Saturday, October 28, 2006
Eleet Unkaring Fayce -vvw

Recently, RJC students WSM and MOCA made some "elitist" remarks that got them flamed so bad, they had to close their blogs. I'm too lazy to put up any links but you can find what they wrote quite easily by searching technorati or checking tomorrow.sg. A lot of people were saying how these RJC kids are cowards who don't stand up for what they wrote, closing their blogs and running away...etc.

Frankly, I think that's a smart move. You can't reason with a fanatic. After all, 三十六計，走為上策 (Of the Thirty-Six Strategies, fleeing is best). Anyone who wants to stand up against the mob has a death wish. If you watch enough movies, you'll learn that characters who, when accused of being a coward, try to prove otherwise, usually end up getting killed.

Anyway, that's all I'm going to say about the WSM and MOCA issue. I sure don't want to get involved in this witch hunt. I'm really scared of fanatics. It's true. When I was in ***, someone thought it was a good idea to send speakers to prepare us for the next stage in life. I was told how we might get ostracized by people who were not from ***, how we are different and that people will treat us differently, be prepared to live like outcasts, stuff like that.

So as far as possible, I tried not to let people know that I was from *** unless they asked me directly. And since not many people knew, I got to hear opinions about *** that were normally reserved for non-*** ears. That, together with the blogs and comments I've read on the internet only serve to verify what I was told. Maybe I'm being paranoid but there's a large following of anti-*** fanatics out there just waiting for an excuse to start the next cyber-crusade.

I also happen to be one of those ### guys. I try to avoid telling people I'm ### too because there is also an anti-### cult out there. I suspect the anti-### and anti-*** groups have many common members, although I can't be certain. Anti-### fanatics are scary too. A girl (whom I have never met) once told me during a social event that she hated ### people and that ### people are all (insert derogatory terms here). That was immediately after someone leaked out my little secret. I was speechless but I took a step back because the expression on her face gave me the impression that she was gonna take a kitchen knife out of her handbag and stab me in the chest.

Now you know why I'm so scared of fanatics. By the way, *** and ### are not RJC, I was never from RJC and I'm not defending WSM and MOCA either. So pray people, don't go sticking elite labels with concentric circles and crosshairs on me.

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Yiheng made 1:25 PM

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Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Random Knowledge 4: NGC 7293 -vww

NGC 7293, The Helix Nebula. One of the nearest and apparently largest planetary nebula. It lies in my zodiac constellation Aquarius and is the only planetary nebula whose distance from Earth I can still recall - approximately 500 light-years. So long, old blogskin.

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Yiheng made 6:23 PM

2 Comments:

Hey you changed your blogskin. But I kinda liked your timemaker ambigram. Can I pay you $50 to design an ambigram for my name??
Did you draw the picture above? Whats that supposed to be? Yggradsil the Tree of Life?
By  Soqcrates, at 12:46 AM  

Sure. But give me several alternative words. Some words are too hard, like "timemaker", which was why I added my name to make it easier.

The picture is an amalgamation of mythological motifs from different cultures. I took some liberties with them but I guess elements such as Yggdrasil are easily recognizable.
By  Anonymous, at 11:31 AM  

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Funny Thing I Heard on a Talk Show (UTF-8 encoding) -vwv

"我是一个很 chinese 的人。"

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Yiheng made 11:06 AM

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Saturday, October 14, 2006
Random Knowledge 3: Why Lions? -vww

The use of three lions as a symbol of England has been around for a long time. I saw it on TV a few days ago during some soccer match and wondered, why lions? There are no lions in England, zoos excluded. What strange choice of animal to represent one's country.

So I did a little research online and found that it was Richard the Lionheart who started using three golden lions in a red field on his banner. No wonder the NJC crest looks so familiar; we do subconsciously worship our colonial masters after all. I also came across this page with a funny rant about King Richard and his "big pussy cat" emblem (St George, the big pussy cat and Good King Richard). I don't know much about this king except that he's a crusader and likes to make cameo appearances at the end of movies (Robin Hood: Prince of Theives and recently Kingdom of Heaven).

Then I thought of Singapore, the Lion City, which too has no lions. I seriously doubt that Sang Nila Utama, if he existed, ever saw a lion in his whole life. My hypothesis is that he probably saw some strange looking tiger and assumed that it was a lion based on vague descriptions passed down through generations. His ancestors would certainly have seen lions if you consider the royal line in the Malay Annals.

A travel article has this to say about the whole lion affair:

"Singapore's name is misleading. In Malay Sanskrit it means ''Lion City,'' named in the 12th century by a Sumatran prince who wrote that he fought a lion. It was probably a tiger since there are no lions here. Nevertheless, Singapore has kept the name and added to the nonsense by putting a mermaid's tail on the beast and calling it a merlion."

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Yiheng made 11:12 AM

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Sunday, October 08, 2006
My Neighbour Is A Genius! -vwv

Drip, drip, drip. There are some things you can only do if you are living on the top floor. Like annoying your neighbours by creating a localized rain over their laundry.

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Yiheng made 3:57 PM

1 Comments:

Goodness!! So they blame it on the maid again? Haha!!
By  feathers, at 10:05 PM  

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Saturday, October 07, 2006
25 Under 25 To Watch -vvw

"They are all under the age of 25. And all are on their way to putting Singapore on the world map in eclectic fields..."

- The Straits Times, Saturday, October 7 2006

Usually, I don't bother reading most of the crap in the ST. But today, I notice a familiar face on the cover of the Saturday Special Report section. Someone I know is in the list of 25 people the ST calls "this year's young alternative achievers". In case you are wondering, my friend is the half-naked guy dancing with a spanner. I guess all those years as a signaller in 23SA left a lasting impression.

So I went on reading about the other alternative achievers. And the more I read, the more I think to myself - "What the f**k?!". If this is the best 25 alternative achievers Singapore can come up with, then I am disappointed. It's true that there are some rather interesting and impressive people, the female scout for example. She caught my attention because I used to be a scout until I got sick and tired of going from door to door, begging for donations. But Sudoku championships and Powerpoint expertise? Doesn't that seem a little desperate? Some of the descriptions of achievements are so blown up with smoke, they look eerily similar to my resumé.

The Sudoku Champ. His team of three solved 6 puzzles in 48 minutes, faster than 2 JC math teachers. Wow, faster than JC teachers, the very guys who try to bullshit me when I asked them questions they couldn't answer. First, no matter how good you are at Sudoku, it's not going to put Singapore on the world map and most normal people will not be watching out for your progress through the regional, international, pan-galactic or universal Sudoku championships either. Second, 3 people solving 6 puzzles in 48 mins averages to 1 person solving 1 puzzle in 24 mins. Except that in this case, they are working in a team, which means they can work even faster. If I can solve a puzzle of moderate difficulty in 10 minutes, then spending 24 minutes on even the most difficult puzzle is not fast at all. I can easily name a dozen people of the top of my head, whom if given a week to prepare, can finish the same 6 puzzles and be off to the lobby for refreshments while these guys are still cracking their heads over the empty boxes. If you really want to be a champion puzzle solver, Rubik's Cube would be a much better choice.

PowerPoint whiz and pen-spinner. So this is the best Singapore can offer, a PowerPoint expert. Hey, I'm the only expert in the entire world at using Yiheng's Text Editor, how come I'm not in the list? The software may be lacking in features but I'm sure it has less bugs than Microsoft Office. I'll admit pen-spinning requires hardwork and some talent. But if I really want to watch a display of finger dexterity, a close-up magician will be a lot more entertaining.

Don't even get me started on the intrepid traveller. Since when did it become an achievement to have other people pay for your vacations around the world? (Seducing rich old shit counts as an achievement since that takes talent.)

I have nothing against these people but some of them are really mediocre, officially-approved robots just like the rest of us, so I don't see what's the big deal. Of course, this doesn't apply to my dancing friend because he's been dubbed "God of the Engine". Being a god automatically makes you cool.

I suddenly wonder if someone like Annabel Chong will ever be able to make this list. The selection criteria seems somewhat subjective. I'm not in the list even though I probably rank pretty high in the world when it comes to enthusiasm in killing ants. But that's ok. The reporter did state that this list is by no means exhaustive. You know why? Because everyone is an achiever in some aspects. Everyone is unique, just like everybody else.

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Yiheng made 10:55 AM

1 Comments:

Funny that my friends were commenting on that same article last night. If you talk about achievements I thought people of the PSC caliber were more appropriate but i think the press was looking for more 'groovy' stuff to connect with the younger generation. And it does help to know people in the press actually, as I've learnt from this article. Hmm I think it's time for me to get to know a few people for SPH
By  Soqcrates, at 10:43 AM  

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Sunday, October 01, 2006
The Best Year of My Life -vvv

Some time in 1992, I concluded that that year was the best year of my life. Since then, I occasionally review my life to see how well each year went. In the 14 years that have passed, I have had some terrible years and some truly enjoyable ones. Each year had its ups and downs but no single year can be considered better than '92 in most aspects.

In 1992, I can get a bus ride for less than 30 cents and a decent lunch for a dollar. The public playgrounds were more creatively designed and allowed for imaginative ways of using them. The forest to the south of my neighbourhood was a convenient source of adventure. There were strange creatures to find, wild fruits to eat and lots of free raw material for handicraft and school projects.

I didn't need to warm up before playing any sport. I could run in the sun wearing PE attire under my uniform without worrying about heatstroke. I didn't need a credit card, an EZ link card or any card for that matter. I never ran out of money. Career was too distant to be of concern. And girls were just irrelevant.

I had none of my current responsibilities and all the time in the world. I was an astronomer, a paleontologist and a martial arts exponent simultaneously. I was invulnerable, invincible and infinitely intelligent. My death was inconceivable. No math problem was unsolvable.

1st October was a holiday. Every day was a holiday.

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Yiheng made 3:36 PM

1 Comments:

Yeah... those were the days... sigh...
By  feathers, at 6:55 PM  

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