Big Run, and of course the FIG camp!! even with my exams, my FYP, i still put in effort to plan and execute that camp. my faith grew manifold then. of course i couldn't have done it without the committee and leaders' support.. i also got to know a lot of pple from the network thru this camp, and i really thank God for that. i saw then first-hand that a "family's support" is very impt in a person's walk with God, and i am grateful for them. all of them! and i pledge to be such a support for others too, though i think i'm not very good at doing that.. bleah..

as i was sharing with the 2 invited frens just now, there will always be a lot of questions and doubts. so it takes faith to believe in what i believe in, and it is that faith that makes it believable too.. kinda circular reasoning, but that was what came to my mind then.

can't wait for easter service tmr!! even though i told my cell pple that it is the last service i attend until after my exams, i think i will still try to turn up for service lar.. haha..

anyway, after i directed the rest to the mrt station and walked to my bus stop, i gave jasmine a call, just to see how she's doing (and to see if she still has my cd..) but she didn't pick up the phone. maybe she was sleeping already.. well, i shall call her again soon just to keep in contact.. =)

Singapore Dreaming charity premiere

just got back from the movie event.. so cool!! esp at the reception. though not as many celebrities as my cousin's wedding, it was still kinda exciting. cos my role was to jot down quotes/soundbites from the pple who watched the movie, so i was busy hunting the more famous pple.. i got to watch most of the movie, except when i had to go outside to look for the microphones, cos there was a Q&A after the movie, and my role was to run around to pass the mic to pple who wants to ask questions. there were 2 of us, but all the queries were from my side of the theatre. oh well.. oh, the first person asked how much is the production cost. i was too focused on him, that it was only much later that i realised jack neo was sitting beside him. and he helped me pass the mic.. he look kinda youthful, i think it's the hair.. i didn't recognise him at first..

Jason looks very professional right? he really is.. so much so that colin goh dragged him around to interview all the impt pple, instead of the other videography team. he talked to most of the cast, chiam see tong (pictured with jason and colin goh below), george yeo, and even the President!!

Here is Lim Yu Beng. i told him i saw him at fong seng nasi lemak a few times b4, but he said he doesn't live near there, he just goes there for the food. he autographed behind my postcard, with the words "keep dreaming!!" so cool.. i only got a few signatures though, most of them were busy talking to more impt pple..

my autographed postcard.. there are more signatures at the back of it.Go watch the movie!! it will be out soon. look out for it my frens!!

am i a movie addict? i dun think so..

The best movies i've watched so far this yr.. notice any common theme?
no lar, there isn't any common theme. haha.. it all talks abt different topics. Syriana was abt oil politics, bringing in mind the quote "there are no permanent friends or foes, only permanent interests." the desire of certain leading countries to keep middle east the way they are now, in order to exploit their resources for their own gains. The Constant Gardener was abt the roles NGOs play in third world countries and explores their effectiveness. a touching film which follows a husband on the trail of his dead wife to find out the truth. Munich! my fav among them. an exciting film with lots of action, well-paced, keeping up with the standards steven spielberg set for himself. this movie further fuelled my interest in that country, and prompted me to start on the book i've been keeping on my shelf for months.. evenly balanced though it was quite difficult to imagine it possible, it showed the common desire of pple on both sides of the war, that all they want is a place on earth they can call home. V for Vendetta, produced by the Wachowski brothers who brought us the Matrix.. (remember, remember, the 5th of november..) it trumpets the efforts of an anarchist anti-hero bent on blowing up buildings, albeit one who is working against a tyrannical govt.. a monster created out of monstrous means.. reminds me too much of 1984 though.

well, can't wait for my next movie. singapore dreaming!!

why does God allow pain?

got this from an email sent to me by a few of my church frens:

This is one of the best explanations of why God allows pain and suffering that I have seen. It's an explanation other people can understand quite easily.

A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed. As the barber began to work, they started to have a conversation. They talked about so many things and covered various subjects. When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said: "I don't believe that God exists." "Why do you say that?" asked the customer. "Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn't exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can't imagine a loving God who would allow any of these things."

The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond because he didn't want to start an argument. The barber soon finished his job and the customer left the shop. Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and unkempt. The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and he said to the barber:"You know what? Barbers do not exist." "How can you say that?" asked the surprised barber. "I am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked on you!" "No!" the customer exclaimed. "Barbers don't exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside." "Ah, but barbers DO exist! What happens is that people do not come to me." "Exactly!" affirmed the customer. "That's the point! God, too, DOES exist! What happens is that people don't go to Him and do not look for Him. That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world."

Reflect on it, my friends.

been a long time since i've watched a local film

i'll be watching a movie on wed for free!! "Singapore Dreaming", by colin goh and woo yen yen, the husband-and-wife team behind talkingcock.com. i just got back from a briefing by them at Lido, where the film will be screened. it's a special gala screening in conjunction with the singapore international film festival, and President Nathan will be in attendance. so glad that i signed up to help out as an usher.. hee.. other than the usual ushering to be done b4 the film, my role after the screening would be to get pple to pose for photos, and take down their names and note the photo ID no.. so as to help the magazines put accurate captions for the photos.

read more abt the movie here and here.

nice boots.. my future pair? hmm..

KAKA!! the milan magician.. one of brazil's playmakers.. i dunno how they are going to fit in so many wonderful attackers in the starting line-up: Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Robinho, Adriano, and of course Kaka.. in reserve there's juninho, alex, baptisa.. wow!! enough firepower to sink three aircraft carriers.. haha..

Close up of the boots:
oh, i spotted a few other players wearing the same pair. adrian mutu (the reformed drug addict now at juventus) is one of them..

moolah..

i'm qualified to receive the progress package!! $800!! woo hoo!!

how to spend it:
1) 10% goes to church
2) new pair of soccer boots. the creamy/golden pair that Kaka wears.. haha..
3) sushi buffet!
4) buy amanda's guitar (still considering..)

hmm seems like there will be some leftover.. but not enough to make investment.. shall save it up then.