Bounce back to life

I think all Singaporeans have seen Mr. Kiasu in some form or another - either the comic book or the (horrible) sitcom. I used to be a huge fan of all the Mr. Kiasu comic books. There were a bunch of other comic books by the same publisher and probably drawn by the same author. A memorable one involved a pair of feline detectives, one fat, one thin but both wacky as hell. But I can't find my collection of those comic books any more. It must have got lost while I was moving around or my mum must have given them away to my cousins, presuming that I won't need them any more. But it has got so much sentimental value man...

I was reminded of it when I came across this webcomic called Bounce Back To Life. You must check out the author's parody of Star Wars. Absolutely hilarious lol! I haven't seen any comics with such a distinctly Singaporean flavour since Kiasu. It's not just the omnipresent use of Singlish, but somehow it aptly illustrates a slice of Singaporean life. This is very different from the ones in ST's Life. Those may be interesting at times but more often than not they just involve corny puns.

Anyway, here's another artistically talented blogger. Not comics though.

Hello 3 Hour Commute Time

Basket... I just got notice that my application to stay in hall has failed. Cut-off was 87.1 points for the guys and 66 for the girls. Missed it by a staggering 14 points. And I thought they were converting some male dorms to female ones - guess demand doesn't meet supply for them. :/

Unless some people decide not to stay and leave a bunch of vacancies, I'm going to have to spend 3 hours plus in total to commute to and from NTU each day I go to school. Not exactly too bad a thing, I guess. Now I can spend 3 hours extra bioing chiobus each day on the train/bus.

No, I'm kidding. I hate commuting because (1) it's so unproductive and (2) I always, invariably doze off. That's just an awful waste of time. I will probably take the train all the way to Marina Bay if I'm too shagged. Then I'd have to take it all the way back to Ang Mo Kio again.

Now if only I can get my laptop battery to tahan for longer than 3 hours and some WiFi internet access in MRTs...

Curse you all 87.1+ pointers!


Those with exactly 87 points must be banging their balls now ahaha

Time is such an amazing phenomenon. It is unstable – at times unbearably slow, yet at times passes at the blink of an eye. It is almost like some sort of unrequited love – intangible, unforgiving, moves only in a single direction and you don't really know why it keeps on going.

Time takes away possibilities and confers wisdom as it goes by. Our potential narrows as we get older and we lament our want of choices. At the same time, though, we also gain the wisdom of experience.

Time is hard to grasp. What is ten years compared to eleven years? I don't believe I can fully appreciate that difference of a year unless I'm in it right now.

Yet time is, in my opinion, the most precious possession (if it can be called that) we can ever have, especially in our youth. The time we have now is more precious because we have a lot more opportunities where we are not burdened by a failing physical body nor a failing intellect. Besides, there is no telling when tomorrow will cease to be.

So why do so many of us go off in pursuit of more wealth than we might ever need, and then some more? Greed? A more comfortable retirement life? Hunger for power?

Young, professional “career ladder climbers” compete and spend much of their youth advancing their careers. In the end, only a handful rises above all the other CEO hopefuls. I'm not working yet, so I have hardly any experience on this. However, from what I have heard about fresh accountancy graduates slogging in auditing firms, they have hardly any leisure time. Even Sundays are lost during busy periods. Unless one is lucky, inordinate remuneration obviously requires inordinate effort (and the corresponding time).

Is it worth it? Is our youth really worth trading for money and a comfortable lifestyle in our old age? I wished I knew the answer. Then I would have a stronger conviction about my choice of study and the corresponding choice of career. I wished I will be doing something I would love to do, something I would never think of as work, like design, or maybe advertising, for example.

But I know that if I fail, I might not be the only one that suffers. My upbringing obligates me to fulfill my familial duty. I am not complaining since these values have become part and parcel of who I am and I suppose, most of us as well. How can I risk it all if it is not just myself that is at stake?

Sloth

Before the holidays I told myself I was going to be more productive and would therefore actually do something useful during this vacation. In fact, I made a list of the things I wanted to do (well, at that point in time). For some reason I have yet to do any of them.

It seems that right now, I don't have the motivation for anything. Oblivion is the only exception. But something within tells me I should give Oblivion a break. I'm not going to gain much other than the entertainment value.

I wonder why I don't feel like doing anything right now. Following a To-do list feels like making a decision at every stage. Should I decide to spend my time on task A or B? Does it take too long to complete? How much effort must I put in to finish it? Can I postpone it? I ask so many questions I must spend more time thinking about what to do than the actual doing. Come to think of it, this entire post is itself an example.

Of course, the tasks usually fail the criteria. If I can postpone it, I will. If I have to put in a lot of effort or spend a lot of time on it, I will do it later. If benefits and goals are too long-term I will probably forget about it.

Heck, I can't remember all of the seven deadly sins but I can definitely remember Sloth. That's where I'm the weakest.

Now, any ideas how not to be lazy?

wow

This guy is so talented.

Wait five more years

Damn. Why did WP lose in Aljunied? If they had won it would have been a sign of change in Singapore. Opposition captures GRC and the floodgates are opened. Perhaps the media would lan lan have to have a more balanced view. Or perhaps more candidates will start joining the Opposition.

My area Serangoon Garden used to be in Marine Parade GRC. Maybe they decided to put us in Aljunied because they planted a few more trees here, spruced it up a bit and repaved the Circus so can increase votes in PAP's weak area. Or from some rumours I heard, maybe because there are many civil servants staying around this area or something. What the heck. As long as they don't split up Aljunied like they split up Cheng San after 1997. Then five years later there might finally be a win in a GRC for WP.

Le Petit Prince

I must be living under a rock because I have only just discovered this amazing book. It was written by Antoine de Saint-Exupery and has sold millions of copies. It is originally French but it has been translated into many other languages since it was published in 1943.

Thanks to the wonder of the Internet and its lack of governance... this book is effectively free for consumption. Hurray.

Well, this book is like a "Guide to Life, Relationships and Almost Everything Else" under the disguise of a children's book. There are so many meaningful messages the author sends across in each chapter that it's really amazing how he put all that into a book with less than a hundred pages.

Here is one very interesting quote from the book:

It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.

Essentially, the amount of time we spent on our relationships or perhaps, anything in particular, are what makes them so important to us. How true. Why do we seek our long lost friends or childhood sweethearts? These friends are of no immediate relevance to our current stage in life, but because they have shared so much of our past with us, they are still very special in our eyes.

But then again, if what makes them special is the amount of time we have spent with them then it doesn't really matter who they are, does it? The reason why anyone is more than a stranger seems to be just because we happened to meet them at some point in our lives and decided to spend more time with them.

How did we decide? Perhaps they had the same interests. Perhaps they were the only ones around. It seems to sound a little depressing but it makes sense because we don't know people until we meet them, talk to them and find out their thoughts etc. Their characters apparently have no bearing on why we started to know them in the first place. Who they are underneath though, will perhaps determine how special they can get.

There are 6 billion people in this world and chances are, you won't get to meet everyone. So personally I am starting to believe that in life, God/Fate/Luck/Probability brings you this particular bunch of people who are your potential friends/spouse/whatever. Then it is up to us to choose which one to go along with. (Come to think of it, I find this an eerie similarity to those Jap dating simulation games)

What does this all mean?

I knew you all because God/Fate/Luck/Probability gave me the candidates. Then I anyhow voted. Mwahahahaha...