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August 28 Study, study, studyI've started my first term for the final year of my part time course. This will be a critical year for my certificate classifications. That means, by hook or by crook, I've to score in order to get the First Class Honors. I'll do my best to achieve that and of course, I secretly hope that I'll have less troubled moments in time to come. Buddha bless me!
 The time-table is hellish. I'll have 3 consecutive intensive weeks of classes. I welcome that actually. It will keep me occupied and stay focus. The 2 and half months break was happening though. Asides from all the dishy washy problematic past/present human relationship matters, I've spent a great deal of time to learn more about my work. Not so much about the day to day affairs, but more on the indepth technical aspects. Now, I'm so fascinated with electricity. How electricity being generated by different types of source. We're lucky to live within the power grid. Do you know that many still live in the dark without electricity in the rural areas? Ok, I'll leave this topic for other day. Heavy subject.
I spent my day attending classes. Saw most of the familiar faces. There is one weirdo in class that I always wanted to avoid. He is from other class and now in his last 2 subjects. I can't believe that he is in our class for this term. He is a loner. Sit alone and no body likes to talk to him. He talks as if the world owe him a living. He is the know all and the great one. hrmm .. one word .. he is weird.
I tried to stay away from him yesterday. Today, as I was talking with my coursemate who sat next to me, he un-invitingly pass his comment to our small casual chat. We shocked as we don't anticipate him to listen our conversation as he was few feet away! Then he moved over to my table and start a conversation. I pretentiously read my newspaper and let my coursemate to handle him. My coursemate just kept quiet and after a few awkward moments, I looked up.. realized that he was actually talking to me!!!!
Can't run away this time. I've to entertain him, no choice. I'm not sure if he hits on me. He mentioned that I looked different, asking if I've dyed my hair, why never call him for books, lost my no. and bla blaaa ... He don't back off eventhough I shown him enough hint to go away.
I'm sorry to say he really .. really .. put me off.  August 20 Women Who Are Over 30Dear Fellow Venusians,
Something really cool for you to read. I'm a 30 years 03 days old and a new member in this fabulous group. This was written by Andy Rooney from CBS 60 Minutes. Hope you like it!
 He says: As I grow in age, I value women who are over 30 most of all. Here are just a few reasons why: 1. A woman over 30 will never wake you in the middle of the night to ask, "What are you thinking?" She doesn't care what you think.
2. If a woman over 30 doesn't want to watch the game, she doesn't sit around whining about it. She does something she wants to do. And, it's usually something
more interesting.
3. A woman over 30 knows herself well enough to be assured in who she is, what she is, what she wants and from whom. Few women past the age of 30 give a damn what
you might think about her or what she's doing.
4. Women over 30 are dignified. They seldom have a screaming match with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of course, if you deserve it, they
won't hesitate to shoot you, if they think they can get away with it.
5. Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved. They know what it's like to be unappreciated.
6. A woman over 30 has the self-assurance to introduce you to her women friends. A
younger woman with a man will often ignore even her best friend because she doesn't
trust the guy with other women. Women over 30 couldn't care less if you're attracted to
her friends because she knows her friends won't betray her.
7. Women get psychic as they age. You never have to confess your sins to a woman over 30. They always know.
8. A woman over 30 looks good wearing bright red lipstick. This is not true of younger women. 9. Once you get past a wrinkle or two, a woman over 30 is far sexier than her younger counterpart. 10. Older women are forthright and honest. They'll tell you right off if you are a jerk if you are acting like one! You don't ever have to wonder where you stand with her. Yes, we praise women over 30 for a multitude of reasons. Unfortunately, it's not reciprocal. For every stunning, smart, well-coiffed hot woman of 30+, there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool of himself with some 22-year-old waitress. Ladies, I apologize. For all those men who say, "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free". Here's an update for you. Nowadays 80% of women are against marriage, why? Because women realize it's not worth buying an entire Pig, just to get a little sausage! August 17 Happy Birthday MeOhh .. finally, I'm officially a 30 years old today. Need to give myself a nice pat on the back for such a grrrreat job and hard work for the past 10 years!!! Happy Birthday to me!
 heheee As any other year on this special day, I will sit on my 'thinking chair' to reflect and contemplate on what to achieve, what has been achieved, what to improve and what to give up. Hrmm .. give up seems not a very positive word to use. Let's change it to let go.
On this thinking chair, I'll also conduct a review on my very own SWOT Analysis. That are, my Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. I'll try to leverage my strengths, work on improving my weaknesses, capitalize the opportunities and converting any potential threats to opportunities!
Of cos, it never easy to identify these values. There are deviations or gaps between what comes out from the mind to using hand/effort to make it happen. Sometimes, we can't be sure if the trait is 100% strength or weakness. Ok, lets take an example, Flexibility. Being too flexible, you lost your discipline. Too little of it, you become too rigid. So, which is which? It is tricky trying to classify them.
How about opportunities and threats? In what aspect you want to interpret it? Career? Personal life? I think this 2 are easier to identify than the previous 2. :P
So, what's next? When I celebrated my 20, I layed down so much aspirations, ambitions, objectives and goals. Now I'm 30. Hrmmm .. I guess I need to do a 10-yr series HL's life report card. Sounded serious eh? I admit that I'm a incorrigibly inflexible, strict, no-nonsense Missy who always so serious looking, principle driven and more often that not, doesn't know how to enjoy life! Hey hey! .. I'm learning to take it easy now! So, quick ..give me  ....  August 15 Immigration & Checkpoints AuthorityI received a letter today from the Singapore Immigration & Checkpoints Authority. My heart skipped a beat when I saw the letter. I thought I was sued or fined for some unknown breach of immigration laws in Singapore!!! It is not usual to get letters from them.
 Later I found out that they need me to Re-register my IC! It said, under the National Registration Regulations, IC holder who are 30 years old and who have not been issued with a replacement IC within 10 yrs will need to re-register.
Hmmmpffff ... yea yea yea, no need to remind me that I'm hitting the no. in 2 days time.
 Ooohh, it also mentioned that if I failed to re-register, I shall be guilty of an offence under the regulations!! Well, nothing is free in Singapore. I need to pay a fee for such re-registration. Citizen : S$10 / Permanent Resident : S$50. The govt. really squeeze the PR dry.  August 13 What is Politics?A little boy goes to his dad and asks, "What is politics?" Dad says, "Well son, let me try to explain it this way: I'm the breadwinner of the family, so let's call me capitalism. Your Mom, she's the administrator of the money, so we'll call her the Government. We're here to take care of your needs, so we'll call you the people. The nanny, we'll consider her the Working Class. And your baby brother, we'll call him the Future. Now, think about that and see if that makes sense," So the little boy goes off to bed thinking about what dad had said. Later that night, he hears his baby brother crying, so he gets up to check on him. He finds that the baby has severely soiled his diaper. So the little boy goes to his parents' room and finds his mother sound asleep. Not wanting to wake her, he goes to the nanny's room. Finding the door locked, he peeks in the keyhole and sees his father in bed with the nanny. He gives up and goes back to bed. The next morning, the little boy says to his father, "Dad, I think I understand the concept of politics now." The father says, "Good son, tell me in your own words what you think politics is all about." The little boy replies, "Well, while Capitalism is screwing the Working Class, the Government is sound asleep, the People are being ignored and the Future is in deep poo." -About.com- August 12 GandhiI wonder what will you do when you are under the weather. When you feel emotionally drained, depress, demotivated and disinterested, what you possibly do to make it better? Some ppl just sleep it off, some will turn to intoxicant indulgence and some will vent it on others. Being a woman myself, I noticed that our species suffer constant outbreak in mood swings and emotional wreck. It could be due to chemical imbalance in the head that causes such unwarranted outburst? Scary. I tried to investigate the root cause but am still very much in vain. I don't think I'm near any truth yet or I just excuse our unpretty outburst simply as "chemical imbalance" ?? heheee. But of course, things are not as simple as it seems. Every event comes with cause. Many factors play a part and we've to figure it out.
For me, when I've a problem, feeling dejected, moody, demotivated, sad, listless, etc etc .. I will watch Gandhi. I love his philosophy, his fighting spirit, his humility and most of all, his non-violence idea in conflict resolution. It is 3-hr movie and I've watched it for ... errr I don't remember how many times. Look at that selfless man. Great man with big heart. How small my problems compared to his. In a way, balance me up!
Ok, lets talk about my idol, Mr Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. This extraordinary man beat the empire and free a nation. His goal was freedom. His strategy was peace. His weapon was his humanity. The movie titled "Gandhi" has won 8 Oscars and multiple wins and nominations. I dare to say it's a must-see movie.
Few meaningful quotes that I've taken from the movie when the 'Gandhi' character addressing the community over new oppressive regulations imposed by the British in South Africa. He said :
"Whatever they do to us, we'll attack no one, kill no one. But we'll not give up. They'll imprison us, fine us. They'll sieze our posession but they cannot take away our self-respect if we do not give it to them"
"I'm asking you to fight. To fight against the anger, not to provoke it. We'll not strike a blow but we'll receive them. And to our pain, we'll make them see there injustice and it will hurt. As all of fighting hurts, but we cannot lose... we cannot. They may torture my body, break my bones, even kill me, then they'll have my dead body .. NOT my OBEDIENCE!!"
I'm not trying to 'promote' him or the movie but his underlying values and ideas are something worthy for us to take note. Non-violence, hrmm .. will it work in this 21st century for all the civil and ethnic wars happening now on earth. I wonder if everyone can put their "God" issue aside for a moment and start to look at the real issue about Human. Are we equal as a human? We may be different but all of us have few things in common, we need oxygen to stay alive and we go thru the cycle of birth, aged, sickness and death. Who doesn't? August 09 Hurray .. its public holiday!August 9 is Singapore's National Day. If I'm not wrong, this will be Singapore 41st birthday. I had chance to watch the national day parade which held with much fanfare for 5 years. I used to work in a charity organization where we were to conduct our mass charity donation drive at the parade. 600 volunteers with donation boxes are to be mobilized to cover the 60,000 seated spectators in the national stadium. This is a very big project that involves lots of coordination and planning. We worked closely with the organizing committee comprises from high ranking army officials to young recruits. Security at the RED sector is exceptionally tight where all the VVIPs will be seated. You will see lots of army officials with their smart uniform parading at the parade.
Being one of the working personnel, I've access to all sectors! I'll just flash my special card and there I walked in with no question asked. All exits were heavily guarded with army personnel. After the donation drive has completed (which usually before the parade officially start), we will rounded the volunteers up, to check, count and tally the no. of donation boxes. If there any box missing, it will become police case. Not too bad, we've not lose any box during my working years there. The whole counting process were witnessed by an auditor on duty.
I usually chose to stay back to watch the parade. Each year it comes with different themes. I was so amazed with the amount of enthusiasm fellow Singaporeans has potrayed. They scream, sing and cheers together singing their national anthem. The parade start in late afternoon. So, it will not be too hot by then that can kill interest. After being involved closely and experiencing the parade myself, I understand and see the value of the govt to spend great deal of money, time and effort in this parade.
It gives the nation a firm assurance, sense of identity and cultivate patriotism value in everyone. Secretly, I wish Malaysia will do the same too. Forget those boring lengthy march pass with all the sucks combat tankers.
The finale will be summed up by fireworks display. You mustn't miss this one. You'll surely mesmerized by it. Errmm .. nice and beautiful! :
 Anyway, my BIL (bro-in-law) got some tickets for the parade today. It will be my mom's first time to join the Singapore national day parade. Hope she will enjoy it. Oooh ..it is late now. Time to hit the sack. Good night.  August 06 Read a bookFor the past 5 years, I've had not really successfully completely to read finish a book. Mostly were 'selectively' flipped. Of cos, I'm refering to all serious reading stuff. Yea, I felt abit shame for that.
 I've materials ranging from business journals, self-improvement books as well as some buddhistic texts. I want to read them all but just couldn't find the time or the kick to do it. I guess, I need something light for my 'free-time' reading.Anyhow, I've picked 1 fiction up over the weekend. Guess wht, I used 8-hrs straight to finish reading the 400 pages book. Impressive eh? To me, reading a fiction is like watching a movie and is addictive. The urge in un-covering the 'plot' make it impossible to take-5. Too engrossed until I forgot to drink or eat. hahaha ... I've a perculiar habit in reading fictions. Being an impatient person, I've tendency to 'jump' chapters!! I'll find out whose the mastermind, the baddie and hero and to know the story conclusion. If the conclusion is good, I'll flip back where I left and continue eventhough I know the story already. Otherwise, I'll not bother to read the skipped chapters. My frens used to my this kind of behavior and I'm not sorry for it. hahahaa .. that's me. The book that occupied my whole Saturday titled "The Undomestic Goddess" by Sophie Kinsella. Courtesy from my younger sis. From the title, you may have already know that this is a woman book. It is witty, funny and 'real'. The story was so far away from my usual favorites which offer lots of doses of intrigue, suspense and mysteries. The story was quite pleasant. It about a workaholic attorney who has IQ of 158 and has made a huge mistake that had wrecked her chance for a partnership in a prestigious law firm. Going into utter meltdown, shell shocked, she landed herself in the middle of nowhere and in twist of fate got a job as a housekeeper. Her employers have no idea they've hired a lawyer. She can't sew, bake a potato or get the @#*% ironing board to open. Well, you'll expect alot of funnies there. She learns the trade and finds love. In the process, she discover new meaning in life despite her hellish schedule during her days as lawyer. I don't think men will appreciate this book. Its a woman book! heheee Ladies, if you know Shopaholic, you should know Sophie Kinsella. :) Okay, I've a family dinner tonight and I'm soooooo hungry now. Ciaw .. P/s : Some update, I've just bought a new pair of Nike running shoes. I'm set for a run tonight. August 02 English Rules!If Fed Ex and UPS were to merge, would they call it Fed UP? Do Lipton Tea employees take coffee breaks? If olive oil comes from olives, where does baby oil come from? If people from Poland are called Poles, why aren't people from Holland called Holes? Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery? OOpps... Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker? If horrific means to make horrible, does terrific mean to make terrible? Why is it called building when it is already built? If a book about failures doesn't sell, is it a success? If you're not supposed to drink and drive, then why do bars have parking lots? If you take an Oriental person and spin him around several times, does he become disoriented? If vegetarians eat vegetables, what do humanitarians eat? |
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