Freeze!

"If I have to shoot 200,000 students to save China from another 100 years of disorder, so be it."

- LKY, Aug 2004, endorsing china's tiananmen square massacre of students

U know hor, i've picked up speaking singlish. But Mummy still slangs when she wants me to perform tricks. Oh ya, talking about tricks, I have been so busy pickin them up that i haven't had time to blog. I've learnt how to sit, lay, jump, roll-over, and a couple more stuff which are so lame. Mummy is so lame. She keeps me so busy. Been to sentosa to look at hot chicks. Went to the Vet-yucks. Went for grooming after that. (I'm sure my gf YoYo will love my new clean look). Celebrated christmas. Let me just share some of my silly pics with u all lor.

Here is me and mummy at sentosa. Notice my shaggy hairdo. Urgh,can't believe YoYo fell for me with that furdo.

And then there's me all clean and handsome. Look at me and my christmas present!!So unfair, I only have 1 present while mummy has so many. By hook or by crook, by tail or by paw, I am so gonna find her presents tonight. I'll start from her wardrobe.

Ok, I'm very sure its somewhere here. Don't disturb me now, I've got some digging to do.

taken from straits times, 5 dec, "Institute to study how people behave":

'AN INSTITUTE has been set up to understand human behaviour and provide research to help organisations and governments increase the performance and well-being of people.

The Behavioural Sciences Institute (BSI) at the Singapore Management University (SMU) will draw on knowledge across fields such as psychology, management, economics, sociology and policy studies to find out what influences how people think, feel and act in different settings.

BSI director David Chan gave the example of the Government's Baby Bonus Scheme introduced in 2001 to raise birth rates by giving couples money for each child they have. It was reported earlier this year that there was little impact on birth rates. 'Clearly, people do not make decisions on procreation based solely on money or economic considerations,' he said.

'We have to go beyond economic considerations to understand the underlying social and behavioural factors affecting how people feel, think and act, as well as gender, generational and cultural differences.'

Increasingly, private- and public-sector leaders are realising that people are not motivated solely by money, and seek research to understand human behaviour better.'

finally they are realizing that economics is not king in what we term as 'rationality'. i have realized this four years ahead; and have been reading the topic for four years. this institute can also be named as the institute of sociology.

now who is to say that sociology has no contribute to the society we are living in?

Friday morning. Mummy and Godpa tried to arrange for play dates for me but everyone was so busy. They decided to bring me to east coast park to try my luck! Guess what? It rained and my centre parted fringe got wet. urgh. Unglam. I didnt get to meet any friends and was extremely disppointed. so were mummy and godpa. We gave up and decided to head home.

Here's the part where i think i'm the most blessed pup in the planet! A lost schnauzer appeared below our block. Can u believe it? He seemed really scared so i allowed him to follow us home.. Magnanimous eh?

I secretly wished that it had been a full figured shihtzu bitch instead.

may all dogs v*te wisely

"Mine is a very matter-of-fact approach to the problem. If you can select a population and they're educated and they're properly brought up, then you don't have to use too much of the stick because they would already have been trained. It's like with dogs. You train it in a proper way from small. It will know that it's got to leave, go outside to pee and to defecate. No, we are not that kind of society. We had to train adult dogs who even today deliberately urinate in the lifts."
- Lee Kuan Yew on Singapore society, The Man & His Ideas, 1997

godpa brought me out for my second jab yesterday. he dumped me in to my bag while driving because mummy was at work. i am smarter than he thinks; i found a gap and forced my not-so-small head through. ended up on the car mat and i had fun hiding under the passenger seat before he dumped me back in to the bag again when we met with the red light. he held on to the opening of the bag while driving with the other hand. pheww lucky we didn't meet with an accident if not he better be guilty for such reckless driving.

i got a shock when i reached the farm. dogs of all breeds stood up and greet me. the high decible of incense barking gave me an headache. i saw two of my brothers while waiting for the vet and i think god is unfair that i look so much cuter than them. pity i didn't see another two of my brothers who have been sold to pet shop. heard they fetched a higher price than me (almost double) but trust me i am the most handsome in the family.

the jabbing was horrible and i would rather not talk about it. all i know is that i was looking forward for godpa to pick me up. so happy and relieved to see him that i nearly wagged my tail out!

another crazy journey back when he had to hold on to my bag and drive. again, i proved that i am smarter than he thinks. i found another gap and managed to escape again! he was crazy to pick me up from the mat and put me on his lap while we make our way back home. obviously i tried not to move while on his lap because i fear for my life. not sure if the traffic police would have booked me and ban me from driving even before i am old enough to get my own driving license.

my arm still hurt as the jabbing site is still sore. i shriek in pain whenever mummy carries me by the arm. i hope the pain will go away soon. 10 more days and i can go out for daily walks!

just when i was talking about getting dis-illusioned as a student and with academia as a whole, i received an email informing me that the university is going to publish a research which i did last year.

for any researcher (anybody who does research), the greatest satisfaction, i would imagine, comes when your article gets published. this research programme that i participated in is an elitist one and i've claimed over a thousand bucks for the time spent on my research; i thought i've been compensated enough. it has never come across to me that my paper was good enough to be published (bearing in mind that i am competing with fellow dean's listers from all majors) so this is a pleasant surprise and a bonus.

upon reflection, many fantastic stuff, academic-wise, have been raining down on me for the past 3 and a half years. so much that i wonder if i am going to finish using all the luck i'm entitled for this lifetime, if ever luck can be quantified. i hope not.

still, my faith in academia is dwindling. can't wait to get out of this huge mazy social laboratory and start tasting practical stuff for a change.

Hi everyone, this is my first entry! It has been one week since I found my home (or rather since my home found me). I have a humble play den with a security blanket, bottled water and a bright yellow pee tray for me to do my embarrassing business. My gorgeous mummy also bought me a hamburger toy! It squeaks occassionally when I play with it. Its my favouorite toy and I think Mr. hamburger likes me too!

Mummy always has messy long hair when she takes care of me. She cleans my poop and whines at me for pooping so much. Although I feel really bad, I can't help that I've got so much poop! I love to run after her gigantic legs and nibble on her big toe. I remember crying so badly one night when I was disturbed by a cockroach. Mummy finally woke up at 4.30 a.m. to rescue me! I am so terrified of roaches! Other than that, I sleep and eat well most of the time.

Today, mummy and god-daddy cut my long manes. It looks so patchy now but I feel less warm. I hope they bring me out again today. I hope we take the car because I love car rides!

I finally found you! Dear Muffin, I can't wait to see you on Saturday. I promise you we will be friends for life. Love, Rach

"Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain, and most fools do." ~Benjamin Franklin

So i am a fool.

but thats ok.. as long as Marx is with me.

Haven't blogged in a while. Been trying to adapt to my new work environment as well as my new sleeping patterns. As regular as they've become, my mind has been generating ideas in the opposite direction. I wana rear a puppy, acquire a new hobby, and decorate my room!

Dropped by Daiso and picked up 2 sheets of "bimbo paper" as my dt friends would have called them. Pink leopard prints for my accessories corner..and purple flowers for my bedside table. Watermelon juice, courteousy of rayray!

As random as this might seem, don't deny, we all love looking at pretty things!

**Mental note: Pork cordon bleu at FooHouse is fanfreakintastic!

Taipei in 1 hours time! Rayray wants to be eating something every minute he's there.

It started so innocently. Organizing parties and outings was not just to fulfill my role as the president but had become part of my subconscious self which wanted us to meet up so often. I always felt happy with these girls. They never ostracise or judge. The friendships that I have nurtured these 2 years, has to be the best so far. I'm gona miss the lunches and tea breaks. Now i'm dreading. That it may have that same usual outcome. That we will just be so occupied with our goals that we lose touch of what we have built so precious. Thanks for the beautiful card. The heartfelt messages outweigh its pink glittery appearance. I know that everytime i'm feeling down, I can count on it to make me feel better =)

Misconception about the place i live in

i've been living in punggol for 5 and a half years now. lemme share with you wat people have to say abt this estate:

"so ulu so far"
"niao bu shen dan de di fang"
"is there any coffeeshop there??"
"i go punggol i need GPS"

earlier days i had this tendency to correct these ignorant ppl. now i jus smile and nod. i am not responsible in educating them am i? and deep down inside i hope people continue to think tat punggol is ulu so i can enjoy the peace and quiet which cannot be found in many estates in singapore.

but then, looking at the current high demand for new flats in punggol (new bto over-subscribed by 7 times!), seems like singaporeans are getting smarter with regards to knowledge on punggol. no harm in me spilling the beans by listing out why i love living in punggol.

people like to give me the pathetic look, as if i am damn sway to be staying in the punggol estate. to be frank i also pity people staying in bedok and tampines cuz these places are crowded, the flats are old, and is truly multi-racial-ized. but this is not my point. birds live in nests, pigs live in pigsties, horses in the barn - all of them are happy with their homes; and they are pitying the others. this is a point driven across to me by rachel neo; that many only see the good points of staying in their estate and if u let them choose, they will continue staying in the same area.

it is true but only to a certain extent. cuz people staying in punggol moved here from elsewhere. and if u go ask the punggol-ians (there is a punggol forum), most of them are loving it here. and i dun see any reason why they shouldn be.

the nel brings us to town in 20 mins (that's equivalent to taking train from tana merah to town - so do we say tat simei and tampines is more ulu?)

maybe becuz we dun fancy having a shopping centres too near our homes, cuz of e crowd and noise. no sour grapes here, i promise. becuz there are plans to build a shopping centre here in the near future and many punggol-ians are dreading it. when we need to shop, compasspoint is 5 minutes away; tampines ikea, courts, and giant 10 mins away; tampines mall 15 mins away. 15 mins bus ride to tampines, how ulu is punggol really?

with the circle lines, things are getting more exciting; i can reach paya lebar and bishan in 15 mins. i will give an update on time needed to get to buona vista when the rest of the circle line opens if you so wish.

if you do drive, then punggol is even more convenient. there is direct access to tpe and sle. kpe is one exit down (kpe brings me to town in 15 mins). cte is 2 exits up. and obviously kpe links u to pie. at times when i drive to school, it takes me only 35 minutes as there is hardly any jams (not even during peak hours) when you take the sle, bke, kje. i've taken rides from my friends before, who travels on ecp and pie, we needed close to an hour to get to bedok, or serangoon, during peak hours. and thats only bedok, not tampines. i've been telling rachel neo that kpe is my favourite expressway in singapore. i used to need half an hour to get to east coast park, now i need only half that time.

of cuz there are undisputablely fantastic neighborhoods, but most of these are hardly within our reach. my point here isnt that punggol is the best place to live in singapore. but rather, punggol is not the worst like many make it out to be.

hand to heart, the transquility that this place provides is what i value most. even 5 years ago when there isn't nel, no kpe, nothing, i have already fallen in love with the place.

where the heart cherish, there it's home will be...

and to those ignorants of the land, i rest my case.

A spontaneous decision to hit the gym.
A half hour run with blasting music from my "gym"playlist.
A short conversation with an old friend.
A flashback of memorable times with wonderful people.
A perfectly toasted hotdog bun.
A tinge of sadness from "hatred" that i've garnered.
A silent prayer for the people i love.
A silent prayer for myself to let go.