Tampines

Here’s a photo I got of Temasek Poly near my house this evening. Tried for the Out of Africa look with vivid sky and small foreground, but failed miserably. It’s not as sharp as I wanted it to be.

Oh well…I will need a tripod for that.

How far?

How far would you go for a friend? I do not know about any famous peoples or what they would or did do for their friends, nor do I have any famous stories that relates to this.

However, there is one myth about how my hometown got his name. My hometown is called Sitiawan. Why this particular name that does not actually mean anything at all? Well, to trace it, we got to split it up into two words: Siti-awan. This is actually a corruption of these words: Seti-awan, which is itself a corruption of Setia-Kawan. Seperately, the words are Setia, a Malay language word to mean faithful, and Kawan, another Malay word to mean friend. But why these two words? Let’s listen to a story.

Once upon a time, less than a millennia ago (alot less!), there is a swamp. Near the swamp lives a herd of elephants. One day, a pair of elephants are out on a forage when they wandered off into the swamp. One of the elephants got stuck in the muddy water and tried as it may, it could not extradicate itself. Its companion also tried to pull her out by using her powerful trunk, but to no avail. Trumpet call for help went unheard. Night is drawing close, and the water level is rising fast. The trapped pachiderm is not going anywhere anytime soon. But the most amazing thing is, its companion, although not mired in mud, is staying alongside the stuck elephant, waiting for the rising tide together.In the end, both elephants drowned when high tide came in. When people talked about this story, they remarked at the length the second elephant would go for its companion as a sign of true friendship: till death’s gate the journey is made. From that day forth, that place has always been known as Faithful Friend–>Setiakawan–>Setiawan–>Sitiawan.

How is this related to what I am saying? Well, nobody ever asked me yet, but how exactly far would I go for a friend? I do not know the answer to that myself, but there is one time this year’s Valentine’s Day, a few days before, one of my friend invited me to a charity concert she’s involved in. So I said yes, and on the appointed date (Valentine’s Day), I set out. But I couldn’t find the place and more than that, I was running late. Between taking the bus and MRT and taxi, the bus and MRT option would definately set me back ninety minutes, minutes I do not have, so the option I chose is by taxi. Using the taxi is hurtful on the wallet, because I spent over SGD50 on that single trip…one way! All for the invitation that allowed me to hear her sing two songs.

And this night. I just got back from delivering some notes to a friend of mine across the town…on foot! She needs the notes to study for her exam on Wednesday, so with some urgency I insistd to bring her the notes tonight so she has extra time to revise. Was it worth it? Well…I must wait for the exam results to be released to know now won’t I? Other than that, it’s refreshing walking just after an evening shower of rain at night.

Try it, it’s healthy.

Sea of Life

Humans are like ships. Ships steaming in the sea of life. Sometimes it is plain sailing with clear blue sky. Often times the sea is choppy and windy, tossing the ship every which way. The sea is mother. The sea is father.

But that’s life. We all must sail through it. It’s not the destination that’s important, but the sailing. Do you sailalone; subject to the rigours and danger of the open sea? Or do you sail in convoys, relying on each other to tide you through, night after night? When they say there is safety in numbers, this is what they often forgot.

Finding someone to love and be loved is akin to sailing in a convoy; safety in numbers, mutual support, companionship in the unforgiving sea and finding your way should you lost yours.

So when they say being single is god, I say it’s being like a lone ship twisting and turning in the turbulent sea with nary a helping hand close by.

At long last!

Got my money. Got to go get my laptop. Then go get my camera. Hope this reccesion ends, with the big honking richies got busted up real bad.

Finally!

Finally, this page loads up. Haven been waiting for this page to load up for like, 24hours! Not much to update. Some personal stuffs, which I doubt will be of any interests. Something about the politics of Malaysia, but I got no new newsworthy news, so that’s out. About the US economy that’s been running down the hill, I don’t know enough to say anything…yet. Talking about games I would rather not, since I myself has been playing DOTA for the past two or three weeks. It’s fun. Talking about friends…well…

I would ask the question, but I’m not sure I would get an answer. Nevermind lar, time heals. Time moves. Good day.

Ministry of Sound

Last night, actually this morning at 12am, I went for a visit to Ministry of Sound. It was fun, because I went with my colleague slash friends.  Thanks guys for making it a fun one. Eipa, live strong, live fun. Guna and Xin Xin, nice one. Qun Yao, you look fine. Bandid, Batman, hello

More, what is what. Is a confidant equals to a lover? Is a good listener is also a good talker? Can a good listener be a lover material from confidant? What makes people compatible? Will they need to be able to talk about anything under the sky? Sigh…so hard…

J V E

I have a problem. I do not have a problem. These are the kinds of things I keep in my head all day long, all week long, all year long. Everywhere I look, I see problems. Not solutions. Not beauty. Okay, maybe some beauty. Anyway, I digress. Like I said, I have a problem. I do not know if I’m the jealous kind of guy or not. Hard to put it in words without resorting to psychological mumbo jumbo which I don’t know any anyway, so I will endeavour to try to put it as succinctly in examples as I can.

If your girlfriend talks with another guy who you do not know, would I be jealous? I would. If it’s her family member? No. Newly met stranger? YES! Old flame from school? Possibe no. Old friends from school? Yes. Are these jealousy?

Now look at these. If you go out for supper, and this girl whom you somewhat fancy and not fancy (yeah, at the same time…I know, crazy!) has more smilling time talking to a mutual guy friend, talks in a sweeter voice to him and more predisposed to go to supper with him than with you, how would you feel? If you put me in that shoe, I will feel…something. Something not very good. It’s like, I want her to talk to me like she talked to him. I want her to smile at me as much as she smiles at the guy…more is better (d’uh!). What is this feeling? Jealousy? Envy?

What is jealousy anyway? The feeling of being left out when your exclusive someone is using the time (you felt should be used with you) on someone else? The feeling of possessiveness that she only belongs to you and you alone, disregarding her family and friends? It got me spinning my head…

What is envy? I do not know. I know the expression green with envy. But I do not know what it means.

What I do know is this feeling. I want to have the things that I want that other people are getting. I want to receive the same kind of attention the next guys is getting from a pretty girl. I want to talk to a pretty girl as much as the handsome guy is talking to her. I want my friend to confide in me the way they confide to their other friends. I want the girl to look at me in the special way she looks at guys she fancies. No, scratch that, I want her to look at only me with her special look…

So…am I the jealous type or the envious type?

There she goes…

Okay, I’m a guy. A manly guy…yeah, and I LOVE women! Especially extremely cute Japanese girls. How cute is cute? Well…look at this.

Photographed by vincecarlo

THAT…is what I call… かわいい！！！

Lights! Camera! Action!

My friend recently placed an order for a top of the line Nikon digital single lens reflex (DSLR) D3 full frame, proffesional flagship camera. I am so very envious of him. Me…I haven’t even placed an order for MY camera, the Canon 40D. Now there’s an upgraded model, the Canon 50D coming in the next week. However, I’ve also heard that stocks of 50D has been clearing out like crazy, and many new buyers are kept waiting and waiting. Including, I think, of recent 40D users. I do not really like second hand stuffs, since I do not know their actual condition; the owner might have dropped it unknowingly, or someone living together with access to the camera of item. Anyway, I got my sights firmly on the 40D.

Now the question is what to do about the lens. I want to get a good first lens, which for all intent and purposes will be my main walkabout lens. So to fulfill that role, it has to be a zoom lens. There is no need for it to be a super telezoom, but must have a respectable zoom range, just enough to keep me from getting too closed in. Of all the lens I’ve perviewed, the Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM comes not being thrown brickbats. The recommended lens by experienced phtographers is the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM and Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM. And another group of users recommended me to the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM. However, at nearly SGD1300, it is really out of the range of my initial lens budget; which is about SGD800, SGD1000 max.

So, what is a newbie to do? He waits until he cannot wait no longer, and get a lens just to get himself to shoot, shoot and shoot. Here’s hoping ther will further drop their price on 40D.

MCA and Gerakan is seen as irrelevant…

Irrelevance…that’s what’s happening to Malaysia’s largest Chinese majority party, the lap dog of UMNO, arbiter of continued Malay hegemony; the MCA, and ther other one is the small cousin of MCA, the lap dog of no good sense, Gerakan. Funny, they can’t seen to ‘gerak’ (move) away from the increasingly racist UMNO (and hence BN) to save their pitiful life. Below is an extract from Malaysia Kini…recently due to my mistake, was attributed to RPK, which is of couse not true, as RPK is tied in with Malaysia Today.

From : M’siakini

Ong Kian Ming & Yun Yang | Sep 15, 08 12:04pm

The possibility of a political crackdown as Sept 16 draws near was always likely as were discussions that some kind of emergency might be declared. But the manner in which the latest crackdown was implemented has only accentuated Barisan Nasional’s weaknesses and highlighted Pakatan Rakyat’s growing momentum.

BN has a remarkable ability to score own goals. Just like Wes Brown’s own goal ultimately cost Manchester United the match against Liverpool, this latest own goal could very well be the final straw that tips the scales of BN, allowing Pakatan to take over.

It is hard to imagine that the latest ISA arrests would have helped BN politically. Take, for example, Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar’s assertion that the police were acting on their own orders and not his. At best, people might think he was shirking responsibility over an unpopular action. At worst, it leaves the impression that BN leaders are not in control of the instruments of power in this country.

A weak and internally-divided Umno would only encourage BN parliamentarians, especially those from East Malaysia, to seriously contemplate jumping off a sinking ship, even those who had not seriously considered doing so before.

If the BN had wanted to give a strong warning to its MPs thinking of crossing over, they would have done better by taking a page out of the Dr Mahathir Mohamad playbook. Not to be taken as a sign of endorsement on our part, Mahathir’s ‘Operasi Lalang’ in 1987 was a ’shock and awe’ tactic that was designed to intimidate politicians and civil activists from all sides and stripes. And it worked.

In contrast, these three ISA arrests reek of desperation, of weakness, of a political establishment afraid of Anwar Ibrahim and his opposition Pakatan coalition. If anything, it had the opposite effect of Ops Lalang.

Initial reports that up to 15 people were supposed to have been hauled in under the ISA did not materialise. Subsequent rumblings that further arrests were quelled by the protests of a few government leaders only confirms the growing rifts within the Umno leadership and also within the BN component parties. No less than six ministers have come out publicly against the ISA.

A fracturing Umno and BN stand in contrast to a Pakatan that is united in its battle against the BN.

The choice of ISA arrests was also politically damaging to the BN. By arresting journalist Tan Hoon Cheng and not Umno chieftain Ahmad Ismail, the BN hardly endeared itself to the non-Malays. The subsequent arrest of Selangor senior exco Teresa Kok (and not ex-mentri besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo) only fueled the impression – rightly or wrongly -that the BN was trying to instigate a Chinese backlash against the government and in doing so, inflame Malay sentiment.

In addition, the fact that a woman opposition MP was nabbed – another first under the Abdullah administration – would only result in mobilising the anti-BN sentiment among women, especially non-Malay women, who have traditionally taken less of an overt interest in political activity and political mobilisation compared to their male counterparts.

Kok cuts a much more sympathetic figure compared to someone like Lim Kit Siang. She does not have the same public image of being an ‘extremist’ among the Malay community (Utusan Malaysia notwithstanding) and public sympathy for her (and anger against the BN) has been heightened by the confirmation of the false ‘azan’ allegations. The mosques have already said it’s not her fault.

The longer Kok stays under arrest, the greater her political ’standing’ when she is finally released. The longer she stays under arrest, the more the BN will be portrayed as a political bully.

Lapdogs of Umno

That controversial blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin was arrested under the ISA would not have surprised many. Ironically, access to his website was unblocked at around the same time that he was arrested. RPK is hugely popular and is read by a wide swathe of Malaysians, not just non-Malays.

His arrest would only serve to incite some of the Malay ground against the BN and ensure that there would be some cross community protest against these arrests. (It also conveniently gives Anwar an excuse that he is fighting the ISA for all Malaysians as opposed to fighting for the release of members of only one community)

Parties which have been put under the most pressure by the ISA arrests are Gerakan and MCA. Already under pressure after the Ahmad Ismail remarks, Gerakan and MCA run the risk of being seen as politically irrelevant among the non-Malay community if they do not consider the previously unthinkable.

Sidelined and ignored by an increasingly fractious Umno, leaders from these two parties are finding that no matter how much they shout or protest, their voices are not being heard within the halls of power in the BN. And worst still, everything they do is seen by their constituency as too little, too late.

If snap polls were announced today, Gerakan and MCA would be lucky to obtain even 20 percent of the non-Malay vote. While grassroots members in both parties – more so within Gerakan – are agitating to leave the BN, its leaders are still not willing to contemplate this action. The effect of which is the perception that they are the lapdogs of Umno.

The BN has gained little from the ISA arrests. It has shown itself to be divided internally. It has put aside any hope to regaining the non-Malay vote, to the detriment of MCA and Gerakan, whose leaders appear powerless to stop this. It has failed to regain any significant Malay support, perhaps because the Chinese backlash did not materialise (although people were dismayed, they stayed calm).

Finally, this episode has given Anwar and Pakatan more ammunition to form the next federal government, perhaps not on Sept 16, but in the not too distant future. Could this be BN’s last own goal?

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ONG KIAN MING is a PhD candidate in political science at Duke University and Yun Yang is a writer and new media analyst. You can listen to their podcast here.