I guess its been a really long time since I blogged down my thoughts in my blog.
It's been 6months but I will spare the details on my excuses.
Here are my thoughts on the aftermath of 2 natural uncontrolled tragedies.
To me...it doesn't matter how large the tragedy is before the whole world starts thinking deeply about how fragile life can be.
It could be 10 million, 1 million, 100,000, 10,000, 1,000, 100, 10, OR even 1.
Although the magnitude of the impact is linear to the amount of death but a life is a life and only 1 life is still a life.
So I guess we don't need any tragedy to happen before we cherish our lives and the lives of others.
What's important is to live life to the fullest, make the most of every moment, stay happy...afterall life is fragile.
Has it ever occurred to you that whenever we lose someone we cherish like an idea, a loved one, an important item, our reaction would usually be..."oh! I should have cherish that moment?". That's human nature...
In times of crisis do we see heros emerged and leaders becoming true leaders.
A Life, Is a Life. Your Life, Is Your Life. Life is how you Live Life to Be.
Oh yes, enough of political propaganda from those taking opportunity to get publicity.
You get publicity at the expense of people who died terribly.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Oh, the Places You'll Go!
Oh, the Places You'll Go!
Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.
You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care.
About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there."
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.
And you may not find any
you'll want to go down.
In that case, of course,
you'll head straight out of town.
It's opener there
in the wide open air.
Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy
and footsy as you.
And when things start to happen,
don't worry. Don't stew.
Just go right along.
You'll start happening too.
OH!
THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!
You'll be on your way up!
You'll be seeing great sights!
You'll join the high fliers
who soar to high heights.
You won't lag behind, because you'll have the speed.
You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you'll be the best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.
Except when you don' t
Because, sometimes, you won't.
I'm sorry to say so
but, sadly, it's true
and Hang-ups
can happen to you.
You can get all hung up
in a prickle-ly perch.
And your gang will fly on.
You'll be left in a Lurch.
You'll come down from the Lurch
with an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are, then,
that you'll be in a Slump.
And when you're in a Slump,
you're not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself
is not easily done.
You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.
Some windows are lighted. But mostly they're darked.
A place you could sprain both you elbow and chin!
Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?
How much can you lose? How much can you win?
And IF you go in, should you turn left or right...
or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite?
Or go around back and sneak in from behind?
Simple it's not, I'm afraid you will find,
for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.
You can get so confused
that you'll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place...
...for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or a No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a sting of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.
NO!
That's not for you!
Somehow you'll escape
all that waiting and staying.
You'll find the bright places
where Boom Bands are playing.
With banner flip-flapping,
once more you'll ride high!
Ready for anything under the sky.
Ready because you're that kind of a guy!
Oh, the places you'll go! There is fun to be done!
There are points to be scored. there are games to be won.
And the magical things you can do with that ball
will make you the winning-est winner of all.
Fame! You'll be famous as famous can be,
with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.
Except when they don't.
Because, sometimes, they won't.
I'm afraid that some times
you'll play lonely games too.
Games you can't win
'cause you'll play against you.
All Alone!
Whether you like it or not,
Alone will be something
you'll be quite a lot.
And when you're alone, there's a very good chance
you'll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.
There are some, down the road between hither and yon,
that can scare you so much you won't want to go on.
But on you will go
though the weather be foul
On you will go
though your enemies prowl
On you will go
though the Hakken-Kraks howl
Onward up many
a frightening creek,
though your arms may get sore
and your sneakers may leak.
On and on you will hike
and I know you'll hike far
and face up to your problems
whatever they are.
You'll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You'll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life's
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.
And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3 / 4 percent guaranteed.)
KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!
So...
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
you're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So...get on your way!
---Dr. Seuss
Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.
You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care.
About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there."
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.
And you may not find any
you'll want to go down.
In that case, of course,
you'll head straight out of town.
It's opener there
in the wide open air.
Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy
and footsy as you.
And when things start to happen,
don't worry. Don't stew.
Just go right along.
You'll start happening too.
OH!
THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!
You'll be on your way up!
You'll be seeing great sights!
You'll join the high fliers
who soar to high heights.
You won't lag behind, because you'll have the speed.
You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you'll be the best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.
Except when you don' t
Because, sometimes, you won't.
I'm sorry to say so
but, sadly, it's true
and Hang-ups
can happen to you.
You can get all hung up
in a prickle-ly perch.
And your gang will fly on.
You'll be left in a Lurch.
You'll come down from the Lurch
with an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are, then,
that you'll be in a Slump.
And when you're in a Slump,
you're not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself
is not easily done.
You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.
Some windows are lighted. But mostly they're darked.
A place you could sprain both you elbow and chin!
Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?
How much can you lose? How much can you win?
And IF you go in, should you turn left or right...
or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite?
Or go around back and sneak in from behind?
Simple it's not, I'm afraid you will find,
for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.
You can get so confused
that you'll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place...
...for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or a No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a sting of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.
NO!
That's not for you!
Somehow you'll escape
all that waiting and staying.
You'll find the bright places
where Boom Bands are playing.
With banner flip-flapping,
once more you'll ride high!
Ready for anything under the sky.
Ready because you're that kind of a guy!
Oh, the places you'll go! There is fun to be done!
There are points to be scored. there are games to be won.
And the magical things you can do with that ball
will make you the winning-est winner of all.
Fame! You'll be famous as famous can be,
with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.
Except when they don't.
Because, sometimes, they won't.
I'm afraid that some times
you'll play lonely games too.
Games you can't win
'cause you'll play against you.
All Alone!
Whether you like it or not,
Alone will be something
you'll be quite a lot.
And when you're alone, there's a very good chance
you'll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.
There are some, down the road between hither and yon,
that can scare you so much you won't want to go on.
But on you will go
though the weather be foul
On you will go
though your enemies prowl
On you will go
though the Hakken-Kraks howl
Onward up many
a frightening creek,
though your arms may get sore
and your sneakers may leak.
On and on you will hike
and I know you'll hike far
and face up to your problems
whatever they are.
You'll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You'll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life's
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.
And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3 / 4 percent guaranteed.)
KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!
So...
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
you're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So...get on your way!
---Dr. Seuss
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Real Ghostly Encounters in NS
Encounter 2: During OCS (Jan 1998) Paula Tekong
I remembered I was in my service term just fresh into OCS. We went to Pulau Tekong for an overnight exercise. It was to train us in topology to prepare us for Jungle Training in 2 months time. The exercise was simple, each section of 7 men was to find their way around the island with a map and a compass. There were several checkpoints and each checkpoint has to be signed before we proceeded on to the next. There was a fixed route to take.
We proceeded on with the day session, everything went well from morning and we were progressing very well as a section. It was around 4pm and we were proceeding on to our last checkpoint for the day. I remembered it was checkpoint Delta (near a Heli Evac point) which was a deep forested area. As I was holding on to the signal set, I was tasked by my Section IC to stay put with another guy at a cross road while the others proceeded on to the checkpoint 1km away. I noticed the air around us was very still, no a single breeze, it was damp and eerie. As the area was forested, the afternoon sun and trees created a shadowy blanket over us. I was barely chatting with the other guy for 10mins when suddenly we heard someone screamed "Nah Beh!!!!!! ARRrrghhhh!!! Kan Ni Nah!!!". Then we saw our Section IC running towards us shouting vulgarities with the other 4 guys running after him. We just stood there as he ran past us...he looked spooked, lost, frightened. We asked one of the guys who stopped while the rest chased after him about what happened, he said the IC tore up our map and ran after seeing the checkpoint (which was an old tree). Shit, we were in deep shit because he had torn a RESTICTED MAP which was supposed to be returned. Losing that map or destroying that resulted in the whole team having to serve extra.
We decided to give chase for less than 300m when we noticed the whole group surround the IC. The section IC had fainted. I radio-ed for help and we waited until the safety officer arrived to bring him back to Tekong Camp Sick Bay. The rest of us were told to continue with a new map and to re-group before 2000hrs at the camp site.
This guy called Kang who was the 2IC led us to find the night checkpoint. It was already in the evening and Tekong was dark. Kang led us to this road with 2 paths, 1 path was open and the other path was blocked by branches and creepers. Any logical guy would have taken the 1st path (anyone using this road to place a checkpoint would have disturbed the branches and creepers, the 2nd path looked undisturbed), Kang took his parang and started bashing. It was getting dark and we lit our salem stick and poured the liquid into straws to place behind our helmets before we proceeded in. By the time we prepared to move into the path, dark fell and we visibility was very bad. We were each guided by the salem straw on the helmet of the person infront of us. We bashed in and grumbled why Kang chose this bloody path.
We have been bashing for 20mins when suddenly Kang started to shout our names loudly in the forest. (It was taboo to call someone's name at night especially in the forest and we made an agreement to call each other by numbers). I remembered I was the 2nd last guy from the back and the guy behind me was holding tightly to my radio set. Kang shouted numbered off (we were supposed to make sure everyone is hear so we called out our numbers starting from the last guy). I felt a tug at my radio as the guy behind me shouted '7', I followed by shouting '6'. Then guy 7 whispered to me that he heard someone behind him whispering '8'. I felt my hair stand....why all this suay things was happening to our section.
I tried to ignore and continued following the others infront. We reached an open area finally and everyone was basically pissed at Kang for leading us into this creepy path. We walked as a section along this open area when I noticed at the corner of my eyes that there were dark shadows or silhouettes of people squatting beside our path. I thought the others noticed so I told myself it might be "commandos" who were conducting training. I told the guy infront of me if he had seen because I was sure there was more than 2 sections of these "commandos" not squatting beside us as we walked past them. He replied..."will you shut up you chee bye, I never see anything so stop telling me". I was freaked out.....if he hasn't seen it, then what the hell did I see then?
By the time we found the checkpoint and reach the camp site, we were the last section to arrive. All of us were shagged out. I asked my instructor if there were any other units training today and he replied.."yes". I was relieved and thought nothing of my encounter.
2 weeks after the training one night during the night snack, my instructor revealed to us that there were no units training there. What we experienced was nothing new as other previous batches of trainees have had their encounter. The reason why he didn't mention to us was that he didn't want us spooked.
For once, I appreciated, We all appreciated, what he did.
I remembered I was in my service term just fresh into OCS. We went to Pulau Tekong for an overnight exercise. It was to train us in topology to prepare us for Jungle Training in 2 months time. The exercise was simple, each section of 7 men was to find their way around the island with a map and a compass. There were several checkpoints and each checkpoint has to be signed before we proceeded on to the next. There was a fixed route to take.
We proceeded on with the day session, everything went well from morning and we were progressing very well as a section. It was around 4pm and we were proceeding on to our last checkpoint for the day. I remembered it was checkpoint Delta (near a Heli Evac point) which was a deep forested area. As I was holding on to the signal set, I was tasked by my Section IC to stay put with another guy at a cross road while the others proceeded on to the checkpoint 1km away. I noticed the air around us was very still, no a single breeze, it was damp and eerie. As the area was forested, the afternoon sun and trees created a shadowy blanket over us. I was barely chatting with the other guy for 10mins when suddenly we heard someone screamed "Nah Beh!!!!!! ARRrrghhhh!!! Kan Ni Nah!!!". Then we saw our Section IC running towards us shouting vulgarities with the other 4 guys running after him. We just stood there as he ran past us...he looked spooked, lost, frightened. We asked one of the guys who stopped while the rest chased after him about what happened, he said the IC tore up our map and ran after seeing the checkpoint (which was an old tree). Shit, we were in deep shit because he had torn a RESTICTED MAP which was supposed to be returned. Losing that map or destroying that resulted in the whole team having to serve extra.
We decided to give chase for less than 300m when we noticed the whole group surround the IC. The section IC had fainted. I radio-ed for help and we waited until the safety officer arrived to bring him back to Tekong Camp Sick Bay. The rest of us were told to continue with a new map and to re-group before 2000hrs at the camp site.
This guy called Kang who was the 2IC led us to find the night checkpoint. It was already in the evening and Tekong was dark. Kang led us to this road with 2 paths, 1 path was open and the other path was blocked by branches and creepers. Any logical guy would have taken the 1st path (anyone using this road to place a checkpoint would have disturbed the branches and creepers, the 2nd path looked undisturbed), Kang took his parang and started bashing. It was getting dark and we lit our salem stick and poured the liquid into straws to place behind our helmets before we proceeded in. By the time we prepared to move into the path, dark fell and we visibility was very bad. We were each guided by the salem straw on the helmet of the person infront of us. We bashed in and grumbled why Kang chose this bloody path.
We have been bashing for 20mins when suddenly Kang started to shout our names loudly in the forest. (It was taboo to call someone's name at night especially in the forest and we made an agreement to call each other by numbers). I remembered I was the 2nd last guy from the back and the guy behind me was holding tightly to my radio set. Kang shouted numbered off (we were supposed to make sure everyone is hear so we called out our numbers starting from the last guy). I felt a tug at my radio as the guy behind me shouted '7', I followed by shouting '6'. Then guy 7 whispered to me that he heard someone behind him whispering '8'. I felt my hair stand....why all this suay things was happening to our section.
I tried to ignore and continued following the others infront. We reached an open area finally and everyone was basically pissed at Kang for leading us into this creepy path. We walked as a section along this open area when I noticed at the corner of my eyes that there were dark shadows or silhouettes of people squatting beside our path. I thought the others noticed so I told myself it might be "commandos" who were conducting training. I told the guy infront of me if he had seen because I was sure there was more than 2 sections of these "commandos" not squatting beside us as we walked past them. He replied..."will you shut up you chee bye, I never see anything so stop telling me". I was freaked out.....if he hasn't seen it, then what the hell did I see then?
By the time we found the checkpoint and reach the camp site, we were the last section to arrive. All of us were shagged out. I asked my instructor if there were any other units training today and he replied.."yes". I was relieved and thought nothing of my encounter.
2 weeks after the training one night during the night snack, my instructor revealed to us that there were no units training there. What we experienced was nothing new as other previous batches of trainees have had their encounter. The reason why he didn't mention to us was that he didn't want us spooked.
For once, I appreciated, We all appreciated, what he did.
Real Ghostly Encounters in NS
Well, I remember all ghostly encounters very clear and I'am glad I'am still in one piece. Over my past 2.5 years I've had quite a few. But after NS, I am happy to say that all these encounters have stopped. Probably NS was a time when I was at the lowest point of my life when it comes to physical and mental condition. Which was why there is a tendancy that we are proned to having that kind of experience with the 3rd kind.
Encounter 1: During BMT (Aug'97)
I was under-going my 2nd month, having failed IPPT again and again, I was one of the few guys who had to continue to stay in camp while some of those who passed could take a 1 week break. I remembered there were only 4 guys in my bunk during a Thursday night. It was also the start of the Hungry Ghost festival or 7th month. We were already quite spooked by all the ghost stories which were told to us by those who were booking out (bunch of assholes wanted to make life more miserable while they have a good time with their families).
I remembered we just finished a whole day of RT training (Remedial Physical Training) by the PTI (Physical Training Instructor) and we had an early night. The only entertainment we had was my portable hi-fi which we played Jacky Chueng's CD every night. It was my only CD which I brought in and we played this CD on repeat mode every night.
As usual, Jacky was crooning his songs when we fell asleep. That night, I was awoken by a very loud lady singing. I couldn't open my eyes wide but I was thinking to myself why did the radio station play such terrible music (half asleep, I cursed what lousy singer it was). The volume increased, I couldn't describe how awful the vocals sound but the lyrics did not make sense. It was like someone with tone-deaf singing in a language which consisted of "lau lau, wo wo, lau lau har lau wo wo laur waarr, haarr" it has lots of rrrrrr......and wwrrrrr...... whats more, the background music was so soft that you can only hear "bom tsk tsk, bom tsk tsk" which was the drums and cymbals. It continued for most of the night and though it irritated me, I was too tired to even wake up to switch to another station. It was loud though.....very loud. I feel into slumber...
When I woke up, some guys from the next bunk came and asked who was turning on the radio so loud last night. I remembered...the radio..hmm..I walked to my radio and checked, guess what? Jacky Chueng was still crooning in repeat-mode. Which means? Which means that noone touched the radio yesterday night, which means what we heard last night was..........
Silence.....we just looked at one another. How to explain what we heard? It was so close to our ears and so loud last night it was hard to imagine how a woman would be singing and if it's not the radio who could it be? We went to the other bunks to check, we found out that our bunk was the only bunk with a mini-compo.
When we re-composed ourselves, one guy from bunk 4 told us he saw 'something' last night...it was a lady with a child in her hands walking along the balcony. She was sighing and singing to the child while looking at the parade square. He saw her sigh loudly before throwing the kid down and then followed by jumping down. He looked really white when he told us.
It was spooky. After that incident, there were more stories from the other companies but maybe because we were the first ones to experience that, we were left alone. I don't remember I experienced anything else during my stay in Nee Soon.
Encounter 1: During BMT (Aug'97)
I was under-going my 2nd month, having failed IPPT again and again, I was one of the few guys who had to continue to stay in camp while some of those who passed could take a 1 week break. I remembered there were only 4 guys in my bunk during a Thursday night. It was also the start of the Hungry Ghost festival or 7th month. We were already quite spooked by all the ghost stories which were told to us by those who were booking out (bunch of assholes wanted to make life more miserable while they have a good time with their families).
I remembered we just finished a whole day of RT training (Remedial Physical Training) by the PTI (Physical Training Instructor) and we had an early night. The only entertainment we had was my portable hi-fi which we played Jacky Chueng's CD every night. It was my only CD which I brought in and we played this CD on repeat mode every night.
As usual, Jacky was crooning his songs when we fell asleep. That night, I was awoken by a very loud lady singing. I couldn't open my eyes wide but I was thinking to myself why did the radio station play such terrible music (half asleep, I cursed what lousy singer it was). The volume increased, I couldn't describe how awful the vocals sound but the lyrics did not make sense. It was like someone with tone-deaf singing in a language which consisted of "lau lau, wo wo, lau lau har lau wo wo laur waarr, haarr" it has lots of rrrrrr......and wwrrrrr...... whats more, the background music was so soft that you can only hear "bom tsk tsk, bom tsk tsk" which was the drums and cymbals. It continued for most of the night and though it irritated me, I was too tired to even wake up to switch to another station. It was loud though.....very loud. I feel into slumber...
When I woke up, some guys from the next bunk came and asked who was turning on the radio so loud last night. I remembered...the radio..hmm..I walked to my radio and checked, guess what? Jacky Chueng was still crooning in repeat-mode. Which means? Which means that noone touched the radio yesterday night, which means what we heard last night was..........
Silence.....we just looked at one another. How to explain what we heard? It was so close to our ears and so loud last night it was hard to imagine how a woman would be singing and if it's not the radio who could it be? We went to the other bunks to check, we found out that our bunk was the only bunk with a mini-compo.
When we re-composed ourselves, one guy from bunk 4 told us he saw 'something' last night...it was a lady with a child in her hands walking along the balcony. She was sighing and singing to the child while looking at the parade square. He saw her sigh loudly before throwing the kid down and then followed by jumping down. He looked really white when he told us.
It was spooky. After that incident, there were more stories from the other companies but maybe because we were the first ones to experience that, we were left alone. I don't remember I experienced anything else during my stay in Nee Soon.
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