Had band practice at NIESB last Friday. There was going to be an outdoor concert the following day. Mr Ho was particularly angry on Friday, its not often you see him angry, I guess its just some last minute pre-concert jitters. Saturday came, concert was to be at Chong Pang amphitheatre. Chong Pang? Never heard of that place? Never mind, me too. So I met Paul and he drove me to "Chong Pang", had to read the map to him along the way( he just got his license 20 days ago). When we reached, we took our stuff out and headed towards the amphitheatre. I always thought the amphitheatre was going to be roof-less and really in the open, but I was wrong. It was right smack in the middle of the hawker center and rows of HDB flats and coffee houses. It wasn't roof-less either, sort of reminded me of those 7th Month "Getai" concerts. As we arranged the chairs, this drunk came along and asked me to take a picture of him. He started dancing, singing and just acting silly... At 7:10pm, the concert began... Everyone seemed to be in the mood to blast, even Mr Ho seemed to want more from us... The trumpets and the bass trombone were just glad to do so! Went out yesterday again. Gabriel, Junyi and I went to Sim Lim Square. Junyi wanted to get a hard-disk. Walked around, talked cock... Then we were off to City Hall. Went to see the Esplanade and the Merlion. Its nice when its not so crowded, the sea breeze was just alright and there were no "retarded" or "irritating" people around. I've got something like 20 days left before I enter NS, and I'm going to enjoy my last few days being a civilian... Savant at 12/29/2003 04:34:00 pm ; (0) comments Had a fantastic Christmas dinner yesterday. The feast was held at my uncle's house. All the food was laid on the table and candles were lit, it sure looked like some traditional English feast. Received two presents, one from my mum and my uncle. My mum gave me this belt and wallet set and my uncle gave me a wallet also... Wonder what I'll do with the other wallet, I'll probably keep it for the future. What a year it has been. The war, terrorism, studying for A levels, slacking, shopping, and finally Christmas. 2003 certainly was memorable. Its only a few more days to 2004. New year, new clothes and new hopes. One of the highlights of 2004 would be my enlistment into the army, other than that, I'd just have to wait and see what 2004 holds... Savant at 12/26/2003 10:47:00 am ; (0) comments Christmas has arrived... Was a complete idiot today. Got my hand slammed by Casey's car door today. Luckily it was the whole palm instead of a finger or two, it would have been worse then. Casey drove us around today. Fetched Chiyu from his house. Wanted to take a photo with his new NS "look". Took out my camera and realized my CF card wasn't in it.... Well, Casey had to join his family for dinner, so the rest of us made our way to Crystal Jade Holland V. Never ate so much before, could hardly walk when we've finished eating. Spent the next few hours at Brekos drinking and eating finger food. There always seem to be so much going around. You see the people walking, the bar across the road, the people drinking and talking in the bar... Seems like there's so much going on Actually there isn't. Its just a lot of people making it seem that way. Each of them have their own little cliques and observe the environment the same way as we do. All of us contribute to this air of activity. I've always found it amusing how people suddenly become nice to each other during Christmas, isn't everyday the same? Why the sudden change of heart? Giving presents, sending cards, etc... Some might say its because its an off day. People become happier and are more willing to share. Nonsense. Its sad when we have to wait for special days in order to be nice to each other. Christmas, it seems, is becoming a festival of hypocrites. If we really cared for each other, it could be Christmas everyday... Savant at 12/25/2003 12:05:00 am ; (0) comments When people go on trips, they learn new cultures, shop and buy stuff, and of course enjoy the experience. Like them I'm no different But there's one difference. I learnt how people view us Singaporeans when I see how Thais behave. Truth be told, Thailand is slightly more backward than Singapore. I can see it from the way people talk, behave, and expect things. I would be lying if I said I didn't feel better as a person than them at times, its normal and you know it (we do it to each other ). It made me think. If we want to improve ourselves, we would have to go through some changes. One way to do this is to modernize, and most of the time, westernise. Not only in terms of technology, but in the way we think and view life. Then it brings back this old question: Is it worth losing a part of culture for the sake of improvement? Take for example, Singapore. People say, "How can we let the Americans destroy our culture?" or "We are increasingly becoming more westernised, and thus losing a sense of identity" Is identity so important? I would choose a better life with little or no culture rather than preserving my culture and living a lower quality life. If someone wants to be a Banana(yellow on the outside and white on the inside) , let them be, because you have no right to tell them how to live their life. After all, like I always say,, " Culture and traditions are invented by men, and they are not always correct or good for us." Savant at 12/21/2003 07:12:00 pm ; (0) comments Just stepped out of my hotel into this internet cafe nearby. Parents have gone off to shop. Its 630pm here but its already dark as hell. Internet connection is way slow, something like 14.4 Kbps.... Thailand's fun. This is my second time here. Took lotsa photos too. Will upload as soon as I get back to Singapore. Had a river side lunch today at this floating platform. The food was okay, but the scenery was breathtaking... Think I'll warp up here. Gonna take a stroll outside. Walking without parents is so much easier and more satisfying... Bye Savant at 12/19/2003 07:27:00 pm ; (0) comments Flying off tomorrow. Just sent my dog to the animal hotel. Won't see him until Sunday, starting to miss him already. My parents agreed to pay for my cruise in Jan, can't wait for it. Something to look forward to before being enlisted. Gonna go with 5 other friends. Its a cruise to Phuket, it'll take around 4 days I think. Still have not packed my luggage, gotta do it soon... Ciao Savant at 12/16/2003 12:48:00 pm ; (0) comments I'll be out of this country soon. Finally a well deserved vacation... Channel 5 shows cooking shows round late morning every weekday. I can't help but wonder what would happen if I chose to be a chef. Cooking has always been one of my favorite pastimes, not that I'm a fantastic chef or what. If chance permits, I would not train to be a Chinese cook. Rather, a Western one. Stews, steaks, wines, salads, barbecues, fried chicken New Orleans style, Cajun chicken, scallops, lobsters... The list goes on..Delicious What I really want is to live in a house somewhere in New Zealand, away from chit-chatty Aunties and bengs/lians, away from civilization. My house would have a backyard of sorts, it doesn't need to be big though. Then I'll invite my friends over for barbecues, buffet dinners or simple potluck dinners. New Zealand is certainly one of the few places on Earth where you can live poor with the richness of your environment. Your life should not be dictated by the media, your friends, and most importantly your parents. This is precisely why many Singaporeans are unhappy with life in Singapore or life in general. They are too afraid to break traditions, to disagree with their parents, to ignore what their heart tells them. Traditions are invented by man, and they may never always be correct. Heck I'll choose to eat with forks over chopsticks anytime. Its easier.It makes eating satisfactory. After all, you want to enjoy eating something, not prove to people you can use chopsticks. I can, but i choose not to, because i can think. If you disagree with me on all these, I can safely say that you are just another one of the many normal "obedient" Singaporeans. And yes, you can go screw yourself... Savant at 12/15/2003 12:45:00 pm ; (0) comments Packed my room. Tidied my desk. Room's definitely neater now Was looking through the NUS booklet yesterday. Still have not decided what I want to pursue in Uni, if I get into Uni of course... Dentistry and psychology sounds good, plus I think I'll be quite interested in these studies. Well we'll just have to wait and see what results I get. Savant at 12/14/2003 11:42:00 am ; (0) comments "Daily allowance suspended". "Room too messy". These were the two notes i found sticking on my television. Room too messy? Hello... messy in what sense? Messy to you i guess? So its an eyesore to you, big deal! It won't kill you if its not to your liking right? What God given right have you been given to decide when my room is untidy or immaculate? My room isn't messy to me. Period. I bet some weiner reading this must be thinking, "Well you must respect your parents, listen to them, do what they want you to do". Well screw you you lousy turd. Being obediant or fillial does not mean you have to be dumb. Contary to what most of you pricks think, adults are NOT always right. Adults think too highly of themselves. I hate them. Most of them have been given the honour of being on my shit-list. (Oh yes, if you are one of those types who think highly of yourself, you'll be put on my shit list too.) Why do we tolerate adults?!?! Since we are on this topic, I want to mention how I totally detest people who think they own the world or something. Just thinking about people who behave in this manner makes my blood boil. No one cares if you are smarter than everyone else. No one cares if you can do something better than someone else. No one cares especially if your dick is larger than anyone else. Everyone can do something better than someone else, but only pricks make a big deal out of it. So just shut up and eat humble pie or something. I hate you all. Why don't you all go do this world a favour by shooting yourself in the head. Savant at 12/13/2003 01:07:00 am ; (0) comments Was at the arcade yesterday night. After playing some games, I realized something. I'm slow. Not slow in terms of speed, but rather, thinking. I feel that somehow, my coordination and recognition of patterns is extremely poor. I felt retarded. Retarded in a sense that everytime I do something, there's this inner "feeling" telling me that I'd fail. Chiyu is going to serve NS today. My turn will come in 37 days time. How time flies. A decade ago I was in Primary 1, life was a blur. Soon I had finished the PSLE examinations. Secondary school life started. This was the period where I made some of the closest, most trustworthy friends. The O levels came soon, then it was time for college. College life is just like a very short holiday. There is hardly enough time for you to stop and take a look around your environment, but somehow, you learn a lot from your teachers and the many kinds of people called classmates. A levels came and went. Now its slacking time. A brief period where life seems to be put on hold. Waking up everyday not knowing what to do, where to go. Perhaps I should make full use of my remaining 37 days... Time to start setting some goals. Savant at 12/10/2003 11:51:00 am ; (0) comments Decided against joining this MLM company after speaking to my parents. Even though they encouraged me to try out businesses, they figured that the conditions set forth by this company were too suspicious(they had attended similar "persuasive" talks/seminars organized by MLM companies). There's no such thing as easy money, even if you are in the illegal business, you still need hard work and lotsa guts to earn money. My friend of more than a decade is going to NS tomorrow, I wish him all the best.. Ha botak Savant at 12/09/2003 11:46:00 am ; (0) comments To do or not to do? One of my friend brought me to commonwealth today to visit his "business mentor". He's a Professor of Business at NTU. He went through the concept of multi-level-marketing and its benefits. Seems like you can make $20, 000 in 6 months. To good to be true? Maybe.... But its not easy of course. Its possible if you make enough sales within 6 months. That is, if everything goes as planned. But I guess it would be quite hard selling products to Singaporeans. Should I say yes? I want to, I do not mind forking out $1, 000++, I don't mind even if I do not make money( there's a refund on your deposit so I'm not too worried). I'm just afraid I'll be wasting my time and hopes on something with meager returns even after a few years. The professor's son, who's been on it for quite long, earns $15 000 per month, and he's only 18... Cool huh I guess anything's possible if you truly put your heart into it, will update you on my decision tomorrow... Savant at 12/08/2003 06:45:00 pm ; (0) comments  I HATE this. I HATE cartoons. Most of all, I HATE Disney cartoons. Why aren't there any good movies? Why must they show stupid shows like Rugrats or Brother Bear at a time like this? I hate stupid cartoons with stupid sing along songs(but they don't piss me off as much as those fucking dumbass Chinese sing along songs.. It ANNOYS the hell out of me). Please, for the love of god, don't waste your parent's hard earn money on stupid cartoons... Please. Humans are already stupid enough, and if you think you aren't then you can go screw yourself. Went town yesterday. Orchard road blows. The arcade at cine is gone(at least we'll be seeing less of those bengsters there), why did they have to do that? If they wanted to do that they could have done it at Jurong Point. I Hate Jurong Point. I won't go there unless I need to. Its impossible to avoid the hoards of poseurs and fuckers there. You see fat shits with their urine coloured hair everywhere. Their stupid black shirts and their stupid black leather shoes, what? You think you're cool just because you wear leather? Then there's the attitude. They think they own the place. They make hell lot of noise and run around chasing their friends or girls. You may think you're cute when you do that, but it annoys me like anything. And please JNCO and Wutang style jeans are out.. OUT...... O U T ! ! Please dun wear them, unless you plan to use them as parachutes. If you go to Jurong Point, don't be a retard like those pigs. Savant at 12/04/2003 12:51:00 pm ; (0) comments Went shopping today for the first time today. Yes you'd heard me, first time. First time that spent my own money on clothes. I usually get my clothes only when I go out with my mum, other than that, I hardly splurge my savings on anything save for my digital camera. Bought some stuff, walked over to Ikea for dinner. Had been wanting to try the Swedish meatballs for so long. Its quite nice though a little too salty I guess. The other guys were crapping as usual. After dinner, we took a bus down to Holland Village for a cup of iced coffee and some Mudpies. Got bored thus decided to head down to town. Wanted to buy more clothes, but by the time I decided what I wanted, Flash and Splash was closed... Walked over to Cineleisure then... Haven't been there for a few months already(yes months....). The arcade is gone(where am I gonna play strikers 1999?!?!). Didn't know there was a bowling alley upstairs.. haha swaku la Chiyu's going NS in about 8 days time, I'll be going soon too, in about 1 month plus. Time really fucking flies... =/ Savant at 12/03/2003 02:52:00 am ; (0) comments Surely, if I was talking about a God in the middle east that was born of a virgin birth on December 25th, was visited by shepherds and magi, traveled the countryside, performed miracles including casting out devils, healing the lame and restoring sight to the blind, had a group of twelve disciples, was known as the "Light of the World," of whom it was said that if you drink of his blood you will have eternal salvation, who was persecuted, had a last supper, was killed, buried in a rock tomb, rose from the dead around the spring equinox, was worshipped by the Roman Empire and whose worship spread far around the world, whose followers worshipped on Sunday, believed in baptism and were led by a pope who ruled from Vatican hill and celebrated a sacrament of bread and wine with candles, incense and holy water, I suspect you'd know who exactly who I was talking about. Yes, I'm talking about Mithra. Mithra (or Mithras) was first worshipped as a minor God in Persia as long ago as 2000 BCE, and later as a God who lived in human form from 272 to 208 BCE. Mithra was the God of the Roman Empire for hundreds of years, and it was not until 358 CE that followers of Mithra began to be persecuted under the new state religion, Christianity. Here's another story: "In the first century of the Common Era, there appeared at the end of the Mediterranean a remarkable religious leader who taught the worship of one true God and declared that religion meant not the sacrifice of beasts but the practice of charity and piety and the shunning of hatred and enmity. He was said to have worked miracles of goodness, casting out demons, healing the sick, raising the dead. His exemplary life led some of his followers to claim he was a son of God, though he called himself the son of a man. Accused of sedition against Rome, he was arrested. After his death, his disciples claimed he had risen from the dead, appeared to them alive, and then ascended to heaven." Again, I suspect you know who I'm talking about - that's right, Apollonius, who died around 98 CE. The quote is from Gospel Fictions by Randel Helms. There are similarities with many other previous and concurrent Gods as well. A couple of other names that might be familiar include Dionysus and Osiris, but there are many more. Jesus and these other Gods often fall under a broad category author Robert Price calls a "mythic hero archetype," where "a divine hero's birth is supernaturally predicted and conceived, the infant hero escapes attempts to kill him, demonstrates his precocious wisdom already as a child, receives a divine commission, defeats demons, wins acclaim, is hailed as king, then betrayed, losing popular favor, executed, often on a hilltop, and is vindicated and taken up to heaven." The notion of virgin birth, god incarnated into human form, heaven, hell, baptism, eucharist, eternal life, the soul, one god, worship of sun-gods on Sun-day, you name it, it's all been done before. Sorry to say, there is not much that is new or unique about Jesus. Like other successful religions, Christianity gained the authorization of a powerful state and was institutionalized. Learn more--->Further Reading Savant at 12/01/2003 05:49:00 pm ; (0) comments
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