Shower

About to have a shower when I saw a bunch or roses lying in the kitchen. I think Su might have bought them. They are nice.
Sony 30mm 2.8 macro.

Fasting

I have not fasted for several days. Apart from having to eat my medication for my gout, I am having indigestion. Not only that, green mucus is coming out of my mouth and nose. I can't fast. I need to continually input liquids into my body to was down the phlegm. It just won't go down on my own. The indigestion is being taken care of by the prunes I am eating.

Prunes..
I tried to chew them for at least twenty times, but I can't! It will be too sour and I, reflexively will swallow it. The problem is that some of the pieces are still too big. I will then choke and cough and there they will be, the pieces of prunes and the phelgm...the P brothers.

Made half a bottle of honey lemon drink. Drinking it hot. Used two small slices of lemon and clover honey. About 2 tablespoon left of the honey was left as I rummage through the fridge. Feeling better now, athough I think its mostly psychological as I had only taken two sips (its still hot).

Its almost 1 pm and I have yet to get started on my socio assignment. Going to tutor soon in about 1 and a half hours. Need to get something done! Oh I did! I went to the market...

Market...
I went to the market and bought 9 chickens. I had 6 of them cut into twelth each while the other, I plan to roast them whole in the oven. I bought them from the stall in Geylang, and the seller was or is very jambuuuu! She was so jambu that I felt embarassed buying from her. Its her eyes. They are so clear, and her smile... Oh well, we all need more chicken. Pic taken using KM7d and the kit lens at 5.6.

Slim.

Annual fees

Why do banks still charge annual fees for their credit cards even when they will waive those charges? Its getting very inconvenient to call them and wait for till the cows come home only to have a 10 sec conversation who will agree to the waiver? I mean is there a point? Maybe its too check if I am still alive and I am telecommunica-able? Sheesh!

Pic taken with the KM 18mm-70mm kit lens. Cropped out the more intimate details. LAUGHING OUT LOud.

Slim

Leftover

I had leftovers briyani today. It was delicious. Puji reheat it in a wok and that must have enhanced the flavours. She cooked a fresh pot of chicken curry, which was delicious and together with prawns fried in batter, I had a wonderful time eating what I think was one of the best leftovers ever. Adam, well, lets just say that he got curried away. Here are some photos. Taken with the Sony 30mm macro.

Wifey reached home late today. I know I should have pick her up but then we'll be late too. So, by the time she arrived, the prawns were halfway gone.

Slim.

IFTAR @ SOTA

Iftared at SOTA yesterday with wifey, her colleagues and our friends and some of the students there. Had Briyani and Qathirah for drinks. Enjoyed myself there. The food was fantastic and that made Adam really happy. Yesterday was also the day that somebody other than me call Adam, Faiq. It was Arinah, Khairul's daughter. I like the sound.

Insyallah, will be iftaring at a friend's place this Saturday. Insyallah or god willing, it will be great.

Slim

Good news comes in triplets right?

Its Adam's birthday today. All the people that really mattered in Adam's life took the trouble to come. His Wan, his Atuk, Mummi and Tante all came. And thanks to an ever tireless wife, we made the birthday dinner a success. We had grilled chicken, home made pizza, mac and cheese, and spaghetti bolognaise. Apart from the pizza, I cooked the rest. Presents? Well, he is currently in a flash and dash craze and he got not 1, 2 or 3 but 4 of the cars. While we were busy watching the soccer match between Singapore and Malaysia, the three cousins, were busy racing the cars! I sure hope the neighbours won't be upset.

Singapore won, by the way. I doubt that they will go beyond the next round, but then, neither will Malaysia.

School starts tomorrow, but dad called a family meeting tomorrow. I guess I have to miss this week's class.

Su went and used the pregnancy test kit. It turned out that we are positive. But that was yesterday. Today, she said that there were some spotting. I hope for the best. I guess we have to wait till 1st August to find out. I am worried, not about the results, but about her. I am worried because she is worried. I don't like that.

Adam is now in la la land. In his new bed I might add. A bed he ordered online and which he himself settled the delivery details. In my opinion, that is the best birthday present I can give, not the bed but the process of getting the bed.

Good night all.

Slim

I am worried

Its going to be 1st August soon. That will be the day when we will go to the hospital and check if we are pregnant. So, I am worried. Que Sera Sera...

Its Adam's ninth birthday in two more days. I am so happy. I am so proud of him. He was asked to go and see the doctor regarding his weight though, and that will be tomorrow. He ordered a new bed online, and that is his first online purchase. Can't wait to see everything settled. Planning a pasta party for him this Thursday. Hope it will be a success.

Wifey wants to paint his room. I hope I don't have anything hard thing to do...

Slim

Working tomorrow?

There are two fertilized embryos in Su's uterus right now. She is sleeping soundly, while I am here, listening to Lee Oskar's Before The Rain lp. I do hope and pray that the fertilized embryos will develop into fetuses. The doctor said that Su's embryos are graded at level 4, with 5 being the highest grade. I am so happy that 2 can be used. And I am so happy that my little boys could fertilized them. Knowing me, they could have been finding a place to nap, maybe even listening to an lp.

I have a picture of those embryos, but Su kept it. Once I get my hands on them, I will put them up, that is, if I don't nap and listened to lp.

While I now sip on BOH's passion fruit flavoured tea, I shall tell you about the images shown. Basically, they are pictures of Iryad, riding his bicycle. They are more about where he is riding his bicycle, though. He rode his bicycle in Tampines Bicycle Park. Nice Park, except that you have to be certified to be able to ride on the track. So that what we did. We got him certified. He celebrated by doing a lap (of victory?) and we ended up going home after that. Must be the highlight of the day, because I can't remember what we did prior to that...Strange.

Tomorrow is Monday, I just glanced at the clock and its already Monday. Su wants to go to work tomorrow even though she is still on medical leave. But I love her so much so I told her, that she CAN not go to school of she so wishes, but I will be just a phone call away, if she needs me.

My uncle called this morning, no, yesterday morning. He said that my dad has instructed him to propose to this lady whom my father intends to marry. He asked if I wanted to go. I don't know. Should I?

Its 19 minutes passed midnight. I am sleepy.

She will be home soon today.

Su is at KKH having her eggs extracted. I was told to pick her up at 1.30pm. The nurse told me to wait for a call from them. So here I am, waiting.

Went to KKH earlier in the morning. Manage to submit the sample slightly before the deadline. A bit embarassed when I hand the bottle which contained my 'produce' but all is good. Somebody held the door for me while going into the clinic, somebody said thanks when I hold the door for her, and a staff nudge my hand and ask me if I am ok as he was delivering a trolley load of files. Not a bad day. Its 12.15 pm now. I hope everything will go smoothly. AND it will be a successful one.

Had a talk with Adam regarding names. He suggested using the name Mohd. I guess, bit by bit, he is accepting the new role that he has to play soon, insyallah.

In the meantime, while waiting for the call, I will continue listening to Bette Midler.

Slim

Dad's birthday

It was my dad's birthday yesterday. We celebrated it just before me and Wife had to go to KKH. We had it at New Hawa restaurant in Simpang Bedok. It was nice, although a round table could have been better seating arrangements. We had lots of food, grilled siakap, grilled sting ray, kangkong belachan, fried spring chicken, hot plate tofu and chili crab. I can guarantee that there are others.

Slim.

10.30pm

It had to be at that time, the nurse, Sarah, said. But the car decided to act up. We took a taxi to KKH and to have my darling wife have her thigh injected with something I can't pronounce. It is suppose to ripen her eggs for reclamation tomorrow. For tomorrow, her eggs and my sperm will be infused, in a petri dish.

Have read many blogs regarding that person's experience in IVF, many a times, a sad and a negative account. I have not reached that stage yet. The only negative part that I am feeling right now is the trepidation that I have to 'perform' and produce a sample tomorrow by 10 past 10 am. Talked to Wife about it and decided that watching porn was the way to go. Tried and tested I guess since I have had to perform twice already.

So tomorrow will be the eggs extraction. Friday will be the implantation. I hope that it will be over soon. Hopefully. Hopefully I do not have to be the hands that has to inject the medication to my wife every night. And I hope, no, I pray, that once we succeed in getting pregnant, it will be a smooth one.

I have actually tried to talk about us having another one, maybe twins, to Adam. He is really quite reluctant to have them. I hope it will not be that bad for him if we do have another one. Taken to discussing names with him. Brought out many possibilities. Not the least amount of interest shown by him. But there was one spark though, he did mentioned about how he wanted to be call and its Aadam...with a stress on the Aa and not the Dam...

I like A'kin for a boy.
Or maybe Akil and Akilah.
Slim

My dad

My dad drop by just now. He started by telling me about the jam at the causway. It went from there and we talked about his intention to get married. It was a long talk. But to sum it up..
He..She is quite elderly, I'm 60+ and she is 50+. She is religiously upright, I think it will be good if I marry her. I just want the company and since she is already there, I don't want to be caught by the khalwat police...
Me...I support you in whatever decision you decide to make. But I don't think its fair that you are marrying her for the reasons you mentioned. Maybe you should get to know her, her family and more and for her to know more of you before you make the decision.

Yup, plus the other extras such as my sister's sofa and whats been happening in Tampines, that was mostly it.

I hope he will make the right decision, but I think I got to him when he said that there are so many years left for him. What I did was, I used my training in how to deal with parents and I said,"Are you telling me that you know what is going to happen in the future?" and "Statistics have shown that men could live until 83 while women could live until 89. Thats at least 20 more years. Would you want to rush into things that may provide a lasting impact for the 20 years?" Cool huh?

Now, I need to shower and off to tuition I will go.

Slim.

Birthday and Marriage

Today is my dad's birthday. He is such a joker. He told my sis to tell me and my youngest sis that he wanted to remarry. My mom's death has yet to reach its first anniversary and he wants to remarry? Oh well, it should not matter. What matters is that both my mom and him had a wonderful life together. True, they have their ups and downs, I've witnessed a few of them myself. But with them, running the ship that they run, it was all good.

So, maybe he does have the intention to remarry. Maybe has already have somebody in mind. I just hope that its for the best. He has already bought a house somewhere in Johor. So I am assuming that it can be lonely. Bearing that in mind, I wish him the best. Of course, that's just me. My sister on the other hand, is a totally different story.

Betrayal is a word I would describe how she is feeling right now. She claims that its dad's right to remarry, rightly so, but its her right not to acknowledge that. She said she does not want to lose him. I can't fathom that, but that is how she feels.

Dad borrowed my car to send people to Senai airport for their um'rah. Knowing dad, he is doing a favour to somebody who is significant enough in his life to warrant that favour. So he borrowed my car, so he has not returned it, so there is a parking summons on his car's windscreen, an individual action has its repercussion and implications. Thats what Su said. I am with her except that one needs to weigh the repercussion and implication against one's action that one intends to take. Its logical, except that sometimes, logic is not the logical way to go.

Can't wait for Harry Potter's last instalment.

Wii

My sister passed me her Wii system last weekend. Have not played with since, well, it's not, me. But I did play it today and I only played tennis, Wii style. Never in my wildest dreams that a computer game could make me sweat like I sweat just now. Its awesome! I love it. Even though the game encompass just the mild swinging of one's arm, I can't help getting into the tennis stance, the continuous shifting of my body weight from one leg to another and I did, this is so not me, let out the occasional grunt or two. After two 15 minutes sessions, I feel great...Well not exactly, my two feet are sore and I've been gulping water, like a camel...Oh well. Life Wii goes on!

Ha ha ha.

Too bad Nadal lost the wimbledon final this year. Was rooting for him. Well, I was rooting for Sharpa something something more...She is way prettier. Ciao.

Slim

Gaming computer

Done. They are all done. After $3000 and a bit more, they are done. I am talking about the gaming computerslah...
Anyway, one thing to note in a very particular fashion is the part when you insert the CPU into the main board. Make sure that the orientation is correct if not you might, like me, have to go for a mainboard replacement. I love the guy that helped me. If you happened to need a visit to Sim Lim looking for computer parts, drop me a mail. Glory glory.

Right now I am looking for a CF card reader. My current one is having problems. Thus, the reason for no pictures.

Bye.
Slim

Building a gaming computer.

The two cousins with my dad building a gaming computer. This will be a couple of ass kicking computer.

Hospital

My sister in law is admitted to the hospital, again. Felt fear as I saw her lying on the hospital bed. She seemed cheery enough. Feverish with a tender throat. Hope she can hold her food down.

Slim

Johnny winter

Ok, my apologies, the album I am listening to is circa 1980s. That like 8 years after I was born. Its by a guy named Johnny Winter. He has his own website. Very bluesy.
And this LP is not mine. I got it from my mother in law, who is in fact went to JB with my father. I wonder if they had reached home.

Slim

What exactly am I listening to?

I don't know the name of the artist singing in the very old LP but it is kind of nerve wrecking. I'm just listening to it to see what I've been missing even before I was born. I am still waiting for my LPs that I bought through EBay. I hope they'll be fine. Going to start reading soon. Exams just around the corner.

Went to Geylang just now and bought a couple of fish, among others. Its called Ikan Ayam Ayam, literally translated as Fish Chicken Chicken. Its easy enough to cook it. Leave the skin on and grilled it in an open pan. Eat it with a hot sauce consisting of chili padis, red onions, garlic and soy sauce. Eat it with rice. More pictures here.

Slim

Mission

A lot of things happened since the last post. MM Lee Kuan Yew and SM Goh Chok Tong resigned from the Singapore cabinet. PM Lee Hsien Loon has yet to announce the new cabinet line up and er well, since this is a historic announcement, "wah!".

I on the other hand has did much work on my HIFI set. First and foremost, I set up my marantz and mated it to my M3i bookshelves. A friend passed me his Sansui PD11 turntable which is in not a good working condition. I bought a used Thorens 165 TD instead, which is abit steep at S$350. Oh by the way, did I mentioned that Standard Chartered rejected my opening of a US$ savings account. Oh well..
Anyways, while setting up my living room set, I blew up my KEF Qi speakers. So I managed to get a pair of m34i floorstanders for S$400. Very heavy, due in part that the previous owner has placed sand bags in it. My marantz amp is now in my room together with the philips blue ray player and the floorstanders. I've rewired the speakers and now the sound does not get cut off immediately. I impressed myself actually as I intended to drive to sim lim and possibly spent a huge amount of money buying speaker wires and banana plugs. And since I did not do that, I saved myself the travelling and money and still got the job done...Hurray for Slim.

Ok Adam is back from school.

Slim.

US Dollars

I have just open a US$ account. I went to the nearest standard charterd bank and opened up the account with an initial US$3000. That costs me some S$3.7k.

Why?
Well, I noticed that the US$ exchange rate is quite low. Which means that it will cost me S$1.3 to get US$1.00. As compared to recent rates where US$1 will cost me some S$2.17. And since Osama has been killed, inalilah, and there seemed to be no more bad news with the US economy, my US$3000 should appreciate in value. Furthermore, correct me I am wrong, any gains that I have through currency fluctuations would be halal, instead of the measly interest I would get, which won't be as halal.

Renovations.
Su and me played with the ideas of renovating our house. So I said, let budget for it. Lets start saving and get the renovation under way once we hit 50k. So, this US$ account, or the money in it will be for our renovation. I mean we already have an Islamic accounts for our rainy weather days, so, we will not be touching on that.

So I guess, the priority now is placed on saving up for the renovation.

Process.
Each one of us has a bank account, me, Su and Adam. Previously, whenever any of our accounts were to hit S$1k, we would transfer it to our rainy weather account. Now that that is settled, I am looking at transferring whenever any of our accounts hit US$500. The objectives would be at least two fold.
1. We would be actively be reminded of the reason we are saving. As Adam, Su and I would constantly have to withdraw the funds to be transferred.
2. I could develop a dollar cost averaging system where I could average the cost and benefits whenever the US$ appreciates and depreciates.
3. The value of the money in the savings account POSB is being eroded. So might as well put it in another savings account where I could potentially get better returns.

Am I right? Is my money sense sound?

Now, the thing about standard chartered is that this is my first time dealing with the bank. So the lady with whom I opened up the account with said that she will call me once my account is approved. I've given them a cheque, so that will take at least until tomorrow. So if by tomorrow I should know whether I have my very first US$ account. If not, I will call them.

Why?
Why standard chartered? I've surfed the net and they are the only bank that I could find in Singapore, that requires only US$2000 equivalent to open up the account. Other banks require $10000. And thats to open a FD account. I wanted a savings account.

Next steps.
Need to add Su's name to the accounts namely the Islamic accounts in Maybank and the US$ account in standard chartered.
And to increase my income.

Slim

The role of the intellectuals in civil society: Going against the grain.

by Koh Tai Ann

The traditional concept of a civil society was to provide a democratic checks and balances against the potential issue of the state. In this sense, the intellectual plays an important part. He or she is needed to participate in 'a particular conception of the world, has a conscious line of moral conduct, and therefore contributes to sustain a conception of the world or to modify it, that is to bring into being new modes of thought".

The intellectual can encompass any educated person, not necessarily a university graduate.

The roles of the intellectuals can be broadly categorized into four main groups.
1. Intellectual-politicians through political contest if they are prepared to ally themselves with the ruling leaders and prove their capabilities.
2. They could become like the mandarins of the established order in the civil service.
3. Legitimizers of the established order by providing the symbols and justification of policies.
4. Independent intellectuals who value autonomy, free enquiry and openness to alternative ideas. Being so would allow public awareness of important issues to be raised, to be critics of power, act as a conscience of society, represent those without a voice in the system and provide alternative ideas, preventing intellectual in-breeding at the top.

Nevertheless, many of Singapore's intellectuals have allied themselves with the state. It is because these intellectuals belong to an educated class that shared similar backgrounds and could identify with government leaders AND partly because of a lack of a viable civil society. This would result in the absence of effective autonomous intellectuals that could give these intellectuals full play and satisfaction in serving the nation.

More...after I return from marketing.

Just reached home...

Ok, now, where was I?

Having a civil society would provide a dilemma for the state. Namely, the state has to contend with promoting the 'liveliness' of a group of people who will criticise it and on the other hand, draw and protect the boundaries that those criticism might result in its instability and its inability to carry out its policies.

An example quoted would be the Michael Fay incident where caning was meted out for his act of vandalism. No public debate was carried out as to whether caning could reform individual behavior and deter negative repeat behavior on that occasion.

Debate on crime and punishment had been carried out before. Prof Tommy Koh argued that the rehabilitation of criminals might be more fruitful and thus should be given priority over severe punishment such as caning.

Caning was introduced for illegal immigrants. Apart from questioning the brutality of such punishment for essentially non-violent crimes and the issues also involves the perception of Singapore's ASEAN neighbours where most of the illegal immigrants come from, the legislation was passed simply because a leading member of the party said "what's a few strokes of the cane?"

There are gaps between the official rhetoric about encouraging 'local initiatives' giving people 'free play' and the realities and the risks involved. The first concern was that people were not empowered and given agency. The second involve taking risk with the people and not just asking the people to take risks.

Its mentioned that while there has been a change in the team that makes up the government, there does not seem to be any basic change in the PAP government's attitude towards intellectuals who speak up and disagree with the state's policies.

However, the differentiating line between those who participates in civil activities and political criticism was unclear. These boundary markers will not be made clearer as since "in the nature of things, such boundary markers cannot be defined in advance of the unknown number of varied issues that can be raised by the citizenry, whether intentionally in criticism of the the government or not.

My take:

In the west, a civilised society is one where an intellectual discussed the advantages and the disadvantages of doing things in a certain way. This may be in criticism of the government or otherwise. However, in Asian society, such confrontational attitudes may not be as welcome. Nevertheless, the PAP government has encourage more 'free play' by intellectuals in Singapore. However, this encouragement comes with Terms and Conditions and this Terms and Conditions, although spelled correctly does not identify as to when one infringes upon it. As such, an individual, although encourage to speak up, would most probably be prosecuted if he or she criticise the government policies, even though that is his role in society.

Slim

Kung Pow Chicken

I cooked this.

Kung Pow! (say it for effect) chicken.

1 red onion, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
half a thumb of ginger, sliced
a fistful of dried chilies, cut into short pieces
2 stalks of lemongrass, crunch the base with something hard, dispose of the top half.
A palmful of cashew nuts.

O.k this is how you go about it.
Heat a wok.
Pour some oil.
Put in the onion, garlic, ginger and dried chillies.
Wait for 2-3 minutes, put in the chicken.
Wait for the chicken to cook, look out for the meat to turn white, instead of pink.
Pour about 200ml of oyster sauce, an about two glasses of water.
Stir.
When the sauce has reduced, put in the cashew nuts.
Voila. Should be less than 10 minutes. Don't forget to clean up.

Slim.

Pix taken with KM7D and one of them is using the 18-55mm kits lens and the other is 35-70 f4.0. Both taken at f5.6.

Adam

I really cannot help but to upload this picture of Adam. He just got back from school, that explained the sweat, and I had my KM7d and my 18-55mm kit lens on. I shot it at f5.6.

Its beautiful, this lens. Its cheap, and its good. Loving it.

Slim

Troiki, Sans Davin

O.k serious stuff. I have reread this article twice. It is so anti-Singapore state. I mean I might be jumping to conclusion but it does leave a bitter aftertaste.

This article reminded me of the time that Dr Chee Soon Juan of the SDP got himself into trouble. He, like this article seems to be very confrontational. I mean, I am all for expressing your opinions, but this article do seemed one sided.

O.K, notes. This article, Troiki (who is this person anyways) actually hit the issues that he raised on the head, I think. He states that the state has its hands in every fiefdom of every members of the state based on the pretext of multiculturalism or multiracism. He commented that evidence can be found in the state's housing and education policies where the state's doing and undoing of certain policies, such as the RK requirements is tantamount to controlling or managing aspects of an individual's life that is deemed as the private sphere.

Eugenics is another example where the state meddles or managed the private sphere of its population. Eugenics is the encouraging of graduate mothers to have more babies while not promoting non graduate mothers to do the same. Rationale here is that since human resource is Singapore's own resource, then might as well make the best resource one can have, and the state's idea if for the new population to be borne out or from a female with university certification.

He used the straits chinese ethnic group or the Baba's as an example where the policies of multicuralism resulted in the Baba culture to be curtailed.

Perhaps the assumption that multiculturalism works for the 4 main ethnic groups but not for the really minorities such as the Straits Chinese. The CIMO options pigeon hole the population as there are certain assumptions which are tagged along an individual who belong to a minority group.

Troiki does mention that the system and policies carried out by the state did realise ecnomic gains and a peaceful environment but at what expense.

Thats all for now.

Slim

Davin, sans Troiki

I know I should be blogging about Troiki right now but I cannot help but to post some pictures of my neighbour's son. His name is Davin and he is a year younger than my son. As his parents work during the day, he is sent to another neighbour's house to be babysit. As it is, he can't be let out of the house, so that is explaining the white bars you see in the pictures. Thats the gate.

He is really an adorable boy. He reminds me Adam, whenever he opens up his mouth. Adam, though is not particularly fond of him as Davin did mess up his room once. And we know how Adam hates it whenever anybody comes and messed up his room. I hope I get to see him grow up. These sets of pictures would be the first few sets I have taken of him. I do wish that Adam and he would strike a good friendship, as being an only child, Adam do misses out in that aspect of his life.

Slim. Ok back to Troiki...

Trocki

Re reading Trocki. I did not know what I was reading except that it has something to do with the middle class. It turned out to be quite a cili padi article criticing the state. So I will reread it again and then note down what I have read.

Slim

P.S pic taken using my nex 5.

165 words

I have started on my assignment. Only to realise that I have to read another article! Oh well, reading is good for you and me! The heavy rain has slowed to a drizzle and I am not feeling the effects of the heavy lunch. Adam will be back soon. He is having his Malay oral examinations today.

Slim

Its raining

And I want to take a break. Will be back after I read the second half of the article.

Vivienne Wee

Reading Vivienne Wee right now. The title is Secular state, multi-religious society: The patterning of religion in Singapore.

This article refers to the Singapore constitution Article 15(1) where it states that every person has the right to profess and practise his religion and to propagate it and the fact that the law shall not descriminate against any religion.

In other words, the law, as administered by the state, is above religion and thus enable the state to take on a secular role.

As the law is held above religion, the relationship between the state and the society would thus be a superordinate -subordinate relationship. It is the "government who actively maintains such a relationship through explicit articulation and deliberate policies".

The article compares Singapore with Malaysia where a dominant ethnic group and religion is dominant unlike Singapore where the state maintains its secularization. This is because of the dominant religion in Malaysia. It also compares Singapore with Indonesia where the Indonesian state is more secularized than in Malaysia. However, the state in Indonesia leans heavily to being ethnic biased such that the Javanese is the most dominant group.

Carthesian Scientific Rationalism
A method which guides the Singapore states in its policy making. It can be summarise as the scientific rationality which leans towards the materialistic world or a non-religious mode of rationality.

Government stand on religion.
Religion is an impediment to progress.
The government stand on religion is that 'religion is an impediment to progress' and that the correct interpretation of religion 'must be one that fits in with the prevailing secular values. The government encourages religious authorities to reform outmoded practises and beliefs.

Religion as "political subversion"
A double edge sword like situation develops. For example, if one is "outworldly" then one is considered outmoded and needed to be reformed. However, if one were to take a more "inworldly" view, one may be potentially viewed to be able to provide a political alternatives which the government view as being subversives.

I find this interesting
The government of Singapore has defined the proper "bounds" of religious activities as "educational, social and charitable work". The government regards religions as a spiritual anchor against communism.

Religious knowledge was introduced but was later taken out.
The government felt that religions were useful as a moral and civic anchor but was later taken out. This is because the introduction of the rk in schools blur the lines between the role of the secular state.

Land space.
Due to limited land space, the state, even though it provides the space for the various religios groups to practise, does not provide a 1 for 1 exchange for all the places of worship it demolished. As such many followers had to resort to using their own homes in practising their religions. However, the increasing secular society complained about these informal place of worship and the HDB has tighten the rules somewhat.

O.K I got pause now. Its raining and I want to take a break,

I need to read.

Seriously, I have this very bad habit of procrastination. I need to re read my articles so that I could complete my TMA. Its due on the 21st and I need to get started now. Sheesh. Anyway I did not go to the park today as I was very tired. This is because of the fact that I lost the bet with Adam. The bed was a little crowded yesterday with all 3 of us on it.

So, I target myself to read finish reading this article within 20 minutes and to post the notes up.

Slim

I made a bet and I lost.

Adam and I made a bet. And it was about fungi. Well, the question was, can fungi move by themselves? I said yes, because all living things can move. But he said no. So we made a bet. If he wins, he get to sleep with me and Su, if he lose, he has to sleep in his own room. He won. So now I know, fungi can't move by themselves. They can grow but they don't move like plants do.

Slim.

the light

i love the light. This is what makes the walk worth it. Although i did not walk that far, i did walk a couple of hundreds metres more than what i originally intended...more coming tomorrow, akan datang!!

slim.

pix from my samsung galaxy s.

walk

i am punggol riverside park now. The picture shows the place where i am resting my bum this very moment.

i don't think i have walked that far, maybe a couple of hundred metres? But i am not stopping...

The back of my left knee feels a bit pulled but i still think i can manage.

slim

moon

Its the full moon today. Too bad i cannot take a better picture. But its so huge and i could see the craters.

slim

zoo

Went to the famous zoo yesterday. Actually, I just waited at the car park while Su, Adam and Puji went in. But we did went for a beautiful dinner at Al-Amin restaurant and had many many naan bread. After which we went to night safari. We paid for the family package which allows us multiple entry into the zoo and night safari. Each adult ticket costs $32.00! That's insane!

Did not get any pictures though but Adam took some and these are his.

Slim

Nice Pic

I really like this picture. This was taken after Adam had a fall on his Kang Scooter.

Punggol Riverside Park

Went to Riverside Park today. I can't remember how many times I have been there but I know that today I started off grumpily.

My left knee was not being cooperatives in letting me walk and I was, well, in pain. But I drag myself to the park with Su and Adam (pix) and limped from the carpark to the park. There were many people there and I would think that more than a few were being sympathetic to me. But I was not there to be sympathize on, I was there to be with my family.

Adam brought his Kang Scooter Su brought along a Kick Scooter. I think there were at the park a good ten minutes before I could reach them.

Nevertheless, I could feel my knee complying to my wishes and although I was walking quite slowly, it was not painfully slow. I could climb down the steps and climb back up again. I was doing great. The only setback then was the camera and the 28-135mm set up. Boy! They were heavy!

Spent a good half and hour or more walking and spending time together. Adam felt good! I felt good and everybody else too. In fact Su felt so good that she is sound asleep and giving the West Brom-Chelsea game a missed. I am too.

We ended up at A & A restaurant in Bedok North Street 3 and we had Grouper cooked in sweet and sour, sambal kangkong, seafood soup and drinks. Came up to be about $50.00. Felt much better after we have eaten and I felt wonderful when I wanted to stand up! The pain in my knee was gone! Voila!

Its a beautiful day, and I think it will be a beautiful night.

Slim

Command And Conquer

This is a pix of Adam and Irsyad. Adam is 9 and Irsyad is 11. They grow up so fast!

They were playing CnC at my place. That's Adam showing the tricks to Irsyad on Adam's new Samsung. I have come to realise that there are two many computers in the house, although I must admit, I do feel the loss if one of them were unavailable.

Let me see, what do I have with me now.

A 15 inch mac book pro, running on a 2.2 ghz intel core 2 duo, a samsung running on an i5 dual core with 6gb memmory, a Toshiba running on a intel duo core with a 15.4 inch screen, a 13 inch macbook pro, another 13 inch mbp that belongs to Su.

But all those does not matter to what I want to have, all of which I am holding back in getting them. I want a 13 inch mac book air, a gaming desktop pc, and a couple more ipads. But I don't think I will be successful in getting them, simply because, I don't need them.

The Toshiba was given to my dad, but now that he has a desktop, its back with me. The 13 inch mac book pro is supposed to be given to Risa, but it has yet to cross the border. Anyway, I think I have passed the denial stage. Its not that I love having the new gadgets, its that I love the feeling of wanting to buy the new gadgets. Twice I have came close in buying a new camera body. Thrice, I have stopped myself in spending the 3k that I would if I did buy them.

And this is the best part, I will always console myself by saying that I have saved the family 3k for not buying heh heh. After which, we would go and have a hearty dinner, not those expensive ones but the nicer ones.

Now, for a game of command and conquer, as soon as Adam leave the house that is.

How do you align these?

These are pictures of a bbq session that involved many many people. They include members of my family, my extended family, my in-laws, my (su's) cousins etc etc.

I really don't know how this post going to turn out as the pictures do not seem to want to align themselves. And I am sure what I will see in my preview window will be different from the end result. So be it then. I'll post them all and let you sort them out.

There should be two pictures of my dad. He is one of those get go kind of guy. Or maybe a go get and goodbye kind of a guy. He likes to be there early, do his business and go back, however, for this BBQ he did came on time. did his business but he stayed. Well not for the whole night, but he stayed for quite some time. It was fun with him around, sort of added another dimension to merry making.

My two sisters turned up too, with the youngest bringing her husband. Not a bad crowd. Food was late, at least most of the food was late. But, me, being the ever pessimistic one, got that covered. Moi brought food even though moi was not supposed to. Moi got the fire started and bbq started way before the rest of the food came.

I remembered that this was in East Coast Park and we set up tents to stay over the night. Although I did go back home for the night.When? I can't remember. Sometime back. Either 2011 or 2010.

Slim

Notes from a reading

What I remember about this article..

Religious switching and knowledge among adolescent in Singapore by Phyllis Ghim-Lian Chew
1. This article was written in 2004, so its quite recent.

2. It stated that adolescents' knowledge about religion is very poor. Not only do they not know about their own religions, they know even less of the other religions. Main reason is the misinformation or the lack of information as a result of a lack knowledge being passed down from parents to child. Mostly valid for Taoist and Buddhism. Most parents who are Taoist and Buddhist are not too sure of their own religion themselves and their lack of academic prowess does not encourage them to explain to their children as to the various practises accorded to their own religions.

3. Adolescent learnt about religion from Textbooks and during CME classes in school.

4. There is a false sense of tolerance among adolescent (adults?) in that adolescent equate tolerance with fear and not whole hearted respect. Fear is illustrated by not talking about religion among friends.

5. A majority of switchers switched from Buddhism, Free Thinkers to Christianity. Main reason as stated by them is the 'feel good' feeling. In other words, the switched happened because of the emotions occur and not of the intellect. Switchers switched mostly because of peers, and family members. Half of the switchers are met by dissaproval by parents but the parents relented. Half were not by dissaproval by parents but this does not mean that their parents approved of them being Christians. Some kept it a secret for fear of reprisal. Some may switched because of situational stress such as exams and their friends who introduce prayers and chants to them.

Is that all?

Slim

Its a thursday

No its not. Its a Tuesday. My dad came yesterday and drop off a couple of shirts for me. He bought it at Giant Plentong. Good fit. Wearing one of it right now.

Its 14 minutes after 9 in the am and I intended to have a late am nap. But Puji, my new maid was cleaning the bathroom and well, I don't feel good sleeping while somebody else is working within earshot.
So I did my banking and in another hour, I'l be doing my marketing. Will be bringing Puji along I guess.
Nothing much has happened. Adam bought a skateboard and is learning how to skate. He is also into softball and we bought a couple of gloves and balls to train up. A few round of catch is a good form of exercise for me.
Su is going to Solo, Indonesia soon. Wished I could go with her.
Our new chapter will be happening in a couple of months. Pray it will be successful.
Slim.

a pic of my car being hoisted up.

servicing at autobac

me and my car are at autobac now. having the car serviced using their inhouse oil.

i hope they wont find anything else wrong with the car.

slim

I cooked today

I cooked today. Well, most of it anyways. Let me see, what did I cook? Oh for a start, I fried some noodles using oyster sauce as the base sauce. That was a cinch!

I then steam a fish which I just bought from the market. Its a sea bass and it was my first time steaming fish. I want to grill a red snapper tomorrow.

It would have been nice if Su could have join us for lunch, but from the whatsapp msg I got, she was having briyani for lunch.

Adam ate a little today, the same small amount he had for the past few days. Although he is gaining weight!

Ok bye for now!

Slim

Reset to zero

I have posted a cheque to Tini for her share of the money. Thus that will make the balance go back to zero. I have however, transferred $800 to the account again. And this is for Keling. Therefore the balance now is $800...

I really need to bill H for tuition fees. But I really feel bad about taking other people's money...

Sigh..What needs to be done, needs to be done I guess.

Slim

Still

Still holding strong. Knees feeling a bit stiff but no pain killers today. More stretching is required.

Hooray!

I think I made it.

The balance now should be $9671. I have transferred another $600.00 That should make it $10271.00

I wonder if that is enough..

Slim.

$400

Transferred another $400. Still have yet to hit 10k...

Slim

Only $300

Only managed to transfer $300 to the account. That would make the balance to be $9271...

Slim.

Transferred another $600

Yup, thats what I did. Had to transfer some other amount to pay for bills.

Slim

Swedish meat balls.

First time having it today. Went to ikea with su and adam and puji. Ended up eating cheese croquet, fish nuggets and swedish meatballs. All halal.

Oh, and fried chicken wings.

Reached here around nine. Ikea closed at ten so I guess it was a bit of a rush. I am at the car now waiting for su and adam and puji to complete their shopping. Su said that she is only here to buy for photo frames. I bet it will be more than that.

Slim.

$8371

Transferred another 1k today. Should be the amount stated in the title.

Adam is having his Tests this week. I hope he does well.

Slim

Adam new specs.

He needed them. He seems to be having problems in school. He complained that he can't see and e have been receiving love letters from his teachers regarding his behavior.

Dad bought a fridge and its too small. So now he is selling it. Sigh. What a waste of money.

Another 1k.

Transferred another 1k into the account. Should be in excess of 7k now.

My grandmother is admitted into the hospital. Stroke. She is stable now. A flood of emotions came crashing onto me as I was told the news by my father. Damn!

Slim

Another 1k

Transferred another 1k. That should make the balance to be $6371.00. Going to JB now. Going to show dad the way to larkin.

Hooray.

More so

I have transferred some $700. Thats should make the balance in excess of $5000.00 Maybe I should email my sisters if the money.

Anyway Puji attempted to cook fish curry. Did not look like much but it sure tasted full of awesomeness. I wonder if Adam would like it later.

Left ankle in pain. Now swollen, just in pain. Sharp poking pain.

Dad got himself or built himself a desktop. That guy still knows how to do it. After all these years.

Bought Dad a GPS device and he seemed very happy. Bought it at challenger.

Adam got himself a new pair of specs. Very nice. Not to mentioned a new pair of asics running shoes.

Spent alot last weekend, but it was a good spending session. Nothing too elaborate. Let me see what we spent on..

HP Black ink cartridge printer $128.

Dad GPS, $201

Adam's shoes $79.00

Lunch at Pastamania $50.00

Ayang's shoes, $79.00 (beautiful shoes by the way)

All pale in comparison as to what I intend to buy..

The good news and I can't bear not repeating is that my housing loan is around 86k. I would think that we can clear that by the end of the year. That's amazing.

Slim.

Money

Transferred another $900. Balance should now be $4371.00..

And then some

Transferred another $500. So total should be $3471..

Slim

news money

Transferred another $600..Slowly but surely.

Readings

Balance now should be $2371 as I have transferred another $900..

Joint feeling better except that I have to complete a 1000 words research proposal...Damn those readings.

Liverpool won yesterday against Chelsea. I knew that Torres played for Chelsea but did Suarez played? Fell asleep before half time..

Slim

Starting

Ok I have transferred 1k into the account. This time I am serious. I have already taken out the money meant to be zakated and given it to Dad. So my conscience is now clearer. I need to transfer at least 5k. After which I will post a cheque to Tini.

Slim