by Teddy

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The Worth of My Blog My blog is worth US$3,387.24. Not much compared to well-known bloggers. But it's enough for me to know it is not totally worthless. Find out about the worth of your blog here. Actually, I feel the value of this blog is the connections it made with other bloggers aka YOU. The worth of my blog - $3,340+, the worth of your readership - priceless.

by Teddy

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Super Long Weekend The upcoming weekend cum holidays is the 'Big One' for all employees in Singapore. Its akin to striking the top prize for ToTo in terms of a 'super long weekend' draw-edition. The upcoming weekend will most likely be felt most keenly by working adults. I have excluded students here since they are already in the process of slowing down their engines and gearing up for their even longer year-end holidays. So, what will this long weekend hold for me? Well, I will be effectively free for 6 days as I have taken leave on Monday and Wednesday. No office 'visitation' for me till next Friday! It's a huge relief since life in office is getting really drab and highly demoralising. Think I am suffering from some sort of professional depression. Making it worst is that Mydaemon is out of office this entire week. Really miss her company. Thankfully, this depression ends at 6pm when I leave office. No point carrying that burden past office hours. Life's much more than work. Anyway, I am really glad to have the opportunity of recharging my almost flat batteries before going back to the daily grind or boredom in office. Well, to kick off the long break, I will celebrate my 31st birthday over the weekend. No party or expensive dinner for me. At most, I will just have a nice quiet dinner with Mydaemon at some restaurant tucked away in town. Just the two of us enjoying each other's company. As for the other 5 days, I hope to do doing some shopping as pre-Christmas sales are starting for several stores. A good time to buy some big budget items and save a couple of hundreds to spend on even more stuff. On my list are, a bed, bed stand, crockery, cutlery, electronics and various appliances. Hope to find some real gems in the sales. Wish me luck! Apart from shopping, I foresee myself putting in some serious time playing Black & White 2. Can't wait to develop my civilisation and unlock the Tiger divine pet. Looks like my new PC will be working overtime in the next few days. In case my gaming takes away too much time from spending time with Mydaemon, let me say that I am prepared to drop the game any time if she wants me to do something with her. Although I have to say that'd be somewhat difficult, but spending time with her is more important that playing god to some electronic signals. Think Mr Brown did a good job of explaining this conundrum, in his 'All hail the super long weekend' article, between family and gaming. Guess I will go through that phase some time in the future. It's another 6hrs 45mins to go before the official start to the weekend. This is one of those moments when I wish time would just move faster. To all my friends out there, have a super duper long weekend. See you guys next week!

by Teddy

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Black & White 2 (New Game) Highly recommended for megalomaniacs out there. Black & White 2

by Teddy

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New Books Finally finished 1984. Bought myself 2 new books, Kafka on the Shore (Haruki Murakami) and Crossing the Threshold of Hope (Pope John Paul II).

by Teddy

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The Shuttle has landed! Damn!!! I lost the entire post for this at least 4 times! Too tired to retype everthing again. Anyway, here's the new PC which Mydaemon and I bought over the weekend. Cool ain't it? Btw, it's called the Shuttle SN25P. Looking forward to the hours of gaming on it.

by Teddy

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Are low income Singaporeans really poor? The widening income gap between the haves and have nots have been an issue of much debate in recent years. I think policy-makers generally feel that the widening gap is inevitable, but in order to appease its constituents, who happen to vote them into office, they take on the tagline that this gap can be narrowed through robust economic growth. Thus, the continuation of the ever vicious cycle of basing Singapore's success on economic prosperity. I happen to discuss this issue with Mydaemon a few days back. Basically, I wondered how can low income earners consider themselves 'poor', in every sense of the word, when they expect to subscribe to a handphone, have large TVs and hi-fi sets at home. It is perhaps propitious that Straits Times carried an article on this today. Titled "He has cellphone, aircon, TV. Is he poor?", the story looked at the plight of low income earners caught by the sudden economic downturn. Here are some of the extracts from the article. "A Department of Statistics study on HDB home ownership, released on Monday, shows that more than half of those in the bottom 20 per cent by income own four-room or bigger flats. Members of Parliament say an increasing number of families suffer this wretched state: their homes are not short of creature comforts but their bank accounts reflect a picture of poverty." . . . . . . At the last Parliament sitting, he (an MP) argued that many luxuries of 10 years ago are now basic essentials: children's enrichment classes, toys and even travel. (extracted from ST) The gist of the story is that the definition of how poverty is defined today differs significantly from how it was defined say a decade back. Frankly speaking, I disagree with such a view. I find it hard to stomach the fact that "enrichment classes, toys and even travel" can be considered as basic essentials. For me, if you don't have the money don't send your kids to ballet or violin classes. Forget about a PSP or gaming console for your child. Take them for a walk in the park or engage in other activities. Toys are not everything. Lastly, while I think everyone should expand their horizons through visits to other countries etc, I think those who cannot afford it, should just stretch that dollar by spending it on food, electricity or even a landline. I am a believer of Maslow's theory of Hierarchy of Human Needs (see Wikipedia's explanation for the theory). Although his theory is kind of simplistic, it sums up, for me, the essence of human needs. I find it quite unbelieveable that PCs are considered as a basic necessity when families are finding it difficult to pay their water or electricity bills. Giving a PC to poor families would only put extra burden on them since their electricity bills are likely to rocket. And there's also the subscription for internet connection. For me, I think a better solution would be to educate the low income families of the importance of learning the use of a PC, and more importantly, the usefulness of the internet. Instead of helping them source for cheap PCs, policy-makers should consider setting up computer clusters at Community Clubs which charges nominal rates for the use of PCs and internet connection. Firstly, it would be cheaper to subsidise such a scheme. Secondly, low income families would be burdened with the additional stress of rising electrical bills. As for enrichment classes, I read that help should be given to low income families when their kids are talented in a certain field. The example cited was ballet. I fully agree that talented Singaporeans should be given every opportunity to fulfill their potential. But my question is, what level of talent are we talking about? Do we want to subsidise ballet classes for kids from low income families when their potential will only take them up to the local stage? If their talent is only good enough for performance at small shows etc, I am sorry to say that these kids should focus on mainstream education then. If they are so talented, then we have countless scholarships to aid them. So, it begs the question on why enrichment classes is a basic necessity. It is a basic requirement only for those who are 'world-beaters' and are unable to fulfill their potential due to monetary constraints. Help should only be extended to these families. Having said all that, where should we draw the line? Call me hard-hearted. My view is that if you want to spend money on air-con, handphone, TV, hi-fi systems etc, then don't stretch out your hand for free handouts. By cutting these corners, many low income families can more than make ends meet. Luxuries are luxuries, make no mistake about that. One should never make the mistake of thinking that they are bare necessities because society has become more affluent.

by Teddy

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Here' my list of Se7en things which Dark Muse invited me to share. Read Dark Muse's Se7en here. Se7en 7 Things I plan to Do Before I Die Always cherish and love Mydaemon Find God and not let myself be lost again Climb to Mt Everest's base camp Have my own photography exhibition Run a marathon Find the version of Macross that I saw as a kid Learn how to draw/paint/'pottery' 7 Things I Can Do Be more patient with others Spending more time with my mum Improve my photography skills Planning more and playing less Jog more often Deflate my ego Be more charitable, since not all charities are NKF 7 Things I Cannot Do Tell lies Believe that there's no 'black' and 'white' in this world of grays Tolerate hypocrites (esp those two-faced people) Stop my dislike for Christians who say that Catholics and non-Christians will burn in hell Stop being the worrier that I am Not playing another PC or console game Not having any friends 7 Things That Attract Me to The Opposite/Same Sex Kindness Generosity Curiosity Filial piety Intelligence A loving and gentle spirit Willingness to challenge my oft-stupid ideas 7 Celebrity Crushes Brad Pitt Evangeline Lilly (Kate) Liv Tyler Cindy Crawford Jennifer Aniston Jeon Ji-heon (My Sassy Girl) Maria Sharapova 7 People I Want to Do This (but are not obliged to): Mydaemon My Sweet Lullaby Byzantine Beliefs Batman Luna Esa Batman Summer Breeze

by Teddy

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I am a bad egg I did something really horrible today. Basically, I expected somebody to trust me, while I expressed my total distrust in that person. The worst part is that I told the person in her face that I didn't trust her. It must be hurtful for one person to tell another person that 'I don't trust you'. If I can say 'sorry' to her now, I would. But the context of this entire thing is just too bizarre that a 'sorry' would be bizarre. Being one of those who absolutely hates double-standards, I am guilty of being a hatable double-standard person today. I felt bad the moment that I let loose my tongue and allowed it to say what's on my mind. Yes, I have been known to speak without thinking. And yes, I agree with everyone that that's a stupid thing to do. For speaking without using my brains, wherever it went just now, I have hurt a person. No one deserves what I just did. I will not offer an excuse for what I did. Excuses are nothing but tiresome explanations which are designed by the perpetrator of a wrongful act to alleviate the sense of guilt for taking that action. What I intend to do is to reflect on what I did today and train myself not to do such things again. Refraining from such actions is a good start, but more importantly, I must come to an understanding that what I did is wrong. Call me a purist, but the act of suppresing a wrongful act while still thinking that there's nothing wrong is a cardinal sin for me. Being the non-reflective person that I am, I foresee a long night later as I try to decipher how to understand my mind, and hopefully rein it in and prevent it from hurting anyone in the future. I find it intriguing that I am trying the understand 'me'. Ain't 'me' the person that is typing this post now? But the fact is that 'I' being who I am doesn't understand the entire 'me'. Anyway, my mind is like a monkey that's running every doggone place. Time to catch and tame that monkey so that it will do some good and not go around causing havoc and hurting people. Let me end this post a Buddhist teaching I found: Ancient Pali texts liken meditation to the process of taming a wild elephant. The procedure in those days was to tie a newly captured animal to a post with a good strong rope. When you do this, the elephant is not happy. He screams and tramples, and pulls against the rope for days. Finally it sinks through his skull that he can't get away, and he settles down. At this point you begin to feed him and to handle him with some degree of safety. Eventually you can dispense with the rope and post altogether, and train your elephant for various tasks. Now you've got a tamed elephant that can be put to useful work. In this analogy the wild elephant is your wildly active mind, the rope is mindfulness, and the post is our object of meditation, our breathing. The tamed elephant who emerges from this process is a well-trained, concentrated mind that can then be used for the exceedingly tough job of piercing the layers of illusion that obscure reality. Meditation tames the mind. Henepola Gunaratna, Mindfulness in Plain English (Source: Best of "Buddhist quote of the moment")

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