Memories of 2005

If there was to be any turning point in my life, it would be this year. Start of this year, I was still languishing in NS pushing papers and whatnot. No doubt I was a 'lao cheow' by then, but I was still enslaved under the system of national slavery. All until the great day of 050505 when I finally regained my freedom which cam with my Pink IC...

2005 was also the year I (very briefly) got into MLM. As a result I lost money. Painful lesson learnt from that..

I also turned 21 this year and had a brief celebration, nothing much but just a brief celebration with my friends. A milestone in my life. At the same time, I got briefly more involved in the St John activities. One of them is the 45th Anniversary, pictures of which are found here.

I also had the privilege of going back to my alma mater to do relief teaching. It was an experience that confirmed my wish to enter the teaching service in future.

And who can forget, 2005 was also the year I joined NUS. And boy, it's a brand new experience for me. After a hiatus of 2 and a half years, it was back to studies. I didn't do too badly, but not too well either.

I also had a taste of hall life - staying in Raffles Hall for my first academic year gave me a chance to show independence from my parents and also to get to know more friends in a communual environment...

And of course, I passed my driving test - the same age at which my father passed his.
Near the end of the year, I joined NPCC... It was met with some resistance at first but after a while, it was okay. I thought of going back to my alma mater as well, but decided not to for two reasons: so as to minimise any conflict of interest between RV NPCC and RV SJAB and also because I would rather the former CIs/cadets go down as it will be fairer to them and to the unit itself.

However, the two weeks of Honorary Officers' Basic Training Course (HOBTC) were indeed the time of my life. Needless to say I thoroughly enjoyed the training and made many new friends there.. to name a few, michelle, shihui, jiefang, shiyun (all gals huh.. haha.. ok name some guys) - david, jordan, guo jun, kelvin (2 of them), tianming, collin, etc (ok ah, i am not chee hong by only naming the gals..haha...)

Actually, this time of my life naturally brings to mind a question of whether i have met the girl yet. I really dunno. There is someone now but i do not know whether she is the one. All i know is that she is unattached, so i won't be ruffling any feathers i hope.. but i don't wish for this relationship to bomb out like my previous (and only) one...

She has been called by different names. Start with A also got, start with C also got, start with H also got, start with I also got, start with K also got, start witk M also got... but at the end of the day, most of them are just fleeting emotions that are not likely to last. That was the mistake i made with my first relationship that i am not about to repeat. I want my next relationship to last. Preferably a lifetime.

I have decided that for CCA wise, I will exclusively be a uniformed groups person. NPCC, and St John will be what I will be doing for enrichment.

a day devoted to St John... after a long break

after about 3 months of not touching anything related to St John, i was finally back in action today.

i knew from Shiwei that there was going to be a parade for the 50th anniversary next year and that the whole programme would start early today. so i went down to just take a look at how things were going.

during the parade rehearsal, some of the teachers asked me if i know the flag drills, which i did. they promptly asked me to help train the flag party for the parade. it turned out that there would be a flag party comprising of the house flags and the flags of the individual uniformed groups. so i did my best. it helped that the HO course did refresh my skills on MOI and all that, and it seems that the flag party were able to catch what i was saying.

i had a chat with the new officers and am glad that we have de-conflicted our areas of responsibility within the corps. also met up with the sec4s who will be going on to JC. none of them are forthcoming about going to OTC next year, which is okay, but i hope at least one or two will take the plunge, as we need them to help stand in for the officers who will be taking their A levels next year.

i also got to know that quite a number of RV-ians will be going to ACJC next year, and this had been the trend since last year as the incumbent second-choice JC, SAJC will be shifting to an inconvenient location in Potong Pasir next year. Previously, the number of RV-ians who went to ACJC instead of SAJC could be counted on the fingers of one or two hands. Now I got to know that there are quite a lot of them, but they are those who could not make it to NJC...

later on mrs yeow asked me to help get the flag slings for the whole flag party. turned out that Mr Kam, the guy whom I bought from in 2000 had closed down. i was able to get them for half the price though, at another shop run by a couple whom i knew since my cadet days. the teachers were evidently pleased that we were able to get it for so cheap. however it seems that now, they are including a flag bearer from each cca, and a school flag. that would be tough as they probably don't know drills. but it can be done.. i am sure of that.


after going to lavendar to order the flag slings, i went down to clementi town for their SJAB 25th anniversary celebration. it was a simple affair - a barbeque, with neither the pomp and pageantry of a ceremonial parade nor the formality of invited guests. The barbeque was followed by a prize presentation and speeches by the OIC and TOIC of clementi town corps. after that, i went for a drink with some of my fellow officers before going home.

on the train, i bumped into Andrew who was in uniform for the last time! he ORDs tomorrow. congratulations, Andrew!

Games Day

NUS vs NTU games day was fun, although i came a bit late cos i woke up late.. played too much on Christmas day heheh. it ended up being some 'amazing race' kinda thingy where we had to go find 'stations' to take photos. hee. it was basically national heritage trail all over again, with us having to go around finding stations in the city hall area. after which we went to orchard where we were given a photograph and expected to find the place. well, we managed to find all the places and NUS won in the end!

we had lunch at wheelock place, burger king and as expected, the 29th batch HOs started talking about the 'scandals'. oh no! how come HO course got so many scandal one? :P it was after a while that the NTU people arrived.. after we finished eating, we went outside to take a group photo, and that was essentially it.

after that, the seniors went on to KTV whereas some of the other juniors went to play pool. squad 1 did not want to, and we instead decided to walk around and talk cock. there happened to be this photo exhibition at orchard - an exhibition of aerial photographs taken at different locations in the world. so we went and looked around.

we also went to wisma where we searched for the rooftop garden. wisma used to have one where my mum would bring me to play when i was a little boy. but we were unable to find it, unfortunately. i wonder what happened to it. maybe it was redesigned as an open air carpark, which was what we found when we reached the top floor.

after that, someone had an idea of going to bugis where there was this place to play board games, if not go to the new national library. so we went to bugis... unfortunately it seems that the board games place had closed down so we went to national library.

what followed was really out of the ordinary. we went to an empty room in the national library overlooking much of bugis all the way from beach road to esplanade. there we spent quite a long while just chatting.. until it was time for dinner.

the library happened to have this exhibition on the journeys of Admiral Cheng Ho, so we went and saw it. after that we went to the top floor before taking the lift 14 storeys down! when the lift was accelerating, we could really feel the force of the acceleration.. all the physics theories about weighing a fish in an elevator came to mind! after that.. we went for dinner. that was it... after that we went home.

if the other squads know what we did.. we would most likely be branded as NERDS or something..

A tribute to City Harvest Church

Yesterday was my official last day at City Harvest Church. I shall miss the friends which I had made there over the years in my different cell groups, Usher ministry and others.

City Harvest Church has taught me to grow more in the Lord and to never tire of serving Him.

Now that God has called me on to serve Him in Living Stones Church, I will not be disobedient to the heavenly vision but I will bring with me fond memories of my 5 years in City Harvest.

results

Name : CHUA JIE HONG MATTHEW
Matric No :

2005/2006 Sem 1 Examination for ENGINEERING 1

Module Code Module Title Grade
EG1109 STATICS AND MECHANICS OF MATERIALS B-
EG1413 CRITICAL THINKING AND WRITING B+
MA1505 MATHEMATICS I B-
PC1431 PHYSICS IE B-
SSA2209 GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS OF SINGAPORE S

CAP: 3.27


need i say more?

HOBTC is over!

After two weeks of intensive training, the 29th Honorary Officers' Basic Training Course (HOBTC) has come to an end. At first I had doubts as to whether I should go for the course, given that I am from another uniformed group previously and have limited knowledge about NPCC hard skills.

After going through the course, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Although my squad (squad 1) was quite 'quiet' compared to squad 2, they were a real friendly bunch of people. Those experienced ones really helped me make my learning curve less steep. I must place on record my thanks to Shikai and Kelvin who taught me knots and lashings, and who clarified my doubts about some of the procedures in NPCC.

An overview of the two weeks in the course:

The day before the course, i was down with a flu! was on medication. got ready my uniform and all and, when i was about to leave for hall, mum asked me if i was sure i wanted to go for the course and advised me not to neglect my studies.

One the 1st day of the course. I could only get to sleep around 2am, due to excitement. woke up at 6am to catch 151 down for what would be the first of many course days.
Course Opening, officiated by Commandant, DSP Geraldine Tan, who welcomed us warmly to the Corps. I was heartened to know that just like some of us (myself included), DSP Tan had no NPCC background when she first joined NPCC as a HO years back. After that got to chat and get to know some of the other new HOs - Jeremy, Aubrey, Zainuddin to name a few. I got to touch a gun (revolver) for the first time, during what we call dry practice. Thus ended the first day of the course.
The following days of the course included hard skills training like campcraft (knots and lashings), drills (including armsdrill, sword drill and baton drill) and soft skills training like conflict management, brainstorming and team building.
I also went for my very first range, having been deprived of the opportunity to do so during NS. and boy, it WAS a great experience. my shooting wasn't that good, only got 47 out of a perfect score of 200. (the best shooter got 175.)

keluar baris

i have finally decided to leave after almost 5 years in there, for greener pastures (in this case as a musician in Living Stones Church). i feel too stifled in CHC where there are so many people around who are better than me and I simply do not have the chance to serve... but in Living Stones where the congregation is about the size of two cell groups... i have more opportunities. and as dad has told me, i have been making an impact there. so i know this is the place where i can continue to grow.

spoke to my CGL and usher IC about it and they have given their blessings. so my last official week as a member of CHC will be this week. i will have spent 4 years 8 months and 16 days in the church since joining on 8 April 2001.

i have nothing against the church, or the people there, but i feel that it will benefit myself and the other church if i move on, hence the move.

update

it's been quite a while since i last posted here. since exams have ended a lot of things have happened..

i have started with NPCC Honorary Officers' Training Course. It's somewhat different from SJAB Officer's Training Course which I have undergone in the past. Here, the instructors treat the trainees as their equals and are on a first name basis with us, unlike SJAB where we must call them Sir and Ma'am and get 'tekan'd. I guess it's due to this concept that we wear the Inspector rank right from day one and not an Officer Cadet rank.

I'm actually starting to enjoy the course and the various sessions where we get to interact with one another... :P

Guess what's in the box

exams so far

had physics (not good) and CTW (could go either way).

now left statics, maths, and SS.


i regret i S/U my SS module.

working tomorrow at staff club. its early so i gotto wake up early.

exams soon.

exams are soon.

to get 2nd upper, my cap must be at least 4.0.

i can get honours-level this sem, but it will not be that high.

darn.

sch work

i find myself falling behind in my schoolwork.

MA1505 - missed about 6 hours worth of lectures. i have not seen Prof McInnes for almost 2 weeks plus, miss his corny jokes and his 13.59. Worse, my tutorials are hell behind schedule, and my tutor sucks.

PC1431 - tutorials behind schedule, a lot of key concepts not there yet, and i screwed up the mid term test

EG1109 - no comments, my lecturer and tutor both suck. ditto comments for the mid term test.

EG1413 - good tutor, but little or no progress in the project due to struggling with the other 4 modules

SSA2209 - having s/u'd it, it's less of a worry to me though the essay is still in the way...

whatever, i should just try my best, after all i WAS almost going to fail my 2nd driving test but still passed in the end...

but what if i don;t make the grade and get kicked out after this year? that sounds real crappy to me.

how long can i continue like this?

S/U

i have decided to S/U my SS module, Government and Politics of Singapore. Yes, I have a keen interest in the subject, but it is somewhat inhibited by the following factors:

1. my original essay topic left me with nothing good to say about the current state of politics in Singapore and i felt that to be on the safe side, i should not write on this. i don't want to find myself on the wrong side of the way things are.

2. i am competing with year2 and 3 pol science students who are majoring in this..

also, i have finally chosen my friendly email address! instead of remembering 'u05.....@nus.edu.sg', my email is now matthewchua@nus.edu.sg.

Wonder how to get it? Goto http://www.nus.edu.sg/fea and unlock the magic!

I passed my driving test!

'nuff said.

the past few days leading up to my retest have been a roller-coaster ride for my emotions. i felt woefully unprepared for it, because i had been so busy with stuff in nus that i did not go for lessons until a week before the test...

i was slightly late for my warm up! starts at 10.05, i reached at 10.10 and my warm up instructor was trying frantically to call me! but anyway, the warm up went on. while trying vertical parking, i met sheena! she's learning auto. it proceeded without a hitch and i soon found my self where i was 3 months ago, outside the testers office awaiting my fate.

got car no. 92, and a certain Mr Tan, Route 3. everything went well until the slope. because he chose the steeper slope, i was not used to the required biting point and my car rolled back TWICE! to make matters worse, during crank course, i struck the kerb and when doing corrective action, i did not look backwards (fail to confirm safety!) based on that, i got all my 18 points in the circuit! i thought to myself 'finish already lah...' but i decided to complete the test nevertheless. iu went out on the road and this time, there was no one out there to sabo me.

the whole test went on without a hitch except that he reminded me to switch off my signal! "(oh no) and soon it was time to go back to the debriefing room. i can remember the sigh of relief i had after i stopped the car and off the engine. and i muttered "Thank You Jesus" when i switched off the engine. the second test was over. now to know the results. i did not expect to pass.

we sat down and he started scolding me for the crank course, the slope, etc.. then he turned over the page... for what must have been the longest few seconds in my life.

i will never forget what happened next.

wordlessly he flipped to the last page, and ticked the 'PASSED' box.

then four words.

"ok, i pass you."

cell group today... update from the previous post

the cab fare was $13.30. no more cab, no more macdonalds or kfc or whatever nonsense during the mid term break.

cell group today was great. although i arrived late and tired, but i was refreshed by the presence of God and the message. and at the end of it, sis xiaowei laid hands on all of us and i once again had the opportunity to exercise my catching capability. Today was better but still got room for improvement.

there will be quite a bit of activities lined up for me over the weekend. friday will be the inaugural jurong centre first aid club meeting with dr patrick tan again. saturday will as usual be ushering followed by mooncake festival celebration at ntu. heheh.... the next day, must reach NHQ by 7am to put up the banner and set up all the stuff. i sense this is the litmus test as to whether i can be promoted to grade 4... anyway, mrs tan was not too happy about the tablecloths thingy, but let her be lah...

i got a new student at the tuition centre, bringing my total number of students to 5. when it hits 6, then i will be promoted and my pay will then be $25 per hour which will translate to $300 per month. i hope that happens soon. God is opening the doors for me to receive FINANCIAL breakthrough in this... AMEN GOD BE PRAISED

2nd round driving test around the corner!

i went back for driving lessons after a 3 month break from driving. and it was car 47, a reversal of the numbers 74 which i had for my test car. was a refresing refresher for driving and the instructor was a nice guy, giving me tips for how i should tackle the test round 2 next week! haha.....

i was supposed to help vincent print his theory test result too but i forgot to bring his slip! so i had to go home to take. wasted an hour as mum was home and made me od the usual stuff that i do when i am at home. in the end i had to take cab to go for s/u forum...

speaking of s/u forum, i dunno if i want to s/u my singapore studies or not. cos like some of my friend commented that my english is quite good, so my writing should not be too much of a problem. how arh? should i s/u it or not?

today is taxi day! i went for dr patrick tan's talk after s/u forum. Thought it started at 6, but it ended up starting at 6.45 (the time i need to leave for cell group!!) what a waste. dr tan persuaded me to stay for a while. i ended up staying till 7.30! :( after that i had to rush cab down to cell group. sis xiaowei offered to pay my cab fare but i told her no need. i feel bad imposing on her. this is just so not right.

i am in the cab now as i type this! i think the cab fare will be in the neighbourhood of 15 bucks! its 11 bucks now. i only have 12 bucks with me. crap. hope driver is nice.

this is the 3rd week i have to rush for cell group. this is not good. but it is the sacrifice i have to make to be there i guess.. hahah

back to school... i am so royally screwed! i can't finish my critique. will probably have to spend engin day tomorrow rushing my critique and statics assignment NOT TO FORGET the phyiscs webassign that i need tol go through with mr andrew. good thing lessons end at 10, Prof McInnes (who always uses 13.59) Maths lecture. He is the all time best joker in NUS i think. His lecture is the only one where people voluntarily go to sit in the front few rows. i skipped his lecture today though, slept at 2.30am last night so cannot really wake up haha. only lesson i went for today was Prof Singh SS tutorial which was interesting. only that next time will be my turn to present. uh-oh.......

today wasnt a fruitful day, mainly cos of my driving lah. because of that i didnt have the chance to take a good nap which explains why i am so tired today. urgh...... my mind is still in 2nd gear whereas the NUS syllabus is in 5th gear zooming down the expressway already! and i just realised to my horror that the SS essay is due NEXT WEEK. a 2000 word essay.

U know what? I may be good and confident of getting an A. But maybe i really SHOULD S/U the SS module cos a last minute job of a 2000 word essay may not really produce the best result.

at this moment, the cab is next to Kang Fei's favorite Italian restaurant al Forno Pasta, where myself, bro Alwyn and a few other of Fei's friends joined his parents for a lunch a while ago. bro Alwyn is in the states now.

ok i am arriving at xubin's house now.. time to shut down my laptop.. out

random ramblings

i am thinking of asking mr yong for a break from st john. after all, it is really too busy... and i doubt that i am accepted by NPCC anymore as no one has got back to me about the collection of uniforms. Let it be then. I probably will formally give up my place, whether or not the St John unit in NUS gets set up, because my main focus now is not on co-curricular activities.

It is on my studies, getting a high CAP, and getting into the Masters programme. In this age whereby just any Tom, Dick and Harry can get into university, a basic bachelor's degree simply won't cut it anymore.

Think about it. It may not be easy to get into an Ivy League university, or NUS, NTU or SMU for that matter. But there's always places like SIM and MDIS, which offer degree programmes, and if one cannot even gain admission to these places, there's always overseas. This translates into B.*. degrees being so common. One needs at least a double degree, or a masters, to at least distinguish himself from the crowd. Sad, but that's the fact of life. I don't know if the craze will eventually catch up to the Ph.D. level though. By definition, a doctorate is the highest academic degree that can be conferred by a university. If a Ph.D. becomes as common as air, how then will people distinguish themselves in terms of their qualifications? Post-doctoral, i suppose..... But this has got to stop somewhere. If this continues, somewhere down the line people will spend half their lives in school which simply cannot happen.

I came into NUS with an aim to graduate with 1st class honours at the end of my fourth year. The proliferation of foreign scholars, especially in the Engineering faculty, and my dismal understanding of the concepts, have dampened my hopes somewhat.

Now I am going on a tirade against the foreign scholar system in Singapore. If you are a foreign scholar reading this, no offence intended. I love you just the same, my gripe is not with you, but it is with the system.

In sec 3, i was supposed to do triple science. But what happened is that back then, there were about 50 PRC students posted to my school, and by default all of them take triple science. One class, 3C, was meant to be solely for the PRC students. But as the maximum class size was 36, some of the students had to spillover to 3D, which was the class i was posted to.

They took out some local students to make space for the PRCs. I was one of them.

If not for the system, i may very well be doing medicine instead of engineering by now. But given the punishing workload of medical students, perhaps it may not be such a pleasant alternative though. The workload of engineering students is far from perfect though...

Actually, from asking around i have heard the faculties in NUS (in order of siong-ness) are as follows...

SIONG
Medicine
Archi
Engine
SDE

NEUTRAL
Science
Law
Biz
SOC

SLACK
Arts

'nuff said.

Driving Test Round 2.... around the corner!!!

To stay in hall.. or not to stay in hall?

First of all, the RH activity allocation system (RHAMS) seems to be down! I can't select my activities.

Had a short chat with JCRC President himself. He advised me that although my tuitions will stop me from coming for Hall activities sometimes, i should still attend the hall activities as much as possible. And if somehow i fail to meet the mark, i can appeal at the end of the year.

so now, i am faced with THE QUESTION: do i wish to stay.. or not????

i have to list out my activities by tomorrow 3pm. i more or less know which ones i want...

the decision to stay in hall or not next year has to be made by tomorrow 3pm.

updates

To all my readers.. sorry for lack of update for the past month.. i have been VERY VERY busy with stuff in NUS. it's like during the first two weeks, the lecturers took us for a slow drive. Then, they jam the accelerator.

I'm currently surviving in NUS Engineering (Common Engineering = this year is an important year = you better not cock up else you land yourself somewhere u dun wan). I am also staying in Raffles Hall.



My hostel room. Guess which side is mine.

I've come to realise that now it is WEEK 5, mid-term break (as well as the DRIVING RETEST) is just TWO weeks away! Which means there will be a test coming up after the mid-term break. Time to really get my act together.

Also I am rushing to complete the NTU e-Prep course. I am in the final stage with just a couple more assignments to complete but the due date is 8 Sep (this thursday). Three days to live. Oh well. Got to rush already. My two tuition assignments are not doing anything productive for my stress level. I don't understand how the foreign scholars can cope with 6 or 7 modules and still have so much time while we locals are trying to keep our head above the water with 5. Sucks. Maybe that's why they're scholars, since they must be the cream of the crop in their home country in order to be here.

And also, I met a girl whom I like, but i have no time to get into any relationship now so i shall leave things as it is...

I have went for and passed the interviews for NUS NPCC which means that, if all goes well, I will soon be known as P/H/INSP (NPCC) Matthew Chua, in addition to my current involvement in St John. I will have the same rank in both uniformed groups. Cool eh? But then again, whether i can manage is a different thing. Perhaps I have to give up one or the other.

And that leaves another vital question unanswered: DO I WISH TO STAY IN HALL NEXT YEAR??

To stay in hall requires a fair bit of committment in hall activities. 4 activities and 3 auxiliaries ("aux") over the year. I chose to be garang and signed up for SEVEN committees. Most of them were as major members (i.e. i will have people under me), and one even as a middle management (something like ad-hoc chair in council). Upon learning about the true involvement of the committees, i realised that i wouldn't able to juggle all these and studies (in addition to my involvement in SJAB and NPCC). So i declined. Anyway, most major activities in hall take place on Mondays and Wednesdays, which excludes me due to my tuition assignments. Sucks. I have an uphill task trying to stay in hall next year...

And I still do not know.. DO I WISH TO STAY, OR NOT?

1) Stay - but i will have to clock a lot of activities, at the expense of my other CCAs and most importantly, my studies

2) Go to Kuok - i have to clock some activities as well, maybe one or two activities, advantage is that i can leverage upon my involvement in NPCC and SJAB (if it does get recognised as an official CCA) for points

Advantage of Kuok over RH is that 1) no hall activities - it was started by one guy who said 'screw hall activities'... 2) no meals - no need to get stressed over meal timings and packing food

Disadvantage is that hall generally has the more communual culture while places like Kuok would be more isolated since the residents don't really need to interact with each other. I've grown to love the RH culture in the month that i've been here. Disadvantages 1) and 2) are easily negated by the abovementioned factors.

Guess the bottom line will be this: i enjoy my 1 year in RH, and if worst comes to worst that i cannot stay, so be it. I did not get to serve out a full term as class chairperson in sec3, but it played a really important part in my leadership development and my confidence level. I would probably not have got the courage to run for council, or to become an officer in SJAB, if not for the 6 month stint as class chairperson, might i add in the absence of support from my classmates.

So my 1 year (or more i hope) in RH hopefully will play a part in my life as an NUS undergraduate, and I will treasure the memories in time to come.

Enough of my uni life.

For SJAB, yesterday was AGI and Zone 9 formed the Guard-of-Honour! This was my seventh AGI and once again it was at Serangoon Stadium. (I hope to get a chance to be in the parade one of these days.. see how it goes.) I took part in the parade twice in 1998 (where former President Wee Kim Wee was the reviewing officer) and 1999 (where President S.R. Nathan came). This year, it was Prof. Low Cheng Hock, President of the National St John Council. Some of my fellow officers were speculating on whether he could have run for presidency this year.. but i don't know if he is interested.. haha. Maybe if got the chance to ask him, then we will know.. ha ha

Once i reached there i went to look for some of my fellow CHC ppl in SJAB and there was one, Lynette. She was one of the contingent commanders! anyway her contingent was one of the best during the march past. Some of the officers didn't really march properly, sad to say.. a disgrace... guess the standard of officer training is really going down the drain...

I spoke with one of the others about possibly starting a St John open unit in NUS. We have a wide member base, based on the fact that about half the OTC batch was from JC and most of them would go on to NUS, and more importantly, the medical students can potentially be recruited as future Brigade Surgeons. This may very well be the 'X-factor' in reviving the fledging SJAB, as we need more leaders to help out with the original objectives of the St John Ambulance, which is the teaching of first aid and nursing.

Once this idea takes off, more open units can be set up especially in NYP (is it the one which offers Nursing diplomas??) Then we can have a pool of medical and nursing students taking this all-important role, while clocking CCA points at the same time.

Anyone within the St John fraternity feel free to comment :)

selling my iPod

selling my brand new iPod 20GB for $450 (negotiable). Market price $528. Need the $ for my uni studies. Interested drop me an email matthew_chua@yahoo.com

i'm so pissed!!!

i lost all my mp3 files and sound recordings cos my mp3 player suddenly erased them!

crap crap crap

I found my pencil case!

Sorry guys. I found my pencil case in LT7A this morning. *so paiseh*

Anyway, i just got my new iPod and new laptop, an iBook G4!!!!! So happy!!!

Rushing off now... post updates later! Ciao!

I lost my pencil case.

I lost my pencil case!

So what the big deal, you may ask.

Well, i got this pencil case thru a lucky dip in 2003. That was exactly what i wanted to get but did not want to fork out the money for it yet. So I got it.

I remember I lost it during Physics lecture. After the lecture , I put my notes in my bag and left. It was only later in hall when I was looking for my thick black pen, that I realised that my pencil case was not with me! I searched my entire hostel room for the pencil case but it could not be found anywhere. Later I went back to LT7A, and checked with the various offices in NUS but in vain!!!!

In the pencil case was my mechanical pencil that was with me during A levels (I had lost the pen in church sometime in 2004). Also had a 2 purple pens (1 i bought, 1 i found), my brother's black pen (as for the pen with which I signed my ORD, i lost it too! i lent it to a church friend and he/she failed to return it). 1 blue pen (which was a free gift), a couple more pens from home and also a red pen that had lasted me through NS. (I remember I used it to do closing of books in the past...) And also TWO liquid paper bottles (one of which is quite new!)

Some of the stationeries have my name on it as "LCP MATTHEW CHUA" (exactly the way it was printed.) Yes, it was that long ago.

No, this is not my lost pencil case. This is my replacement, together with the 'sole survivors' which are a far cry from my original pencil case!!!

"The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the Name of the LORD." Job 1:21b

Any NUS students reading this blog, if you found a black pencil case 8" x 4" full of stuff and with my name on some of the equipment, do let me know! Leave a comment.

what-could-have-been-President Andrew Kuan

The news is out.

The Presidential Elections Committee issued the Certificate of Eligibility only to incumbent President S.R. Nathan. Former Group Chief Financial Officer, Mr Andrew Kuan, as well as two others, were turned down.

Read Kuan's statement on http://www.andrewkuan.com

I have one word about Andrew Kuan failing to qualify to run in the Singapore Presidential Elections.

DISAPPOINTED.

Nevertheless, for the courage to step out, for wanting to make a difference in Singapore, despite the resistance in your way, Sir, I salute you.

looks bad for Kuan

Things don't look good for presidential aspirant Andrew Kuan.

His former employers issued press releases saying that his work was unsatisfactory. One whole page in today's newspaper was devoted to that.

Read his responses at his website, http://www.andrewkuan.com.

Don't ask me, but I have this feeling that he is not going to qualify for the Presidency.

President Andrew Kuan?

News broke today that former Group Chief Financial Officer of Jurong Town Corporation, Mr Andrew Kuan, has expressed his serious intention to contest the upcoming Presidential Elections.

To me, when I first read the news, WOW. This blog is apolitical, but I think it would be good if Singaporeans at least get to choose, in the spirit of the ELECTED presidency. If President S.R. Nathan is re-elected despite this contest, that will only strengthen his mandate and silence his critics that he got the presidency by a fluke, ala President George W. Bush who also had a controversial election having garnered less than 50% of the votes against former Vice-President Al Gore, but silenced his critics 4 years later by gaining the popular vote.

If of course Andrew Kuan is elected as President, it would be interesting to see how things turn out. Presidents Yusof Ishak, Benjamin Sheares and Wee Kim Wee all had non-political backgrounds and yet they are remembered as our great Presidents. NUS has halls named after our first 2 Presidents, and I am just waiting to see what they name after our late President Wee Kim Wee.

I look forward to having the chance to cast my first vote, having turned 21 six weeks ago.

Thoughts

Perhaps it is time now to lessen my committment in RV St John... since I am going to NUS, and will be joining VCF, NPCC and UCC Ushering... not to forget Hall stuff... in addition to my present committments to my family and church... so i guess one of them has got to be sacrificed. I have spent quite a lot of time in St John recently, due to the 45th Anniversary and subsequently during my relief teaching stint, helping to run in the committee et cetera. Now that the new batch of officers are coming up, i guess it is time to leave the running of the Corps to them...

Relief teaching today was fulfilling. Someone got injured today, so we actually helped him out a bit... also had the opportunity to chat with one of the teachers about a career in the Education industry, and possibly coming back to RV to teach next time. I enjoyed my two weeks stint in RV so far, and am sad that it is coming to an end tomorrow. But as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end, and i've got to look forward in life and move on.

Rev Mike Connell went to City Harvest over the weekend, and must I say I've been really blessed by his ministry. Seow Yi came to look see as well.

Gtg, preparing thank you notes for the teachers at RVHS for making my 2 week stay there so hospitable and being so friendly!!

:)

Happy Birthday Joseph

Today I had a lunch outing and a dinner party. In the morning, I was supposed to meet Bro Alwyn at 10.50am, commonwealth MRT station to meet Kang Fei's parents for lunch. But, i woke up only at 10.50am!!! my goodness...in the end we changed to Dover MRT , and i took a cab there. Later i put my wallet on alwyn's dashboard, and when he braked, a $1 coin dropped into his car! What a cockster i am! :P

Lunch was at this italian restaurant, it was good together with some of Fei's other friends. We talked of the good times that we had together with Fei, and it was relieving to see that his parents seemed to be coping well with his loss. I also realised that Fei's mum is quite a senior official in MOE, in fact I had seen her name somewhere before. Small world..

After that, Alwyn drove down to church so i ccompanied him, after that went to JP to get some stationeries... and went home. Later in the evening still got Joseph (my RV best friend) birthday party.

It was at some restaurant-style country club with two tables going to his relatives and two tables to his school friends. Had a good time of catching up with everyone and getting to know new friends. Joseph is another one who is flying off soon (alwyn is flying off this sat) so i wish him all the best in his studies over there.

This was a great day.

relief teaching experience part 2

time really flies, and now i am left with but two days to the end of my relief teaching at RVHS.

at this point, i feel really apprehensive because i am about to enter a new stage of life also called NUS. And I know i am going to miss RV for sure. I do not know how much I can continue to stay behind to contribute to St John.. Much as i want to, i know that time is limited and very soon I will need to let the cadets (and OCTs) run on their own.

Much as i want to stay on, i cannot. tuesday will be my last day and after that, it will be back to normal life as an instructor, coming back once in a while...

The past week was okay. I caught the flu, but that was during sec 3 camp which i was not required to go down to school so it was okay. But when I went back on Thursday, i was required to take one of the classes where the teacher was not in. And boy, they did turn havoc. I had to scold them. But not easy, with my nose still blocked from the flu. As i type this, it's better now, but still not 100% okay yet.

On Friday, there was a directive that CCA has to stop by 5. So i was tasked to ensure that. And they conducted last parade at 4.15, just like i instructed them. But as usual, the cadets dragged on until i had to finally stand outside the st john room and really chase them out. I didn't like it. They are the same cadets whom I had built up a rapport with. But work is work. Got to be done. I can be nice to them at other times.

Well, what's done is done... got to re evaluate my priorities now..

My pets

Here, i shall introduce my two cats at home, Mee Mee and Miaow Miaow.

In late February, my brother wanted a pet. My mum wanted a cat. So we got Mee Mee, a 3-week old kitten. Back then she was small enough to fit in the palm of the hand. Over time she grew to be part of the family, and as the lone cat, became something for us to constantly entertain lest she sleep during the daytime and keep us awake at night.

When I was the only person at home, Mee Mee would come to my room and rub against my legs as i used the computer, and when I hugged her, she would purr ("on motor" as my mum puts it) and we loved the sound of her purring.

It was after a while that my mum decided to get another cat. So we got a little white kitten. By then Mee Mee was 5 months old, and it, 2 1/2. On the first day, she had not gotten her vaccinations, so we kept her in a rattan cage inside our kitchen. Before I left the house, however, I opened the door and fed her. That night, when I went near the other kitten, it would purr and rub its head against my hand. I gave her the name, Miaow Miaow.

Miaow Miaow's arrival was met by resistance from Mee Mee at first, but they got along with each other before long. Now, our lives are filled with both cats chasing each other around the house, keeping each other occupied. Both are lovely and adorable, but Miaow Miaow is still not so receptive to us cuddling her, so Mee Mee is still the more adorable among the two.

I don't have pictures yet, but I will post them when i have time!

NKF

http://somethingstickythiswaycomes.blogspot.com

Very interesting cartoon parody of the NKF saga!

relief teaching experience

Well, it's been three tiring but enjoyable days since i started relief teaching...

Day 1... Came to rv where Mr Tan met me at the office. Had total of three lessons at the com lab. Its basically some 3D design program (i think it will be interesting for engineering!) . Mr Tan took the first two lessons and i took the last one.

Some of the sec 1 cadets recognised me, hehh

It was , uh, a challenge. In com lab basically once the students start to do their own thing and its a challenge to get them to listen. I even shouted at them once. Got to improve on my skill of managing a class.

Day 2... Essentially the same. I combed my hair neater to have the more 'authoritative' look. Slightly better now

Had a long day today, cos had CCA in the afternoon and after that rushing for heritage day. after that rush for tuition... $8.60 since the driver went by Clementi Ave 6! I din feel good about that already cos i was there for 2yrs 4 mths and know that time always jam! So true enough it jam and my cab fare kept jumping!

After tuition went back to work out the solutions for maths tutorial. Stayed up till pretty late.

Day 3 ... Last minute request because one of the teachers was on MC. But it was good! I met the group of people i wanted to meet! Anyway, covered sec three and sec two maths and... took another class for PDP (Pupil Development Programme). During my time its called lifeskills. Very interesting.
This is the first (and probably only) day I get to teach in classroom, but i like it. i want another relief teaching assignment next year!

Went off at about 2 ... went to NUS to settle my hall.

It's something like SAF bunk... twin sharing. A bit small but looks okay to me. Like that single room may be even smaller... cos what i heard is that there's normal single room and large single room which is the same size as a double room... well if double room is this small... what about single? *shudders*

Had dinner at Yusof Ishak house after which I went home and slept from 6pm to 10 plus.. woke up by sis xiaowei's call. Wanted to know if joseph is coming back again. which unfortunately, he is not, but good to know that he has been blessed all this while!

relief teaching - disappointed

i received a call from one of the HOD in my school today, informing me that my relief teaching assignment only commence next monday and there would be no lessons on wednesdays. Hence I have a grand total of 10 effective days which means that I would get only $650 for the whole assignment when by my previous calculation, it's $915. Also, I was told that I am only required to teach D&T and not Maths also as the teacher i would be covering only teaches D&T.

The glimmer of hope would be that I would be covering the form teacher duties, which means i have to be there every day, else they may even tell me i only need to be there for lesson and pay me hourly rates which is peanuts already.

Nevertheless, half a loaf is still better than none. i hope this opportunity would give me an insight into life as a teacher and more importantly, whether this job is for me or not.

I have a few more chances, during the main vacations to come in and teach.. after my graduation, i will go on to NIE and after that come back as a full-fledged teacher.

My main regret about my 3 months break since ORD was that i got started on my job hunt too late. If I had started while i was clearing leave, none of this would have happened. MOE took *two months* to approve my relief teaching application (like what the hell? next time i must submit it earlier, in March or something) and also, no responses from JobsDB!! Maybe only one, which called me yesterday before i knew about this... And what with not taking up tuition assignments during my 2 1/2 years for fear of being disciplined for moonlighting??? In the end the one to lose out is me...

national com & other thoughts about St John

today was the judgment day of first aid competition training for my St John cadets in RV - the Inter-Zone First Aid and Home Nursing Competition, or in short the National Com.

I should first elaborate on what my cadets go through if they are to be a competition representative and why I consider the Nat Com to be the judgment day.

At the start of sec2, we normally group the cadets into teams of 4, to train them up for the competition. by mid sec2, we have an intra-Corps competition to decide which among them will be sent for the Inter-Corps First Aid Competition, known in short as the Zone Com. (not to be confused with Zone Commissioner). The zone would send the top team in each category (Nursing Adult, Nursing Cadet, Ambulance Adult, Ambulance Cadet) for the National Com. (Normally there are very little Ambulance teams, so the Ambulance category is simplified to just one.)

Normally our school would always win, so we would represent the Zone for the National Com.

By the time National Com takes place, the cadets would be sec3, at the prime of their time in St John. Currently they are going through Advance NCO course at that time too, but hopefully with the new system, that would be done away with, allowing them to fully concentrate on the National Com.

The winning (and possibly runner-up) team(s) in National Com would then be considered to mount the Singapore team for the International Competitions. There are two kinds: the bi-annual Singapore-Malaysia First Aid Competition, and the International Cadet Camp. Where this fits into the timeline remains to be seen.

To me this is a punishing system. If they are determined for a 2nd chance, they will have to do it in JC because by the time they are sec4, if the Nat Com is in the middle of the year, the school would not allow them to go for fear of parents shooting letters. They are experts at that.

Perhaps, when we introduce the 6-year through-train system in RV, it would be better. Perhaps train up in sec2, then in sec3 send them for zone and nat com, then sec4 another shot at nat com, say the adult team before sending them for officer course in pre-u1, together with a tour of duty as NCO course instructor before standing down for A levels or IB exams in pre-u2.

Like my previous blog post mentioned, this is exactly the same as being a one-chance society. Cock up the sec3 nat com and your chances of posterity is gone. Want a second chance? You've got to do it in JC... if you are still interested by then.

So far I've known only one team which continued taking part in Nat Com more than once. One was Jianhong, Jun Jie, Shurong and Zi'ang who took part in 1997 in 1998 (against the rules but no one found out). I believe Ee Soon, Jun Jie, Shurong and Jianhong even took part in 1996 possibly. Jianhong and Zi'ang went on to take part in SinMal Comp in 1997 and Jianhong took part in International Cadet Camp cum Competition in 1998. The next team to achieve this kind of glory is Wee Seng, Junyuan, Junhuang and Wei Yang who underwent a punishing schedule from Zone Com in 2000, winning the Nat Com in 2001 as AC and finishing third in the International First Aid Competition. Sadly none of the above people stayed on as officers.

The next one was Nicholas who represented us in the SinMal comp in 2003 and won! Glad that he is coming back to help as officer, the future of RV St John is in his hands! He's the only one who has went overseas for competition who has come back as officer since Charlotte (think it was 1995).

I feel that RV Corps is a far cry from its heyday. In the past, our strength was easily in the hundreds, about half of the school was from St John and the whole training center, as it was then known, was able to field seven divisions and the Principal was also one of the Divisional Presidents. The big names of St John like Dr Low Cheng Hock, Miss Chia Su Lin, Mr Chua Wee Kwang, Mr Foo Si Kwang to name a few could all trace their roots to River Valley. In the past, the ex-students of River Valley would heartily volunteer to return as officers, be it to continue in their own divisions or to take charge of newly formed divisions from other schools.

Now? I have to practically beg each batch of juniors to step forward to come back as officers. And most of them want to simply come back, but "not for OTC". Pls lah, last time want to go OTC also no chance to go... Then those who want to simply come back.. most of the time it is only for a few months. After that they simply disappear. History has proven itself year after year. If I am to be told that they just want to come back as helper it is as good as telling me they don't want to come back at all.

For this batch of sec 4s, there are a few of them whom I have in mind should come back and become officers. But whether they want to, is up to them. I will respect their decision either way.

finally found a job!!

posting again after a lag of 2 weeks! heh. i finally found a job. relief teaching at river valley high school which happens to be the school which i am running the st john's unit there!

Good to get a job whereby i can get paid for doing what i love to!

Of course, besides that, I've also got to teach sec2 maths and technical. Got to brush up on my knowledge especially technical. hehh... it will be a good experience returning to rvhs but on the other side of the river.. :)

sjab 45th anniversary

finally finished RV St John 45th anniversary today, the culmination of months of planning and hard work.

feel too overwhelmed to really blog my feelings of this event... let my friend Alwyn who covered the event through photography do it for me! Click here

Something interesting

I found this on the net... very interesting huh..?

In South Australia instructors are also examiners. One of the hardest things I find is, to fail an overseas licence conversion test. There is no distinction between a new driver and someone who has safely driven for 20 years in London, Lebanon or Liechtenstein. A common fault is rolling very slowly through a STOP sign. The authorities give us no leniency; just a slow roll over the line and the examining instructor must mark it as an instant fail.

The odd customer is adamant that they’d stopped at the stop sign, when in fact the wheels were rotating until a clear view was obtained. When it was clear, the applicants see no point in stopping but roll on.

After convincing one young man that he had not completely stopped, he announced: ‘You mean, stop, stop? Another commented: ‘OK then, I stop dead’. A middle aged learner from South Africa enlightened me: Over there everyone must stop for 15 seconds. (I find that hard to believe). The most intelligent response was: ‘So, all four wheels must stop’?

But is slow rolling motion really such a big deal? I have a theory.

Let’s turn the calendar back 50 years or so. Motor cars were not built with synchronized first gear. Mechanically it was impossible to roll very slowly and accelerate away. You were unable to change down to first gear while still moving. Approaching a blind corner meant, stopping the vehicle (all four wheels stop stop dead) then engaging first gear and moving off.

Before signs were introduced, intersections were mainly uncontrolled. As traffic gradually increased, give way and stop signs were introduced. On a blind corner, where a slow speed was called for, a STOP was placed, indicating to drivers, that first gear needed to be engaged, which only was possible after stopping. Corners that were open and could be negotiated faster (in second gear) a GIVE WAY sufficed.

Technology has progressed, thank goodness. Only vintage cars are still without first gear synchronized. Automatic cars are even more convenient, no gear changing at all. Unfortunately, the system of give way/stop signs is very hard to change.

To simplify road rules over a period, why not phase out give ways signs and only use Stop Signs? Psychologically they have a greater effect to slow down motorists. To take the thought even further, the stop signs could be colour coded, like traffic lights, indicating how ‘blind’ a particular corner is: Green visibility reasonable, amber visibility limited and red best ‘obey the stop sign’!

I think most motorists would be intelligent enough to drive through at a safe speed. Don’t we have to do this now at T-junctions, give-ways signs, roundabouts etc? To get fined for barely rolling through a stop sign or failing a driving test only produces an angry motorist not necessarily a safer one.

Driving News

Found this on the 'net.. some recent news

Paris: French driving students may soon have to wait 24 hours before finding out test results because too many candidates are attacking examiners who fail them on the spot. Some learner drivers who fail their driving test are venting their frustration by threatening examiners with death or rape, often at gunpoint, and attacking their cars, a Transport Ministry official said.

OMG... i can imagine this happening in singapore... probably testers office must have armed police guards... and each student before can drive must go thru security check before test start... lala

A friend in need...

is a friend indeed.

Several people have come forth to comfort me on my driving test failure. Neil and Seow Yi, who have been through the same dark valley as I have and cleared on their 2nd attempt. Grace, Jason, Colin, Yanling who probably do not know about the test system but still were there to lend a shoulder to cry on. Thanks especially to Yanling who pointed out to me that the retest date was during the holiday period for uni.

Retest is on 22 Sep, 11am session, this time die die must pass!

Still, as I lay awake last night wondering what could have been (If i had not encountered that incident i would have gotten a completely different outcome yesterday)... i am totally flabbergasted at what my CG members have shown themselves to be.

Remember my previous post I wrote that i had an arguement with them after failing my driving test. It's because i decided not to attend one of their prayer meeting, citing that i need some time by myself. Following which 2 of my CG helpers called me up to ask me to attend and the conversation was not on very civil terms.

One of them msg me later at night to ask me if i was okay and wanted to talk. i said can, call me. she never did.

MY CONCLUSION : (And it did not just take me these few days to arrive at this:) My CG helpers are not really concerned about our well being even thought they say i may be. They are only concerned about reporting to the CGL that 'o we got full attendance man..' 'o so and so is bringing so many friends man..'. And of course that is not wrong. I am also sure that if a new friend were to come in to any problems, they would immediately jump to their aid. But what about me, a member who has been with the church for very long, possibly longer than they themselves? When i got problems and want to give their activities a miss, this is what they give me?

WHERE WERE U GUYS when i needed u the most? Where were you when my friend passed away? Where were you when i failed my driving test?

I have always said that my senior pastor's vision is noble, but as it cascades down the hierachy , the original vision somehow gets lost. Its the same in the army lah, the CDF says A, the COA will add B, the Div Comd will make it ABC, the Brigade Comd will add ABCD, the Bn CO will remove A and add BCDE, the OC will remove B and add CDEF.... until the time it cascade down to the men level, it is FGHI.

That is why I never get these kind of ideas when i am in service, cos senior pastor's vision is given to us in its unadultrated form and we can take it as we see it. But within the CG structure, as info cascade down, the Zone pastors and CGLs will add in their own stuffs.

I have thought of leaving the church. But, at this time when I am finally able to bring friends to church, when I am finally able to serve more in usher? Maybe it will be better for me to change CG. Change to an adult CG, the people there will be more understanding... here they are all young punks who haven't seen what kind of shit the world can give you. Pls lah, they trying to counsel me, why should i listen to them when they have NEVER gone through that situation before??

But I will listen to Neil and Seow Yi because they have failed driving test at BBDC before and passed on the 2nd try! If you passed on the 1st try, it helps but not much!! I could have passed on the first try too! IF NOT FUR THAT CISCO VAN AND GREEN VAN THAT KEPT BLOCKING MY WAY.... CAUSING ME TO GET 16 POINTs... I WOULD HAVE PASSED!!!!!

That is why i am damned angry with my CG pple! Only concern about new friends and not about those who have been there for donkey years!

Maybe i should perform disappearing act! That may cause them to wake up their idea!

But so far a lot of other ppl have msg me to encourage me, even tho they din kno about my test! Kitty and Pei Qi (who i din talk to for very long!) msg me yesterday and today! Seems like a lot of ppl pop up from the blue to encourage me EXCEPT MY CG MEMBERS!~!! (church members - my usher friends did encourage me even though they havent started learning driving / not even of age to learn!)

My 21st birthday... not one of them bothered to msg me until one of them msg everyone asking them to wish me! U know how come i know?? Cos she also msg to ME! Then the msgs come in like a tsunami that i have to delete some to make more space!

PS. If any of you see this and want to call me for dunno what reason.. forget it. Damage is done. A FRIEND IN NEED IS A FRIEND INDEED and i don't see this from you all.

i failed my driving test.

Today was my driving test, the judgment day of driving lessons as one of my friends Alwyn (who passed on the first try despite striking a kerb) put it.

I went there confident, and i prayed. Prayed that I would pass on the first try and not waste the additional $300 required to book the next test. I even came prepared with my photo which i would use for my photocard licence and the money to buy my P Plate.

Was allocated car no.74 and my warm up instructor was Mr Lai CF, who took me before for Auto lessons. My circuit was alright just that directional change, i struck the kerb! But that didn't happen again for the actual test. Something else happened..

Went out to one of the test routes in Bt Batok Road, ended up there was major road works down there. But everything was okay and I returned after the warm up confident that i would pass.

I drew Route 2, and a certain Mr Quak . I was relieved to know that he was not the tester famed to fail those first timers. And, route 2 is the easiest route of all in my opinion. The hardest part is the narrow divider U-turn at bt batok central.

Test started, first thing I was tested was the emergency stop. Tester seemed very impressed. Next was the S-course and then vertical parking, then slope, then directional change, then parallel parking then crank course. In fact the sequence was almost identical to what my warm up instructor took me through. The problem was that my engine stalled quite a few times, and tester made comment 'what happened to you arh..' but he didn't fault me on that.

Total points in circuit - 8. Both during parking. Turn steering while vehicle is stationary (instructor taught me wrong.. urgh) and fail to confirm safety for parallel parking (i did lah.. but think not the correct way).

After going out road.. everything was ok lah... i was quite confident that i would pass... but when stop at bt batok west ave 2 (after the left turn on red) prepare to turn left, tester ask mi why my braking always jerk one... i was taken aback because all along instructor nv say anything... blame the CHIA C.T. who never teach me properly but only take that chance to fuck me upside down only... that time aso Stage 1 den i never learn properly.. sian 1/2... then now i think i aso must go and black list TAN H.B. also... nv say anything one... i was thinking nvm cos my TP test coming soon so i am not gonna see him again but now different story liao. i think CHUN KS and CHAN HY are good enough liao... actually CHAN HY tell me that the instructors in the group like CHIA and TAN sux one, he is damned angry with them for, in his words "good trainee also teach until like this.."

Before I digress into comments about my group instructors, for the record, i got 34 points. 8 points in circuit, 26 points on the road, of which 18 was due to the fucking incident where i was unable to change lane due to a fucking cisco truck and green van which was unwilling to give way to me.

Before Group 6019 was reshuffled... got two more ENG AM and NG BT.. NG BT another bastard who always address me as "ey mister".. kns.. i think he got smiling greeting badge some more... he chao ah beng pattern one... but ENG AM is overall the best lah.. if i get him for my warm up i think confirm pass one, just by that alone. too bad he transfer to another group liao, same group as the female instructor.

i realise my pattern is when i am happy with that instructor, my driving will be swee swee ... and so far for ENG AM, CHUN KS and CHAN HY lessons i always swee swee one... only yesterday my final revision lesson was with TAN HB.. KNS... made mistakes under Route 6.

I think route 6 is the hardest route in BBDC, not only does it come with a slope that we need to use handbrake to move off, it also has the killer right turn from CCK way to Bt Batok Road.. For that road, its one that all 3 lanes can turn right and after that, its a challenge to filter back to the left lane cos all the fuckers dun wanna give way. Please lah, if you are a qualified driver on the road, YOU WERE AN L PLATER (more so double LE plater) BEFORE so give us chance okay?????

Today i saw the guy who drew Route 6, he kind of gave up straight away cos i heard him muttering under his breath "finish already'. I dun remember seeing him in the video room, what i remember was that the indian lady together with us passed and was there. o well...

Maybe i'll just comment a bit on all the test routes here. Any route that involves right turning from CCK way to Bt Batok Road is already difficult by itself, and also slope. Theres two major slope, one is the killer exit slope from jalan teck whye to teck whye ave, and the other one is at teck whye lane. This one don't really need to care much, unless got pedestrian crossing the zebra crossing right at the top, then must use the handbrake method to move off. (Routes 3, 6 and 8 feature this slope. But most of the time traffic is light, so its just a minor distraction.)

Route 1 is quite normal, just that you need to lane change to the right fast after turing left from teck whye ave. it comes with green arrow though, so there shouldn't be much traffic on the right lane interfering since they will b stopped by red light before.

Route 2 (my test route) is the easiest since it doesn't involve driving on 70km road at all, and it was relatively straight. The biggest challenge is the left turn on red (you can be marked immediate failure for crossing stop line because you are supposed to STOP and look out for traffic before turning left.) and of course the narrow divider u-turn, which is quite ok due to green arrow to help you. I died after the right turn, because somehow too much traffic came in and i wasnt able to lane change to the right. I got distracted and veer off course... and i stopped at filer lane while it was green light! From that moment on i knew that was it.

Perhaps Route 3 and Route 4 are quite easy as well. Cos Route 3, although it has a right turn from West Ave 5 to Bt Batok Road, that one is not so difficult if you pick up speed fast enough. And the rest of the route is just simple manouvering around in teck whye estate. Route 4 is also quite easy lah, its mostly within Bt Batok housing estate itself on single lane roads where i dont have to worry too much about lane change, except for the final stage where i turn out from west ave 5 to west ave 2 and then to bt batok road.

I think route 5 could be a killer during rush hour, mainly due to the fact we need to keep left after the u-turn and again keep right for right turn. But if we do the test during quiet hours, it is our grandfather's road and it should be fine. Left turn most of the time, nice tour of bt batok estate. Apart from the first right turn, the other right turns are all into single lane road = no problem.

I've given my comments on route 6.

For route 7, also quite easy. Biggest challenge is narrow divider u-turn along bt batok road. But that one we got the traffic light up front to stop the flow for us.

Route 8 is difficult cos of the slope up teck whye lane and also the killer turn from CCK way to bt batok road.

Route 9 will be difficult if you are not good at controlling speed around bends, but again should be okay. It features the narrow divider u-turn along bt batrok road, though.

Last of all route 10, also quite easy during OFF PEAK HRS. If not, Bt Batok Road is going to pose a problem, as we need to lane change THREE TIMES there. That is the route that uses the most of Bt Batok Road.

so far, assuimng (1) you do not have the idiocy to book a slot during peak hours and (2) you don't have the misfortune of it raining on you during test and (3) you don't commit any stupid mistakes of course (like me)... the routes are ranked below:

Easy 2 4 10
Medium 1 3 5 7 9
Hard 6 8

Beware of the stretch of road along bt batok west ave 5 where a lot of people illegally park their cars, forcing us to lane change to the right. Only route 2 features this. I was not marked down though. Having said that, i think its really our luck not to have any cars illegally parking or roadworks in progress. As a Chrsitian , i am told not to believe in luck, but i guess these kind of 'unforseen circumstances' does play a part though.

Those who learn at BBDC also, do give comments to my 'ranking' of the test routes!

Retest will be in september. By then, the wet season may be starting which means it will be slightly harder then. But on the other side of the coin, got excuse to drive slower.Maybe max 40 along normal roads, 60 along bt batok road.

SEE HOW LAH.

Tall Poppy Syndrome

I got a surge of inspiration to write about my school life.. so here goes..

I consider myself a maverick throughout my school days. Doing things that are out of the ordinary.

If there were two things I could change about the Singapore education system, 1) remove the conformist idealogy and 2) remove the one-chance system. Those who've been through Singapore's education system would know what i mean. I've realised that 1) if you are different, ppl will mock at you and ostracise you simply for not conforming to what the culture of that place expects and 2) singapore's education system, and i would say singapore itself, offers you only ONE chance. cock that up, and you're a goner. Want to become a doctor? Cock up your pri 4 streaming, go to EM3, and kiss that dream goodbye. You cock up your Os? Yes, you can retake it but more than likely you can only consider going to Poly and not JC as you'll be overaged by then.

Same thing with life isn't it? In a moment of weakness, you get caught shoplifting / other petty crime and sit in jail for a week or two. in future.. Wanna apply for job/scholarship? There's this declaration "Have you ever been charged yada yada in a court of law?"?

In fact, i believe that in those application forms, you have to tick all 'No's in order to get it. One 'Yes' and the form is headed for the rejects pile regardless of how shining the rest of the application is.

I'm bloody cynical ain't I? Get what i mean?

Back to school life.

Yes, those who know me from my sec school days know that i VOLUNTEERED to be class chairperson in sec 3. Why did i do that? I don't remember anymore. What I do remember was that there were numerous attempts to oust me from the post, and I was lamblasted on freevote.com, mIRC and other places as well (back then there was a rash of school voting sites on freevote.com like who is the worst teacher is or what. I think the management of freevote.com had since tightened up on such things.)

If there was one word I could delete from our Asian vocabularies, it is this word "BEH HIAO BAI". Hokkien for "don't want face." I feel that Asians are too concerned about this four-letter word called FACE. In the name of FACE, ppl who will otherwise achieve great things will just sit back and live their average lives, for the sake of saving FACE, for the fear of losing FACE.

To me this is KIASEE (Fear of dying) mentality. Personally of all negative attributes, i cannot stand KIASEE the most. Fear of dying. Fear of taking risks. As the old proverb says, nothing ventured, nothing gained. You think entrepreuners like Sim Wong Hoo and Elim Chew didn't take risks? But see where they are now? How about those who stuck to the prescribed path and obtained Master or PhD?

Back to my chairperson days in sec3. Right from the start many people in the class did not co-operate with me. At the end of every month there would be a class contact time (meeting) ... and they would want to oust me from the post. Finally in May this was done.

That year i was nominated for student councillor though but did not get past the interview.

In the end in junior college I was elected to the 26th Students' Council.

That day, when I saw my name in the elects' list, the ghosts died in my life.

The ghost of my 5-month term as class chairperson which ended in an acrimonious removal of the post and non-cooperation from my classmates for very much the rest of my two years with them.

The ghost of my unsuccessful shot to become a Student Councillor at the end of sec 3.

The ghost of the times when i was running for council in JC, and those from my secondary school taunted me by saying that there's no one to vote for me and i would get zero votes.

Ok. I do not know the number of votes I got relative to the other council nominees. But the fact that I was elected goes to show that I at least got some votes, more in fact than those who failed to be elected.

Hurtful words can bring our spirits down. But the important thing is NOT to be affected by the opinions of others!

That's one thing I salute well known bloggers like MrMiyagi, mrbrown, xiaxue for.. they have their fair share of detractors but as far as i can see are not affected by them!

(as a side note, i was from the same school as xiaxue, but that's another story...)

My term in council was fraught with challenges by itself. I didn't have the fullest cooperation from my fellow councillors either. One called me 'too enthu.' HELLO? isn't this the students' council? aren't councillors supposed to be enthu? granted, i was not in Ex-Co, neither was i the head of any ad-hoc committee but i dare say i put in my 100 % when it came to council stuff.

I was also quite active after I graduated from JC, coming back for a lot of alumni events in the first 2 years after i graduated. after that, some disappointments in the present culture in my JC caused me to decide to withdraw and move on to the next stage of my life - Uni.

Do not expect me to be a conformist in uni. I will be as much a maverick as I was in my sec sch / JC days. Dislike me, lamblast me all you want, but I want to be remembered as someone who distinguished himself, no matter in a good or bad way, not as simply a face in the crowd, someone who just went along with the flow for fear of losing FACE.

I've learnt during my chairperson days that "It doesn't matter what others think of you; it only matters what you think of yourself."

SO TRUE.

Like the OCS yearbook said, the others are merely pace-setters. I quote verbatim: "But it is ultimately himself (the officer cadet) he comes up against. His name can be inscribed in the annals of SAFTI MI or engraved on the Sword of Honour."

Had I been graded combat-fit and been able to enter BMT, you can be damned sure that I would have put in my 101% and tried my very best to qualify for SISPEC or OCS. What the heck, NS you also cannot be different from the others. Instead of "BEH HIAO BAI", it is now "SPOIL MARKET". I think the only time when people want to be different is when they need to act during SIT test to go SISPEC or OCS.

I believe even in BMT, even if you want to be outstanding you would be labelled as "spoil market" and "er he sure want to suck up to PC so he can go OCS lah..." haiz! that's our culture lor...

Because in the SAF, people generally want to get away with doing less things than is their fair share. If one among them does everything that is required, superiors will generally expect everyone to do all their fair share. Hence people in the SAF generally don't take kindly to people who are over-enthusiastic about the things they are doing because NS is generally seen as an obligation, not a time to impress others.

During my NS tenure, I put in my best in everything I did... at least for the first year or so. But what do i gain?

"It doesn't matter what others think of you; it only matters what you think of yourself."

My entire post has come down to this: people dislike others who are different. Pastor Kong Hee calls this the "Tall Poppy Syndrome". Supposedly, in a field of poppies, all will be the same height except one or two which will be taller. The other poppies will try to grow in such a way that stifles the growth of this tall poppy.

Sounds familiar?

70, 80 years down the road, I want to look back and think I lived a fulfilling life. Not a submerged life all my 80+ years due to fear of losing FACE

Paradoxical right?

Fear of losing FACE results in you being just a FACE in the crowd.

But without this fear, you can become a FACE in history.

If Mr. Lee Kuan Yew was scared of losing FACE, Singapore would not be what it is today.

In fact, if Sir Stamford Raffles was scared of losing FACE, he would never have embarked on his journey to found Singapore. We would still be in China or something if Singapore had not opened as a free port.

Which famous person out there is not scared of losing FACE?

"People laugh at me because I am different, I laugh at you because you are all the SAME."

There will be only one Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, only one Sir Stamford Raffles, but there are millions of Ah Beng, Ah Lian and Ah Kow around. So what's the difference? You are just one of the poppies in the field.

celebration!!!

ok guys, here's my account of my 21st birthday celebration at marina.. No guys, i am not disappointed by the turnout, anyway it's a decent sized gathering.. 11 of us (tho some left along the way). Alwyn, Yue En, Joseph, Eddie, Huan Ek, Jiawei, Seow Yi, Boon Leong, Don, Gabriel and myself.

Supposed to meet at 6.. but everyone was a little late so we left for the steamboat restaurant at 6.30. My intention was to to go Chong Pang, the one the cell group had theirs at but once outside marina we were accosted by aunties and uncles from "Ping Xian" who offered us a free ride to the restaurant. ok lor, so we went there.

my advice to all: nothing against "Ping Xian", but go down yourselves first to have some freedom of choice... in my opinion Chong Pang is better...

but nevertheless... it was quite fun.. especially later on when we went bowling.. and might i add, for my 3rd official game, i got two strikes in one single game and was very close to scoring a double ( X, 9 / ... darnit) I am still a below average player (score is still double digit) but so was everyone else except one of them hit 3 digits i think.

Alwyn came with his trusty camera! Photos..

And my presents: 3 books.. so including what my cg gave me.. its 4... well... i must admit i haven't finished reading the book they gave me last year... so that is about er, 9 books to finish? (including the benny hinn's books i bought)

i will have a lot of reading to do heh...

Gabriel gave me a non-book item! hooray! it's just what i needed, a pouch with 2 water bottles.. er... joseph called it rocket boosters, i called it an SBO.. hahah... the civilian SBO

joseph asked me if i was pleased with the presents! heh... well...ok lah... the items which i really want though are big ticket items like hp, camera or G2000 jacket which are well beyond anyone's budget.. ok. .. here goes

Wish List
---------
Nokia 6230i
Digital camera
Laptop (Linux would be good.. goodbye spyware and viruses!)
G2000 jacket (the $129 one)
Driving licence (See how i do on 20/6 lor..)
Car (i'll start with a Nissan Sunny manual...cos its better not to show off when it comes to these.. at least it will not get scratched in the parking lot or get tyres punctured by jealous kids. Or i can get the same car BBDC uses, after all i am used to driving that one already, haha)

For clothes, MY WARDROBE IS SELF-SUFFICIENT. :P (Guess i should have posted this before my 21st... but then again... hint hint this is what i want for Christmas... of course not the last item lah... and for the 2nd last item, if you are a driving tester and happen to take me on 20/6, hint hint (just kidding.. i dont think the 50-60 year old men will read this.. tho their kids may? :P )

(can someone show me how to do a wish list for the blog?)

Having said that, i realise that to open most people's blogs i have to use Firefox cos using Internet Explorer will inevitably slow down my pc as some kind of attack is taking place on my comp. What's it with these blogs? background music? or some applets that the bloggers themselves don't know about?

As you can see, i am still very novice when it comes to blogging... there's no tagboard or wishlist or photo gallery which i will do up once i know how to and have time to. (i have 9 books to read! see above)

i am 21!!

i have finally attained The Age of which i am officially considered to be an adult. No longer a minor, no longer a teenager..

Am organising a simple meal at Marina (Steamboat) with my friends this coming sunday... Well i've placed an open invitation on my Friendster profile and to my various church friends and other friends.. So see who turns up lah.. actually too few also okay lah, can have more quality conversation... heh

I am not going to elaborate on the things that I can do now that I am 21.. but I am glad that this is a double celebration for me.. ORD, and turning 21... see how my performance on 20 June then maybe triple celebration.. driving licence! Whatever it is, i aim to complete my licence before my 22nd birthday.

Speaking of 22nd birthday, there is something else I need to do before I turn 22. Something to do with the fact that I was not born in Singapore...

I have set for myself some goals which I wish to achieve in this coming year. For Usher Ministry, I hope to become a Team IC by year end or latest, by my 22nd birthday. For studies, I hope also to be able to score As for my final exams in the coming year. Lofty goals they may seem but as the saying goes, "Shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you'll land among the stars!"

Shoot for the moon i will. Even if I don't get it, i will at least get somewhere......

ORD.. big deal?

I realise that a couple weeks after ORD, it doesn't seem to be that much a big deal anymore.

To all the NSFs out there whose greatest aim in life is to ORD... treasure your 2 years in there. Granted, life in there is 'siong' but then again also quite carefree.. Food is provided (in most camps.. and i know its sucky most of the time but hey, it's FREE!) and we also have an allowance we get every month without fail, rain or shine.

Compare that to civilian life.. you're on your own man... it's taken just a few weeks for the reality to sink in. Instead of an allowance of $440 per month, I am now having to make do with $0. To those who say look for temp jobs.... so are the 1000s of students having vacation and the other ORD personnel also job hunting.

Tuition is still a good option but i have to learn back the stuff i forgot during the past 2 yr 4 mths.. :P

I miss the times talking cock with my buddies in the canteen / office while boss is not around.

I miss the times doing ops room duty and talking cock with the DO or warrant.

I miss the times when boss would 'blanja' us makan or when Mess would have functions and we would get called down to help finish up the food...

But there are a lot of things I DO NOT miss about the SAF though.

I DO NOT miss getting f*ck for no rhyme or reason for things that are not my fault.

I DO NOT miss getting last minute arrows shot at 5:20pm when i am about to pack up and go back.

I DO NOT miss being treated like the lowest lifeform in the SAF, when i am already a CPL but because there are no LCPs or PTEs around, so LL have to take the sh*t.

And my pet peeve... I DO NOT miss having NSF 2LTs or 3SGs trying to throw their rank around, especially when I never had the chance to go through BMT and SIT test to prove whether I could have been one myself. (And hey, in my unit, what is a 2LT in a sea of majors and colonels? What is a 3SG in a sea of warrants? wake up your idea lah..)

And there are a lot other things that i DO NOT miss about the SAF which i still think that i am glad to be out of there.

CHC / Christianity bashing?

I've just read the blog of some noted blogger in town. Shall not reveal who though...

It amuses me sometimes the extents to which people go to criticise Christianity, especially on the issue of tithing. Most of the criticism that I've heard so far when people know that I'm a Christian, and from City Harvest Church, is that "oh is it the one that forces you to contribute 10% of your pay every month?"

HELLO?

1st of all, no, tithing (the 10% of our income thing) is NOT mandatory but we Christians believe that by putting God first in our finances, He will bless us in return. Hence, as a church, members are encouraged to pay their tithes to God as the Bible clearly teaches us to do so. However, tithing should be done out of a cheerful and willing heart, and never out of compulsion or necessity. The Bible says that God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Cor 9:7 So if there are church members who for some reason do not wish to tithe, no one is going to force them.

2nd, CHC is NOT the only church which practices tithing. Most if not all churches in Singapore and I believe throughout the world do so.

Haiz.. I don't see why this thing must become such a big hoo ha amongst people...

Oh and also, there are ppl who "add salt and pepper" (direct translation from chinese) and say that CHC imposes 20% tithes or what which is totally UNTRUE. The power of gossip.

Said blogger also don't believe in blind faith.. its the sort of "Show me God, then I'll believe in Him". What a pity.. Paul said in 1 Corinthians: "18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.'" The mind which is hardened against God will find all sorts of excuses not to believe and trust in Him.

Having said that, I believe it would be better if all Christians were to brush up on their apologetics... Meaning explaining the basic beliefs in Christianity... Its something like sales lah, u need to convince others of what you believe in, religion is the same thing... Because many potential fruits are lost when the labourers are not properly equipped to explain with confidence and in so doing lead others to Christ. Almost everyone on the streets will have heard of Jesus Christ but whether they believe and trust in His redeeming work on the Cross is another matter altogether.

And for the record, nowhere in the Bible does it say that "God helps those who help themselves." Go check it out. But it's still a basic concept in Christianity that in order for us to see a move of God, we have to act on our faith first before it will happen.

ORD LOH!!!!!!!

'nuff said.

Today was the big day.. went to camp to perform my last act as a soldier. first the branch went out to one of the restaurants outside for a farewell lunch for myself and the others who are going ORD around this period of time. was a good time with good food, and i enjoyed myself thoroughly.

The highlight of the day was of course the collection of the pink IC. after lunch we went back to camp for what we hope will be the final time.

I officially became a civilian again at around 3.10pm, on 5 May 2005, 2 years 3 months 29 days 6 hours 10 minutes after becoming a soldier at 9 am 6 January 2003...

It seems like i woke up from a dream today.....

And for the readers of my previous blog post, no, the plastic cover is no longer there. They must have removed it when updating my new address for me.

:)

Last Day in camp

Today was my last official day of work, before ORD.. naturally, i am on half day leave (in the morning) today. went back around 12 plus for my last lunch at cookhouse. expected it to be western food but it was some normal lunch.. what the heck.. anyway the highlight of the day was the ORD function. this is something camp has every 3 months for thos personnel going ORD.. and.. finally it's my turn. the 29th ORD function. it's just something that every ORD personnel will go up and shake commander's hand and, 3 representatives from the officer, specialist and men will go up to give a speech on their feelings.

This time round, all the 3 speakers were all men (in fact all CPLs). And yours truly was one of them. Commander actually commented me on talking about fun and excitement and also about what i mentioned as 'words of encouragement' to those who have some time left, no doubt we are not here by choice, but we all have a choice as to whether we want to put in our best or not. And i quoted the oft-said quote: do not despair, for your time will come.

after which was the plaque giving ceremony. now i have a new plaque on my display case, to join my St John first aid competition trophy and my RV science quiz trophy... "for my invaluable services and contributions 6 Jan 03 to 5 May 05".. followed by the usual makan at mess.. i felt so good, normally when walking out of the hall those ORD personnel would ask me , just like wedding dinner "so when's your turn:?" and now it is my turn, to ORD...

i saw that signals AS1 has been replaced by a lady 2LT.. ooh.. didn't really talk to her but got to know she would be studying in NUS. think its arts. maybe might bump into her in future (but would she remember? i don't think so)

after that went around saying goodbye to most of the ppl.. wil have to continue doing so tomorrow..

after leaving camp, i went down to Istana to pay my respects to the late President Wee Kim Wee. I had seen him once in person when he was the Reviewing Officer for St John AGI 1998. (1997 was President Ong, and 1999 was President Nathan.) But to me he was a larger than life figure through most of my childhood. truly a People's President. As I was in uniform, for me, I saluted when standing before the casket instead of bowing like the rest did.. though I was to find out later through a chat with a friend that by right, I should have put on my beret and the black arm band to do it, but who cares, it's over! (I don't know if black arm band is applicable for No. 4 though, I know it is applicable for No. 1, 3 and 5 but not for 2.. probably not for 4 either. which means the only thing missing would have been my beret.) If there's a next time though (not any time soon I hope), it would be SJAB full uniform. Better as it's an officer rank. Hopefully i will have my car by then so i can park at PS and not bring in unnecessary stuff.

Met Chung Ming, an old friend of mine from RVHS while waiting for the bus.. joined him and his friends for dinner later. Turned out they were together from Scouts.. anyway had a fun time catching up with him, turned out he's from 2 PDF as well... later on hitched a ride back.. well have the opportunity to catch up some other time heh..

Then now i'm back.. Waiting to go back to camp for the last time.. and to once again, behold in my hands, the precious Pink IC..

Talking about that, when I gave away my Pink IC, it was in a plastic casing.

I wonder if the plastic casing is still there.
Well, in 10 hours' time, i will know.....

in the meantime.. ORD LOR!

Rest in Peace, Mr President - Sir.

Just read in the news that former President Wee Kim Wee has passed away peacefully at the age of 89.

May he rest in peace.

interesting stuff

i nearly died laughing when i saw this.

And this takes the cake!

If you have history of asthma, or laughing induced fits, or whatever, do not click on the above links.

cg outing!

cell group outing today at marina bay! together with e243 and e356. we went for bowling, then arcade and finally steamboat dinner..

well initially i was quite apprehensive about going cos of $$ problem but heck, it's once in a while that we have this kind of things!

bowling.. today i achieved a new personal best! 60! <-- okay,for those of you who get scores in the 200+, this is nothing, but i guess everyone starts with throwing a total of 30, 40 etc... AND.. i scored my first ever strike today! ( i think i threw a spare at Chevrons the other time though, can't remember if i did anything like that before back in my RVHS days in 2000, which was the last time i bowled prior to this year.)

and i think the system in superbowl marina is a bit faulty... it didn't recognise several throws giving my team mates free throws... there was once, one of them even scored a strike because the system didn't recognise her first throw (which knocked down i think 5 - 6 pins) so she had another throw (which knocked down the rest!) so strike lor...

den later arcade, played daytona with eddie! i guess knowing a bit about real life driving helps. cos i actually did slow down at the bends so i didn't crash as often as he did, so tho he was ahead of me initially, i caught up and won!

knowing about real life driving actually changed the way i played daytona. in the past, i had my right foot on the accelerator, and my left foot on the brake. (for those who dunno, the left foot is only for the clutch (in manual car), in auto car (i.e. all arcade racing games) the left foot is not used at all. ) so everytime i did that, the car would spin out of control. but now, i know better.. heh.

though it works only to a limited extent, haha! if we use all the rules of real life driving to daytona, we will lose due to time limit! but if we drive like we play daytona, its a matter of time before we lose our licence (that's if we even passed our driving test in the first place!)

daniel came down in his CLT uniform! heh.. and it was the butt of jokes esp that quite a few of us there had gone through / serving NS and thus are technically higher than him. yup but he's okay with it. though i dont think he'll wear his CLT uniform to see us anymore, haha!

dinner was quite good. a lot of CHC ppl were there! but i enjoyed the fellowship, thats the most important thing, also got to understand my fellow cg members better...

we shd do this more often! but not marina always.. haha

NUS..

i just got my NUS matriculation notice yesterday! well, not to be blamed, it was sent to my old house! guess my address wasn't updated with them! but anyway, i went down to NUS after driving today to settle my matriculation and it's settled. i met Mr Kelly Koh there.. turns out he's not teaching anymore, instead working for NUS as a permstaff. interesting huh? then later went down to YIH for my medical checkup (its very much like the ORD FFI i attended a couple weeks back! but more like the pre-enlistment checkup which included everything from chest X-ray to interview with MO!)

lunchtime.. i met denise (my AC junior who i had not seen ever since i left) and she told me about the life there, etc.. later met eve also, as i was going for my checkup..

after that i went to harbourfront and taka (best denki) to source for cheap 2-way radio sets for use in SJAB.. and also see what i can buy with the voucher i won during last yr emerge conference! guess it'll be a thumbdrive.. but not yet.

and surprise, Best Denki DOES NOT carry 2-way radios! Guess they are not as common as i thought. Well there is only one major electronics store left that i haven't went to and that is Courts.. but i shan't bother anyway. Maybe its the more obscure shops that sell. I went to Lucky Plaza too, but they are mostly used hp shops and shops catering to foreign workers, so gave up after a few floors.

Mr Yong's concerned about licence for these 2-way radios! but i've checked out the relevant directive from IDA, there is no requirement.. shall draft a mail to him and hope he approves it!

duty

was understudying stage 2 today, quite an interesting experience. we got to set up the front area of zone A including marking out reserved seats, the bulletins, et cetera.. the main thing is that we have the comms set (though i didn't get to listen in today..) so that's the challenge lahz..

i've changed my msn nick again! The end's in sight! 18 days to go! ORD LOH!

today.tomorrow.the day after.

of recent i've been saving posts as drafts... equivalent of prvate in xanga.. bad thing when yr thoughts cannot be revealed to the world...

i'm now attending training with ecoquest... some business training thing (can't say too much here) which occupies weeknights basically.. well i consider this as my prospective job during my waiting for NUS and even during NUS, i can actually do this as well. so, i must start finding out what must i do to get this thing going.

meanwhile i'm also in search of a full-time job (this ecoquest thing can be a sideline)

i'm considering whether i want to return to sjab zone 9 or not. this time to public duty dept. but not sure if can commit the time or not... because, public duty is the responsibility of each and every sjab member and i want to have more experience in this. because, being a sjab officer and not doing public duty is like saying i'm a human but i don't eat.

i realise many of the profiles on friendster are breaking the rules about showing copyrighted images or photos as a child! (probably to prevent pedophila...) but who cares anyway... there's no enforcement and also no incentive to pao toe ppl...