Points Of Interest

Zhi Mei: You and I are inseperable!
Sha: But what about Marcus?
Zhi Mei: Marcus is inside me.

Chemistry tomorrow, but this won't be long, and besides, it looks like you don't need an education to do well in this country.

Just get into politics.

I'm not sure how accurate this is. I have enough to do without tracking the state of our ruling cabinet's tertiary education. But my dad says it most likely is. I trust my dad.

Sort of.

And I don't normally read mail, but this one caught my eye. I thought it was a chain letter from the education minister.

Here it is, reproduced in full except for the colors of the national flags (dutifully added by me).

It is not to say Singapore is really good, (it says) but looks like our cabinet ministers are really teruk!

Singapore Cabinet	Malaysia Cabinet
PM Lee Hsien Loong Cambridge University – First Class Honours (1974) Harvard University – Masters (1980)	PM Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi University of Malaya – Bachelor of Arts Honours (1964)
MM Lee Kuan Yew Cambridge University – First Class Honours (1949)	Deputy PM Dato' Sri Najib Razak University of Nottingham – Bachelor of Arts Honours (1974)
SM Goh Chok Tong University of Singapore – First Class Honours (1964) Williams College, USA – Masters (1967)	Minister of Foregn Affairs Syed Hamid Albar (can someone tell me his univeristy?) – Bachelor of Arts [UITM]
Minister for Law Prof. S Jayakumar University of Singapore – Bachelor of Law Honours (1963) Yale Univerity – Masters (1966)	Ministry of Works Dato' Seri Samy Vellu (Education Unknown) [Form 6, Anderson School]
Minister for Home Affairs Wong Kan Seng University of Singapore – Bachelor of Arts & Business Admin (1977) London Business School – Masters (1979)	Ministry of International Trade & Industry Rafidah binti Aziz University of Malaya – Bachelor of Arts Honours
Minister for Foreign Affairs BG George Yeo Cambridge University – Double First Class Honours (1976) Harvard Business School – MBA w/ Distinction (1985)	Minister of Agriculture Muhyiddin Yassin (Education Unknown) [Polytechnic Ungku Omar]
Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang Cambridge University – First Class Honours w/ Distinction (1976) Harvard University – Masters (1986)	Ministry of Domestic Trade Shafie Apdal (Education Unknown) [Form 5, Failed English]
Minister for Defence Teo Chee Hean University of Manchester – First Class Honours (1976) Imperial College, London – Masters w/ Distinction (1977)	Minister of Education Hishammuddin Hussein (Education Unknown) [Bachelor of Arts, Social Science]
Minister for Education Tharman Shanmugaratnam London School of Economics – Bachelor of Arts Cambridge University – Masters Harvard University – Masters	Minister of Home Affairs Radzi bin Sheikh Ahmad (Education Unknown) [Kolej Islam Malaysia, Diploma]

Then it says,

**That is why they are so desperate to get Khairy Jamaluddin up so fast, because he is from Cambridge. God knows how he got in!

Okay, maybe you don't need a whole bunch of fancy degrees to head a nation. But this guy here... it says he failed english? In form five?

How do you fail english?

Maybe we should send all these guys back to school or something. Just to get a better looking testimonial.

No one's perfect though. If you read the thingy closely, you'll notice the guy who wrote it mispelled univeristy and foregn.

Though I would like to, I'm not going to show you a photoshopped picture of Samy Vellu sitting in Chemistry, getting chewed out by Haslina. I've got exams.

During English, I fell asleep. I had this weird dream where I think I was planning a party. I remember calling up this malay guy and asking, "Encik, siew pao ada?"
I was thinking about it so much I wrote the words siew pao into my essay.

That was fun. On to my second topic of interest...

I have to tell you about Spiderman 3 again. Some of you didn't like it. That's fine.

Myself, I really enjoyed it. But check out all the scenes they deleted from the movie!

- Following up on his firing, Eddie goes to see Gwen to ask her out. Gwen wants nothing to do with him and explains that they’ve only gone on one date, not counting the time they bumped into each other at a coffee place. Gwen admits that they did kiss, but is confused when Eddie insists she told him that she loves him.

- At the Spider-Man appreciation ceremony, Peter runs into a little boy with toy web-shooters. After getting sprayed on, Peter shoots a little webbing on the kid’s shoe as the boy’s walking away. The kid sees the webbing, turns around and points to his mother that he just met Spider-Man. The mother sees some guy in a ****py suit nearby and figures that’s what he was talking about.

- Some of the Eddie/Jameson dialogue got cut, including a great exchange.
“What’s that smell?”
“Brock, sir.”
“What kind of cologne is ‘Brock’?”
“No, sir. My name is Brock.”
“Why are you named after a cologne?”

- Harry goes up against Venom one-on-one for a round, not counting the impaling scene.

That's just a sample. There's lots more if you clicky clicky.

There's also a petition for the release of the director's cut DVD, which would be pretty interesting if it did include all those scenes.

I really wanna see the last one (Harry and Venom).

Yeah, that's it for now. Just thought you should know.

junian: i just had an idea
oh! ky: what?
junian: one day i will get you and esther ho to stand together
junian: and i will say
junian: look! its OH AND HO!
oh! ky: uh yeah, we wanted to put that on our jerseys
oh! ky: xP
junian: gosh
junian: you beat me to the lameness

The Singapore Troublemaker's Index

Jamie - # 38

"She wants to know if anyone is suffering from Jamie-withdrawal syndrome." - Peako

Likes:

• counter-strike
• fried mars bars

"The deep-fried Mars Bar is thought to have originated in Stonehaven, in the north-east of Scotland. Its existence may help account for the fact that parts of Scotland have the highest incidence of heart disease, cancer and strokes, the worst teeth and the lowest life expectancy in the developed world." - BBC News (link)

• white sports (tennis, golf)
• solitaire

Dislikes:

• twits
• jaywalking
• straws
• staying in school

Notes:

• spent night at MRT station
• mother has fear of her getting raped in taxi
• influential

The second time they played Counter-Strike, Jun Ian killed a lot of people and he told Jamie that he wanted to play more Counter-Strike now. Jamie told him that she has made a lot of people feel that way.

Jamie also influenced Jun Ian to look for napkins after meals even if there weren't any around, and to dislike straws the way she did.

Unfortunately, Jamie could not influence him to stop jaywalking. This was because his Malaysian upbringing was too strong and he thought that waiting for the traffic lights was silly.

• critical
  

See it is pretty much all right to insult me because just check out this diagram of my self-esteem.

Troublemaker Rating:

• Nosiness: 7
• Disaster Power: 9
• Financial Damage: 8
• Escape Factor: 7

Mark - #5
Likes:

• wife
• babes
• guitaring
• artistry

This is Marks' guitar. He pimped it out himself. Clever Mark!

Dislikes:

• Macbeth

To see Markduff's heroic fight against Macbeth, just click on the picture.

Something went wrong with the embedding so it has to be like that.

• the killing of "all [his] chickens in one fell swoop"
• shallow conversation
  

"The entire three days was just spent talking about which superhero, actor, singer, video game character or otherwise celebrity you would rather 'do', which was fun for the first half an hour but then got really immature." - Mark

Notes:

• picked fight in cybercafe over ringtone he didnt like
  
• brutally honest

"If you weren't my friend I would punch you for saying that. You're one of those guys I would glare at like this if I met on the street." - Mark

• almost set fire to Dexter's house

Troublemaker Rating:

• Nosiness: 8
• Disaster Power: 10
• Financial Damage: 10
• Escape Factor: 8

Rachel - # 98
Likes:

• manga
• Eliot's cartoon of the Pope

Dislikes:

• not known (generally amiable)

Note:

• again, not much known apart from the fact that she is good natured, friendly and approachable

Troublemaker Rating:

• Nosiness: 7
• Disaster Power: 8
• Financial Damage: 7
• Escape Factor: 8

Life, The Universe And Everything

This holidays, the old gang of Panda, Fox, Gorilla, Peako and Deis head south on a train to the lonely (not really) island of Singapore for three days of youthful misadventures. The decision was not made entirely on a whim, though. We are going to meet perhaps the greatest animal of all and watch him take on the role McDuff in his school play.

Not this guy.

Duffman: Hey Duff lovers! Does anyone in this bar loooove Duff?
Carl: Hey, it's Duffman!
Lenny: Newsweek said you died of liver failure.
Duffman: Duffman can never die, only the actors who play him. Ooh yeah!

This is McDuff.

He is from the play McBeth, which was written by William McShakespeare. Which one is he? I don't know, the one with the beard.

Plays aside, the trip promises to be serious fun. Far from the watchful eye of authority figures, our merry band has made schemes to unleash a wave frivolous hijinks and shenanigans of the wildly irresponsible variety on the unsuspecting city.

However tantalising the prospect of the holidays and all they offer, one obstacle stands tall in our collective path like a biblical Goliath, but equipped with a helmet purposed to turn aside even the most treacherous of stones. You get my meaning.

omg exams

How should be prepare for these exams? Guan Xiong offers sage advice.

lol like that not geng la deng when like dem late u cant absorb wan la deng but in the morning force kau urself read sure guarantee absorb wan n sure niama last wan what you read

See? Not geng la DENG.

Lame Joke #1

Seeyau: Brian... you know indians right, they like to talk alot.
Brian: Yeah...
Seeyau: So why? Why do indians talk alot?
Brian: Why?
Seeyau: Cause the stop button is here. (O*O)
Brian: OMG LOL! (>.<)

And everyone is like wtf brian it is not that funny why are you laughing so hard?

Lame Joke #2

Seeyau: Here's another one.
Brian: Okay.
Seeyau: Why do indians keep shaking like this?
Jun Ian: Same answer?
Seeyau: The stop button is here. (O*O)
Brian: LMAO! (>.<)

And everyone looks at brian like how can you laugh at the same thing twice it is not funny.

Lame Joke #3

Wilkin: Here's my joke. Once upon a time... OH LI-WEN WAS BORN! HAHAHA! (^o^)
Brian: WTF LIEK ROFL! (^o^)

5P joke. It's not as bad as it sounds, just one of those 'had to be there' things.

Heroes is awesome.

Episodes 16 and 17 have been just... wow. How does the show keep on getting better? I'm going to dedicate a post to it one day. Don't ask me when. When I have enough stuff to do it justice.

Last week I thought Unexpected was the best hour of television ever produced, they topped it in just one week with the Company Man. Which is a work of breathtaking cinematic genius and my favorite episode of Heroes so far.

Lately, I feel like I'm blogging for all the wrong reasons. News about skull toasters and grafitti lasers is probably what the internet was made for, but blogging should probably be a bit more personal. More in the realm of reflection and personal experience, and since I got back into blogging in late January I don't think I've done much to fill that quota.

I miss my old class more than I'll ever admit. I remember the brash promise I made, at the start of the year, to not look back and even that I might find a way to change the people I was now with. I may be forced to break that vow. I never had any delusions that it would be easy to change an entire class, but maybe it just can't be done. Maybe it doesn't have to be. I'm starting to see that the class works fine as it is. It's different, no doubt. But it's diversity that gives life flavor.

School life is fleeting, and over before you can fully grasp at what it means to you.

No one sees it coming, but life sneaks up on you. When you measure time in events, and ignore the spaces in between, a whole year could pass in the blink of an eye.

In January I knew it was my last year, and I had to make it count somehow. I dreamed up a list of things I could do to make it special. But everything was new and life was hectic and the month slipped away.

At the start of February, I counted down the days to the Jogathon. When the Jogathon was over, I counted down the days to Valentine's. And when that was over suddenly it was the middle of February, and Chinese New Year was silent this year.

Now the exams are knocking, and the holidays will follow. Sport practice lasts for a month, then April brings Sports Day, the visit by the Hearts and my birthday. May marks the academic calendar with forty hours of examinations, and the spaces in between are filled with club projects, extra classes and concert practice.

I can't help but look forward to the concert. But it is the time spent practicing for it that I enjoy more. The concert is in July, well into the second half of the school year. Then revision, trials, the finals themselves, and school is over forever.

Prom might be the last time some of us ever see each other. And then what thoughts would go unspoken, what tales would fade unwritten, what dreams would die unfulfilled?

Where would I be then? Where would we all be? Only the future holds the answers we seek. If you could see yourself in five, ten, or fifty years, what would you see? Would it move you to challenge the call of destiny as it reaches out or would you simply be content to lie still as the rushing tides speed you towards your fate?

If you look always to the horizon, you miss the miracle of life as it happens around you. I am content to wait, and let tomorrow bring what it may. And if we live each moment as it were truly our last, maybe we wouldn't mind so much when it finally is.

Credit: All graphs and charts were inspired by genius blog indexed.