Illegal U-turn

More driving analogies creep insiduously into my language. I figure most of my terminology now has its roots in driving or army-related stuff. People complain that when you put a bunch of guys together, it's pretty inevitable that they'll degenerate into talking about army before too long. But i suppose if there's one thing NS is good for, it's for providing this treasury of experiences which is shared across the board by generations of Singaporean males (and the odd crazy female). I mean, last night i saw this teddy bear outside billy bomber's in Bugis (no nice pics, maybe eugene's blog will have some, after all, chin DID take 40 with eugene's camera) with a sign saying "No feeding".... and said the first thing that came to mind, which after range on tuesday, was, unfortunately, "IA IA." Which had the effect of Chin laughing and Darren looking really puzzled (well maybe not, coz he always looks a bit puzzled anyway). Ahhhh the joy of private jokes. And the thing is, they're usually very unfunny when explained anyway.

Anyway, to the point of this post. Last week was a rather disgruntled week for our platoon, and we whined a lot about our boss (rather audibly, and within earshot of him) till finally he seemed to get the point and approached Yang Hui for a really long talk about why we seemed to be disgruntled with him. (Major Milestone! Buy 4D!) and the next day he came to me and said that he realised some of us were unhappy with him, and said that we should approach him if we had any grievances. Which was good enough for me, for now. So I'm giving him a clean slate again and going to start practicing some tactful manipu....er.... advising. Who knows, it just might work, even if i'm asking him to do something which is very clearly deviant from his ingrained personality. We all start somewhere i guess.

So much for tomorrow.

Random title. What i really wanted to say was:

I haven't been to church for a long time. There's something about it which makes you feel all warm and fuzzy. Somehow it's this temple of love, and i don't mean that like some places in geylang might. Sunday morning church service is full of people with their families, mostly 30 odd with young kids old around the bawling/toddling age or the slightly older cute tiny-human stage. Then there are the youths with their groups of friends, or more often nowadays, just the One friend. (it's seasonal) And somehow it's heartwarming to have kids wander around. It just feels so....wholesome.

And for those of you who haven't done so in a long time, go hug your parents.

-- end family service centre message --

(8) Stranger still...

There was an odd Voldemort reference in the wedding banquet. THAT led to some stifled laughter, since no one else in the audience seemed to get it. Queer, indeed. =)

(8) Stranger things have happened...

Somehow the musing moods only last till i finish waking up properly and get into the too-fast rhythm of life. They never seem to linger long enough for me to get fingers to keyboard and bytes to blog. Either that or it's the ppl on ICQ who distract me into the more mundane everyday things and kill all philosophical moods. So I got off ICQ, and now i'm having a half-half philosophical conversation with someone on animal farm and slash. Unrelated. Hopefully.

But stranger things have happened.

Like 7 people buying tickets and not coming for the 2nd show in the world premiere of the wedding banquet. Which worked pretty fine for us, because we were sitting in the row behind them. =)

The view was pretty good anyway from all the way back in circle 2 in the esplanade. But of course you couldn't see the expressive facial expressions of the cast without a pair of good binos. The vocal and visual acrobatics of the cast solved that though. Simon's voice was powerfully controlled, and I thought the monologues of Ma Gou on the phone was just hilarious.
"Wei tung? pick up. Pick uuuuuuuuuuuuppppppppppp *singsong voice*.
I know you're there. so stop staring at the phone and pick up!
Ok you're not there. I just called to see how you were doing. We all miss you Wei tung. Your Pa has a lot to say to you."
"no i don't."
"yes he does. *shoves phone in his face*"
"Hullo wei tung. Pa here. ......
..
...
....
bye."

Which covered about 50% of all of Pa Gou's lines on the phone.

The script was fantastically comedic, while still dealing with very real and serious issues, and was carried off pretty well by the cast (imagine this old chinese guy coming on stage, looking reverent and manservantly, and then waving his hands and saying in a heavily american-chinese accented voice akin to a circus ringmaster: "Welcome to Old Chen's most magnificent seventh pagoda of the jade dragon green lotus red prosperity restaurant!" and this 10m long red chinese scroll with the appropriate name lowers itself behind him.) but the really interesting thing was the audience reactions.

Keeping in mind that this is singapore and a few years ago anything vaguely homosexual would be clamped down upon (I hear they cut certain, ahem, scenes out of card captor sakura? well false parallel but still.) and people like neil humphreys write stories complaining about how a video sent to him by a friend got censored by the censorship board for having a picture of bare breasts on a poster in the background, and out of focus.... I thought it was a small cultural coup that a musical like this was allowed to play at all, and receive so much publicity. (adverts on TV! as opposed to the complete advertising silence imposed on fireface not so long ago) And this didn't have any age checks or anything (Except a parental advisory that it contained adult material which might be unsuitable for children--which i still can't decide if it's in relation to the homosexual themes, or the scene of the.....wedding night consumation.).

The audience was expectedly giggly and tittering when the first hints of the relationship btw wei tung and simon were revealed (granted, it WAS amusing) but by the end they were applauding when

--spoiler warning--



when wei tung told his mum about his alternative lifestyle, and didn't laugh half as much when finally simon and wei tung reconciled and exchanged these lovingly sweet looks.


--end spoiler --


but anyway it was pretty well received, but i guess the people who paid good money to see this show already knew what they were in for anyway. Interesting script that struck a nerve with most of the yuppie crowd, maybe, with its roots in chinese traditional mindsets and the constant maternal harranguing of wei tung to get married. I think most chinese (singaporean, even? or maybe it's ALL) parents are like that too, and openly or not, they want their kids to get married, shag, and give them grandkids. Probably evolutionary. Which then follows that same-sex marriages will break this chain and leave the final objective of "Grandkids, damn you" unfulfilled. So perhaps homophobia is evolutionary inbuilt into most people, unless they try to think otherwise. hmm.

Whatever the reason, Singapore seems to be trying to dispel any homophobic notions in its populace. Or at least, it's being more open about it and is raising awareness on many fronts. For those who don't know yet, it's a longstanding ongoing debate from the day the govt openly stated its policy to not discriminate against hiring workers with an alternative lifestyle (well said). Of course this immediately sparked off the expected response from the more traditional religious groups and some people who complained about western corrupting values and generally displayed wholehearted revulsion. People naturally have their logic blinded by discrimination, and singapore's been fighting this impulse from day one, albeit on the less socially controversial grounds of majority/minority race issues. Minorities will be discriminated against. That is a fact of life. Discrimination breeds unhappiness. That is also a fact of life. Cohesion cannot be fully obtained with underlying unrest. Is the goal of the state ultimately to bring social unity? hmm.

Er i seem to have sidetracked (again). Anyway for some reason it seems that these gay-sympathetic movements are more visible now. There was that article in life a few weeks back about how some companies are (openly or not) targetting the 'pink dollar'. Which is an amusing way of saying "yes these people exist, and the only reason i can convince you that they exist is because they're an economic demographic who will buy your products. If i can't convince you to accept their social choice, will you at least make money from them?" And then there're plays like bent and Mardi Gras which are being shown that i actually know about (do i have more gay-sympathetic friends, or more gay friends, or is it just more visible now? hmm.) which leads me to the inescapable conclusions that Singapore's trying to prepare the ground for something. Maybe they found out that gays make up a significant voter percentage and political lobby. Maybe one of our future politicians is gay. I probably should toe this line before i get sued for slander, and after all my boss IS gonna be the PM soon. ><

(oh and BTW this boss i'm referring to isn't my NS boss. I'd migrate if he became the PM.)

Ed: The above opinions are that of the authors and do not reflect those of his associated organisation. ^_^;

Swirling what?

I've just realised that with the conclusion of ATEC, i won't have any more outfield so now my blog title is outdated.

And then i've realised that i've never really explained the title of my blog. Swirling clouds of dust of course, refers to my unfortunate sad connection with



and, more specifically, following behind a convoy of such vehicles. Which gives the result of



which is pretty cool coz when you whack your clothes big clouds of dust fly off. But of course it's hell to wash.

BTW I've also decided that the primary purpose of this blog is to share pics. =)

Power play

is a starhub plan with 80 free outgoing minutes and 100 free SMSes if you pay by giro and free incoming all day with per second billing so it's a pretty good deal for $29.12.

Also, it's probably one of the things i muse about relatively often, when i see it in action.

power is all about getting people to do what you want them to do. Usually achieved in more subtle ways than pointing a gun to their heads with two of your minions pinning them down and telling them to kiss your feet, in today's context. It's the controlling of people. They might not necessarily have to like it, but as long as they don't rebel, that's power for you. Of course, if they're totally clueless and actually approve of your power, then it's much more sustainable. Which is sort of like Singapore's political leadership. =)

Hypothesis 1:
Power is controlling the expectations of people. If you create the impression that messing around with you will result in dire consequences, people won't mess around with you. You don't actually have to DO anything after a while, just show that you will if the need arises. Similarly, ceteris paribus, if people expect you to make things difficult when they try to hoist unsavoury jobs upon you, they'll look for someone more bullyable.

Corollary 1:
Different shows of power work with varying success on different people. Some dictatorial people will try and pound any resistance to the ground. Assumedly (distorting?) most people are peace loving by nature and try to seek a solution which involves less conflict. Unless they're pushed to the edge and have no choice but to resort to conflict. Thus power plays with people who are on the brink have to be handled with caution.

Deriviation from corollary 1:
Proper power is only sustainable with the ability to analyse the situation and know just how to act. Thus power is not simply blind fury, it is a calculated dance involving large amounts of self-control.

now that wasn't too bad for rambling trite, was it? So much better when you can blog random thoughts when you're at home all the time.

Aha

So finally blogger is up at the same time that i am. Haven't found the time to blog since eons ago... It's impossible to blog properly when you're stay-in, i realise. But while my life goes from this

ATEC - we rocked and achieved a high score for this fiscal year

to this

Happy birthday Yeshan, i'm in love with your dog

to this

Welcome home allan, we're all quite fond of ue.

I start to wonder if happiness is really entirely internally controlled. And yea for those of you who're wondering what those pictures are all about, and can't wait to hear the stories of how i got that scar on my forehead in picture 2 from the activities in picture 1 and how the people in picture 3 completely freaked out total strangers by nonchalantly discussing certain timings in certain restrooms, you have to ask me i guess.

So just how long does it take before you get to the part where you decide that you're not going to let some other idiot control your happiness? How long before you get fed up of getting angry at someone, and decide that it's so much better to just ignore it all and forget about all their incessant banterings. So as a result i'm beginning to sense the hardenings of my soul and the increasing detachment i have. So that's a thank you to my army compatriots who helped me learn how to get angry, and have now helped me learn how to build walls around myself and be an insensitive prick, for my own self-protection.

And a big thank you to my boss, who's let me see the great goodness of the human spirit, in other people when placed in contrast with him, and of course who's help foster this sense of community and platoon unity amongst us, in the sense that we're all united against him. So well, i guess as far as army is concerned, my motto is now that if you f* with me, and i'll f* you back, but i won't get all upset and angry with it. After all, lots of people get plenty of joy and fulfillment from carnal acts. I'm sinking. I mean, how much does it say for my sanity when i start to do things like this

Patch chocolate blot test

with melted chocolate? Which by the way goes down oh-so-smooth and luciously.... and when it's coated over a strawberry.... mmmmm.....
Chocolate fondue. $12.80 for a pot (scrutinise the picture carefully) at some swiss restaurant in suntec. Which is pretty cheap when it's shared between 5 ppl (how much chocolate are you planning to consume in one sitting ANYWAY?!?)

Good restaurant. Good value for money. All the suntec sky garden restaurants are all pretty desperate for customers, so you can land some pretty good set deals there. Just that, well, it's more expensive than the food court in the basement.

I've just gone off on a tangent, haven't I? Must be those detachment algorithms at work.

You are the Raging Kitten, You look cute and
innocent on the outside, but are a mauling lion
on the inside, you show just a little of your
anger, but just enough to let people know that
they don't want to fuck with you. Intimidation
is your high point! use it wisely.


What anger personality do you have?
brought to you by Quizilla

Absolut Zero

Sensory overload.

So I'm a newbie chiongster. I haven't clubbed properly since Eden in J2, and that's eons ago
and in a small place really crowded and with bad drinks. Eden isn't even here anymore.

Enter Uchicago with Absolute Zero, and suddenly there's a reason for me to step foot into zouk with loads of people i know. Was it an excuse to get people together for a party? maybe. But anyway i had fun and got to see zouk for the first time. =) Abs 0 itself was a little tame, but that's probably due more to the general relusiveness of the audience than anything on the part of the organisers and performers, who were pretty pumped up:


obviously the audience didn't have enough semi-crazed weasels like these:



Although the audience DID have plenty of old friends of mine... ran into the 2L bunch (where
else do you find 2 people calmly sitting at a table discussing the techniques of the DJ in
technical lingo while downing tequillas while bass beats palpitations into their hearts (all
your bass are belong to us)? Among the other distinguished guests were my JC class, the MAS
bunch, edwin kek, chris, david liu, lihao, kenneth et al...so much so that by the end of the
night, i was convinced that the only thing worse than my memory for faces was my capacity for
faking smalltalk. When this slightly familiar stranger starts staring at you like you're trying
to steal his girlfriend and you stare back and try and place his face and he eventually waves
and says hi, how have you been? and your mind is whirring faster than an overclocked P4 and you
STILL can't remember where he's from..... that's the time when you say:

"crowded tonight, isn't it?"
"yea, yea. where are you now?"
"oh, 41. Where are you?"
"School of combat engineers.... yingchiat's there too."
"oh yea he's an officer there, right?"
"yea... have you heard from cheknam?"
----KACHING!!!! and it all slots into place and you remember who the heck he is----
"no, haven't talked to him since sec 4 (just like you.)"

Which works slightly better than
"hi, haven't seen you in a long time!"
(oh shit who's this guy damnit why's it so dark in here)"hi, yea, you too! how're you?" (ohshit

who is this guy)
"great, blabla-bam-bam-guitar-hits"
"huh? yea! um... it seems like half of RJ is here tonight..."
"......."
"um yea i'll catch up with you a little later? my friend over there's waiting for me...."

and then slightly later
"hi, do you remember who i am?"
"uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......... um....... honestly...... no."
"not even a guess?"
"uhh......" (damnit why's he look so familiar)
"david lah!"
"oh, hi! yea...." (who?)
"how's joel?" (OHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.)
etc.

embarrassment.

only it didn't matter after a while when everyone started having some drinks and became fully
crazed weasels on the dancefloor. It's really cool when tonnes of dry-iced smoke blast at you
and you can't see anything except white, can't feel anything except wind in your hair, can't
hear anything except bloody loud bass....sorta like being sprayed with a CO2 fire extinguisher
with ppl shouting at the same time. hmm.

But i've finally decided that ppl dance only if they:

1. are deaf
2. have consumed more than 100ml of alcohol in the past 1 hour, and
3. have managed to keep alcohol inside of body

And of course if you hang around friends with free drink coupons in zouk all 3 conditions are
inevitably met. hic!

photos courtesy of official photographer: