edited on 1519hrs, 1st Sept 2004

my day today starts with roti prata and teh-tarek. ermm i can't explain teh-tarek TEH TARIK. it's tea look-alike cappaucino, yesh with the foam. and knowing that the price of poultry went up and should i say affected and the virus, H5N1 on the loose. i shouted to the uncle. " Ah BANG!!!( brother in melayu) satu kosong satu plasta satu deloTELUR, !!"( means one plain prata, ne prata with egg on the top, one prata with egg in melayu) okie, my melayu is only just the simple melayu. anything more profound will only make me stare at you mindless with tons of question marks fall on my head.

Went to collect air tickets today on the request of my aunt. yes, today is just another bloody hot day. but the rewards after collecting the tickets is good. real satifactory. Went into the agency and said, " i'm here to collect tickets to Brisbane on the behalf of..........." the lady came and assisted me. i was looking for a piece of colourful ticket when she said , " this is a electronic air ticket. you can check in 48 hours before the flight so you need not to arrive at the airport 2 hours before flight time."

HUH??????

Electronic air ticket? i looked at the paper and it does says the venue, country, boarding time, departing time....bla bla bla...etc. now it seems fine to you common travellers. to the frog in the well(pointing to me) here, it's not. i haven't been travelling for quite a while. and i do looked like a green frog to the lady assisting me. hmmm... E-travel. it feels like i travelled to a location electronically though i.e. surfing the net might helps. come to think of it. i really missed the those colourful airtickets with numbers, seat numbers bla bla bla... instead of a black and white A4 paper stapled to your destination card that ends with this is computerised generated document.

just for laughter. my colleague emailed me the photos below on how wines are made in 2 different continents. Picture rating is adult advisory.

How chinese wine is made.



How western wine is made.

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Late entry for Mr Brown - Babies are the bonus

Another baby? Hmm, maybe after a glass of fine wine – bought with the $95 maid levy saving


SINGAPORE is looking for a few good eggs. If you are a fertile woman of child-bearing age, or you are a foreign talent chicken untainted by the H5N1 avian flu virus, please report to your nearest Residents Committee. Babies due this month, who have been told by their mommies to tahan (hang on) a while more and stay inside mommy's tummy a little longer, breathed a sigh of relief, I think, now that the new baby package has been announced.

Wow, was that a long speech or what? I am impressed though. Our new Prime Minister can really talk, man. More than three hours for his first speech as PM. Much as I enjoyed this speech, if I may respectfully suggest, can future speeches be a little shorter? I was most impressed with his ability to sustain interest for that long.

And as a practitioner with a professional interest in the funny, I have to say, PM Lee did good in the humour department. But try not to quote me for another gushing headline please. ("PM's speech wins over writer used to poking fun at the Gahmen!")

That said, I think no one in Singapore was as keen to listen to the PM's speech as my wife and me. We started listening to it on the car radio. Then we got home, and turned on the TV and watched that. Then my three-year-old, Faith, who was supposed to be asleep, opened her room door slowly, peeking out. She walked into the living room, rubbing her eyes the way you do when you move from a dark place into a well-lit one. That was her signal to mommy that she needed mommy to sleep with her.

So mommy had to tear herself from the TV to put her little girl to bed. And just when PM Lee was getting to the juicy bits on the new baby incentives. So, helpful father that I was, I ran into the study to get her Apple laptop, and found the website that was broadcasting the webcast of the speech.The webcast was actually working, no hiccups, no chokes, no lost data packets.

I was impressed.

I placed the laptop next to her as she lay with Faith (we have a wireless network in the house) and connected headphones to the computer for her to listen to the speech while doing her motherly duty. I took over her sarong rocker duty, rocking my infant son to sleep while going back to watching the TV.

From listening on the car radio, to watching on TV, to listening on a laptop streaming the webcast wirelessly: The power of technology. It would be hard to call us an apathetic and apolitical family, I think. I don't think we were this "on" even when we were forced to listen to minister speeches to prepare for our General Paper.

It was worth it. I think the baby package hit the right note and balance.

Longer maternity leave, child leave (although I think kids fall sick more than two days a year, but hey, two days is better than nothing), less cash upfront for hospital bills, lower maid levy, all appreciated. I actually cheered when each point was announced. Like watching an exciting Olympic badminton or table tennis match.

I particularly liked the fact that there was an attempt to address the other part of the baby equation: Work-life balance and education pressure. Money can earn. Leave can take.

But it all comes to nothing if we think that Singapore is going to be this pressure cooker for us and the kids, with a poor quality of life.

What's the use of working like dogs and only seeing your kids when they are asleep in the morning and late at night? Or worse, on weekends only, after leaving them with a caregiver all week. What's the use of having children only to feed them into a grinder of an education system, where, to quote the PM, they are taught more but learn less? What's the use of having all the tax breaks, child leave and subsidies in the world, if we wonder whether our children will ever meet this society's definition of success and usefulness?

Then the speech was over and the PM does his waves to rapturous applause. Some of that applause was probably from people with cramped butts, I am sure. The wife comes back to the living room. The girl is finally asleep, reassured by mommy's patting. I glance at my son, also asleep from my skilful sarong rocking. I turn the TV off with my other un-cramped arm.

The house is quiet once more. Speeches have been spoken. Promises have been made. We look at our sleeping boy, wondering if it is a good idea for him and his sister to get another sibling. Probably after some fine wine. Kids always sound like a good idea when you're tipsy. We can buy that with our $95 maid levy saving.

mr brown is the accidental author of a popular website that has been documenting the dysfunctional side of Singapore life since 1997. He is waiting for the Government to announce the family-friendly Play-Xbox-with-your-Kid leave.

currently playing Hootie and the Blowfish - I only want to be with you

this entry is the 3rd entry which i am going to talk about the 7 sins. it will be written from a generic view, perspective, focus. as this might arouse, provoke the pinch in you. please read it as non provocative manner.*wink* what trigger me to write such a thing, you might ask. well, it all started when things in your life aren't gonna be what you least expected. it's the surprise of the surprises.

i will try to do it on weekly basis.( ayy i am busy with my work k~) And most of you know, my ink-girlish not the very powderful. so you have to ta-han with my D7 grammatic expression in words. ( then why bother to attempt it??)

Jokey Synopsis

What it is: Gluttony is an inordinate desire to consume more than that which one requires.

Why you do it: Because you were weaned improperly as an infant.

Your punishment in Hell will be: You'll be force-fed rats, toads, and snakes.

Associated symbols & suchlike: Gluttony is linked with the pig and the color orange.



( P ) Pronunciation Key (gltn-)n. pl. glut·ton·ies

Excess in eating or drinking.

biting more than you can chew. this is something which i believe it happens to alot of people out there. be it taken with a positive/ negative attitude. often assoicated with food. as it also has similar meaning with greed.

what it actually means negatively that it grasping with thirst such that indulgence is part of the ingredients. self-indulgence. an yearning of disorder excess of something to fulfil ones' sensuality with spits of wickedness.

it also means one has a sweet tooth. * that's me lying in a primrose path*. if gluttony were to be taken in pleasure, it becomes a delight. a hobby, a joy. and more as a luxury to someone who don't get to enjoy it often. and as a sense of satisfaction when completed with felicity. but eating is a bliss, especially when you are in singapore.

let's go on a eating spree....WHO's WITH ME!!!!! whaahhah.... remember to watch out for your health.




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got the qoute from gladys. something interesting to share. beware... this is a long post. wahhahahahah.

In your life, you'll make note of a lot of people. Ones with whom you shared something special, ones who will always mean something. There's the one you first kissed, the one you first loved, the one you lost your virginity to, the one you put on a pedestal, the one you're with...and the one that got awayWho is the one that got away? I guess it's that person with who everything was great, everything was perfect, but the timing was just wrong. There was no fault in the person,there was no flaw in the chemistry, but the cards just didn't fall the right way, I suppose.

I believe in the fact that ending up with someone, finding a longtime partner that is, does not lie merely in the other person. I can actually argue that an equal part, or maybe even the greater part, has to do with the matter of timing. It has to do with you being ready to settle down and commit to someone in a way that goes beyond the little niceties of giddy romance.

How often have you gone through it without even realizing it? When you're not ready to commit in that mature manner, it doesn't matter who you're with, it just doesn't work. Small problems become big; inconsequentials become dealbreakers simply because you're not ready and it shows. It's not that you and the person you're with are no good; it's just that it's not yet right, and little things become the flashpoint of that fact.

Then one day you're ready. You really are. And when this happens you'll be ready to settle down with someone. He or she may not be the most perfect, they might not be the brightest star of romance to ever have burned in your life, but it'll work because you're ready. It'll work because it's the right time and you'll make it work. And it'll make sense, it really will.

So that day comes when you're finally making sense of things, and you find yourself to be a different person. Things are different, your approach is different, you finally understand who you are and what you want, and you have become because the time has truly arrived. And mind you, there's no telling when this day will come. Hopefully you're single but you could be in a long-term relationship, you could be married with three kids, it doesn't matter. All you know is that you've changed, and for some reason, the one that got away, is the first person you think about. You'll think about them because you'll wonder, "What if they were here today?" You'll wonder, "What if we were together now, with me as I am and not as I was?" That's what the one that got away is. The biggest "What if?" you'll have in your life.


If you're married, you'll just have to accept the fact that the one that got away, got away. Believe me, no matter how fairy tale you think your marriage is, this can happen to the best of us. But hopefully you're mature enough to realize that you're already with the one you're with and this is just another test of your commitment, one which will just strengthen your marriage when you get past it. Sure, you'll think about him/her every so often but it's alright. It's never nice to live with a "might have been," but it happens.

Maybe the one that got away is the one who's already married. In which case it's the same thing. You just have to accept and know that your memories of that person will probably bring a nice little smile to your lips in the future when you're old and gray and reminiscing.

But if neither of that is the case, then it's different. What do you do if it's not yet too late? Simple...find him, find her. Because the very existence of a "one that got away" means that you'll always wonder, what if you got that one?

Ask him out to coffee, ask her out to a movie, it doesn't matter if you've dropped in from out of nowhere. You'd be surprised, you just might be "the one that got away" as well for the person who is your "the one that got away."

You might drop in from out of nowhere and it won't make a difference. If the timing is finally right, it'll all just fall into place somehow and you know, I'm thinking, it would be a great feeling, in the end, to be able to say to someone, "Hey you, you're the one that almost got away." - I pray..

sometime it pays to know some religion culture. i was talking to one malay lady. and after the nice conversation, i proposed a handshake as i enjoyed the conversation with her and a gesture of courtesy. she quickly hid her hands behind her back.

malay lady: " i am a muslim.... i can't..."

xiaoqiang, embarassed : " so sorry... really sorry."

i'm sorry, my fellow malay comrades. it really slipped off my mind. it's not that i disrespect Islam. i'm sorry if it caused any inconvenience to you. but since the girls at Afghanistan or arab countries are shaking off the unfairness there, should we in singapore be opened about it? hmmmm...

got this email below from my colleague. it sounds corny as it interprets the few characteristics of a singaporean. Kia su( scare to lose), kia si(scare to die), kia gui( scare of ghosts), etc. what is so different about a singaporean and a caucasian? bla bla bla...i bet this is the last thing that QB HOuse would want to happen. a bunch of idiots looking for free cuts.




One day, a German Florist came to a barber for a haircut. After the cut, he paid the Barber and the Barber replied: "I am sorry, I cannot accept money from you, I am doing community service". The Florist was happy and left the shop. The next morning when the barber went to his shop, he found a Thank You card and a dozen roses waiting at his door.


A British Baker came for a haircut and he wanted to pay the Barber and the Barber gave the same reply. The Baker was happy and left the shop. The next morning the Barber received a Thank You card and a dozen donuts.


A Singaporean went for a haircut and he wanted to pay the Barber and he gave him the same reply. The Singaporean was, of course, very happy and left the shop. The next morning the Barber was surprised to see......
A dozen Singaporeans waiting for a haircut.

: my new Personal Organiser craze :

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a really, really late weekly post ( my apology ) of Mr Brown - Youth, SMS your views to the Govt .


You might get invited to tea with Cabinet ministers

A concerned student complained recently that Arts stream students from Junior Colleges were finding it hard to get into the Faculty of the Arts and Social Sciences at the National University of Singapore (NUS) because Science stream students were depriving them of their places.

I am shocked and appalled. You mean that students actually have to compete to get into University? What next? Science stream students stealing Arts stream jobs from Arts stream students? The horror. Personally, I think the Science stream students are applying to the Arts faculty in NUS because it is said to have the better canteen and better-looking chicks and dudes.

I say these Arts students take their revenge by applying to the Science faculties in NUS to deprive the Science stream students of their places there. You JC students who did A-level History should just grab all the places at the Physics department. Two can play this game.

Young people should speak up and make themselves heard. Even the Government wants to hear from you.

I read with great joy that the Government wants to solicit views and ideas from young people, by all means possible, even via SMS and email. I am happy because "young people" was defined as anyone born after 1965. And all this while, I thought I was an old fart. I feel a renewed sense of youth. I am young again because the Government says so.

I hope they employed some specially trained people to take down the feedback of the youth though. Have you ever read SMS sent by young people? You need English subtitles to understand it, if you are middle-aged and above. My parents, especially when they first started using SMS, would use full sentences and spell everything correctly (and even start the SMS with "Dear son", like it was a letter). Not so our young SMS speed demons.

I can imagine some civil servant looking at some youth feedback and asking what on earth is:

"doom3 roxors! we aL shud plA doom3 cuz we R l33t! doom3 4 prez!"

Loosely translated, it says "Doom3 rocks! we all should play Doom3 because we are elite! Doom3 for president!"

Doom3 is a very popular computer game which has very little to do with politics. But hey, you did ask for feedback and opinions. I think SMS may also present some problems if you have a 4,000-word tome to submit; the 160-character limit of SMS may not be enough. Like this example:

"My name is See Kiao Kiao, aged 39, IC No 1234567A, living at 501 Bukit Brown. I feel that we should allow more kinds of chewing gum and we should un-ban Playboy." (If you don't believe me, the above example is really 160 characters.)

Who knows, if you give the right feedback and display some potential, that SMS to the Government may net you an invite to join a party, a "tea dance" with Cabinet ministers. Oh wait, that's "tea sessions" with Cabinet ministers. These are like, part of the recruitment process (but it is not called that) for the ruling party, where you go through a series of interviews to be evaluated for political potential. It's like Singapore Idol for future ministers, but without the song and dance.

You go through several rounds of this, and if you are shortlisted, each session will get more and more rigorous, and will be conducted by more and more senior officials and ministers.

Sort of like winning the levels in a game like Doom3, with each level getting harder, and you having to face "Level Bosses" which become more and more difficult. So Doom3 is like politics after all. Not every Tom, Dick or Harry gets invited to these tea sessions, of course. Many are high-flying lawyers and doctors, at the top of their game.

I don't think any professional Doom3 gamer has been asked to attend yet, but this is difficult to say.

I also hear the interviews can get really tough (and you may have to use some of your special power-ups and best weapons to go through the level). Some of the questions asked at these interviews by senior dudes can be "intensely personal" or "invigoratingly intellectual". Now I am not sure what these hard questions are, or whether there is an assessment book you can complete to prepare for them, should you be invited. Here are some of my guesses:

Intensely Personal questions:

• Do you like to pose for artistic nude photos?

• What are your feelings about wearing white clothes all the time?

• If our best hope for an Olympic medal does not make it, are you man enough to cry and feel for him?

• Have you ever used your creativity to engage in idle pursuits, like mangling National songs?

• Do you want milk with that tea?

Invigoratingly Intelligent questions:

• Who wrote Shakespeare's plays?

• Who will win in a fight? Alien or Predator?

• What is the best video card to use to get the highest quality graphics at a decent frame rate in Doom3?

• Which is faster, a car going 50kmh or a motorbike going 50kmh?

• What is the Matrix?

Success at these political tea sessions will bring great rewards. Like lunch. And if that does not motivate you, you are not a True Singaporean. If you ever get to go, just remember to relax, express your honest views, and be yourself. Unless being yourself means wearing a banana mask and singing very badly.

And if you get really meek and tongue-tied at these sessions, you can try SMS-ing your views to the ministers on the spot. You better have fast thumbs though.

mr brown is the accidental author of a popular website that has been documenting the dysfunctional side of Singapore life since 1997. He thinks making the elections into a reality show will be one way to reach out to the young people.

currently playing Naked - Don't Cry

this entry is the 2nd entry which i am going to talk about the 7 sins. it will be written from a generic view, perspective, focus. as this might arouse, provoke the pinch in you. please read it as non provocative manner.*wink* what trigger me to write such a thing, you might ask. well, it all started when things in your life aren't gonna be what you least expected. it's the surprise of the surprises.

i will try to do it on weekly basis.( ayy i am busy with my work k~) And most of you know, my ink-girlish not the very powderful. so you have to ta-han with my D7 grammatic expression in words. ( then why bother to attempt it??)

Jokey Synopsis

What it is: Envy is the desire for others' traits, status, abilities, or situation.

Why you do it: Because other people are so much luckier, smarter, more attractive, and better than you.

Your punishment in Hell will be: You'll be put in freezing water.

Associated symbols & suchlike: Envy is linked with the dog and the color green.

Pronunciation Key: (nv)
n. pl. en·vies

i) A feeling of discontent and resentment aroused by and in conjunction with desire for the possessions or qualities of another. The object of such feeling: Their new pool made them the envy of their neighbors.

ii) Obsolete. Malevolence.

someone told me that when you are envy of another person. actually you like that person. being materialism envy, characteristc envy, ownership envy, etc. just when this statement is true, it also means discontent and resentment with desire( see above). Another synonyms for envy is jealously, jaundiced, maliciousness.

you see, a higher degree of envy is actually jealously in disguise. in most movies and tv shows, you saw a lot of things happened like murder, all aroused from jealous. now don't say that i watched too much tv or stereo-typing. in fact what inspires all the authors of many nice movies and stories is based on the real-time life in the society. just like office politics, the next closer scenerio in our lifes.

out of jealously, one colleague plotted and backstabbed his own colleague causing him to lose his job, which demoralised him, his wife ran away leading to suicide. i never underestimate the power of jealously. neither would i envy of someone. i don't believe there's ugly people, stupid people, poor people. i only believe there's lazy people. i believe in if he can do it, so can i.

just when is the last time you are envy of sombody or something? is it just plain envy or you are jealous?

Had lunch at BANQUET. this is one unusual food court in the city area local near CHINA SQUARE CENTRAL. It's a halal foodcourt. despite it's a halal foodcourt. you are still able to find chinese food in it. like fried kway teow, chinese rice, popia, bla bla bla, etc. come to think of it, how do they fried kway teow with pork lard? hmmmm....

Both my colleagues headed for a walk in CHINA SQUARE CENTRAL after a heavy lunch. as we were walking thru~ the fountain area, they were blasting Torn by Natalie Imbruglia over the speakers under the super sunny, glaring rays.

xiaoqiang: " ayy...we walked like macham we are shooting MTV hor..."

colleague: " hahaha... then we walked to that point and turn our head together to look one direction."

walking to that point, we turned 45 degrees up to look at the sky.

xiaoqiang, singing : " I’m wide awake and I can see the perfect sky is torn. You’re a little late, I’m already torn. " * taking off his shades*

colleague: " now you really looked like you shooting MTV..ekekkek"




hello....*knock knock* it's only afternoon. damn...i guess i missed my daily caffeine dosage.

I’m all out of faith, this is how I feel
I’m cold and I am shamed lying naked on the floor
Illusion never changed into something real
I’m wide awake and I can see the perfect sky is torn
I’m all out of faith, this is how I feel
I’m cold and I’m ashamed bound and broken on the floor
You’re a little late, I’m already torn

:: :ALIENS VERSUS PREDATOR : : :

Action/Adventure, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Suspense/Horror and Thriller
1 hr. 27 min.

The iconic monsters from the two franchises battle each other on Earth for the first time on film, as they have in the comic-book world. The discovery of an ancient pyramid buried in Antarctica sends a team of scientists and adventurers to the frozen continent. There, they make an even more terrifying discovery: two alien races enaged in an ultimate battle.

i was expecting more fighting between lotsa lotsa lotsa aliens and predators. and it turned out to be 3 predators, 1 alien queen and a few alien minors. some of fighting scenes are too fast to see... you probably were like wah wah fighting...then one alien flew and hit the pillar. and the funny part is when the one of the predator's actions to explain to the woman that it is a bomb. and as a norm in aliens/ predators movie, the woman never dies.

currently playing The Real Thing - You to me are everything

You to me are everything by
The Real Thing

I would take the stars
Out of the sky for you
Stop the rain from falling
If you asked me to
I'd do anything for you
Your wish is my command
I could move a mountain when
Your hand is in my hand
Words cannot express
How much you mean to me
There must be some other way
To make you see
If it takes my heart and soul
You know I'd pay the price
Everything that I possess
I'd gladly sacrifice

Chorus:
Oh you to me are everything
The sweetest song
That I could sing
Oh baby, oh baby
To you I guess
I'm just a clown
Who picks you up
Each time you're down
Oh baby, oh baby
You give me just
A taste of love to
Build my hopes upon
You know you got
The power boy
To keep me holding on
So now you got
The best of me
Come on and
Take the rest of me
Oh baby

Though you're close to me
We seem so far apart
Maybe given time
You'll have a change of heart
If it takes forever boy then
I'm prepared to wait
The day you give your love to me
Won't be a day too late

Repeat Chorus

below complementary photo from dickson. yesh, the photo was taken a couple of weeks back at WALA WALAS. with dawn coming back from shanghai and soon to States. Also the long-time-no-see Jeff and Gladys. Peb, Nigel, Dicky, Kelvin aka Wang, Jon and Terry. Wah~ major gathering. Finally gotten to know the title of the song at WALAS after searching for the mp3 for so long.

The ECS V300 Tablet PC ( there are several models and brands in the market.)

Mr Brown probably mentioned this in his column before. when the school promotes/ encourage the students to buy a tablet PC. This tablet supposed to ease the weight of the infamous heavy school bag. the tablets supposed to assist the teachers in teaching as well as conducting the test.

i remembered my mum yelling at me why my bag was heavy in the primary school and then virtually weightless in secondary on the account that the textbooks in secondary school are thicker and heavy with respect to 4 subjects to 9 subjects. i told my mum i dunno what to bring in primary school. i don't know what is the timetable for and practically brought everything to school, i.e. if there's no science lessons, you will still find a science textbook in the my bag.

carry forward this habit secondary school. partially on laziness. and laziness won the war such that i left my textbooks in the school taking in account that there's no afternoon sessions sharing the same classrooms. so my school bag mainly housed the textbook(s) that is needed for homeworks. plus....ermm...a T-shirt( which i wore after school... well you know, there's activities after school, outside school compound..kekek..plus my uniform is ugly.)

Now that tablets been introduced in education route. does it means the bags gonna be heavier or schools encourage parents to buy those high-end light-weighted tablets? it cost a bomb. Or the school gonna have their desks custom-made/ fitted with tablets. does it also means there's a increase in school fees?

now, the worries is no longer the mechanical pencil has no lead , the pen runs out of ink, the joker sitting at the rearer row is dozing off during the lesson hiding behind the standing-upright textbook, etc. the new worries if the power-supply got cut off during the commence of tests/exams, the forever invading virus attacks, etc. the optical and IT shops sure got a boost in their sales in the demand for tablets, the repairing of tablets due to mischief of the young owners; more and more teenagers wearing contacts or spectacles due to the constant visual contact with the screens.

++

.... in the midst of the test..

student raised his hand: " Teacher teacher, my tablet screen went off after i wrote something ."

anxious teacher: " what happened? let me take a look."

found a few small holes on the screen ,teacher: " you silly boy, don't dot so hard on the screen for the full-stops. it spoils the screen."

++

: :: My new PDA Craze: ::

thought this is not new, but i have this strong urge to buy it. ggrrr... now where is my lottery ticket??

this entry is the 1st entry which i am going to talk about the 7 sins. it will be written from a generic view, perspective, focus. as this might arouse, provoke the pinch in you. please read it as non provocative manner.*wink* what trigger me to write such a thing, you might ask. well, it all started when things in your life aren't gonna be what you least expected. it's the surprise of the surprises.

i will try to do it on weekly basis.( ayy i am busy with my work k~) And most of you know, my ink-girlish not the very powderful. so you have to ta-han with my D7 grammatic expression in words. ( then why bother to attempt it??)

one of the seven sins listed is pride.

Meaning of pride : ( P ) Pronunciation Key (prd) noun.

1. A sense of one's own proper dignity or value; self-respect.
2. Pleasure or satisfaction taken in an achievement, possession, or association: parental pride.
3. Arrogant or disdainful conduct or treatment; haughtiness.
4. i)A cause or source of pleasure or satisfaction; the best of a group or class: These soldiers were their country's pride.
ii)The most successful or thriving condition; prime: the pride of youth.

5. An excessively high opinion of oneself; conceit.
6. Mettle or spirit in horses.
7. A company of lions. See Synonyms at flock1.
8. A flamboyant or impressive group: a pride of acrobats.

tr.v. prid·ed, prid·ing, prides
To indulge (oneself) in a feeling of pleasure or satisfaction: I pride myself on this beautiful garden.


from a jokely religious angle:

What it is: Pride is excessive belief in one's own abilities, that interferes with the individual's recognition of the grace of God. It has been called the sin from which all others arise. Pride is also known as Vanity.

Why you do it: Well-meaning elementary school teachers told you to "believe in yourself."

Your punishment in Hell will be: You'll be broken on the wheel.

Associated symbols & suchlike: Pride is linked with the horse and the color violet

it never occurs to me that pride is one the 7 sins.

"take pride in what you do . "

this verse was carried on my officer's mouth when i was serving in the army. whenever i was wanna practice it when i recited after him. it doesn't make sense to me. just as how many people meant what they say. how many people do what they said to be done. it keeps you wondering if the person is actually lying for any possible reason. just as there's no right or wrong answer for some situations, there's only better or best answer. worse if it falls within the chicken and egg question. which came 1st?

a nice gesture to our children if they do asked will be,

"son, it's all part of the learning process in life." 'cos we too can't give a definite question.

isn't it good when people did or say when they meant it. they took pride in it. just as what it meant. indulge oneself in a feeling of pleasure. for the discomfort of others in an arrogant or disdainful conduct of treatment/ manner. a few words for disdainful/ arrogant is despise, egotistic, supercilious, braggy, presumtous, etc bla bla bla.... earlier words mentioned has been witnessed by my eyes. it questioned me again. what's really ticking in their mind. what/ how causes this characteristics in the people?

Mr officer, what would you think if i did something out of despise and supercilious; just to deliver what you wanted. then again, you should be glad i didn't take pride in everything you ask me to.

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Another week of Mr Brown - New era for S'pore but ...

By the time you read this, it will be a new day for Singapore. We will be led by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, with support from SM Goh Chok Tong and ... er ... MM Lee Kuan Yew.I am glad they finally announced Minister Mentor Lee's new title. It ended a lot of coffee shop speculation and online forum discussion on possible titles (come on, guys — "High Overlord"?). And it definitely befits him as an "old political warrior" to guide and give advice. Some of the suggestions that came from our "creative" online community (read: Too much time on our hands) were:

.• Really Senior Minister (RSM)
.• Head of The Jedi Council (Watched too many Star Wars movies)
.• Super-Senior Minister (SSM)
.• Dad (Took the term "Father of the Nation" too literally)
.• High Overlord (Played too many computer games)
.• The One (Watched The Matrix too many times)

So I am glad the Government did not consult these imaginative individuals for title suggestions.My friends reminded me not to miss the 8pm live screening of the new Prime Minister's swearing.Swearing IN, lah, bodohs.I envy the 1,400 people from all walks of life who were invited to witness this grand event.Got chance to go Istana, got chance to take photo with new PM, got chance to eat good food. That's so Singaporean, right? Have to think of the food.

Owing to the large number of guests, it was decided to hold the ceremony outdoors. That must have given the head of the security detail for the event many sleepless nights. Stress, man.I do have to voice two objections to the whole thing, though. One, if you look at the TV programme listings for last night, you will see that at 8pm on Channel 5, the programme is Swearing In Of The Prime Minister And The Cabinet. Immediately after that, at 9pm? Just For Laughs Gags IV. Hello? My second objection? No holiday.I really think Singaporeans need a day to celebrate the successful transfer of leadership and to reflect on how we, as citizens of Singapore, can play a more active role in securing the future of Singapore, which is our home, Shirley (Insert Home 2004 video here).Also, I need to go to Sim Lim to buy some computer cables and a holiday would be really helpful.I, for one, really enjoyed my National Day long weekend. On National Day itself, we had a family picnic at one of the fine local nature reserves (I won't tell you where, or you will all go there too and spoil it for us. Yes, I very kiasu).

It was like a scene out of those National Songs videos: Five families having a picnic in a beautiful green haven. Eight children running on the grass, screaming their heads off, one of them throwing up on a poncho. A father dropping his handphone into the reservoir. Gin rummy with seedless grapes as money (actually as forfeit) Okay, maybe not exactly like a National Song video. But close enough.
Then at night, some of us adjourned to my home. We brought dinner from the kopitiam downstairs, watched the National Day Parade and viewed the fireworks from my kitchen window.Followed by a screening of Singapore Idol, during which we almost laughed our dinner out of our noses. I never knew there were so many ... ahem ... "talents" in Singapore.

I mean, I watched American Idol, and thought, okay, they have millions of people there so it is understandable that you would get some major weirdos showing up for auditions.But Singapore is only a tiny island, man. Where do these koo-koo people come from? We need to get them some professional help, man! I am sure a few of you took one look at some of the "less-talented" contestants and said to yourself: "Hey, that guy is my neighbour, man!" And promptly went to double-lock your door.Or "Hey, I went to school with that guy!" Or "Hey, big sister, isn't that guy wearing the mask and dancing in his underwear your boyfriend?" You see, it is different watching Singapore Idol. It's unlikely that any us know the American Idol contestants. But those Singapore Idol people we were watching (in horror and disbelief), were probably people we know — our fellow countrymen, our relatives, our friends, our stalkers.

But that's what makes it compelling, funny and scary, all at the same time. I hope none of these kooky contestants was invited to the Swearing In ceremony. The last thing you want is one of the invited witnesses running up on stage when the new PM is being sworn in and grabbing a mike to sing and dance in his underwear. Ewwww!

Now THAT would have given the head of the security detail a real fit.

mr brown is the accidental author of a popular website that has been documenting the dysfunctional side of Singapore life since 1997. He is still recovering from eating too many grapes because he kept losing at gin rummy.

: my new phone craze :

came across this email. which you might have probably read it off somewhere. it's true. you are special.


A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20.00 bill. In the room of 200,

he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?"

Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this."

He proceeded to crumple up the $20 dollar bill. He then asked, "Who still wants it?"

Still the hands were up in the air. Well, he replied, "What if I do this?"

And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty.

"Now, who still wants it?"

Still the hands went into the air.

"My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value.It was still worth $20. Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to those who DO LOVE you. The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know, but by WHO WE ARE. You are special- Don't EVER forget it."

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FISH STORY FROM WICHITA EAGLE NEWSPAPER

This strange-but-true story was in The Sunday Wichita Eagle Newspaper a couple of weeks ago. It took place in a housing development around 119th St. South and Maple.

A resident in the area saw a ball bouncing around kind of strange on the development's pond and went to investigate. He found a flathead catfish who had obviously tried to swallow a child's basketball which became lodged in it's mouth. The fish was totally exhausted from trying to dive but was unable to do so because the ball would always bring him back up to the surface. The resident tried numerous times to get the ball out of the fish's mouth but was unsuccessful. He finally had his wife cut the ball in order to deflate it and release the catfish.

ouch...


this is a catfish if you didn't how it looks like


rod to the rescue


checkout the size of the catfish.. *blink blink*


su go i ne~

i was combing a few buildings today for potential educational cilents. as such that, it came to my surprise how many educational centres existed in singapore. All posting almost the similar kind of degrees, BAs, MBA, bla bla bla...but from different universities; aside from the normal known tertiary institution like polytechnics and local unis. it is also amazing to see so many people going for courses, upgrading themselves, queueing up to get the flyers and informations.

a thought off the busy trash-brain of mine. just how many educational centres are genuinely proven good? is it got to do with the syllabuses taught in the textbook? or is it the student themselves? Our very own Informatics are rumoured to suck to core. in fact none of my friends or relatives had a positive comment about them.

looking at a humanely level or angle. it's always good to upgrade yourself in every aspect. or maybe enrich is a better word. we never stop learning. there are a million more things we've to learn apart from those learnt from the textbooks. just as they theoratically proven. it's also needed as much to be proven practically. does it apply what you've learnt?

or is it the kiasu culture that has been injected into every singaporean lives to quench the thirst of materialism? meaning you need a piece of paper( degree/ diploma) in order to survive in singapore. also meaning you can closed your eyes, take a pebble and throw at a crowd of singaporeans. you bound to hit a graduate. if you looked at another angle, it will be like selling yourself to companies, MNCs, SMEs, bla bla. telling people to hire you only because you have Ba in bla bla bla; or double Ba; Masters in bla bla bla; or even PhD.

there are getting more people trying to stick the field of experty they studied. after all they paid so much for a degree. if you are not going to do what you've studied, is it a waste?

above is the pix of the singapore fireworks 2004. no, they don't launched all at the same time. in case some idiots thought so. it's just me( yes me again playing around with photoshop) putting shots together. and abit of tricks here and there. For those who didn't know a.k.a. sua gu( mountain-turtle), this is the 1st time in 39 years that we have a fireworks display which last for 3 weeks on 3 sundays. the fireworks used to suck at all national days. except one which i remembered a couple of years back watching from my house. they called it "the little boy's head" ( how lame could it be); which is extremely big. the launch was the last blast where you see one strand of light went real high up and disappeared and KABOOM!!. it formed the head. that's the best one so far... the rest (-_-!).

I was on my way to Lip's house on bus no.196. and realised this is the 2nd time i took bus no.196. it took me a while to recab back when's the last time i took the same bus no. During the secondary days, it was a trip to east coast beach with my newly found friends from the 7th National Geography Camp. why 196? 'cos this stupid xiaoqiang wants to take a look at New Town Secondary so he travelled west to Commonwealth MRT and waited for the rest to go there together. those were the days. all you need is a student transilink card and pay 35cents per trip. you can travel around singapore like crazy. oh oh not forgeting the bus stamp where you need to stick on your bus pass every month. when it always give me creeps when i have more than $50 and when it's time to purchase the bus stamp. HAH!

Gone were the days of 35cents for a bus ride and 45cents for MRT ride. Gone also were the days of having a bus stamp. Now it's the formidable Easilink Card. you can use it to pay for bus/mrt ride. you can even use it to pay for Mcdonalds' meal. *yum yum* i also remembered Mcdonalds used to house almost every burger in a styroform box, except hamburger and cheeseburger. blue styroform box for filet-o fish, brown styroform box for big mac, ermmm Machicken burger...ermmm can't remember. curry sauce don't come in a container-wrap. it used to come as a enlarged chilli/tomato sauce-liked packing. they used to have samurai burger too. they don't used brown recycled paper for take-aways. they used real good quality white paperbag.

just when would you know you are getting old? probably when you start to think about what you do in your younger days. now 24, young, promising, vibrant looking back at 12-16 neatly gel hair, spectacled, nerdy yet mixed with a bunch of BSLH( ah Beng, ah Seng, ah Lian , ah Huey) gang where designer labels were the uniforms - Burberries sleeves folded up shirts, metal gold studs MCM/ Armani jeans, long pointed comb and long JPG wallet sticking out, white canvas shoes or converse slippers. *giggling* now where did i put those photographs?

sigh~ where will i be when i looked back at my 24, young, promising, vibrant self?

2 incidents happened on a train ride today. one is this commuter who screamed, yelled into her handphone and talked as if the whole entire cabin is empty. Telling everyone in the cabin she lost her trust in singapore medical field, i would forgive her that she couldn't find a cure for some disease or illness. but she's just someone who don't have a single public courtesy. At the same time, spitting the word "F**k" for about 28 times before she alights. you can see i am pretty turned off about this girl. i bothered to count how many times she uses the word. and the more fustrating part is she is standing not very far away from me. the conversation is possible to put into acapella notes. till a point i stood up and told my friend. " Now let us take a look at how this bitch looks like." those who were around me probably were shocked by my words as they moved aside when i stood up. but then again. why i didn't tell her off?

hmmm....

Another incident was this school girl fainted in front of this oh-i-so-glam-so-you-don't-talk-to-me look lady. this lady immediately changed and really cares for this probably exhausted girl. she helped to to carry this girl to a given-up seat. massage her forehead, despite messing up her expensive chanel top and DKNY pants. after all, there's still a soft heart in singaporeans. Now who says that singaporeans is a bunch of cold-blooded animals??


Not sure if this happens around your surroundings. but these has been happening to many of my friends which i think i need to address this strange phenomenom. the breaking-up season is in the house!!! it's always a phenomenom. you don't get one couple break up. you got a few or more if you knew many friends. one even conveniently blamed the national day red colour. *huh?*

my friend, if you really need to talk to someone on this. let me know. i will be your most loyal audience. i promised. call me.

oh oh.. my handphone is now on coporate plan.

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another session of Mr Brown : How to shape our young minds

Here's a bright idea: Tablet PCs. It costs just $3,000 and gives me one more reason to work overtime .



ONCE again, National Day rolls around and we, the citizens of Singapore, patriotically gather our families together, sing a few national songs and prepare to go on a holiday for the long weekend. I am proud to say that I have not travelled overseas during any National Day weekend so far. I cannot afford it. I dutifully stay home to watch the parade and ice-skating shows on TV and enjoy the fireworks from my window (jealous, right?).

It's a good time to do the family stuff that scores you major brownie points with the wife, like taking the kids for a picnic in the park, cycling on the beach and teaching them post-modern poetry.

I suspect the kids would rather be home chillin' with the Old Man than running around in the hot sun. We chill a lot, especially when Mommy's not looking. My three-year-old Faith and 10-month-old Isaac are both quite cool with sitting in the sofa with Dad and watching some silly TV programme. But the minute Mommy steps out of the shower, we need to engage in some kind of meaningful father-kid activity. I whip out the colourful books and flash cards and we switch from "TV-veg-out" mode to "Better-Parents-Than-You" magazine mode.

Look busy, Mommy's coming.

Then when she steps into the kitchen, we go back to our chillout mode, sinking into the comfy sofa. Creative play is tiring stuff for father and child. Of course, there are other times when we do the mind-developing EQ-nurturing stuff even when Mommy's not around. But you don't score points for those moments, because she did not witness it. Take my advice and try to reserve those moments for when the missus has line of sight. Make every point count.

I saw on TV news the other day how some parents looked when they were balloting for places in the primary school of their desires. It was sad, man. One father looked like he had struck lottery when his kid's name was called and another mother was on the verge of tears when interviewed about not getting a place for her daughter.

Is it THAT bad? Maybe I am some evil father who does not care for his kids' future but it is a school, people. The child is not going to be emotionally scarred if he does not get into the school that some famous MP went to. Some parents will move the family into an expensive estate to ensure that they stand a better chance of getting into Some Prestigious Primary School (SPPS), but they cannot spend time with the child because they need to work doubly hard to afford the mortgage.

Here's another reason to work overtime. A school plans to make their students switch from textbooks to Tablet PCs. Wow, great idea. Put handheld computers costing $3,000 apiece in the hands of children. Of course, we are told that the Tablet PCs are going to be a great replacement for heavy textbooks and the teacher can draw on his own PC and the kids will be able to see it at once on their own PC. (The teacher's previous computer knowledge was operating a calculator.)

Now, instead of having to squint while reading the blackboard, kids can get the same strain on the eye by reading pages and pages of text on computer screens — like we grown-ups do.

How do the two learning tools stack up?

Textbook: Does not cost a bomb, or run out of batteries, or break when dropped, or get viruses, or need upgrading. Tablet PC: Costs a bomb, runs out of batteries, breaks when dropped, is a virus magnet and in constant need of hardware and software upgrades.

Hmmm, the Tablet PC does look better ... as long as the battery does not die before an exam, or the hard disk does not crash before a test, or the teacher is not some technological retard who cannot compute his or her way out of a paper bag. Other than that, it looks like a great idea. I better start saving up for my kids' $3,000 Tablet PC fund now.

mr brown is the accidental author of a popular website that has been documenting the dysfunctional side of Singapore life since 1997. His children enjoy tearing and eating books, and pounding on his laptop keyboard. They must be Gifted

across this email which i think i should shared with you guys. most people complicated things when they get older. when the answer is so simple. it happens in our lifes as well. sometimes things are not as hard as what it seems. it's the way we look at it. and for those who knew it and still take it on the hard way. they are normally classified as stubborn, like me. i am stubborn on certain things. don't ask me what 'cos i can't tell you when i will be stubborn. at least i will not tell you it's my principle. kekeke read on. and do click on the 2 links at the bottom. they are quite cute. remember to switch on your speakers.

The Difference Between Focusing on Problems, and Focusing on Solutions:

When NASA began the launch of astronauts into space, they found out:That the pens wouldn't work at zero gravity. (Ink won't flow down to the writing surface) In order to solve this problem, they hired Andersen Consulting Accenture today). It took them one decade and 12 million dollars. They developed a pen that worked at zero gravity, upside down, under water, in practically any surface including crystal and in a temperature rangefrom below freezing to over 300 degrees C.

The Russians used a pencil...

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click http://www.qoobee.com/Episode/Qobeps2.htm
click http://www.qoobee.com/DynamicComics/Comic3/Dycomic3.htm