KORORO just released a new site above and a new flash series, RAIN. click here to view the flash. note that there's 2 episodes now.


i must have kana the smelly-est mouth in singapore. else why would everybody distanced themselves from me? but then again, monday's evening is wonderful. you probably ask why i have no monday blues. heheheheh*grin* maybe i wasn't smelly. maybe they thought it's ex-convict that they can't re-accept......

i was on my way to queenstown just now in the evening taking the MRT. as usual, 7 pm in raffles place is a cursed timing. everybody tried to rush home. i was with my colleague . we entered the MRT, as usual trying to move towards the centre of the train. this lady stopped in front of us. so we stopped too. then things got squeezey. you know how kia-see( scare to death in hokkien, singapore context) singaporeans are lah. they will try to push as much as they can. please lah people, the train come every 2 mins during peak hour.

i was looking around trying get away with all the squeeze. there i saw a big lobang( hole, empty space) in front of the lady that stopped earlier on and the guy with headphones. so.....

xiaoqiang turned to his colleague: " ayy, there got ghost ah, why no one stand there?"

colleague, trying very hard not to laugh: " hehe..."

the lady looked back. and i stared back. now now, there's 3 other people who were hearing headphones also looked back at the same time.

xiaoqiang: " ayy, i thought they all hearing music. they can hear leh."

colleague, grining : " hehehe, maybe you shouted."

one of them blushed. one of them ignored. one of them and the lady moved in to occupy the empty space.

both of us just grined.

i feel like bitching and swearing today. this is definitely a side of xiaoqiang whom not many have seen.

This is the situation. i got a stray dog or maybe a lost dog hiding in my toilet today. my family and i have no idea how it got in. maybe it flew in. and no matter what means i tried it just will not leave. your poor xiaoqiang has no heart just to leave it out there just like that. neither can he keep it.

Check with neighbours, no one rear pets. or this bloody bastard/ btich has no guts to own it after he/ she abandon it. Checked with SPCA, they can't do anything unless i can bring it down to SPCA personally.


I saw a stray dog. Can SPCA come and get it?

Yes, provided you can confine and stay with it and that you give us your full name, address and telephone number. However, the SPCA does not have the resources nor the manpower to catch stray animals on demand. Our vans' primary purpose is for Emergency work, such as rescuing accident victims, sick and dying strays or very young kittens and puppies, so collecting `healthy' strays must take second priority.

So, if you can confine the dog on the day that the SPCA is in your area, (the SPCA visits certain areas on designated days - please call 6287 5355 during office hours for details) we will collect on the same day. If the SPCA is unable to collect it on the same day and you are not able to bring it in yourself, the SPCA is able to arrange a pet transport service to pick it up, but you must pay the S$15 transport fee charged by them.

for more info please visit http://www.spca.org.sg/

Got referred to Enviromental Health. They said since it's a stray dog and entered the house premises, i got referred again to AVA and HDB. and waiting is not a good medicine for anxiety( anxiety for my mum, she has gone paranoid and hysterical about it) so i called up Environmental Health again for the outcome. the guy told me they have reacted immediately to this situation( i appreciated that) and referred this matter to AVA and HDB, waiting for reply. i was like "huh?"

man: " We have referred this matter to AVA and HDB via email."

i was like WTF......piss steamed to the max.

but i kept cool and asked for numbers to the 2 organisation above. called them and what i heard on the other line is a voice-recorded message.( hey robots works on sundays now)

robot: " our working hours are ........ mon to fri; ......on sat; we are closed on sunday. please call back on another working day....thank you"

*clamp fists* it's alright. i understand. every singaporean started to observe a 5-day week working manner. that's what PM Lee proposed for government bodies. no worries. how can i forget our neighbour hero. Mr Policeman. dialed 999...

*ring ring.....* man voice: "Hello Emergency?"

xiaoqiang: "Hi, this is edmund here, i have a situation...bla bla bla...hello.....hello?"

silent.

xiaoqiang: " Haaaaaaalllllllooooo........."

*toot~................*

i can't believe it. i dial again.

lady voice:" hi good afternoon. Police Emergency"

xiaoqiang: "Hi, this is edmund here, i have a situation...bla bla bla..."

lady voice:" oh we can't help much on that. but i can refer you to AVA."

xiaoqiang: " i tried but only the voicemail is working on sunday. thanks, i appreciate that.

SUNDAY is really a off day!!!!!

i got it out finally. the dog has a collar. i reckoned it belongs to somebody. i will be loitering around my void deck for the desperate owner. People, i urge you all. and i appeal to all readers to stop dumping animals and no animal abused. There is a growing trend to abandon animals be they unwanted litters, outgrown pets, mongrels or purebreds - thousands are discarded each year when the novelty wears off - victims of a throw-away society.

i hope that more care and thought will go into the ownership of an animal - it is a lifetime of commitment, not to be entered into lightly. It is better to deprive yourself of owning a pet, than to discard it when you don't have the time to look after it. And pet owners are reminded to have their animals sterilised to prevent unwanted litters being born.

Let us remember that they do not deserve to be dumped like unwanted rubbish. like you and me, we are all living things. it's never nice or feel good to be abandon or abused. if you do, let it be a slap embedded in your brains and memories forever. we shouldn't treat it lightly.

i lay a curse on you. if you dump or abuse animals, you will be hit by a car when you cross the road. you will be strike by lightning even if there's no clouds. you will be burn by the fire when cooking. the zoo, sea and safari will be a forbidden ground for your children and generations after. they will be haunted by the fear of animal, creepy crawlers or animal spirits. your children and generations after will grew up in a phobia of fishes and under-nourished. your children and generations after will get skin disease when they are out in the sun or get brain distortion when they used handphones. there will be no happy marriage or families for your children and generations after. your children and generations after will continue to slog for their lifes serving others and will never make it big.

call me a loser or creep. call me a freak or nutcase. call me a psycho or insane or sick. I DON"T CARE. if you can't keep it, don't let it gone wasted. the animals have the rights to live.

the last sin of the 7 sins will be published next week. look out for it.

when in camera mode, press the button '1' once to zoom in and press the same button again to zoom out.

any phone owner who can tell you that if water ever seeps into your phone, it's time to check saturday's newspaper for handphone advertisements. now now, if someone tells you water can actually make your phone work better. you think he's crazy.

came across this article in NEWPAPER, Saturday, 25th Sept edition. that a group of A*Star's researchers from Institude of Materials Research (IMRE) in Singapore has a new discovery. They may have the solution to enable camera phones to have better zooming and focusing capabilites, by special water lens. currently there's no company able to do a optical zoom lens in a handphone 'cos of its size and shape.

optical zoom a.k.a real zoom is the one when you look at your digital camera, the lens juts out when you zoom in/ out. Most camera phones and digital cameras has this zoom called, digital zoom which uses software to magnify images. so it's pretty pointless if the salesman tell you the product has how many 'X' for digital zoom. it will not capture the real image.

something for sci-freaks. our human eyes can see objects at a distance or nearby without any gymnastics done to our eyes. When we look at far objects, our eye lens stretches, thus forming a concave to increase the focal length, when we look at near objects, the eye lens rounds off, thus forming a convex. pretty interesting hor hor???

Photos compliments of Candice.

photos from last saturday's BBQ at candice place. crowds came in at the later part of the night. Candice is a great chef. not cooking*wink, kakaka* but marinating the chicken. While me and jon had a difficult time to plug the gas in, Vivienti just got it in a twil. hmmm... It was great night except i got pissed drunk after the shots. i guess i was 1/2 sleeping by the chair.

NEVER!!!!

i said never mixed port with vodka. it will almost killed you.

Still, Ian is the attraction of the night. DUDE, we lurve ya and we will awaits for your return. by the way, study hard, or you will end up in the service line...


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Another Friday post of Mr Brown - Don't study, you'll end up in service industry

Much-maligned sales staff are not above blame but customers need to go for training, too

I was at the bank during lunch hour, queueing up to cancel my credit line because the yearly subscription was up; I didn't need any credit; and the bank had no free gift for me for renewing. The nice lady at the counter told me it would take about four to eight weeks to terminate the credit line.

Have you ever noticed that if you sign up for a credit line (complete with free gift and the first year free), it will be activated even before the ink of your signature dries and even before the courier the bank sent to your house to get your signature has returned to the office? But when you want to terminate the line, you have to go down to the bank in person with your identity card, or you have to write a pain-in-the-backside letter (yes, that is on paper, email does not qualify). And oh — it takes six to eight weeks for it to happen.

I am sure the bank will say: "But we need to get a formal termination from you to ensure no one impersonates you".

Sure! However, when you want to give me your dinky free gift and "first year free", anything goes.

Incidentally, when I was there, a dude in sunglasses (Yes! You read it right — sunglasses in the bank!) complained very loudly to the lady who served me and her manager that the teller was very rude to him — for telling him to take his sunglasses off! Now anyone who has gone to a bank should know by now that the bank does not allow you to come in wearing a motorbike helmet, or sunglasses, or a ski mask.

And while "Mr Dark Glasses" may have had medical reasons for wearing them, or not, he really should not have been surprised that the teller would tell him his shades were not allowed.

I wonder if he would have been this assertive if a Cisco policeman had told him to take his shades off. Perhaps, a pretty teller sitting behind the counter was fair game for obnoxious behaviour. Needless to say, the rest of us in the queue were not about to provide him moral support. We all suddenly found the ceiling very interesting, and were probably pondering the beauty of the interior design of the branch, along the lines of, "Can't this guy just shut up and move along so we can get our banking done during our short and precious lunch hour?"

I think we Singaporeans get the customer service we deserve. We complain about the salesgirl who did not smile at us and pulled a long face when we entered the store. We mess up the display bin and then complain why everything is so hard to find. We sit along the aisles of a bookstore and complain when we are told not to sit there because it is a fire-safety violation.

That is not to say that salespeople are above reproach. If I hear another, "Whatever we have is already on display on the rack", you will hear some new swear words. But you get what you give. I have seen Westerners chat and laugh with salespeople and get good treatment in return. Of course, when that happens, we locals immediately say: "You see, you see? The salesgirl discriminates between locals and foreigners. I want to see the manager right now!"

Dunno leh. When I chatted with the same salesgirl that ang moh had spoken to, she was also nice to me, what? Maybe if you stop calling her "Oei" and don't pretend that your grandfather owns the place (unless he really does), she will be nice to you too.

I don't know, it is just my theory.

It is little wonder that mothers and fathers do not want their children going into the service industry. Working in the service industry is considered a lowly job; and serving people and doing sales are akin to being a lowly servant and losing face. But we still want to be served by well-motivated, well-trained salespeople who are proud of their profession ... just as long as they are not our own kids.

Study hard, or you will end up in the service industry, child. As if it is some kind of curse.

Ironically, as products and services get more and more similar (How many suburban malls are you going to visit before you realise they are all the same?), the one thing that will set you apart is service. Even price may not do it for you. I mean, you offer $1 airfare and there will be someone who will offer 49 cents airfare.

You offer 49 cents airfare; and someone else will pay the customer to fly with them.

So, what will set you apart? Well, your website not crashing from the increased load on the day you announce your low fares would be nice for a start. It is no use offering low airfares if your potential customers don't have fun visiting your crashing website trying to book some tickets ... or offering low airfares but omitting to tell the customers that they have to pay another $200 for airport tax, fuel tax and war tax.

So, that's what they mean when they say "From $100", riiiiight!

I think we should not just send service staff for training. I think Singaporean customers need to go for training too. Like learning how to smile when a salesperson smiles at you ... or learning to use those magic words: "Please" and "Thank you".

And to take off your sunglasses or ski mask when you enter a bank so that you won't get body tackled by the bank guard.

mr brown is the accidental author of a popular website documenting the dysfunctional side of Singapore life since 1997. He is always nice to people in the service industry because he does not want to drink his soup and wonder if there were any extra "ingredients" added.

was at the painting exhibitions tonite at TCC, The Gallery by this artist Einstein Kristiansen. it's was quite an experience meeting him in person. Someone really himself like he was on TV. Unfortunately, i couldn't snapped any pictures of his artworks. but at least got a picture of him up there.

Go to this website, http://www.earthtree.com.sg/earthtree.swf for more info.

Cartoonist Einstein hates it when he is referred to as an art clown, or if his work is dismissed as "child's play, not art". This is the number one voice against the boundaries and the elitist nature of the art world - Einstein's mission as a practising artist is to demonstrate that creativity exists everywhere, and cannot be boxed into neat categories of fine art, cartoons, etc. This well-read scholar of the arts has long been interested in trying his hand at anything new and in Infusion, he takes on the challenge of learning print-making. A difficult process, he is taken through it by Singapore's leading print making institute, The Tyler Print Institute and learns how to make prints of his wild and weird flights of fantasy. Because print making is a delicate process of pressure being applied to the surface of the painting. Einstein will proceed to test prints under 2 very different types of pressure : one by driving a truck over a painting, the other by having an elephant from the zoo sit on it!

currently playing Metallica - Unforgiven


Look who's at Channel News Asia website

He may have committed a crime but he is fully capable of changing for the better.

For the very first time, Community Action for the Rehabilitation of Ex-Offenders (CARE) Network’s member agencies are jointly organising the YRP to raise the awareness of the Singapore community towards the needs of ex-offenders in their difficult journey towards leading normal lives.



Friend A: " So what did you do?"

xiaoqiang: "Nothing lor......."

Friend B: " tell lah , tell won't die want right. You sell VCD? runner for Ah long?"

xiaoqiang: " no lah, i raped a underaged girl...." * burst out laughing*

Friend C, with eyes wide open : "REALLY AH!?!?!?!"

xiaoqiang: " please lah, You think i am that kind of person meh??"

all nodded their head.

someone forwarded this to me which i think it's pretty interesting. Dunno if it works on your car. i dunno 'cos i don't have a car. *wink*



Hi, All You Forgetful People and there are a lot of us. This only applies to cars that can be unlocked by that remote button on your key ring. Should you lock your keys in the car and the spare keys are home, and you don't have "OnStar.

here's your answer to the problem!

If some one has access to the spare remote at your home, call them on your cell phone (or borrow one from someone if the cell phone is locked in the car too!) Hold your (or anyone's) cell phone about a foot from your car door and have the other person at your home press the unlock button, holding it near the phone.

Your car will unlock. I tried it and it works. Saves someone from having to drive your keys to you. Distance is no object. You could be hundreds of miles away, and if you can reach someone who has the other "remote" for your car, you can unlock the doors (or the trunk, or have the "horn" signal go off, or whatever!)

Take my photo off the wall,
If it just won't sing for you...
'Cause all that's left has gone away,
And there's nothing there for you to prove...

this entry is the 6th 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?? duh~)

Jokey Synopsis
What it is: Greed is the desire for material wealth or gain, ignoring the realm of the spiritual. It is also called Avarice or Covetousness.

Why you do it: You live in possibly the most pampered, consumerist society since the Roman Empire.

Your punishment in Hell will be: You'll be boiled alive in oil. Bear in mind that it's the finest, most luxurious boiling oil that money can buy, but it's still boiling.

Associated symbols & suchlike: Greed is linked with the frog and the color yellow.


greed(P)Pronunciation Key: grd; n.
meaning: An excessive desire to acquire or possess more than what one needs or deserves, especially with respect to material wealth: “Many... attach to competition the stigma of selfish greed” (Henry Fawcett).

Greed is wanting and taking more than one morally deserves.

Medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas said of Greed: "it is a sin directly against one's neighbour, since one man cannot over-abound in external riches, without another man lacking them... it is a sin against God, just as all mortal sins, inasmuch as man contemns things eternal for the sake of temporal things."


below is what i have qouted from Chicago Sun Times , Published on Friday, August 20, 2004 by Andrew Greeley on America's Disease is Greed.

.....The serious spiritual problem is reckless and untrammeled greed. Greed caused the disgraceful corporate scandals that fill our newspapers. Greed is responsible for crooked cops and crooked politicians. Greed is the reason poor white Appalachians, poor African Americans and poor Native Americans must fight the wars that the wealthy start.

In America, Greed is responsible for the obscene salaries of CEOs. In the '90s the ratio of CEO compensation to average workers' compensation was 250 to 1, meaning that the boss earned on his first day of work during a year as much as the worker did in a whole year. In European countries the ratio is closer to 100 to 1. estimates put the current ratio at 500 to 1 -- the boss makes as much before lunch as the worker does all year. Greed is the cause of the high wages paid to the bosses even if the company is failing.

Ambition is not evil within limits. The struggle for success is not bad within limits. Hard work and fair rewards are good within limits. It is not good to take from the poor and give to the rich. will i get to see this scene in this barely half a century old nation yet transformed into a developed machine within one of the shortest time a country could do....

the last time i witnessed a scene of greed was after a farewell party a couple of months back. something which i never thought it will happen in my another group of friends. some of you might know what i am talking about. i will not name anyone here.

we were having this pool party for a friend of ours, Y who's returning to states for studies. all well was fun, plenty of fun, pool splashing and dunking into the waters. some even got wasted. and photos from the owner A of the pool party was showing me some pictures he took while doing shoots overseas. i really enjoyed myself that night.

till arrived at this disco place, only to find out Y with his gf outside the disco looked abit uneasy and pissed( nope, not from the drinks). and the next thing was these fists, kicks and push all over the thief. now tell me where in the world will you as a thief still stays at the scene with the loot still in your possession. the safest place is the most dangerous place don't applies here. is it really the money or the thrill of stealing that root this person?

"For the love of money is the root of all Evil."
I Tim 6:10

i don't know. all i know that hopefully this person learnt his lesson and never to appear again. not only did he betray the trust we placed in him, he also betray the trust that J another of mine who stood by him when this thief was being questioned.

currently playing Jets - Look what you've done

ask some of the younger generations, how does a chicken looks like? you will be amazed that they will point to the plastic bag in the frozen section in a supermarket. no kidding.

Gone were the days of kids running around in kampongs. i used to lived in one. and i think i am the last generation of singaporeans who stayed in kampongs. Gone were also the days were air tickets that fetch as high as a few grands. the recent launch of TIGER AIR successfully penetrates the aviation industry; causing stirrs and talks in the region. the website is so frequently viewed till when you enter the website in the address bar. it comes out a invalid website or error. don't worry, it's not a hoax. but more like the traffic jam.

and the recent bird flu/ virus caused a stir in singapore market too in jetting up the prices of eggs where. now the price of 1 egg, 68cents is equivalent to almost 2 27cents from TIGER AIR. i am not surprised that promotions and lucky draws decided to have 2 half-boiled eggs as 1st prize, maybe they could consider egged prata from jalan kayu or fried oyster. *grin*

but i hope you guys know what you are paying.

qouted from sammyboy forum:

....TeoKongTao says: Hot off the press, literally. Just came back from drinks with some journalists and fellow agency folks from Press Club.

Major announcement in media industry that will return us to the good old days of monopoly and squeezing blood from advertisers.

Mediacorp will buy SPH Mediaworks' assets on the cheap. Channel i and u staff have been asked to prepare for worst outcome. Some of the senior staff who have positioned thmselves properly have already materialised their exit strategy. Due diligence done, three months to completion of deal.

Streats is closing down, but SPH will buy significant but not majority stake in Mediacorp Press Ltd which is the owner of Today newspaper. Today will continue to operate but with different management. Senior editors and reporters who defected from SPH to join Today at high salaries will be the first to be retrenched. Printing and distribution contracts to be cancelled by year end.....

http://www.mrbrown.com/blog/2004/09/back_to_good_ol.html#more

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Another friday post of Mr Brown - A pink iPod for my frugal wife

OK, it is hypocritical of me to deprive her of a branded handbag but can it play MP3 music?


There was this trailer I saw on television about an upcoming programme that featured people who were willing to spend lots of money on branded goods. When the host asked her lady guest, as they were shopping up a storm, how it feels to be spending $1,200 on a handbag, her guest shouts: "Shiok!"

The first thought that came to my mind was, "So, how does it feel to be broke for the rest of the month?" ("Not shiok!") But then the lady may be very loaded and $1,200 to her is like buying a bowl of kway teow soup at the hawker centre. So that is why she can be "shiok" and someone like me can feel "shock".

The second thought I had was: "What a wonderful and frugal wife I have!"

This is a woman who cannot bear to spend the money to call a cab, even when she is at Orchard Road on a Friday evening and it is raining. Even though I tell her I will pay for it. That is not to say she is not fond of shopping and buying stuff. I am sure she likes a $1,200 handbag as much as the next tai tai, but she would not do it if it meant putting me into a lifetime of credit card debt.

Not long ago, I was at Comex, a PC show at Suntec and decided to get her an iPod Mini, the Apple MP3 player, as a gift.

Ok, you know what these PC shows are like. The same old Sim Lim/Funan shops, selling the same old computer thing that you do not need ("now with blinky lights!"), but at lower promotion prices (that will fall dramatically in price wars over three days of the show). But still, like moths to a flame, we Men of Tech go. Just to "look-see look-see only", we say. We won't buy anything. Yeah, right.

So, back to my little iPod adventure. I called my wife from the show on the pretext of asking her what colour she likes, you know, pink or blue or green (as the Mini comes in many colours). But I swear the woman is psychic.

Right away, she said: "Don't go and spend this kind of money lah. Are you at that PC show?"

I weakly denied I was anywhere near a PC show, while shouting into my phone over the sounds of PC show exhibitors shouting out discounts on their wares. I said I just wanted to know her colour preference. Maybe, I shouldn't have asked if she liked pink on her friend's iPod Mini. That may have given me away. Anyway, I bought the thing and fought my way out of the exhibition hall, avoiding the frenzied printer-toting, MP3-player-buying crowd.

When I got home, it was late and I put on my best "I-went-to-a-PC-show-and-bought-nothing" look. Dum-de-dum-de-dum.

She eyed me as I dum-de-dum-ed.

"So, er. You bought something for me, ah?" she asks.

"Bought? You told me not to buy anything what. So I never buy lor."

Dum-de-dum-de-dum.

"Oh," she says.

Unable to bear to see her bursting with curiosity, I whipped out the iPod Mini box and did my "Ta da!".

"Aiyah, you really go and buy it, ah? I told you not to," she says, trying to look displeased while smiling.

So, now my wife, proud owner of a pink MP3 player, has an iPod to fill. I think there is something about owning a device like this that makes you want to put lots of music in it. All at one go. Must be all those gigabytes of space, yearning for some data to fill it.

Recently, while waiting for me to knock off work, she called me to hurry up because she was at the mall nearby waiting for me. You could hear the panic in her voice as she said, "You quick lah. I already bought CDs!"

Suddenly, it was imperative that I finish up my work quickly to rescue my wife from herself. Who knows how many more CDs she would have bought had I not rushed down?

It was amusing to see my wife, who never bought more than one CD a month, holding a bag with three CDs.

The funny thing about CDs these days is that at the rate we are consuming music as MP3 digital files, we are very likely to handle the CD just once. You will buy a CD, put it into your computer and convert the songs into MP3s for your MP3 player, and then the CD goes into the shelf to collect dust — forever.

Maybe when the wife needs the lyrics from the CD case, she will touch it once but beyond that, it may as well be a beer mat.

Perhaps, it is hypocritical of me to begrudge someone her $1,200 handbag, while spending $450 on a tiny little pink MP3 player. But then my purchase can play music, while a handbag can only look expensive. Ah, the justifications of a Man of Tech.

The good thing about buying this iPod for my wife is knowing that she will not ask me for a $1,200 branded leather pouch to put it in. And as long as I get off work as fast as I can, I should be able to keep her CD buying in control.

Ok, got to go. The CD shop is calling me to ask which address to deliver my wife's shipment to.

mr brown is the accidental author of a popular website that has been documenting the dysfunctional side of Singapore life since 1997. He bought his wife her iPod Mini so that he could use it for himself too. But don't tell her. Thanks. OK, it is hypocritical of me to deprive her of a branded handbag but can it play MP3 music?

this entry is the 5th 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: Anger is manifested in the individual who spurns love and opts instead for fury. It is also known as Wrath.

Why you do it: You're wired for it. Also, the people around you are pretty damn irritating.

Your punishment in Hell will be: You'll be dismembered alive.

Associated symbols & suchlike: Anger is linked with the bear and the color red.



an·ger ( P ) Pronunciation Key (nggr)
- n. A strong feeling of displeasure or hostility.
- v. an·gered, an·ger·ing, an·gers
- v. tr. To make angry; enrage or provoke.
- v. intr. To become angry: She angers too quickly.

Medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas said Anger is "the name of a passion. A passion of the sensitive appetite is good in so far as it is regulated by reason, whereas it is evil if it set the order of reason aside....The Travelers' Guide to Hell says Anger is ruled by the sign of Mars. It points out that this is the Sin most likely to harm other people, particularly when mixed with another Sin. For example, Anger + Envy = armed robbery.....

This sin is something, a mental state existed more materialised compared to the rest mentioned( refer to past post on 7 sins). Something which is inside in every person but yet holds a different threshold. and sometimes all you need for a temperless person to lose his cool is just a minor matter, something irk or provoke, proabbly the last thing you can think of to trigger the button.

I used to think to know a person better, you need to what pisses him/her. till now, i can't say i am correct. but indeed, it tells me more about him/ her. it reveal a different person, much to say the more feary side of that person. and when someone is really pissed/ angry, he/she usually can't stayed sitting down. the volume of the voice increases( not the pitch). it also evoke acts of violence sometimes.

A couple of weeks back, read this article in the papers. where a women is abused by her husband for a period of time. you can't use neither short time( it isn't) nor long( it isn't that long too). still, it puzzles me what holds that woman so long before she stands up to retaliate. This scenario co-existed when both parties aren't highly educated and civilised. This unhappiness existed so long before she can stand against. that goes for people. we all realised the unhappiness, but what we did just sit there and let things to detach itself from the main course of the route eventhough sometimes we knew this isn't the best solution.

-= Google in 1960 =-

click to view picture.

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yet another post of Mr Brown - My daughter the fish

But will people see her as a fish out of the water, or a sweet little girl inside a costume?

ON Monday morning, at Marina Mandarin, there was a symposium on early intervention for kids with special needs, and kids from my daughter's special school performed a musical item.

My daughter was a fish.

I don't know about the rest of you parents, but for me, this is a moment of pride, one of the highlights of my three-year-old's brief academic career. The last time I was this proud was when Faith learned duck dunks, sticking her head underwater like a duck, then coming up for air (the first time she pulled that stunt, her teachers thought she was drowning and freaked out). I am hoping that Duck Dunks becomes an Olympic event by the time she is old enough to compete. Hey, a Dad could hope.

Sure, at this symposium, the Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports and Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, announced that the Government would be spending $3 million a year for the next five years to fund special early intervention programmes.

That's all good. The Government putting money into special needs is always welcome. But more importantly, my daughter got to be a fish. She was an orange fish, species unknown. Now you may think that being a fish, or the parent of a fish, is easy or glamorous. Just wear the costume and perform lah, I can hear you say.

What you don't see are the weeks of long rehearsals, the hand-made elaborate costumes, the blood and sweat of her teachers preparing the kids and dealing with the temperamental little diva mermaids, fish and seaweed.

And you try getting a toddler used to waking up at 8am to wake up at 7am because she has to be there early for costuming. Then you sit in the audience with your little Orange Fish Girl who is extremely grouchy from lack of sleep.

In the silence of the room, Dr Balakrishnan says the first sentence of his speech. At which point, sleepy and cranky Orange Fish Girl decides to kick up a royal fuss and embarrass her entire fish family. So Mommy Fish takes cranky Orange Fish Girl out of the hall, so that the good Minister can continue his speech. Twice.
When the time came for the item, all the little sea creatures lined up like good sea creatures should, to enter the stage to the cue of the music ("Under the Sea" from the movie "The Little Mermaid").

All but Orange Fish Girl, who decided to go onstage before the music started. Her teacher had to reel her back in. With the help of the teachers on stage, and some Lord-of-the-Rings-quality special effects (soap bubbles to simulate the sea), the kids of AWWA Special School danced/swam their little hearts out.

After that Tony-Award-winning performance, Dr Balakrishnan chatted with the parents of the cast. My wife told him Faith has ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). He must have heard it wrong, or it was noisy, or my wife mumbled, because he looked very concerned about Faith's condition, and asked my wife: "Need surgery?"

My wife told him that Faith has autism, a more common name for the condition.

My wife also had the chance to chat with the parents of Faith's fellow sea creature schoolmates.

She asked one mom whose daughter has delayed development, if she sent her to regular kindergartens besides her special school. She said, for a while, her daughter attended a normal kindergarten which was willing to take her in, but that did not last. Because the parents of the "normal" kids complained: "I pay good money to send my child here, what if he/she becomes like her?"

Of course. Autism and delayed development are contagious. Hang around children with special needs and your kid might become stupid too. My wife said it best: What is the use of making your child a genius if you do not teach him how to love and accept others who are different?

This mom she spoke to also has two normal older children. She tells them, when mommy is gone, you must take care of your little sister. She said she doesn't go out much because people stared at her child's "misbehaviour".

Here's an idea, I suggest a "Probation" plate for all special needs kids in future. That way, when they act up in public, people will know why. And also, they can spot the "P" plate from afar, and keep their "normal" children safe from that "disease".

I heard that the Government spent quite a sum of money to develop a set of CD-Roms to give parents of children with special needs some basic tips on how to care for them.

Maybe we should start educating parents with the "normal" kids first. Give them the CD-Roms instead. Then maybe, one day, when people meet my daughter and others like her, they will not see a fish out of water, but the sweet little girl inside the fish costume.

mr brown is the accidental author of a popular website that has been documenting the dysfunctional side of Singapore life since 1997. He is now working on getting his Orange Fish Girl a contract on Broadway, maybe in the musical Cats.

Surfing too much net on a subject is no good. it do you no good. you see, i was searching materials for parenthood or parenting. it makes me feel like i going to turn into a parent overnight. and below is some of the interesting facts i found through surfing. things like International Planned Parenthood Federation: that helps to meet the demand and unmet need for quality services as one of its aim. *wahahaha* ( the demand and the unmet need)

No no.. don't worry. your beloved xiaoqiang is not on the route to join the ever-national supportive citizens to multiply to the nation polpulation. he is not fit to be one yet. he just feel that the surfing the net today is a chore. and never in his life makes him think that surfing net is so tiring. he is just gets grumpy. and some Q&A he came across... and some help which you young parents are reading or searching for info.

Q: Do all babies like being cuddled? How developed is their sense of touch?

A: It's easier to observe how a baby responds to touch than to how he sees or smells. For instance, if you touch the baby on the mouth, he will immediately begin to suck, even if it's your finger. Stroke his cheek and he will turn towards you. These are feeding reflexes which are vital for baby's survival.

Newborns are very sensitive to touch. They enter the world screaming at the bright lights and the alien environment but that stops as soon as they are cleaned up, swaddled and placed in mummy's arms. Studies show that touch is very important for the baby's development. There is evidence to show that babies who are not touched do not thrive as well as those who are hugged and cuddled regularly.

Observe your baby to see what he enjoys. Does he like tight hugs or does he prefer being held more loosely? Does he prefer having his toes caressed or his body? Look to your baby and he will lead you the right way.


What is IPPF?
The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) links national autonomous Family Planning Associations (FPAs) in over 180 countries worldwide.It is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom and is the largest voluntary organization in the world to be concerned with family planning and sexual and reproductive health.

What are IPPF's aims?
1. To meet the demand and unmet need for quality services;

2. To promote sexual and reproductive health for all;

3. To eliminate unsafe abortion;

4. To take affirmative action to gain equity, equality and empowerment for women;

5. To help young people understand their sexuality and to provide services that meet their demands;

6. To maintain the highest standards of care throughout the Federation.


for more info, below are some qoutes. please refer to http://www.ippf.org/about/what.htm


qouted from somewhere....

Many Singaporeans desire marriage and want more children (sure a not???). However, some are deterred by the perceived challenges of raising a family e.g., lack of time with their children( nah, not this one), shortage of child care options( nope, not this one), and an imbalance between work and family life( none of these.. it's money). In response to these concerns, and to help Singaporeans realise their dreams of having bigger families, the Government has enhanced existing pro-family measures and introduced new initiatives to create a more conducive environment for you to start and raise a family. These schemes are aimed at making Singapore a great place for families.


Some Schemes - New or Enhanced
for more , please refer to http://www.familytown.gov.sg/family/family.htm

Social Development
- Social Development Unit
- Social Development Service

Existing Schemes - Buying of new flats
- Third Child Priority Scheme

Caring for Children - New & Enhanced Schemes
- Grandparent Caregiver Relief

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Informationi

xiaoqiang is a restricted area. Authorised personel only

Username:

From Go-Quiz.com

currently playing Michael Buble - Sway

this entry is the 4th 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: Lust is an inordinate craving for the pleasures of the body.

Why you do it: Oh, please.

Your punishment in Hell will be: You'll be smothered in fire and brimstone. Not kisses.

Associated symbols & suchlike: Lust is linked with the cow and the color blue.


lust( P )Pronunciation Key (lst)
n.
+ Intense or unrestrained sexual craving.

An overwhelming desire or craving: a lust for power.
+ Intense eagerness or enthusiasm: a lust for life.
+ Obsolete. Pleasure; relish.

intr.v. lust·ed, lust·ing, lusts
+ To have an intense or obsessive desire, especially one that is sexual.

Lust is ruled by the celestial sign of Venus. just as the song goes...

Goddess on the mountain top
Burning like a silver flame
The summit of beauty and love
And Venus was her name

just you might wonder why i didn't put Venus by Bananarama online. it's not a good song to put it on your website. it's a no no. just my preference.

She's got it
Yeah, baby, she's got it
I'm your Venus, I'm your fire
At your desire
Well, I'm your Venus, I'm your fire
At your desire

and i guess a song like the one playing now; is more suitable to the term LUST.

When marimba rhythms start to play
Dance with me, make me sway
Like a lazy ocean hugs the shore
Hold me close, sway me more

L.U.S.T. a covet. a crave. hanker. a hunger. a desire a want a yearn and a thirst. something seaps through the sweat glands of man. a 5000 years or longer history of stories which causes wars to erupt, a civilisation to wipe out, a country to fall. there's no difference in skin colour, in dynasty or in kingdoms.

Just as man uses woman or a woman in history knows the essence of seduce. it brings out the animalism in man to surface. or the materialsim aspects that provokes the appetite of man.... that aroused him to create crimes, news or even murder. in case you wonder why i did not place murder together with crimes; as lives were involved.

i think it's fine to want career, a position, a path, somebody even if lust is the solvent. but the line boundary or the perimeter is set by the person himself or herself. which we often overlooked that. when was the last time you pissed somebody off? i always have a safe zone for things, for events...etc. as long as it doesn't inflinct a certain amount of pain and damage on people, matters and other aspects of issue. i think it's fine. the absoluteness of this point is my threshold.

So if you think you might be tempted to engage in a monstrous and/or bestial manner of copulation, or if you find yourself procuring some pollution without any copulation, thereby rendering yourself effeminate (as "unclean" is no longer considered an appropriate term), get help!!!!

Take a Lust Test determine your temptability. for fun of course. then what are you thinking? you lusty, chi go pek~( lecher in hokkien)

qouted from Medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas;

...wherever there occurs a special kind of deformity whereby the venereal act is rendered unbecoming, there is a determinate species of lust. This may occur in two ways: First, through being contrary to right reason, and this is common to all lustful vices; secondly, because, in addition, it is contrary to the natural order of the venereal act as becoming to the human race: and this is called "the unnatural vice." This may happen in several ways. First, by procuring pollution, without any copulation, for the sake of venereal pleasure: this pertains to the sin of "uncleanness" which some call "effeminacy." Secondly, by copulation with a thing of undue species, and this is called "bestiality." Thirdly, by copulation with an undue sex, male with male, or female with female, as the Apostle states (Rm. 1:27): and this is called the "vice of sodomy." Fourthly, by not observing the natural manner of copulation, either as to undue means, or as to other monstrous and bestial manners of copulation.

::::: My latest Desktop Craze ::

What if you could fit your whole life all your music, all your photos, all your movies, all your email in a computer as fun and useful as an iPod? Now you can. Introducing the futuristic iMac G5 in 17- and 20-inch widescreen models. The entire computer, including a G5-based logic board, slot-loading optical drive, hard disk, speakers, and even the power supply dwells inside the enchanting display. *drool~*

you need QuickTime to view this G5 clip. click http://www.apple.com/imac/video/320.html to view clip. for more info, click http://www.apple.com/imac/

When is the last time you did your study/ homework at Macdonalds? did you remember or did you? i was at YMCA chilling with my colleagues during lunch. we were amazed as this branch of the fastfood giant still attracts a lot of students here. just like good old school days. but something caught my radar scanning for pretty girls.* yesh, in my time, YMCA is a good old girls hunting ground*

one couple was cuddling motionless. with pencils, highlighters, pencil cases, notes, papers textbooks....practically everything essential for a study on the table. but none of their hands or head were on them. they were looking so deeply in each other eyes, feeling each other warmth( both of them were lighly clothed). now now...

colleague A: " i thought they are here to study?? "

xiaoqiang: " yeah... they are here to study anatomy..."

colleague B, giggling : " just by staring??? "

xiaoqiang, with both index fingers on his temples: " kekeke.. nowadays, anything is possible. i am not surprised they are doing it telepathly. their eyes is the point of contact. just like sending data via infra-red port from one handphone to another"

colleague C: "wah you very chim ( profound in hokkien) leh...what if they blink? "

colleague B: " data lost, then transmission interrupted. "

colleague C: " let's set bet how long they take to do a blink. "

All : " SIAO~!!"

colleague C: " TIMES UP!!! back to work. "

xiaoqiang : " Chey~! mai lai lah. ( oh come on in hokkien) "

it's really amazing how they revise their homework; i mean how long they can look into each other eyes, cuddle AND without touching their notes. with other students( mostly JC students ) around them, scribbling notes, joking, etc. i don't remember myself doing this. though i usually do my homework somewhere except home. that also reminds me of the Macdonald previously located at Balestier Point. hmmm.. i missed that place. just full of memories.

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Another post of Mr Brown - Shellfish Singaporeans

They only think of themselves — when it comes to lift upgrading or parking space in front of their houses

I TELL you, ah, Singaporeans, hor, all very shellfish one. Always think about themselves only.

The Singaporean mantra is: "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what your Government can do for you."

I mean, look how selfish they are with Lift Upgrading. How dare those people exercise their right to vote and cause us to lose our chance to get lifts on every floor! Very selfish, you know. The other 74.9 per cent wanted the lifts, and all because the 25.1 per cent voted "No" (or, like a horse, "Neigh"), we won't get our lifts! How selfish is that?I mean, $3,000 is already very subsidised by the Government leh. Surely these neigh-sayers have $3,000 lying around somewhere, in the CPF or savings account, right? Everyone should have that kind of money on stand-by to take advantage of such great Government offers.

Don't give me the excuse that they cannot afford the $3,000 because they haven't had a job for the last 18 months, or that they don't like the dust and loss of privacy! We are living in a community, they should not think of only themselves. Majority wins, what. I was not only thinking about myself when I voted for the lift, you know. I was thinking of the others who also wanted the lift like me. That is what being a community is about. Being of one mind as long as the other minds have the same opinion as me. Unity in Uniformity. These anti-lift voters are just being non-Team Players.

In fact, I think having lifts on every floor is so important to social equality and democracy that we should take away the voting part and just make it compulsory. This is a free country, you know.

At the very least, if not make it compulsory, at least move the cut-off point down to a reasonable percentage, preferably to the point where I will get what I want. The last time this exercise was voted on, it was 69 per cent instead of the 75 per cent needed. So let's make the new cut-off point to 68 per cent to prevent this kind of freak result happening again.

Or better yet, make it fluid. Whatever is the final vote, make the cut-off point 1 per cent below those that voted in favour of what I, er... what we, wanted. Or vote again and again until we get the result we wanted. You know, the Second Chance approach. Or also known as the I-Can't-Believe-They-Voted-Against-It-Let's-Vote-Again approach.

After all, it benefits most of the community, especially me. So why should we let this important decision be put in the hands of selfish people who do not know a good deal when they see it? Wait till they get old, or they get crippled, then they will know. Not that I am cursing them or anything.

Sure, I bought the flat on the floor without the lift, because at that time, I wanted privacy. I mean, who doesn't, right? But now, I think, maybe being able to get into my flat without climbing stairs contributes more to my quality of life, so I think I have the right to drag everybody into wanting a lift too.

This is why we are urged to always be receptive to upgrading. Why, even the lift exercise is called Lift Upgrading Programme, or LUP. It is an improvement (hence the word Upgrading) and we should all embrace it. If it was not a positive or upgrading thing, they would have named it a more neutral Lift Installing Programme (LIP).

I think Singaporeans are selfish with their parking lots. Especially those who live near places of religious worship. Who asked them to buy a house so near a church? You have to expect some small inconveniences when you live in such an area. And why so selfish about the space in front of your house?

We should all share. That is a godly trait, right? And besides, it's only once a week, what. It's not like I park in front of your house everyday. You pay road tax, I also pay road tax. Your house is your house, but that road in front of your house belongs to everyone. So of course, I can park there. Ok, so when I park there, you cannot get out of your house.

But surely nothing you plan to go out for is as important as me practising my religion?

Singapore protects the freedom of worship very strictly, you know. You cannot just come rushing into my church and raising a ruckus just because your car is blocked by my car parked in front of your house. That's sinful and unlawful behaviour.

Even the Singapore police is selfish. They should at least give us some warning before they take action. Instead they came down and booked everyone parking along the road. And right after that media coverage of the man who disrupted the service too. Who would have known the police would come the following week?

And I parked near the junction for so many years, not blocking anyone, and the cop booked me that weekend after the media hoohah. How unfair is that? I know it is against the traffic law, but I got away with it for so many years, surely that merely warrants a warning and not a summon?

Now, even some of our neighbours across the Causeway are selfish. Never look after their chickens, now we cannot get our eggs. And worse, now those who sell fish are also selfish. Strike about some Second Link rule, and make our local fish prices go up. Isn't there a rule that makes it compulsory for those workers to stop striking? I will vote in favour of that. Or at least summon them.

Wait I drive my car and park in front of their Causeway then they know.

mr brown is the accidental author of a popular website that has been documenting the dysfunctional side of Singapore life since 1997. Contrary to popular belief, he is a big supporter of lift upgrading, because he doesn't want to kena cursed.

Directed by: Steven Spielberg

Category: Comedy and Drama
Duration: 2 hrs. 08 min

An immigrant (Hanks) fleeing the war that ravages his tiny Eastern European homeland finds himself stuck in the terminal of one of New York City's airports when the time of his landing coincides precisely with the point at which the war causes his nation of origin to no longer exist, meaning that his passport and paperwork are no longer valid. As a man without a home, he takes up residence in the terminal itself, befriending the staff of the airport, and falling in love with an airline flight attendant (Zeta-Jones).

This is another masterpiece by Steven. Something which i think similar to Love Actually. the similarity is the many small stories happening within a movie instead of the usual one story line. it might sound stupid to some of you but i personally think Steven has his own way of directing the movie. you should catch it. Catherine remains a sweetie to me * aww~*. and of course she never fails to cast her charm on me.

however, this movie does tell people that guys, *pointing to the male species* still don't win last. They don't have the last laugh in real lifes even in movies. After so much of waiting and searching, Mr Nice still don't win. This phenomenom is always a chicken and egg situation. Girls like bad Guys. True? i don't know. To me it's just practically showing the world that guys is having all the fun. Happily married, yet with another mistress outside. These guys are just having fun as much as there are single guys lying around in the streets. Where are the girls?

Just as much of being around with bad guys for a while. they tells you that they wanted a good guy. a nice guy who treat them nice in the end. and they only tells you after so much shit and chores they been through. i have a friend who still likes her ex-boyfriend after how much he mis-treated her.

which i simply can't understand.

Is it too much sex in the morning? qouted from catherine in " The Terminal ". or is it the thrill they got from bad guys? so much cheap thrill they have which they overlooked the simplicity of Mr Nice. or is it just that the singaporean ladies know what they want in life, know what they had to have in life , know what they must have, etc.

i was talking to a friend. He was always grumbling about this and that. which i shoot him that the problem probably lies with him not SHE(s). He said, the girl will get guys as long as she willingly to lower her collar button to cleavage or willingly to lost her undies to her ankles. and the guy will get girls only if he drives a car, looks executively clothed or has card holders that holds credit cards instead of cash notes.

Sounds pretty stereo-typing. lets just not doubt that the problem probably lies with him.