Sunday, March 21, 2004
11 days to NS and counting…
* * *
What the hell… Chen Shui Bian won the Taiwan elections…
This spells a lot of trouble. We’ll probably get another war when that ass continues to anger China with its bid for independence. How the hell can they vote some foolhardy shit for their President? He’s going to send the Far East into total chaos. When that day comes… God knows what will happen to those people who have businesses in China and Taiwan…
I can understand why China must keep Taiwan in check. If Taiwan goes independent, what if it acquires arms from one of its closest allies, the USA, and goes on a showdown against China? There definitely has to be some strong hand upon Taiwan to stop it from getting up to some form of mischief.
CBW hates him. My father hates him. And I hate him.
Call me cruel, but this is another up-and-rising Adolf Hitler. Honestly with the knowledge that in the world there exist such people who play with fire, I should never be able to sleep in peace.
Anyway Taiwan’s gone haywire, with Lien-Soong supporters flocking the streets, protesting, demanding a recount. So does Lien, who calls the election unfair. Many of the KMT supporters think that the bizarre assassination bid might be a ploy to gain sympathy votes for Chen-Liu’s DPP.
Across the Causeway, Abdullah “Pak Lah” Badawi and his Barisan Nasional has won a landslide victory, giving him a clear mandate to rule Malaysia. Dr Wan Aziz Ismail was defeated as the issue regarding her husband Anwar Ibrahim has more or less died down, so her main root of support is finished. PAS lost very badly, because it nearly showed itself to be some fanatic Muslim party, alienating the non-Muslims and alarming the Muslims themselves.
* * *
Third gym session today. I’ve improved: I can add an extra weight to all the stations that I do. However I still have difficulty doing even two pull-ups. One is a killer enough, taking lots of energy. I cannot forget the technique I used, which saved me from early enlistment. The frustration is that I cannot get the “feeling” of wanting to push myself to do it, to pull myself up, pass the fucking test and save my soul from further physical torture.
I finally realise that buffets are an affair of wasted food at the very end. BW and I go to the Tampines Stadium to try out pull-ups, and on the way back to the gym, chance upon this Family Sports Day organised by the CAAS. They were about to start some lucky-draw thing. At the other end of the spectator stands was a long table with drink dispensers and… food!
BW says it’s okay to eat, but I am not so sure. Anyway we just climb up the steps to the tables and drink the fruit punch like nobody’s business. BW tells me, “Just relax and act naturally… nobody will ask questions.” The drinks are a welcome relief from the strenuous gym session.
Then we help ourselves to the food. BW explains that all these food will be thrown away if not eaten, because the caterers will not carry any food back to their shop. To prove it, I saw a man with a Styrofoam food box scooping as much mini-cakes as the container could contain. Nobody cared about anybody else; everyone just ate like no one’s business. I think some “freeloaders” like us were there munching away too.
How fortunate we are! We have food all the time, yet we don’t treasure it. We can complain when the food is not to our standard. We always seem to forget that there are less fortunate people elsewhere to whom such simple affairs are the equivalent of a luxurious feast. Even a fish ball is a rare treat that they will take every moment to savour.
* * *
I just have to watch the last episode of “Love is Beautiful”. It’s a terrific show, story-wise and value-wise. There are few shows that dare to explore the idea that love is about mutual attraction, not physical attraction. Tonight is the final showdown between Chu Chu/Xiao Tao and the others. Finally the foolish emperor realises his mistake, that he has been trusting the wrong people all the while. Of course the story is “happily-ever-after”: Chu Chu falls off a cliff and dies, after hallucinations of Ling Yun haunt her and in her frenzy, she looses her grip and falls off. Xiao Tao is personally executed by the Emperor. He nearly didn’t die because he claimed that he was the Emperor – before the attempt to change Ling Yun/Chu Chu’s faces Xiao Tao had been wounded by General Wan as he tried to escape. To save him it was necessary that the Emperor gave him three drops of his blood. In other words, the Emperor was now embodied within Xiao Tao. If Xiao Tao died, the Emperor would die as well.
Eventually, it was nearly time for Ling Yun to “disappear” from the world. After her execution, she was granted eighteen years’ grace on earth to take care of Dan-er and make sure he grew up and was well-taught. Now that she had settled her duties it was time for her to leave the mortal world. However, Heaven was touched by her endurance and love that she was allowed to continue living in the mortal world to enjoy a long life and family bliss.
The most unforgettable phrase at the end of the show: “Kindness begets kindness.”
* * *
I type “Pipiland” into my Yahoo! Search engine this evening… shocking! Never would I expect that there’s so many “Pipilands”…
One of them is a gift shop, as from the website: http://www.sam-design.com/pipiland/
“Welcome to Pipiland, a gift store with many chain store from Surabaya to Bali.
We specialize in exclusive and unique items.”
How these people came up with the name Pipiland?
Of course we have our own history behind the clique’s name.
THE HISTORY OF THE PIPILANDERS
Benson the Chancellor has had a fond habit of calling Philip the King “Pip” for short. He likes to holler that abbreviated version of the name repeatedly in rapid sequence, in other words, “Pip, pip, pip…”
So one day, Si Ying comes along, hears the Chancellor’s usual name-calling and comments, “You ‘Pip, pip, pip’ what? ‘Pip pip land” is it?”
And so Pipiland was born, from the name “Pip pip land”
Pipiland is a union of anti-mugger personalities. We share a common destiny of being disgusted by the presence of a majority of muggers inside our class. As the saying goes, “Unity is Strength”: we stick and stand by each other and encourage one another in times of crisis, and we skip lessons (and sometimes school) together. There is nothing we cannot do or won’t do, so as long as we achieve our goal.
* * *
Tomorrow is the Year Two’s March Common Test… all the best, guys. ¶ 3/21/2004 11:47:00 am
* * *
What the hell… Chen Shui Bian won the Taiwan elections…
This spells a lot of trouble. We’ll probably get another war when that ass continues to anger China with its bid for independence. How the hell can they vote some foolhardy shit for their President? He’s going to send the Far East into total chaos. When that day comes… God knows what will happen to those people who have businesses in China and Taiwan…
I can understand why China must keep Taiwan in check. If Taiwan goes independent, what if it acquires arms from one of its closest allies, the USA, and goes on a showdown against China? There definitely has to be some strong hand upon Taiwan to stop it from getting up to some form of mischief.
CBW hates him. My father hates him. And I hate him.
Call me cruel, but this is another up-and-rising Adolf Hitler. Honestly with the knowledge that in the world there exist such people who play with fire, I should never be able to sleep in peace.
Anyway Taiwan’s gone haywire, with Lien-Soong supporters flocking the streets, protesting, demanding a recount. So does Lien, who calls the election unfair. Many of the KMT supporters think that the bizarre assassination bid might be a ploy to gain sympathy votes for Chen-Liu’s DPP.
Across the Causeway, Abdullah “Pak Lah” Badawi and his Barisan Nasional has won a landslide victory, giving him a clear mandate to rule Malaysia. Dr Wan Aziz Ismail was defeated as the issue regarding her husband Anwar Ibrahim has more or less died down, so her main root of support is finished. PAS lost very badly, because it nearly showed itself to be some fanatic Muslim party, alienating the non-Muslims and alarming the Muslims themselves.
* * *
Third gym session today. I’ve improved: I can add an extra weight to all the stations that I do. However I still have difficulty doing even two pull-ups. One is a killer enough, taking lots of energy. I cannot forget the technique I used, which saved me from early enlistment. The frustration is that I cannot get the “feeling” of wanting to push myself to do it, to pull myself up, pass the fucking test and save my soul from further physical torture.
I finally realise that buffets are an affair of wasted food at the very end. BW and I go to the Tampines Stadium to try out pull-ups, and on the way back to the gym, chance upon this Family Sports Day organised by the CAAS. They were about to start some lucky-draw thing. At the other end of the spectator stands was a long table with drink dispensers and… food!
BW says it’s okay to eat, but I am not so sure. Anyway we just climb up the steps to the tables and drink the fruit punch like nobody’s business. BW tells me, “Just relax and act naturally… nobody will ask questions.” The drinks are a welcome relief from the strenuous gym session.
Then we help ourselves to the food. BW explains that all these food will be thrown away if not eaten, because the caterers will not carry any food back to their shop. To prove it, I saw a man with a Styrofoam food box scooping as much mini-cakes as the container could contain. Nobody cared about anybody else; everyone just ate like no one’s business. I think some “freeloaders” like us were there munching away too.
How fortunate we are! We have food all the time, yet we don’t treasure it. We can complain when the food is not to our standard. We always seem to forget that there are less fortunate people elsewhere to whom such simple affairs are the equivalent of a luxurious feast. Even a fish ball is a rare treat that they will take every moment to savour.
* * *
I just have to watch the last episode of “Love is Beautiful”. It’s a terrific show, story-wise and value-wise. There are few shows that dare to explore the idea that love is about mutual attraction, not physical attraction. Tonight is the final showdown between Chu Chu/Xiao Tao and the others. Finally the foolish emperor realises his mistake, that he has been trusting the wrong people all the while. Of course the story is “happily-ever-after”: Chu Chu falls off a cliff and dies, after hallucinations of Ling Yun haunt her and in her frenzy, she looses her grip and falls off. Xiao Tao is personally executed by the Emperor. He nearly didn’t die because he claimed that he was the Emperor – before the attempt to change Ling Yun/Chu Chu’s faces Xiao Tao had been wounded by General Wan as he tried to escape. To save him it was necessary that the Emperor gave him three drops of his blood. In other words, the Emperor was now embodied within Xiao Tao. If Xiao Tao died, the Emperor would die as well.
Eventually, it was nearly time for Ling Yun to “disappear” from the world. After her execution, she was granted eighteen years’ grace on earth to take care of Dan-er and make sure he grew up and was well-taught. Now that she had settled her duties it was time for her to leave the mortal world. However, Heaven was touched by her endurance and love that she was allowed to continue living in the mortal world to enjoy a long life and family bliss.
The most unforgettable phrase at the end of the show: “Kindness begets kindness.”
* * *
I type “Pipiland” into my Yahoo! Search engine this evening… shocking! Never would I expect that there’s so many “Pipilands”…
One of them is a gift shop, as from the website: http://www.sam-design.com/pipiland/
“Welcome to Pipiland, a gift store with many chain store from Surabaya to Bali.
We specialize in exclusive and unique items.”
How these people came up with the name Pipiland?
Of course we have our own history behind the clique’s name.
THE HISTORY OF THE PIPILANDERS
Benson the Chancellor has had a fond habit of calling Philip the King “Pip” for short. He likes to holler that abbreviated version of the name repeatedly in rapid sequence, in other words, “Pip, pip, pip…”
So one day, Si Ying comes along, hears the Chancellor’s usual name-calling and comments, “You ‘Pip, pip, pip’ what? ‘Pip pip land” is it?”
And so Pipiland was born, from the name “Pip pip land”
Pipiland is a union of anti-mugger personalities. We share a common destiny of being disgusted by the presence of a majority of muggers inside our class. As the saying goes, “Unity is Strength”: we stick and stand by each other and encourage one another in times of crisis, and we skip lessons (and sometimes school) together. There is nothing we cannot do or won’t do, so as long as we achieve our goal.
* * *
Tomorrow is the Year Two’s March Common Test… all the best, guys. ¶ 3/21/2004 11:47:00 am
