I Got Plenty To Do Today

Political Brinkmanship And Socio-Economic Engineering
While schmoozing with Muiz (I actually put it down as MUIS - Singapore's Majlis Ugama Islam - the first time round), we exchanged notes on what we believe could be global conspiracy. In fact, these ideas have been simmering in my head for a long time now. It merely escalated into a bonfire today. SARS (or dengue fever), AIDS , global warfare, racial hatred and yes..even tobacco smoking. I do not have to elaborate further and I am pretty sure you get the whole picture.

A Huff And A Puff
That night when I couldn't sleep, it was because of the caffeine in the tea and the nicotine in my fag. Add the stillness of the air in the apartment and you have a potent brew of Macbeth's evil broth. Except that this was even stronger and more alluring.

Once out of the flat, however, it was one helluva breezy world. The night air was a-gust with strong winds. The roads and neighborhood were dead quiet as it was way past midnight. I soaked in my ciggy like a junkie would crack or grass. Actually there is no real difference between the two. I drew and sucked in, letting the stimulating effects of nicotine course its way through my cranial nerves and suffuse my brain.

It worked. My heart pounded and I was mentally alert. At first, I was nauseous and wanted to throw up. I guessed it was because I hadn't smoked for a very long time.

The Real Difference Between Writing From Close To The Heart And Not
As most kiddos haven't even experienced life, we can't expect them to write as close to their hearts as possible.

For example. If I write an essay headed "A Day In The Life Of An Ice-cream Deliveryman", it isn't gonna be plagiarised with ideas or phrases borrowed from books I have read or glimpses I got from other people. It is gonna be my personalised observations as I saw it , while stuck at the Pasir Ris Park's drinks kiosk, waiting for the rain to subside.

Does My Writing Suck?
You will excuse me for grammatical , spelling and other language errors you may find in some of my blogs. Take all my writings here as drafts because I am blogging at Internet kiosks or LAN shops which are on a paying basis. Thus I do not have the benefit of time or expense to sleep over them or edit.

Often when I re-read my drafts, I realised I could have written them in very different ways or I would have avoided most of the language errors I have committed.

You Are Closer Than I Think
Patrick walked out the flat this morning and I could see a silhouette of him flitting past the corridor windows for a while and then back again. The only place the corridor leads to is to an adjoining neighbor's flat and as he was speaking with Nadel (one of the paired-up Malaysian "cousins" - which means they are friends and not as I thought earlier) about some mail, I guessed he was just posting the flat owner's letters at her doorsteps.

And this neighbor whom I saw on my first day moving in was a Christian lady. In fact, at both ends of the corridor , the doorways have crucifixes hanging. And both flats, strangely, had their doors thrown wide open the first day I moved in. Double coincidence?

I really have to stop myself for being such a Sherlock Holmes.

A Morning Breakfast
Ravenous after a good night's sleep, I slipped out of the flat after all my flatmates left for work. The only food kiosk in this neighborhood sells quite delicious nasi-lemak and curry puffs. While I waited for its doors to open,I chatted up an old lady in her 8Os (and she won't reveal exactly how 80 she is- My God, women! Is your age a secret even at this time of your life?).

You should hear what she has to say about everything. From the inconvenience of not having kopi-tiams closer to the estate to the same reason why we were both downstairs - she, to sit around and enjoy her puffs, while I gobble up my breakfast - the very strong breeze blowing here compared to the dearth of any moving air upstairs.

At her age and being the smoker that she is, she should, if the anti-smoking lobbyists are to be believed, have died from some tobacco-induced diseases a long time ago. But she doesn't look like she is gonna kick the bucket anytime soon, judging from her hale and hearty appearance.

Thank You For Smoking
So who are we to believe - the lucrative excise taxes to be had which counts on all that hype on smoking hazards (and the smoking community is a sizeable one in the United States, maybe even here or elsewhere?) or the saintly crusade to save the lives of the people?