The night sky tonight full and bright
Monday, November 18, 2013
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Morality Police - Underboob controversy
Meanwhile in Singapore, at a shopping mall + convention centre - Singapore police were mustered to arrest a cosplay participant - see above.
Apparently a 50+ year old female church goer - probably from "The Rock: Life Creation church" - was appalled by this young girl's costume and requested police support.
Since Singapore has one of the lowest crime rates in the world - and probably because police have nothing better to do with their time - they came to apprehend the said villan.
Wah lau, c'mon seriously. I can't believe this actually happened. I hope the police arrested the complainer for causing a public nuisance and for wasting the police time.
Singapore - the poverty line
There has been some debate over whether Singapore should have a minimum wage or whether it should have a poverty line or threshold.
Personally I find it very sad when you have civil servants and politicians who are being paid some of the highest salaries in the world debating over the pros and cons on what level of poverty a person needs to be before they get some form of assistance. Its a bit like having wolves having a discussion over where sheep and cattle should graze. How can someone who is being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars a year empathize or understand the problems of someone who survives on less than ten thousand a year?
The problem about the Singapore system is that control of government and the civil service is held solely by the elites - you can get in only via a narrow criteria, ie paper academic qualifications. It is usually inherent in our human nature to protect and further our own selves, our families, our peer group, our self interests, our class and social status; and also to see the world from their perspective.
I'm sure a Swan will be puzzled when the chicken is spending all day tending to her eggs when it could be out gracefully flying - and vice versa.
Now if the govt body was held by a mixture of groups, that might work out. But when one group monopolizes control however...
I'm not saying that wolves and swans can't empathize with sheep and chickens. But that is often rare.
And perhaps that is what Singapore's leadership needs - people with a greater sense of empathy and care.
The Singapore people are remarkably tolerant and they have been grateful to all the PAP has done for them. However, it seems the Govt has lost its way in its pursuit of the worship of the GDP God. All this sacrifice that the people of Singapore have to go through - the sort of everyday shit that normal ordinary people have to endure is getting too much.
And I'm not sure whether the men and women in white fully appreciate this.
Personally I find it very sad when you have civil servants and politicians who are being paid some of the highest salaries in the world debating over the pros and cons on what level of poverty a person needs to be before they get some form of assistance. Its a bit like having wolves having a discussion over where sheep and cattle should graze. How can someone who is being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars a year empathize or understand the problems of someone who survives on less than ten thousand a year?
The problem about the Singapore system is that control of government and the civil service is held solely by the elites - you can get in only via a narrow criteria, ie paper academic qualifications. It is usually inherent in our human nature to protect and further our own selves, our families, our peer group, our self interests, our class and social status; and also to see the world from their perspective.
I'm sure a Swan will be puzzled when the chicken is spending all day tending to her eggs when it could be out gracefully flying - and vice versa.
Now if the govt body was held by a mixture of groups, that might work out. But when one group monopolizes control however...
I'm not saying that wolves and swans can't empathize with sheep and chickens. But that is often rare.
And perhaps that is what Singapore's leadership needs - people with a greater sense of empathy and care.
The Singapore people are remarkably tolerant and they have been grateful to all the PAP has done for them. However, it seems the Govt has lost its way in its pursuit of the worship of the GDP God. All this sacrifice that the people of Singapore have to go through - the sort of everyday shit that normal ordinary people have to endure is getting too much.
And I'm not sure whether the men and women in white fully appreciate this.
Chickens and swans
Do not make friends with chickens who tell you you can't fly when you know you are a swan.
Monday, November 11, 2013
My garden Melbourne Spring 2013.
To commemorate the 100 anniversary of World War One next year - 2014. I've planted over a million Flander Field poppy seeds in my garden. Most of them refused to germinate. And the ones that have -are more of an orange vermillion color than red.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Lt-Col. John McCrae, M.D., 1915
November 30, 1872 January 28, 1918
Sunday, November 10, 2013
The bad son
Not much to report that is interesting really.
My mum in Singapore called me up a week ago angry that the electricity bill has been cut to our Singapore flat.
The bills are normally "giroed" (automatically deducted) from my old joint bank account. There is usually a lot of cash sitting there from our dividends and we should have no problems paying for it.
Unfortunately after I told my mum about where the dividends were going she decided to get them paid into her own personal bank account.
Then she decided to withdraw any remaining cash from the old joint bank account to feed her gambling addiction.
When questioned about it - she just shrugged her shoulders and said, "Yes".
Any cash that I transferred into the account to help the bills was taken by her to gamble.
I gave up and let the account run dry.
And now the electricity has been cut and she wants me to top it up.
I feel like telling her to go 1234 herself. But she's my mum..
I am also too tired to care.
And she of course refuses to admit she has a problem.
On the surface she seems like such a kind gentle well mannered person. So I think everyone assume that whatever is going wrong must be my fault. I'm the bad son.
My mum in Singapore called me up a week ago angry that the electricity bill has been cut to our Singapore flat.
The bills are normally "giroed" (automatically deducted) from my old joint bank account. There is usually a lot of cash sitting there from our dividends and we should have no problems paying for it.
Unfortunately after I told my mum about where the dividends were going she decided to get them paid into her own personal bank account.
Then she decided to withdraw any remaining cash from the old joint bank account to feed her gambling addiction.
When questioned about it - she just shrugged her shoulders and said, "Yes".
Any cash that I transferred into the account to help the bills was taken by her to gamble.
I gave up and let the account run dry.
And now the electricity has been cut and she wants me to top it up.
I feel like telling her to go 1234 herself. But she's my mum..
I am also too tired to care.
And she of course refuses to admit she has a problem.
On the surface she seems like such a kind gentle well mannered person. So I think everyone assume that whatever is going wrong must be my fault. I'm the bad son.
Sunday, November 03, 2013
Bullying : this too will pass
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2483851/Izzy-Dixs-mother-gives-heart-rending-interview.html
I found the story about the bullied girl who took her own life very sad and troubling. Her mother is now going to spend the rest of her life grieving - so to that extent I feel a bit of anger towards the girl for being so foolish as to succumb to depression and to kill herself.
Having said that - suicide is something I have thought about off and on - esp. when I get very depressed over a turn of events - and when the people who are close to me like my mother who is addicted to gambling hurt me deeply.
Some of the things that have helped me so far overcome bullying and depression is:
1. Prayer and my Christian faith in a God who loves me unconditionally.
2. Humor. You need to laugh things off. Disconnect. Watch a movie or something.
3. Disconnect. If you think too much over the problems - you will fall into despair and you will drown. So go for a walk. Switch off the computer. Stop reading all the horrible news and gossip. Get some physical exercise - if you can't run, walk. Exercise will make you feel happy.
When I was in primary and secondary school I was bullied a lot. I was mocked at, laughed at, physically attacked. I didn't have any friends in Primary school except for one asshole who made him his friend so that he could have someone to pick on. When I was in the boarding school I was mocked at mercilessly, ostracized. The pain of loneliness was excruciating - and made worse because as a damaged person I was unable to interact well with other people. If you get bullied, you tend to get emotionally damaged - I become withdrawn, shy, etc.. and that is very hard to overcome.
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/09/06/how-to-build-a-universe-philip-k-dick/
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away." Philip K. Dick
My Bible believing parents used to advice me to just ignore the problem/ bullies and it will all go away. Or go tell your teacher etc.. I found that sometimes the teachers used to sympathize with the bullies - esp if they were the popular kids in class.
And this whole notion of burying your head under the sand doesn't seem to help either. In fact sometimes it causes the bullies to try and push you further over the edge.
Sometimes it is practically impossible to ignore the bullying. As Philip Dick wrote - reality is something which you can't ignore even if you try to stop believing in it.
The power that bullies have over their victims varies - depending upon the environment. It is often worse if the bullies are very popular - hello Hitler, Stalin - and everyone seems to like them including the damn teachers/system.
Philip Dick also wrote: " today we live in a society in which spurious realities are manufactured by the media, (by various) groups. . . . What is real? Because unceasingly we are bombarded with pseudo-realities manufactured by very sophisticated people using very sophisticated electronic mechanisms. I do not distrust their motives; I distrust their power. They have a lot of it. And it is an astonishing power: that of creating whole universes, universes of the mind."
People will say you are clumsy, hopeless, stupid, ugly, lazy, a whore, a moron, a thief, a liar, a loser. And if they say it often enough you may even start believing it.
Bullying starts off within a realm of the mind. First it begins with words. Then with actions. Then it gains mob support or some form of authority, the good people shut up or follow along, and then it becomes really horrible.
Sometimes if it becomes too much you just gotta get away from the situation. Sometimes the opposition is just too strong! Everyone faces a Dunkirk someday. Change school. Take a holiday. Move to another city or country. Stop using fucking Facebook or change your account and privacy settings. Delete shit comments that people make about you. Do something radical that does not involve suicide.
But if you are stuck and can't get out. Then looks like you have to endure it. Do not let their taunts get to you - if possible laugh or mock at them back. Try and find friends who are supportive and do not treat you like shit. Stay away from fake-friends who do (treat you like shit). And know this - one day, you will get out of the situation somehow and you will be in a better place. Read the stories of people who experienced hardship but eventually pulled through to motivate you. But you won't experience this if you are dead.
The enemy wants to tear us down. They want to humiliate us. They want to destroy us. But we are not going to let them win. Its often a mind game. Don't let them get to you. Don't let them win.
I found the story about the bullied girl who took her own life very sad and troubling. Her mother is now going to spend the rest of her life grieving - so to that extent I feel a bit of anger towards the girl for being so foolish as to succumb to depression and to kill herself.
Having said that - suicide is something I have thought about off and on - esp. when I get very depressed over a turn of events - and when the people who are close to me like my mother who is addicted to gambling hurt me deeply.
Some of the things that have helped me so far overcome bullying and depression is:
1. Prayer and my Christian faith in a God who loves me unconditionally.
2. Humor. You need to laugh things off. Disconnect. Watch a movie or something.
3. Disconnect. If you think too much over the problems - you will fall into despair and you will drown. So go for a walk. Switch off the computer. Stop reading all the horrible news and gossip. Get some physical exercise - if you can't run, walk. Exercise will make you feel happy.
When I was in primary and secondary school I was bullied a lot. I was mocked at, laughed at, physically attacked. I didn't have any friends in Primary school except for one asshole who made him his friend so that he could have someone to pick on. When I was in the boarding school I was mocked at mercilessly, ostracized. The pain of loneliness was excruciating - and made worse because as a damaged person I was unable to interact well with other people. If you get bullied, you tend to get emotionally damaged - I become withdrawn, shy, etc.. and that is very hard to overcome.
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/09/06/how-to-build-a-universe-philip-k-dick/
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away." Philip K. Dick
My Bible believing parents used to advice me to just ignore the problem/ bullies and it will all go away. Or go tell your teacher etc.. I found that sometimes the teachers used to sympathize with the bullies - esp if they were the popular kids in class.
And this whole notion of burying your head under the sand doesn't seem to help either. In fact sometimes it causes the bullies to try and push you further over the edge.
Sometimes it is practically impossible to ignore the bullying. As Philip Dick wrote - reality is something which you can't ignore even if you try to stop believing in it.
The power that bullies have over their victims varies - depending upon the environment. It is often worse if the bullies are very popular - hello Hitler, Stalin - and everyone seems to like them including the damn teachers/system.
Philip Dick also wrote: " today we live in a society in which spurious realities are manufactured by the media, (by various) groups. . . . What is real? Because unceasingly we are bombarded with pseudo-realities manufactured by very sophisticated people using very sophisticated electronic mechanisms. I do not distrust their motives; I distrust their power. They have a lot of it. And it is an astonishing power: that of creating whole universes, universes of the mind."
People will say you are clumsy, hopeless, stupid, ugly, lazy, a whore, a moron, a thief, a liar, a loser. And if they say it often enough you may even start believing it.
Bullying starts off within a realm of the mind. First it begins with words. Then with actions. Then it gains mob support or some form of authority, the good people shut up or follow along, and then it becomes really horrible.
Sometimes if it becomes too much you just gotta get away from the situation. Sometimes the opposition is just too strong! Everyone faces a Dunkirk someday. Change school. Take a holiday. Move to another city or country. Stop using fucking Facebook or change your account and privacy settings. Delete shit comments that people make about you. Do something radical that does not involve suicide.
But if you are stuck and can't get out. Then looks like you have to endure it. Do not let their taunts get to you - if possible laugh or mock at them back. Try and find friends who are supportive and do not treat you like shit. Stay away from fake-friends who do (treat you like shit). And know this - one day, you will get out of the situation somehow and you will be in a better place. Read the stories of people who experienced hardship but eventually pulled through to motivate you. But you won't experience this if you are dead.
The enemy wants to tear us down. They want to humiliate us. They want to destroy us. But we are not going to let them win. Its often a mind game. Don't let them get to you. Don't let them win.
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