23rd August 2014 - The day i bought myself the first gold ring.  i reckoned posting a pic of the ring in FB stating "Feeling happy at Jem - with Biggie" would mislead a whole load of people, so avoided that.

:D:D:D

Just sitting at the Indian Muslim stall fulfilling my craving for the taste of spices in Indian cuisine, I see 2 little Malay boys with their families at the next table. They kept singing the National Day song "One People, One Nation, One Singapore". One of them was donning a red Chinese costume, shirt with Chinese collar and Chinese buttons. 

I feel liberated at this unity of diversity. 

I'm in the midst of reading this book "When the hills ask for your blood" by David Belton. It is about the 1994 genocide in Rwanda that wiped out almost a million Rwandans by their very own people because of race and class division.  It's a book that's well written, but extremely harsh and depressing for reading.  I cannot imagine living under such fear and terrible conditions, and much less living a proper life if one actually manages to survive it.

I was also reading another book which was a compilation of interviews of Vietnamese people of all walks of lives. Many were struggling to make ends meet. They slogged many, many hours a day and could earn barely enough support their families.  They said they did not enjoy what they were doing but there was no choice due to their circumstances. 

I'm not saying that we have it easy here, but at least I know that as long as we are willing to work, we can make a decent living - at least the minimum to buy food and have access to some basic accommodation, and all that in one of the safest places in the world. 

Happy 49th and 1 day birthday, Singapore! 

Penguin feels somewhat disappointed.  It's a public holiday Saturday but she is not spending any time with her loved one on neither of the weekend days.  Well... maybe the loved one is really just a weekday dinner buddy, not more, not less.  Penguin reckons things will change even more when the license is gotten.