Wednesday

Today two things happen that left me in deep thoughts.
First thing, I had a little quarrel with a classmate during Chinese lesson.
Cut the crap and conclude the scenario;
I was talking about the flag raising ceremony with some dudes,
and then this classmate started talking.
I think she's talking about something else,
yet I thought she was talking about the ceremony.
Hence, we quarreled.
Sorry, and I have to say,

Communication is very important.

Second thing was the flag raising ceremony leading to the quarrel.
LL was raising the national flag today.
But what is so shocking is that he let the flag slip down the mast,
and somemore, after he pulled it up again, it slipped down once more.
A total of three slipping, and he got the crap from DM.
Even our 'innocent' MH, who was the flag holder, also kena the crap.

Mr Lim says,
"Our 15 years of consecutive gold was destroyed in 15 seconds."

Later in the afternoon, the OC called for a meeting with the specialists.

Scold scold, nag nag;
Scold us for not doing our job properly,
nag us for shouting too loud.
If the school is going to laugh at us for shouting loud,
I don't know how many Zhonghua boys are going to die in BMT.
Die as in literally die.

Then OC said that he wouldn't go after whose responsibility for the mistake today.
Whether if it is that Sergeant Major never brief us properly,
or LL he himself dropped the flag.
And it was a deal that from now till school ends,
morning parades duties will be done by the same group of people.

It kept me thinking.

If the one who never brief us wasn't Sergeant Major,
but instead people like me, CJ, or JY Choo...
would it be just the case of the whole platoon of specialists getting scolded together,
or the case of the person in charge getting the crap?

If the one who dropped the national flag wasn't LL,
but instead someone like me, CJ, or Jon....
would it be in the case whereby the platoon get scolded together,
or the case just that the flag raiser gets the crap alone?

I'm really puzzled.

Nevertheless,
today OC said that yesterday's national flag raising was nice,
and asked who was the flag raiser.

For the first time I raised my hand proudly, in front of the OC.

At least I earned back a little bit of honour I lost throughout the years.

And to my dear Chinese class classmate,
sorry for shouting at you.

Accidents

These few days have been very hectic and busy;
it's just merely the second day of the week,
and the amount of work and revision is unbearable.
Got a lot to catch up on,
and somemore the EOYs are just round the corner.
Have to really bring out the 'chiong swa' spirit for it.

The amount of work kept me in low spirits these days.
Not really in the mood for work,
but it is a matter of fact that I have to get them done.
Doing work; I believe it does helps for the EOY... or not.
But later I still got a couple of math papers to settle.

I was thinking of this word lately.
'Accident'.
To accident I mean things that happens not to your expectations,
and also not something that you did purposely.
Okay, layman terms it means just something that you'll never be expecting.

So I'm just wondering about accidents- the good kind and the bad kind.
About how some our actions lead to accidents,
and how these accidents lead to certain consequences.
And how this consequence teach you not to make accidents again,
or to go along with accidents each time it happens.

I must say my life is typically full of accidents.
After six carefree years as a kid in primary school,
most of the things that happen later in life were accidents.

Going into ZHSS was an accident,
knowing certain people were an accident,
fancying certain people was an accident,
and doing certain stuff were accidents.

By accidents I somehow or rather,
manage to end up at where I am.

Though I must say that most of this accidents in my life were pretty bad;
but they were the ones that left the me my best memories of life.
Bitter, but sweet. Very sad case.

I often try to stop myself from committing accidents again;
but somehow or rather, I'll commit my past mistakes all the time.
Like having the same old bad habits again,
getting into the same kind of trouble again,
and worse still, getting involve with certain people once more.

Often i tried to stop myself from getting into accidents I shouldn't be in,
but it seems like history will always happen itself again and again.
Perhaps it is Buddha's will to make me learn something through them, I don't know.

If I were to say that my Secondary One life is a big car crash,
then I would rather go through those times once more.
Though I was rowdy, loud, immature then;
but at least, those were some of the best days in life.

It just seems like my car were to crash onto the same lamppost,
and knock onto the same person all the time.
And yes, it left me will sever injuries.

If I were to crash onto you countless times,
no matter how heartbreaking and tearful it will end up,
I'm willing to crash one accident after another.

Many things in life were an accident.
However I'm glad to say,

Throw that air bag away;

It was all these accidents that made me grow up.

Common Identity

I wonder what flower you liked.
Well, i always wanted to know this answer,
but then, I never tried asking.
But your cheerful smile reminds of the sunflower.

Okay, back to the main topic.
I remember yesterday training was a bit shitty,
so here's a few highlights of yesterday's training session.

In the cold, wet, muddy school field...

Boss: JJ, I want you to do this... *whisper whisper*
JJ: Yes Boss!
And JJ walks to Johnson...
JJ:(whispering) Now Johnson, he wants you to run around the field three times, and do a long jump everytime you reach the long jump pit...
Johnson starts running...
JJ: Boss! Must I run too?
SJ:(shouting) C'mon, let's run with him!
Platoon starts running with Johnson around the field, and long jump...

Back to the steps at the front of the field...

Boss: Now PO, I want you to run to that goalpost, touch it and run back!
PO: Yes Boss!
PO starts sprinting towards goalpost, and subsequently the platoon follows him...

In the midst of running back...

CK:(at the puddle of water on ground) aiya shit, got landmine!
Boss:(while platoon reaches Boss) landmine? Did I heard the word landmine? Good, now go and defuse the landmine (sinister smile).
Platoon: [rushes to puddle of water, and start to hentak kaki on the puddle...]

At the debrief....

Boss: I wonder if one person would stand at the puddle, and try to rid the water all by himself.... And compared to all of you all doing it together.... What's the difference?
SJ: We do it together, take lesser time to clear all the water! And less wet also!

At an 'arm exercise session' on the wet, muddy field...

DY: Eeee! Wet like shit sia!
Boss: Who say wet like shit?
DY: Me Boss!
CK: Really wet like shit what.
Boss: Good, now I will teach you what is call wet like shit... CK adapt prone position.
CK: [WTF?! and adapts prone position... subsequently the platoon follows...]

end of a week

Another week flew past, but thankfully, it flew past peacefully.

Asked me what I really did during this week.
Actually nothing much, I would say;
compared to the past few weeks, this week had been so much peaceful.
Really, this week had the kind of tranquility I never had for long.

Spent much if my recess time alone,
or maybe should I say, with fruits.
I'm growing used to the life of walking alone;
sometimes, certain things are really different when you had it alone.

It's also a week, like the previous holiday week;
though there's so much to do everyday,
I felt that each day past by quickly,
but yet the week past by slowly.
Perhaps its due to the fact that there's much more to do this week,
such that all these meaningful events made the week fruitful.

But yet, I wonder whether should I be leading school life like this.

Alone.

I don't know why, certain times after going through certain stuff,
you might gain confidence for it, or lose confidence for it.
But for me, after going through certain events, I grew to lose confidence.

Seeing certain people in school somehow,
'serves' as a 'reminder' of some of my failures;
and seeing certain stuff reminds me of those nightmares.

I grew to be shy with the crowd;
being so afraid of large crowds of people,
I dare not do certain things at times,
and yet, I'm daring to do some stuff at times.
I don't know why;
the lack of recognition and scornful remarks by someone, or some people,
totally killed the confidence in me.

Though you said that those were nothing but jokes.
But they were jokes harsh enough to kill.

I don't know why, it seems like everyone could be thoughtful and understanding to other people, but not for me.
Call me being paranoid, or whatever;
facts told me that people really didn't care of how I think.

I grew to leave the crowd,
and after some time, I walked alone.

I don't know why, but I prefer this tranquility.
The feeling of not being disturbed;
the sense of achievement when you solved a problem all by yourself;
the enjoyment you had when you're alone with the sun or the moon.

There are many things I hoped for in my teenage life,
but sadly, no matter how hard I tried,
I always failed to achieve. Don't know why.

A friend of mine once told me that she felt kind of disappointed by life.
When she really fail to achieve what she wants,
or gained recognition for her talents.
I really wanted to help her, but I couldn't.

Because people can tell me in the face I'm a failure.

I remember this week Ms Ng praised me for my morning parade commands.
"Nice job this morning, yitian."
All I gave her was just a smile.

After so much disappointment in life,
I tend to be paranoid with what she says,
by suspecting that she is just being sarcastic.

I wonder how should I really earn back that rashness, that confidence,
that I used to have.

N'importe que

C'est en faisant n'importe quoi qu'on devient n'importe qui.

I wonder anyone knows who is this guy.
His name is Remi Gaillard, a French famous for pranks and jokes.
Usually he goes around in town, doing silly stuff,
like rodeo-riding on people's back, spraying shaving cream at people,
removing people's hat or cap, etc.

Sometimes, I always find life fun if you lead it like a joker.

It's by doing whatever that makes you whoever.
Many times, people judge us by our actions.
And true enough, I would say that our actions are a reflection of our principles.

Many choose to treat things seriously,
being very focused on everything in life,
to ensure that he or she would be the best of the best.
They get up on their feet everytime they fell to an obstacle,
and continue to storm that very obstacle that made them fell.
Tears of joy rolled over their cheeks when they achieve success.

And yet some people choose to view many things in a carefree manner,
with a happy-go-lucky attitude.
When they fell to an obstacle,
they often seek another way out,
and be it or not, they might find another way of in life.

I don't know why, especially at my age;
the more I experience in life, the more of the second personality I become.
I used to view some stuff as important possessions that shouldn't be taken away;
however, when you come to lose them,
you'll understand that life is, somehow or rather, still functioning as per normal without all these possessions, worldly possessions.

Things like fame, ranking, material comfort, friends....
After some time, after some experience, they are gone.

Most things ain't forever in this world.

Even the strongest brotherhood had a day for parting,
even the strongest empire have a day of falling.

However, I knew something that could stay with us forever,
and this thing just come and go as we want it to.

It is called joy.

A day starts with the sun rising in the east, and end with the sun setting in the west.
Living each day out happily, angrily, or sadly;
the sun still rise and set.
Time doesn't wait, I would say.

Since every second passed is a second gone,
why not live out every second happily?

I took joy in laughing, as well as making others laugh.
I don't know why, but seeing others laugh because of me,
this would often make me laugh too.

Sometimes I crack jokes, sometimes I did silly stuff;
people laugh at my jokes, laugh at my actions, laugh at me.
No matter what kind of laughter it might be-
an appreciative one, a hearty one, a laugh at my stupid actions...

As long as it changes the dark skies into a blue, clear one,
as long as it turns a frown upside down...
I believe all is worth it.

Life is short, and sadly,
painfully short.
There are too much disappointment, too much despair, too much sadness in life.
All these worldly confusions could just turn into smoke anytime-
only when we choose to face them happily, smiling, laughing.

Life, I would say, after all, is a big joke.
And humans are all born a joke.
We are all a kind of funny people.
So, why not take the chance to laugh heartily,
to your heart's content?

Many things might turn out wrong,
many things might turn out unfair;
and many many many people might turn out to be so much better than you...

Laugh! Laugh at your heart's content!

Because all these, in life, are nothing but a joke.

Perhaps when we viewed things in a light manner,
troubled stuff will seem so much optimistic.

Flying Without Wings

There's a four period Chinese lesson today due to the arrangement of the school.
Well normally I would think that it will be gruesome hell for me;
but what turns out really surprises me.

Mdm Jiang spent two periods explaining three poems to us,
and getting us to share our personal understanding on the poems.
Of course today's climax isn't the 'sharing poem' part;

A butterfly had been resting in class for a long time.

This black-yellow butterfly had been in the classroom since yesterday afternoon,
after I left for home.
Andrea says that part of its wings have been cut off by the rotating blades of the fan;
And it has been on the wall since then.
Maybe it's resting, I don't know.

So, after some sharing of poem,
Mdm Jiang called out some students.
For what? Singing.
Singing of one of the poem titled '水调歌头'.
I remember Faye Wong sang it before. Or something like that.

Well we're enjoying the vocals of our classmates well enough.
And the climax of the climax is none other than our 3rd singer, you-know-who.
And when she stepped out of her seat,
the butterfly got 'shocked' and began to flew in random manner.

But it's small physique couldn't withstand the strong winds of the fans in class.

It was blew around in random directions,
"Zzat!"

Off came a quarter of it's wing.

Halfway through the 'performance' by you-know-who,
I jumped out of my seat,
and quickly off the fans in class.

Mdm Jiang scolded,
"It's natural for the weak to die in the natural cycle of nature.
It doesn't really matters when you try to save it."

"But, it's a life, teacher!"

And the butterfly flew to one of the walls,
and rested there, for a long, long time.

Later in the day, out of a sudden,
the butterfly tried flying again.
This time it had much difficulties;
a quarter of it's wing was gone.
But again the strong winds blew,
and "Zzat!",
there came another quarter off.

It was left with half of each wings.

And again, it rested on one of the walls again.

Later at the end of the day,
the butterfly went flying again.
And this time, "Zzat!",
came off a bit of it's right wing.

For the whole day I've been looking at this butterfly;
I don't know why, I felt inspiration and encouragement from it.

Everytime we had a goal set in our hearts,
we tried flying, without wings,
towards that goal faraway.
Never did we succeeded in just one try;
time after time, we came back defeated,
drained of our energy, and injured badly.

After some recuperation,
we tried flying again.
Picking up past experiences,
we seem to believe that we can defeat the harsh reality at its own game.
Now not did we came back defeated, injured,
but, we lost something in this process to fly.

Time after time, we tried several times, flying without wings,
towards that goal that seem so near, yet so faraway.

And each time we never fail to come back defeated, tired, injured.

But the thought of achieving that goal motivates us to fly everytime.

Many said that 'It is impossible',
and told us to give up on our unrealistic goals.
But we keep telling ourselves, 'Let's have another go';
and we just keep on trying, falling, trying, and falling.

Each time we fall, we become stronger;
each time we try, we become more confident.

Like the butterfly trying to fly,
all of us here also try to 'fly', 'without wings'.

Some succeed, some failed.

All I knew is,
I have to keep on flying.

Change the World

It seems like the re-opening of school is drawing nearer.
Looks like one week of holiday isn't enough, after all.

A thousand thoughts congested my mind these days.
I had been thinking of many stuff;
school, homework, studies, then a bit of the company.
Sometimes, I thought of practical solutions to some problems;
on the other hand, I like to lie on the endless, green field,
looking at the clouds, and fantasize of life I want it to be.

Life's never complete without a bit of dreaming.

I say I really dread school a lot.
Not because of the heavy workload, or the boring schedule;
I should say, it's the kind of life I lead in school.
Doing many things a lone many times,
well, I'm sick and tired of life like this.

I ever thought of giving up education,
and then travel to some rural countries,
and lead a peaceful, farming life over there.

But of course this kind of 'happiness' and 'tranquility' doesn't seem to last long;
well, I just have to adapt myself to the materialistic world.

It just seems like the world is so materialistic,
is due to the fact that people are materialistic.
Never to judge a book by it's cover.
But precisely that is what everyone is doing!

So it seems like I'm having a losing hand here,
if everyone is to judge everything by it's appearance.

I would say sometimes,
people have to go through hard times,
and then lose something, in order to understand some morals or principles.
The Heavens have their own decisions at time.
If we couldn't learn things the soft way,
we'll have to go through hard lessons.
But what matters after all,
is to understand what we have thought and done wrong,
and change that mistake once and for all.

I been through many shit in life;
I lost many things.
I always wonder why would life be so unfair to me?
That includes everything: CCA, relationships, etc.
I wonder why others always had a winning hand.

But looking at another point of view,
maybe, all these are just Heaven's way of telling me.
Telling me to wake up from dissolution.
Telling me to repent from my misdeeds,
and be a fresh, new, nice person.
I must really admit that,
after all the shit in my life...
The way you think and the way you see things differs a lot from the past.

Then I wonder again.
Would those evildoers go through the same shit as me one day,
to receive their retribution, and then wake up from dissolution?
I doubt so.

Looking at my CCA alone,
I can see how unfair life is;
some bastards could obtain high rank and post,
just by doing nothing, or doing shit.
Yet some people, who have great qualities in them,
remained undiscovered, for years.
Good CJ is one of these undiscovered ones.

So I thought of it.
The only way to make life fair,
is to teach others to be fair.
And when these educated ones are fair and just,
they will influence others to be fair as well.
Maybe just a small community.
Maybe in the schools.
Maybe a country itself.
Maybe the world?

It's all wishful thinking - with possibilities of coming true.
A world of absolute justice doesn't starts from thinking.
It starts from doing.

From my individual effort, I can change people.
From those people effort, they can change even more people.

And together, we can change the world!

That's why I want to become an educator.

no title

And I woke up today, realising that it was September 10.

Not because it is the eve of the 9/11 attacks,
but it is your birthday today.

Set aside everything, I doubt you would stumble upon this blog today,
and read this.

Dedicated to a friend of mine.

I remember that time.
It all started with a chain forward message,
which blooms into a friendship.

A true, genuine friendship;
a kind in which I never had again, from then till now.

I must say that was an example of internet friendship,
at the start of the era of MSN.
That time, i was still young;
I didn't knew anything about the dangers of the cyberworld,
something like 'do not give your phone number to someone you don't know'.

And yet I don't know why we exchanged phone numbers.
Maybe at then, we're still children.

I remember the first time I called that number.
It was a nice, cute, shy voice.
It sounds like someone who was very, very, quiet.

And in fact since then, we chat over the phone almost everyday.
It was the literal 'cooking the telephone porridge'.
(the time spent over the phone was as much as how much you need to cook a pot of porridge)

I didn't really mind if the phone bills went as high as skyscrapers.
What matters is that, I find this whole thing amazing.
Suddenly talking to someone you never met before,
and a friendship bloomed over the telephone.
Though I never met you before,
but I knew you're a kind hearted person.
So, that makes me never to believe in the phone calls which get kids abducted.

It was random talk- but I enjoyed it.

I don't know since when all these stopped.
Those calls in the late night, those giggles and laughter.
The flower that bloom over the telephone seems to have withered.
The innocent friendship over the communication era,
came much to an end.

I never knew I would have met such a true person,
in the virtual reality world.

I remember once you asked me to sing Jay's 'Simple Love'.
And I never did it.

A true friend is hard to asked for.
And I regretted not cherishing that friendship,
which blooms over the telephone.

Never in life I would met someone like you.
Or should I use the word hear?

I think I could forget anything in life.

But not your voice.

Happy birthday, xiao mei mei. (:

If destiny has it, I think,
we'll meet each other one day.

Green, Endless, Field

On a endless field of green grass,
a Sergeant speaks to his newly recruited recruits.

"Gentlemen, today we are here for a good purpose.
We are here to test our limits.
Now my good men, do you know how many rounds can you run around this field?
I doubt you know the answer.
So today, we are going to find that answer that we are unsure of,
by running around this field, till we fall.
But do not be complacent by your own limit.
I want you all, to surpass that limit,
overcoming yourselves"

So the recruits tightened their shoe laces,
and started to run around the green, endless field.

Everytime when a recruit felt breathless and tired,
he knew that he had reached his limit.
And so, to surpass that limit,
he overcome the tiredness, and ran another round around the field.

Now, that extra round became his new limit.
To beat that limit again,
he ran another extra round;
in which by doing so he set another new limit of himself,
and thus, he went on running and running,
to beat the limits that he surpasses everytime he ran an extra round.

And it went on and on,
until the recruit fell to his knees,
realising his true limit.

Maybe life is a bit like this.
Time after time, we surpass ourselves;
To surpass our limits, our boundaries.

And when we succeeded in doing so,
We found our new limit,
and we are set to overcome that limit,
like the last time.

This process becomes endless,
and we continue, continue, continue...
till the day we fall.

I wonder whether if life is like this.
Trying to overcome ourselves, for the better everytime.
Trying to cross those boundaries,
and find another boundary further away.
We keep on running non-stop,
trying to overcome ourselves all the time,
trying to cross those boundaries.

We overcome ourselves many times,
only until the day we fall,
this improvement process is finally put to a halt.

But I'm just wondering,
while running non-stop to beat his own limit,
have the recruit slow down for once,
to enjoy the nice scenery of the green, endless field,
to look at the blue skies,
to smell the scent of flowers and grasses,
to hear the chirping of birds,
to feel the light breeze running through his hair.

Sometimes when we thought we are gaining and improving a lot,
but on the other hand,

We never realised how much we lost.

Prayers

While watching Evan Almighty on TV yesterday night,
many thoughts were running through my mind.
But really, the show left me with a thought that clears all the roaming ideas in my mind.

I believe whenever we pray to deities for protection,
or for blessings, good luck, fortune, etc;
these prayers wouldn't just make the deities use their magical powers,
and grant you whatever you prayed for.
Instead, deities would offer you chances and opportunities,
such that you get the chance to gain these things that you prayed for.

All these opportunities would always come in form of events;
whether if it is problems, troubles, or positive stuff.
Deities would always present you whatever you pray for-
the chance itself, right in front of your eyes;
but whether your prayers do come true depends on yourself-
whether if you would take up the chance and do something about it.

Certain times, these chances always appear right in front of us.
But what matters is that we wouldn't know that they are the deities answer to our prayers.

If you prayed for protection,
would the deities just protect you wherever you go,
or give you a chance to learn how to protect yourself?
If you prayed for harmony,
would deities just bestowed upon you harmony,
or give you a chance to go through turbulence to cherish that harmony?

There are many things I prayed for...
Power, fame, love, success.

Perhaps able to have men willing to die for you, that is power.

Perhaps having a education module that earn you praises, that is fame.

Perhaps able to see the one you like smile everyday, that is love.

Maybe training able men to take over the company, that is success.

Buddha gave me so many chances in my life.
They are all answer to my prayers.

It's never to late to realise.
Since now I knew all these are just answers to my prayers,
why not let me set on an adventure to find out the answer myself,
rather than let Buddha give my the answer directly?

I always prayed for the revival of the company's past glory and honour.
Daron is back, is that a chance?
Is that an answer to my prayer?

I don't know, but I must say,
This time, I am riding this Wind of Change!

Be Yourself

Today, nothing much, except for a whole chunk of work to clear.
But before I leave my PC and get busy with what I should lawfully be doing,
let me say something first.

Over here, you see two pictures.
The female is called Kim Petras, a German Singer.
The male is called Nick Vujicic, an American inspirational speaker.

I don't think I should really say much about the guy.
But maybe I should talked more about the gal.
For those that doesn't know,
she's the world's youngest transsexual.
Yes, you never heard it wrongly,
it's the word transsexual.

Often, we find ourselves to be born in a certain manner,
such that it seems to be unfair when we are compared with others.
Layman terms, it means we are born to be different from others.
Real different, as in a way we lacked something what all other kids have.
It might be physically, emotionally, mentally, psychologically.

For the two cases above, Nick's parents got shocked at the first sight of birth;
and for Kim, she ended up in the wrong body.

Often times it is all these 'God's mistakes' that makes some people inferior,
and perhaps, they become a group that most of the society couldn't accept.

I would say, a society needs to function properly.
Someone told me before,
"A society needs normal people to function normally.
We are not a circus; we don't keep weird people."
How f**king harsh.

Even though these people, regardless they are the physically disabled, the transsexual, the mentally disabled...

They often spark glimpse of hope in my heart,
giving me a sense of warmth.

I'm often motivated and touched by them;
for they have the will to live their lives,
as who they are, who they want to be.

Maybe a love life of a transsexual might not be as fruitful as any ordinary human being.

But I believe it took Kim a lot of courage to tell people who she is,
and be who she really want to be.

Likewise, it might be hard for Nick to do ordinary stuff that we do everyday;
but he persevere and went on with life,
living everyday to the fullest.

A rainbow is made of seven different colours.
These colours are not the same, and they contrast greatly from one another.
But it is the combination of these colours, that makes a rainbow, uniquely beautiful.

I believe it is being who you are, and living it out to be who you want to be,
makes you unique, makes you special, makes you yourself.

Some people deny their true personalities,
because it isn't something that the society wants.
Some people give up on their dreams,
because it isn't what selfish citizens hopes to happen.
Some people simply live their lives as someone they don't wish to be,
because the world wants them to be in this form...

Some people gets rejected and outcast by others,
because they ain't the 'birds of the same feathers'.
Some people gets deny as a member of the society,
because they lacked the most basic necessities as a one of the society.

I would say, being yourself, is what you really should be doing.

Transsexuals have the courage to be who they really are.
Likewise, disabled have the courage to live out who they are.

It doesn't takes much to live out who you really are.
It all takes just a 'Yes' to face all adversities,
and be who you really want to be.

In this cynical and sinful society,
what that is left of the purest innocent,

Is nothing but a true self.

Be who you want to be, be who you are;
Everyone's a hero, everyone's a star.

Thursday

Today's kind of relax,
but I see it as just the tip of the iceberg.
Lots of revision and work to do during the holidays,
and then, there's a lot of other things to settle.

Today Mdm Jiang asked me if I want to be emcee for Mid-Autumn.
And I say yes, probably because of the free mooncakes.
And, it was pretty much a nice day today.
Lot's of jokes, then some sarcasm.
Smooth sailing day, I would say.

Tomorrow's Friday.
Well, nothing but the kids motivate me for Fridays.
But nowadays I believe that all of them should be working hard for EOYs.
If they don't I'll give them tuition during the holidays.
Good luck, kids.

And maybe now I should share some of my quotes that I tell my kids all the time:

"Rank is just a piece of cloth, respect is what you earn."

"What differs NCOs are not chevrons or stripes, but the amount of respect he gets from his men."

"Good NCOs do not have the need not sew ranks on their sleeves. Instead, they earn respect from their superiors, co-workers, subordinates."

"What can you do in one minute? (wait for reply) It seems like you can't do much in one minute, hence I an say one minute is very little time. Since its so little time, why don't you think of using it wisely?"

"Power is not sew on your sleeves(rank) or entrust onto you(post), but it is the ability to get people to die willingly for you."

"I believe you all don't really like the feeling of being left out by your friends; so why leave out your (platoon) mates all the time?"

"I value character building in you all as much as I value your education."

"I don't need to pump(knock it down) them to get them to listen and obey me; all I need to do is earn their respect and trust, and they will for sure obey my words."

"Failures are just a way of telling you that there is one less way to success."

"There might be stupid questions, but all questions needs to be answered to clear doubts, no matter how stupid they are."

Drama, Life

I don't know since when I like chasing after drama serials,
like those aunties who had nothing better to do other than watch TV.
But I don't like watching those Singaporean Family Shows,
or Hong Kong Dramas on various family problems,
or the Hong Kong Police running around all the time.

Instead, I'm engrossed with Taiwanese Dramas.

Recently there's two Taiwanese drama serials airing on Mediacorp;
one during the 'golden period' of 1900hrs to 20000hrs,
another one at 2300hrs to 0000hrs.
Sometimes, when I have no school the next day,
I would sit down in front of the TV at 2300hrs,
and watch this very exciting show(picture above).
And when I'm free of schoolwork,
I would sit in front of the TV at 7pm,
and watch.... You all know it.

I don't know what makes those aunties crazy over the show;
but there's two things that made me addicted to such drama serials.
One, the superb acting techniques of the actors-
the good will be portrayed till very good,
the bad condemned to death.

But what's more important is the moral depicted behind.

I believe all Singaporeans might find the storyline of Taiwanese dramas,
a bit too... Exaggerating?
It seems to us that society is very dark,
with power struggles within mafias, families all around.
It just makes us Singaporeans seems that these things are like too fake.

But I would say, this is the product of the society in Taiwan.
After all, the events there are like so much thunderous than Singapore;
you can't expect saving a distressed cat on a tree to hit the headlines, right?

These Taiwanese drama serials,
would always depicted how some young, ambitious guy would battle with evil,
for the sake of preserving goodwill and justice in the society.
And then, the evil is always on the winning side,
but events will happen in such a manner that in the end,
good triumphs over evil.

Over the episodes,
the scriptwriter would always like to put in various morals of the Taiwanese society,
such as filial piety, justice, uprightness, brotherhood.
The show is acted in such a way that the actor would be the 'spokesman' of the moral value itself,
and throughout the show, the actor would portrayed these morals through their actions.

And vice versa for the bad.
They would be the 'spokesman' of such vices,
and be as bad as they could in the drama serial.

Sometimes watching these Taiwanese drama serials,
I often asked myself,
"Are such things true? Are morals really being destroyed like this?"

I have to say YES.

Going through hardships and tough times in NCC,
made me understand why would the scriptwriter write the script of the drama serial in such manners or methods.
I would say, he is after all, depicted a usual scene in life which happens everyday.
Corruption, betrayal, mercenaries...
They are nothing, but just something part of life.

Life is like a drama serial, a drama serial depicts life.
How true, I would say.
The way actors are losing morals and justice in the show,
the way the society is getting darker and bleaker in the show...
It is nothing but a reflection of reality itself.

If I would make ZHNCC into a drama serial,
I could really find various personalities to represent various morals.
Perhaps CK Ng would be the righteous one,
CJ as the upright one;
and as for the 'bad guys' of the show,
I could get dog-face and Dog to do it for me.

I say, there is a lot to learn from a drama serial.
It's not just only about an addicting story.

It all depends on how you decipher it.