Monday, June 30, 2008

Blood Season - Summer

One More Credit
Yes, I have to thank my orthodontist for his skilful and masterful orthodontic craft in bringing up to the front a recessed tooth and other alignment and straightening works.

I have told him that I will be very happy as long as my teeth are able to grow as closely and tightly as possible into the spaces where my four upper and lower canines have been extracted, the lower crooked teeth straightened as much as possible, I get to sport a set of pearly whites, something done to the gaping gap between my two front teeth and I get to take off my braces as quickly as possibly.

Will that be too much to ask?

Can Stem Cell Technology Do The Job?
Well can't it grow a body part and substitute for an artificial implant or organ transplant for that matter?

It is afterall a more natural process, growing a part of you from you and not from somebody else's or worse, using a synthetic replacement?

UnVoiding Void Decks
There is legitimately the fear of noise pollution and congestion of both space and humans.

Personally I wouldn't want one right below my block. The next block a few blocks down the road is ok with me. As long as it is not my block.

I want that space to sit, enjoy the breeze and sight, have some quiet time to think or relax and maybe a puff or two.

Murals, NSmen IPPT training (Oo, hot guys, drool), selective green projects (that do not invite pests to make their home), lounge areas (and not just for the elderly) to sit around and read (mags, books and newspapers are certainly welcome) and maybe drink and eat (of the refreshment kind) are fine.

The rest will just not go down well with most residents.

Certainly not storage facilities (seems like most unwanted items could be sold) nor indoor parking lots (wouldn't this make it look like a showroom for cars?) or even a toddler's playground (too small a space and that noise, don't we already have student care services or nursery/kindergarten schools running at these places)which will make it three tads too congested .

Blood Season - Let The Blood Letting Begin
We all know we have been reading and observing many utterances made by some of our leaders and that they just don't make sense.

I guess some rebuttal is in order.

$2.50 + $1.00 (One Way Trip At That) = $3.50= Price Of Lontong Sold At Some Food Courts (Air-Conditioned Some More And Usually Savoury Too)
Yes, meals can be had at $2.50 at certain places. If you happen to live, work or play near those places, guess what? It is your "LUCKY, LUCKY, LUCKY" day!

But if you don't you are not gonna pay transportational expenses (which happen to be at an all-time high now) to travel all the way down and purportedly spend less on food.

How ridiculous is that?

And it speaks nothing of the quantity or even quality of the food.

"Longkang" food anyone?

Moi Has To Visit The Hospitals, So Moi Knows How Much Cab Fares Have Shot Up
Have you noticed how cab fares have increased dramatically? And there is now even talk of a fuel surcharge.

Moi has noticed that. Short distances now usually means at least 5 bucks or more. Longer distances now shoots beyond the $10 mark.

And this happens only during off-peak.

Peak hours, what with the metered fare running, 35% of that metered fare, CBD and ERP charges, will see you hitting the 20 dollars mark and more.

Poke For Poke
Who pokes who first?

Examine all your policies and do some soul-searching.

We all usually go about minding our own business untill provoked or things happen (usually the doing of you and the Unholy Trinity).

Like moi. I would just wanna go on living in my own world like the rest of Singapore but what did the pigheads make moi do?

They put me out here to see a world they call "civilised, first world and advanced".

Then they wanna play God, judge, punish and decide what our lives should be and how we should turn out when they know their lives are not much better or happier.

These are the very same people who blow simple things out of proportion and make life a web of intrigue and endless political games for all, garnished with paranoia (isn't that the case with fat bloke Raymond?).

Fuck You!

Green Eyes
Everyone by now should know how unindigenous the Malay, Indian and Chinese communities here have become.

You will be surprised many of them are not even hailing from their native lands but from just across the Causeway.

Moi gets the funny feeling that our neighboring Chinese who have chosen to settle here are more than jealous of the native Chinese who also choose to make their home here. Primarily they know it is hot competition, be it looks, appearance or daring, maybe even the smarts or the skills. They know they can't measure up in some instances.

I don't hate the Chinese at all. The guys are really hot. Well, most of them are. I can't say the same for the womenfolk nor of any womenfolk for that matter.

The same goes for the Third Worlders.

Too bad there is just that BIG cultural bridge to cross - be it language, habits, traits, character and the kinda education and civics and moral schooling we get here.

As a Chinese businessman said : "Another generation perhaps?"

I don't think I will live to see it. In fact if anything should happen to me in the immediate future, I shall just take my life.

That I have planned for myself.

I Am Not Gonna Be At Anyone's Mercy - Their Whimps And Fancies
If you think you are gonna throw some witches, bimbs, wimps or blimps down my way by making me less self-reliant, you are gonna be terribly sorry.

Life is about independence and self-reliance. Otherwise it isn't worth living anymore.

That is something all parents must remember. Their kids have to be independent and self-reliant one day. They must prepare their kids to that end.

And it starts from a young age.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

The People Behind MedicaL Advances Count Too

I have credited laser and ultrasound technology as the kinda medical science that have helped mankind. 

In fact I will put down a couple more inventions like the computer and of course its respective operating systems, the Internet and electronic mails as other scientific and informational technological advances that have convenienced and helped mankind progress. 

Now let me credit the men and women behind these technological advances, the men and women who possess the skills and know-how to execute these advances without whom these technological advances ultimately fails.

The likes of eye surgeons who give the gift of sight and dermatologists who give the gift of our natural skin all over again.

These are truly the miracle workers and healers who make our lives significantly better and more meaningful to live for!

Now let us hope that medical science will progress even further! 

Stem cell technology that may perhaps one day grow our body parts naturally without resort to artificial implants that will add on healthy years to our lives.

That will certainly be the spirit of the Hippocratic oath!








Saturday, June 28, 2008

Why I Think Lasers, UltraSounds And The Mac Will Endure The Test Of Time

How Medical Science Has Helped Mankind
Thank You Mr Ultrasound
If you aak moi what two great scientific inventions have contributed most to the benefit of mankind, moi would reply without the slightest hesistation : "Ultrasound and Laser" technology.

The former is already well-known for its diagnostic sonography usages. For the layman in the street, ultrasound means emitting sound waves way above audible human hearing and then focussing that into an amplified high energy for a special purpose.

That accountds for the prefix "ultra" which translates into "uber" or "super" or "hyper" that means "beyond" or far above.

In moi's most recent medical experience, ultrasound did the trick in phacoemulsifying moi's cataracted eye during cataract surgery.

Thank you, whoever the inventors are who discovered and developed "ultrasound" to a fine art that it is today.

Thank You Too, Mr Micro CO2 Laser
Next comes laser technology. Laser isn't a word per se but an acronym that actually became a word. Laser stands for "Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation"

Laser technology is about passing a light of a specific wavelength through a medium, amplifying that so that it becomes a high energy and highly concentrated beam to be applied for a particular use.

It is used in excimers for Lasik and yes that optical drive in our PCs uses it to scan and read our disks.

How Is Skin Lasering Different From Industrial Lasering
It is the second time moi has gone for skin laser resurfacing.

This time, it is the all-new Micro CO2 Laser that delivers pinpoint laser beams to do its work. A different technoloical platform from its predecessors.

It is the same CO2 laser used in industry for welding and cutting except that it is at a safe temperature and in a controlled and skilful manner that only burns off the surface of the skin layer. Kinda like a 8th degree burn, not a first or second degree burn.

Picture this for industrial CO2 laser application : Dudes dressed in grimy and greasy overalls, stooped over and torching with an oxyacetylene flame and at most times, holding up a face shield.

And what would that make of moi's old-time favourite dermatologist? A highly trained and skilled medical cutter and welder?

The After-Effects Of Lasering
In fact I smelt exactly like that after the whole procedure was over.

Of that charred, burning smell like a piece of raw meat roasted over a fire or like that piece of meat I saw right before my eyes being seared through by a cautery set when moi was doing the sales and marketing rounds in the medical field.

My face looked like that too : sunburnt red and then turning a scabby dark brown tan before finally peeling off to reveal a pink raw new surface. It was a grid of dark pinpoints immediately after and I looked really old and wrinkled.

Women! Thy Name Is Pure Vanity
On the morning of the procedure, moi turned up at the skin centre and was promptly whisked off for a topical anaesthesc application after some small talk. I couldn't help noticing how imaginative and adept the nurses have become at cutting out a plastic face mask with two eyes and a mouth.

I lounged at the waiting area along with countless other women, mostly old aunties. I can't imagine how vain these women are. They have almost perfect skin complexion but are there for really minsucle touch-ups like a small faded sun blotch or just some perceived beauty flaws of their own imagination.

As I told quite a few of them, if I had half of what they have now, I wouldn't so much bother at all wth my complexion.

I realised now how the beauty, grooming and cosmetics industry for women must be really booming! They have developed almost every cure for any perceived physical and beauty flaws women may see in themselves.

The last I got wind of was some balm of cucumber extracts for panda eyes.

What next? Liposuction for thick fleshy lips?

Do We Age Differently - Asians And Caucasians?
I ran into one woman who is French-born while her hubby is Dutch and her kids are born in Singapore. We talked about the damaging effects of both the sun and the wintry colds and about her ever-changing migratory lifescape.

She made a keen observation on how Asians age very markedly different from Caucasians. Caucasians, it seems, age gradually and the process isn't very dramatic or pronounced at each stage as it is for Asians.

In other words, Asians look very young in their youth and then suddenly look very very old when they age.

Lasering It
When my favourite old-time dermatologist appeared in the procedure room (oops, have I repeated that already?) I knew it was time.

What follows was about 15 to 20 minutes of a hot burning sensation as the CO2 laser delivers its blistering heat that sears my skin to its bone. At the same time, a blower was blowing all over me face to cool things down.

I cringed, shivered and teared the whole time the oxy-acetylene flame equivalent was doing its job all over my face.

A cold face mask, a dab of soothing emolient and it was all over.

Prognosis: Vast improvement over the last treatment done by another laser machine. Highly unlikely I will return for another procedure a month down the road even though multiple sessions are usually recommended.

Why I Am Loving My Mac And The Future Of True PC Entertainment And InterAction
First it is its glossy white exterior that can change its appearance when fitted with different glassy looking hard shell casing like blue or green or red. Not unlike the iMacs of the heydays.

Remember that hemispherical cool sleek futuristic looking multi-colored variety iMacs that is seamlessly integrated with its CPUs?

And yes, that uniquely designed apple logo glows when the Mac is turned on.

From its highly-advanced magnetic lid catch to its magnetic power port and opto-magnetic-slot in disk drive, the Mac book is a powerhouse of sophisticated electronic wizardry and high aesthetic art.

Take its boot camp function for instance. It allows hard disk partitioning (and moi isn't sure if He Jian, a Chinese national ex-student of mine, had passed this secret on to the Apple manufacturers) that permits one the option of running the Mac on either one of two operating systems.

The Mac runs on a very stable Unix-based operating system. You can actually feel the sturdiness when you click and wait for the next function to power up.

Viewing documents on its "Finder" menu is no longer a limp, lifeless 2D experience. Cover Flow lets you preface your video files 3 dimensionally, showing you your photographic cover file.

Just like the 3 dimensional graphical icons that line the bar menu in the desktop that leaps to life once you place your cursor over them. Totally uncluttered and interactive.

I know my previous HP Pavillon Entertainment notebook is both a tablet and touch-screen. When you point at various menu icons, there is a wave-like rippling effect.

This is the kinda lively, interactive and 3D elements we wanna see more of on our desktops to make computing a truly entertaining experience! Like watching a movie, and a 3D movie at that.

More sounds, more life-like graphics, more motion and more dazzling colors please.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Glistening Glint For A Cyborgic Eye

A Glisten In My Eye
I am not kidding.

There is now this shiny white glint in my op eye which I can see only at this mirror with all the lights aligned as they are at this particular shopping mall.

I have been staring into it for a long, long time eversince I discovered the glistening slit. Not that I am a Narcissist but because it just kinda make me wanna look at the white glower forever.

It is almost like the red glower in Master Tigress eyes in Kungfu Panda or that of the dragon warrior protege turned evil.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

I Am Sold On A Mac But Maybe I Am Not Till I Am Shown Its Full Workings

Even Men's Magazine "August" Corroborates What I Said About Inflight Service Food
There. Even the June issue of the men's magazine "August" has its writer saying exactly the same thing I said about most in-flight service food. And I only bought the magazine yesterday, right after I blogged about it.

I do agree that Cathay Pacific had served up some nice dishes. If I remember correctly, it was some spicy stuff. The rest are just forgettable or just plain stomach-filling needs or we eat only because we paid for it.

And I do agree that it can get better.

Whoa, I Am Sold On A Mac's 3D InterActive Graphical Icons That Kinda Leap Out At You And Its Beautiful Design And Casing And Color
I was almost sold on a Mac when I saw the 3D interactive graphical icons that kinda leap out at you when you click on them.

Not the flat, 2D lifeless kind that still line themselves up on our Windows panel. Much like the 2D, flat, fake-looking and drawn-on kinda of brow (even though it is supposed to be some hair-weaving technology) you get served up with by our foreign talent in the hair-brow business.

Then it was the amazing interface even within a Word document and the endless toggling possibilities.

I went back a second time to double-check if it was as hot as it seems.

Foreign Talent Short-Selling What I Thought Was A Good Product
Well I was let down by the attending staff. Two foreign talents, it seems

First he and she tried to make me look like a complete idiot. But aren't the Mac experts (or so they think they are, though she claims to possess only a Secondary 2 education) suppose to try and not be so Mac-smart arrogant and assume a Windows user to be in the know?

Aren't they suppose to put it across clearly (and I know they don't have the English language ability too so the guy was being mono, duo or triple-syllabic) and try to convert us, the Windows user to the Mac user?

If they dont seem keen to explain (maybe they aren't so versed in product knowledge and by gosh, yes, this is the same company at our digital life computer hub which I once purchased some outmoded peripherals at inflated prices and got really lousy service in return) and he did show me that there is a tutorial on the Mac OS X online, golly, then what is the job of a sales-person anyway?

EveryOne Else Is Redundant, So Why Aren't They?
Isn't that kinda redundant? If a factory was staffed with redudant local employees, guess what? They get retrenched. Guess what again? At the kinda exchange rate, I get to see 5 China nationals working at a cafe and half the time that it is empty, they gather at the back, chattering loudly in their local dialects within customers' earshot. They don't get retrenched, do they?

Just too bad arh. Lou Ferrigno, the original Incredible Hulk actor, was actually redudant in this new movie remake. He made a very short appearance as a security officer. His role has been usurped by animation. Bill Bixby, as his mild-mannered alter-ego, is totally out of the picture.

So too are the days of the camera men numbered. Those cameramen who take photographs for tourists at touristy sites. These days, it is the camphone user who DIY.

I Just Wanted To See The Differences Between A Mac And A Windows Environment
She wasn't even listening when I asked if we could go on the MSN website and mistakenly thought I asked for MSN Messenger.

Ok so Mac has no version for the Internet Relay Chat, and there seems to be some commands and F menus to learn and navigate.

But the good news is that we can have both platforms on one cool-looking PC.

Another Foreign Talent Botch-Up
I just hope our foreign talent aren't trying to earn a quick buck by thinking they can con a job, bluff their way through, short sell, lay back or by thinking that they don't have to put in effort and I mean real effort in being product knowledge efficient, knowledge wise and linguistically abled to communicate plus that X-factor in whatever they do - that secret sauce, that skill, that technique, that magical scissorshand, that WOW factor in services rendered or just plain efficiency in accomplishing their tasks.

That will just sully our reputation further, if it isn't already, in the food and beverage industry, the hospitality services, domestic help services, the retail trade, the hair, beauty and grooming businesses.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

InEquality Of The Sexes - Social Conditioning With Respect To Hair

Social Conditioning - The Hair Shows It
It all starts from a young age when we attend schools here.

We are told long hair is a strict No-Go here. The discipline master or mistress is always on hand and on the look-out and on the prowl to enforce this rule. Dudes with stray hair. Hair that strays from the slopy slopes on all sides of our profile that all uniformed dudes are supposed to follow.

Hair has to be short so we all look like boys. Long hair means messiness, untidiness, dirtiness and worse it means being feminine.

The ubiquitous Malay, Chinese or Indian barber is always ready on hand to tear out hair off and leave us bald. This also marks the initiation phase into the army that we should be shaven and kept clean.

So there you have it folks! Social conditioning at its worst!

Look at the Japanese! They wear their hair long but cut and styled in so many different ways. And the only feminine trait is their long hair (or so our culture here seems to say what hair tells about a person or reinforces the stereotypical image of what is masculine and what is feminine) but they are all men.

They behave like men and they fuck like men too.

It is the mindset that has to change.

Barbership is in business here only because the schools and the army are still at it. Once we dudes are out of school, some of us eventually migrate to the salons.

Commercial Hair Salons Compromises The Very Integrity And Health Of Our Hair
A very sad state of affairs unfortunately prevail at the salon.

A commercial culture of getting patrons to buy up hair products that usually do not work, go for unnecessary hair treatments and worse, mis-diagnosing your hair condition and then getting your hair in a fix.

Hopefully not damaging it too much.

But not a single shred of skill to cut a hair the style you look your best in or the style you want.

Meaningless To Drag Life On Like That, Better To Live A Full Life And Then Go Peacefully
To totter, to be wheel-chair bound and to be in a poor state of health. We have seen how some of our old people are like all around us. At the malls. Everywhere.

Life is simply not worth living anymore like that.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Of New Industry And Kungfu Panda

Authoritarian And Totalitarian Hubris
You can just do a wikipedia and read about the former glory days of the so-called four Asian tigers and dragons where their export-driven model of being cheap manufacturing bases is being eroded by even cheaper alternatives available in India, China, Latin America and South-East Asia.

It noted how the totalitarian state of those four Asian economies had helped them achieve their success but how that must now change if they were to survive and enudre the next phase of growth and development in the services, especially creative new services industries.

Wikipedia Corroborates What Moi Has Written About Korea
More importantly, like moi, it highlighted how Korea, which was the most badly battered in the 1997 financial crisis, had managed to pull itself together and today it is the 9th largest economy while Taiwan is at 16th.

Therefore what can one conclude?

All those new industries that moi wrote about the last few blogs must surely have helped Korea shot to its No 9 international fame.

And that includes the B-boys -Last For One. They started off during the financial crisis and today they have seen more than their fair share of international fame.

More Divergence, More Economic Pies For All Right?
While moi understands that being in a South-east Asian loop (and as if that doesn't happen too in an Asian or Eastern European loop) does benefit us in the way of tapping into their rich reservoir of natural resources, we must surely also extend ourselves in creative new industries especially since I don't seem to see any university here offering earth sciences like agriculture or mineral mining studies.

Is there some loophole here somewhere? Some lack of co-ordination? Some lack of vision?

Ikan Bilis For Ikan Bilis, Like For Like And Finally Unlike For Like?
I asked a Jap how he rates the Japanese food he finds here and this is what he has to say:

"Cooked Singapore style and yes, unheard of names back home in Japan is apparently making waves here and only here it seems" among his other observation that only a small community of about 20 000 Japs live here.

We all know how Sands casino is ranked back home in the States and how at one time, we weren't confident of hosting the inaugural Youth Olympics.

Are the Big Boys too exacting in their demands for high quality and standards that we aren't able to measure up or is this just our very own psychology and lack of confidence that make us reject the big brand names ?

The Creative Hair Industry
Let me write about some of my unhappy experiences with the hair salons here which seem to be dominated by our neighboring foreign talent.

First while I understand that hair-sytling products help in creating the hair style we want (yes, I have watched the Gatsby clips) but a specific haircut is needed before a specific hair style can emerge.

And if they can't snip the hair style we want, then hey...where is the skill? Or even cut a hair style that suits our face or head shape or current state of our hair.

Kungfu Panda
What makes this animation special is the very Asian nature of the show - the costumes, the backdrop of the mountains and palaces, the decor (think lanterns, scrolls and dragon motiffed archictecture).

Animation was really good - very life-like and the plot was quick with fast and furious kungfu action and special magical effects. It was also a bright dazzle of colours and extremely funny.

I look forward to another Asian-themed animation coming up based on Ho MinFong's novel "Sing To The Dawn".

Monday, June 16, 2008

Night Life And Night Tourism

Elitism Even On Our National Flights?
Some time ago, a Sunday columnist wrote about her experiences onboard our national carrier. The timing of her article strangely coincided with the time I returned from my round trip through Asia.

Our national carrier has suspended economy flights to some destinations in the States. In its place are only first class and business class seatings.

In her article, the columnist wrote of "elitism" in the way of discriminating boarding for both economy and first/business class passengers.

See How Other Overseas Carriers Are Doing It Right
I like to report my experiences onboard Cathay Pacific, Eva Air, Air China and Thai Airways.

In all cases, boarding of flights was not based on economy or first/business class seatings. It was based on caring for the elderly, the physically disabled and familial passengers with children in tow. They got to board first, followed by two queues for economy and first/business class passengers.

Even if passengers were to mistakenly go on the wrong queue, they were politely told to enter the correct entrance for the respective classes.

Service was excellent, the attendants were polite, courteous and communicative and in flight food was average (isn't it always the same...we eat only because we have paid for it, don't we and to fill our hungry stomachs).

Cathay Pacific had a wide selection of channels on its seat-mounted TV screens and I could flick to one program after another if I ever tire of one.

Be Very Sure We Will Not Be Overtaken One Day Like We Are Not Already
I am not sure if our way is the way to go. To only insist on one kind of seating on some routes to the States may just one day force us out of business. Let us never be too sure that we will not be usurped of our No 1 status in our flight service.

Just look at Hongkong, Bangkok, Seoul, Beijing and even Kuala Lumpur. Their world class designed airports. Even Taiwan has now announced plans to overhaul and revamp its current run-down swampy international airport.

Night Tourism
I think the kinda long loopy routes over far too many housing estates our seven Night Rider Services are taking themselves through is just too ambitious and ridiculous.

Instead have more such services, maybe double or triple the number now, cut down on the number of housing estates they are traversing through for each but increase the coverage of the places of attractions (inlcude Tanjong Pagar, Chinatown, Clarke Quay, Marina and so on).

Reduce the number of stoppages along some roads. For example: the whole stretch of Orchard Road can see three strategic stops at the Orchard, Somerset and Dhoby Ghaut MRT stations. After all, they are within walking distance of each other.

Extend these services to Sundays, eves of public holidays, public holdiays and school holidays?

Open up more 24 hour retail and food and beverage outlets or at least extend the closing hours till past midnight.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

The Koreans Have Done It

Way To Go, SNEC
Once moi is more settled, moi is gonna write a complimentary email to the Singapore National Eye Centre, commending them on the excellent professional services they have served their patients, from the doctors right down to the nursing staff and the administrators.

Indeed it has done us proud in perhaps vying for a position as a medical hub.

I do notice however that a large proportion of the patronage are local. We the sons and daughters of Singapore.

Can We Assert Ourselves Here As Well
If A Simple Looked-Down Upon Breakdancing Culture Can Develop Into An International Fame, There is Hope For Us All
I got back late last night after the outing to watch the all Korean B-boys crew Last For One.

This morning I read their official website and I was amazed how these kids started off when they were like 15, pursuing their dreams of making it big in break-dancing despite abject poverty, sacrifices and rejection from their peers and families.

It astounds me how the Koreans have managed to catapult a much despised break-dancing culture and troop into international fame, capitalising on the talent, energy and verve of its very young proteges.

This is a lesson for us all.

The Koreans Have Surged Way Ahead Here
Our myopic focus on a very academic nature of education has blighted us to nurturing our own local talent in other areas like sports and the arts. And I mean local talents. In fact I have highlighted the hair, fashion and beauty industries as other developing sectors.

The Koreans have surged way ahead in developing their pop music, their film and now their break-dancing cultures internationally.

When I visited Seoul this February, I read about bunches of hair-dyed, breakdancing young Korean people hanging out at Itaewon, the mecca for its youth. I saw some on its metro but that was about it.

Where Do We Figure In All This?
So where are we? Why aren't we? Is it because we are mired in politics, money politics, mere talk and no action and precoccupied with foreign talent, overlooking our very own in the process?

There ought to be more soul-searching within ourselves if we want the answers and better co-ordination among the administrators if we are to kick off our creative arts industry.

No Longer An Asian Loop But A South-East Asian One - Decency And Morals But Hey, We Have Casinos, Gambling Dens, Topless Shows, Clubs And Brothels - So What Is The Difference?
Somehow it seems like we are no longer in the Asian loop but more in a SEA loop (remember the four tigers or four dragons moniker we used to be labelled with along with HongKong, Taiwan and Seoul?)

Does that mean we are losing touch with more developed or advanced technologies and know-how? In fact we aren't even in the league of fashion that the other three are in conjunction with Japan.

Like a Malaysian hair dresser commented the other time: :Why is Singapore so conservative (and I take it he doesn't mean loosening up on decency or morals when we already have casinos, bar-top dancing, topless shows, men's clubs and brothels galore) when it isn't even Moslem like we are?"

The Ball Is Now In Your Court, So Move It
Talking of which I remember a segment of last night's show where a Last For One B-Boy crew threw a baseball to a Caucasian in the audience. He looked a lot like a scientist or something. Maybe someone engaged in stem cell research?

It was symbolic in that it seemed to point to the fact that the ball is now in his court.

So move it!

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Spin Odyssey - B Boys (Last For One)

Save My Neck And My Upper Back Please
I just wanted to kick myself real hard in the face. Except that I couldn't of course. With that implant sitting tightly right inside the pupil of my eye, I daren't. In fact I have been warned not to stoop or lift heavy weights for some weeks to come.

I haven't been stretching, running or gymming and I just feel so lousy. With a stiff aching neck and upper back, I don't feel hunky, just sulky. I really wanna get back to my usual exercise routine. But with what I have scheduled for next week, it is gonna be a couple more weeks.

The wait will be worth it, I hope.

How Do You Feel Knowing An Implant Is Inside You?
My once cataracted but now operated eye makes me vulnerable. With an eye shield worn over it immediately post-operatively, I signal to the world that I have an ailment, so keep away. No balloons in my face. No shoving and pushing. No horse plays. No nothing.

Without it, like I did the first day after the op, nobody is the wiser. I look as normal as the next guy except maybe for the initial stumble, occasional glancing down and some slow unsteady steps. Was it the vision (yes certainly) but it was also in part the confidence and the psychology.

How do you feel knowing that an implant is inside your eye?

I pray the vision is more the undercorrection (undercorrection is always better than overcorrection, no?) which can easily be remedied with a new pair of glasses or contacts.

Or does moi really have to get used to the newly acquired vision?

Gays Are A Happy Hedonistic Bunch Of People? LOL
Contrary to popular belief that gays (we are not gay as in the sense of the word of being happy) lead a hedonistic life, I beg to differ.

Speaking for myself, I don't party and sex all the time, do drugs, get high on chem or has absolute peace of mind and no worries.

That is a myth that some anti-gay quarters of society must have planted in the minds of people.

As a gay, I live a miserable life. Secluded and isolated from the mainstream, almost living in the cloak of darkness and stealth, while trying to send out feelers for similarly oriented individuals and in my case mostly in the wrong sectors and always ready to deny our sexual identities, we are shunned and not talked about.

Non-existent and hated even.

We suffer the same tragedies in life as anyone else does. We feel the same pain, the same discrimination, the same love and hate. The same everything everyone feels, so how can we be hedonistic if the rest aren't hedonistic too?

So please do not mislabel us.

What "Kick In Your Face" Thingy Are You Talking About?
Wait you ask. What was it about the first thing I mentioned about kicking myself in the face? I will get back to you on this real soon.

Well with all that has been going on in my life - the endless moves, the cataract, the op, the nightmares, Liz, the China doll, the fat bloke Raymond, Wei Zhao, hey what do you want? An Oscar nominee listing?- I at least had a short 150minutes of happiness tonight.

Short yes and happy too.

I got to watch this hunky crew of mostly gymnastically and acrobatically muscled young men and boys (well almost all are young or boys and almost all are hunky and muscled but hey how do you expect moi to separate the real men from the boys in the space of a few words?)

Ok ok ok. I confess. I skipped the June page of Singapore Calendar Guys 2008. Go on, call me a racist if you want. Why don't you hunt down the sexists and ageists too?

Wait I wear a kimono at home now. Does that make me a kimonist too? Or is that anti-kimonist?
See What An Internet Connection In The Comfort Of Home Can Do? I Get To Switch Universities And Hopefully Get To Gawk At Prettier Boys? Maybe?
There you see. With an Internet connection at home and in the comfort and quiet of home, my blogs shine and I can do my research which accounts for my deciding to switch university except that I am not too sure if this new university will throw up better looking guys than the former. I will have to draw lots on this.

Hot Local Dudes At A Hot Foreign Show
My eyes first trained themselves on this HOT dude wearing a tight green tee. I knew him from the gym and here he was looking fitter, slimmer and sweller.

Then a retinue of other cute hot local young dudes sauntered past the queue outside the Recital Studio and into the studio afterwards.

Spin Odyssey - B Boys (Last For One)
The opening of the show saw two young dudes dressed in black warming up the audience. One was a young man who was to be in drags later (and he looked sexy either as a man or a woman) that cracked me up so much I hadn't laughed for a long time.

Once the show started, I gathered that the odyssey was about Apollo rewarding a victorious troop in the Trojan War with a ball and this adventure took them to a journey through Earth.

The crew was mainly a young one, some hunky, some muscled, most toned and fit and athletic.

The producer has cleverly woven sports like soccer, basketball, baseball and karate (maybe tae-kwon-do, maybe judo, hey I don't know) into the plot which the troop encounters with Earthlings.

These sporty acrobatic and gymnastic moves fit the all-male crew just right.

What follows was a dazzling display of swirls, twirls, hip-hops, hand-stands and youthful energy, vitality and verve.

I thought a set of 3 looked like brothers and yese, they do look like Peng, the hot Chinese tenant at Raymond's. Or is it Peng looking like them? And a set of 2 similarly looked connected.

I can't imagine myself performing all those stunts and that is why I didn't sign up for the workshop. With my implanted ocular condition now, I probably made the right decision.

In fact at one stage a performer was throwing out apples to the audience which got me a little worried that it should hit moi somewhere in the audience.

Towards the end of the show, I was surprised the stars began to be interactive. They ran up to the audience and did high fives. This was when a hunky handsome young male lead slapped palms with moi and I could feel his sweat. Whoa, so close and personal, exhilirating!

And this was when I wanted to kick myself over and over again.

When the show ended and the audience streamed out, the crew had lined themselves outside the exit. I felt the urge to go up and kiss each and every single one of the performer. Hug, embrace and maybe hook up a date?

But I didn't.

Then when the taxi queue got too long, I went back inside again and they were there again! Having a photo-shoot!

I had another stab at chance but I didn't bite the bait.

Fuck you Philip!

More Of Your Ridiculities

Unto Thy Death Does My National Service Do I Part
As I said before, it isn't for the lack of stuff that I do not blog as often nowadays. In fact, every second and every minute there is an issue that crops up and I have just been bottling them up and keeping mom till I CAN'T SHUT MY MOUTH ANYMORE!

So here they are:

O, moi forgot National Service. And today, two of our own trainees have contributed their lives towards their National Service training for the nation.

Two young lives.

Landslide In Timbuktu, Charity Show In Singapore - You Fucking Nosey BusyBody
And yes, fund raising and the works. I say some overseas humanitarian work to help disaster victims is ok.

But to then start a charity show or fund here in Singapore (where the vast majority of us are just struggling by, going on bank loans, etc, etc) to elicit funds is just setting a precedent for every damn disaster that happens abroad that becomes Singapore's nosey business.

You are just spoiling the whole show. Let the business federations and the government who have strategic interests in these countries do the fund raising. It has nothing to do with the citizens.

Common Sense Dictates Less Strenuous And Shorter Field Training Hours During The Heatwave
In these days of the heatwave (and moi knows that the moment he steps out into the sun, he
feels the heat oppression so much, he just can't breathe as well), it makes better sense that physical training is shortened, suspended or made less exhausting.

So at the end of the day, what do Singaporeans get out of this? Nothing.

Let me illustrate:

A Matter Of Tuition Grant - Does This Favor Citizens Any Better Than Foreigners?
I think primary, secondary and junior college education still remain largely affordable unless these are the gifted, IP and IB programmed ones.

Not so for polytechnic and university education. Something more has to be done here to make them more affordable.

The tuition grant is open to both citizens and foreigners. So I don't see how citizens are treated better. Foreigners are tied down to some years of work here to work off this grant and that in fact means direct competition for jobs with our local graduates.

Do you see how wrong this is?

Who Looks After Moi's Dental HealthCare? You?
Moi's set of teeth has endured years of gum diseases, mouth ulceration, toothaches and extraction of the wisdom teeth with all its attendant pain that eats into my head sometimes and now leaves a wide-enough crack between my two front incisors.

Who Looks After My Eyes? You Again?
I am just so afraid of my operated eye now. Anything can go wrong. If it does, what happens?

Who Looks After My Back? You ? Or You?
What if my lumbar compression comes back to haunt moi? What happens then?

Skills?
The hairdressing, hair-brow and beauty/slimming businesses are dominated in a large part by our neighboring country.

I don't see a single shred of up-to-date skill (either the technology or tools are non-existent or it hasn't arrived here yet only because our "talents' aren't schooled in them) anywhere here.

A bunch of con-artists who just wanna offload their products which just in most cases do not do the job they claim to do at all. Like my hair revitalising gel or the face mask.

Food?
I think our food tourism is gonna suffer if that huge eatery of a place just across from the National Library is just serving up junk at bloated prices. It is a touristy place and tourists are gonna go away thinking Singapore food is like that.

There has to be more food control in terms of quality especially when food establishments are within touristy places.

Paying More For Better Nutrition, Products And Services
I don't see it. If the room I am leasing is a newly renovated fully furnished spacious one located within an upgraded precinct maybe. In most cases it is the same run-down places that have their prices jacked up.

Bush, let moi know what other nutritious products one is getting today that he isn't already getting yesterday. Your sperm protein?

Again, they are the same old products selling at inflated prices.

You Have Earned Enough Dudes - Pay Up
For all their worth our top leaders are feeding themselves off Singapore and living as multi-millionaires here in our midst.

It is only right that they who have suceeded through the system that they established in the first place that they should be giving back to society.

Not the rest of us.

Don't Live Life Too Old - Kill Yourself First
I have budgeted my life till 60 or 65. I have no wish to be living past 70, let alone 80 or 85.

Probably top corporate and political leaders would. After all, they are sought after and they are kept on their feet by the challenging, fulfilling and remuneratively lucrative jobs they have created for themselves.

Not so the lowly worker like menial laborers or a humble civil servant for example.

In any case, to totter around at that age, to be in bad health and not have anyone look at you anymore save another similar oldie (O God, who wants another fellow oldie or some sluts or cheapo gold-digger for christ sake) just isn't worth living anymore.

I will just kill myself.

Period.

Post Script : I See Them Almost EveryWhere I Go And The Kinda Side Look They Give Moi Or The Pretence Or The Act Of Innocence
If you think moi is dumb and blind, think three times. I know who your people are planted in my midst.

I can smell them out.

Period again.

I Am Not Benefitting Any From Suggestions To Improving Life Here
For all the improvements that I have blogged about seeing happen here in Singapore, I am not even a beneficiary. Not of the education system, not of owning my own place, not even of waterfront living.

But the rest of Singapore is.

These Are Just Some Examples Of Your Ridiculity And Slaps In Your Face

Board And Alight Only At Taxi-Stands Within The CBD But If No Taxis Drive Through, Then What? Wait For Eternity Or Place A Booking? If So, Then What Is A Taxi Stand For? What Preposterity?
Some months ago (and my research shows this is in December 2007), the transport authority announced measures that more taxi stands will be built in the CBD area so that cabbies will not pick up or alight passengers elsewhere other than at these designated spots.

In fact street hailing is strictly prohibited from 1st March onwards.

However the taxi-stand @Central is located in its basement within the car parking lot and hardly any cabbies wanna drive through that spiral down to a pick-up point. My last visit saw a sole lady passenger waiting at this stand and she had to book a cab anyway.

Booking of cabs at taxi-stands is usual on rainy days but if you have to do this on a normal day, then what is the point of a taxi-stand?

The taxi-stand behind Novena Square (yes, there is one at the front which is frquented), according to the security patrol, hardly sees any cabby driving through. So passengers normally have to hail from outside it.

What is the point again?

Every Singaporean Has Paid His/Her Dues - From Taxes To Bills To Donations To Contributions To Effort And To The Singapore Pool
Let our leaders get this straight into their heads.

Every Singaporean has paid his/her dues. From cradle to grave, nothing is free here. If not in the form of direct taxes, then in the way of indirect taxes like the GST.

If moi wanna asks for a refund of school fees from which moi is reserved a place in this university to transfer to another, the GST and administration fees are non-refundable. The GST works out to the tune of almost 400 bucks.

400 bucks just like that goes into the government coffers.

And every Singaporean has contributed to the building of Singapore.

Look at the kinda places that Singapore Pools have helped build over the years. The Esplanade, the Police Force and the Singapore Sports School.

Preachy Preachers - Scums Of The Earth
Like the Chinese Emperor who says the key to happiness is having less, only after he has everything and that includes a Hall of Mental Cultivation where he keeps a sizable wardrobe and collects other ornaments, it is simply bull.

You ask someone to live in a smaller space but you live in a bungalow. You ask someone to be resilient, but what resilience have you shown? You say to wait for natural evolution only after you have engineered so many others.

I say let us engage in a bout of muay thai and after you have withstood 10 blows without a flinch or a fend-off, hey, you live up to the name of "resilience".

Monday, June 09, 2008

Cataract Yesterday, Almost Perfect Eye Today

What The Heck Is PhacoEmulsification?
My cataract surgery has come and gone.

To be really precise and in exact medical lingo, it was a surgery termed phacoemulsification.

As far as I am concerned, an ultra-uber-advanced-minimally invasive technique of inserting an ultrasound probe, breaking up the opaqued lens and then aspirating it. A 10-15 minute, relatively painless (mild discomfort as the Singapore National Eye Centre's brochure touts it to be) procedure.

My cataract had worsened over a short 6-month period and I knew it had ripened and it was time.

In the days leading to the day of the op, I was agitated and nervous. I had taken to smoking again not because I haven't kicked the habit (it has been a full half a year now remember) but because I was bored, I had itchy fingers and I was under tremednous pressure (moving again after a living nightmare with an unhappy and intrigued family nucleus with the likes of Liz, fat bloke Raymond, his China doll and kid)

To ease my agitation, I shopped till I dropped. Mostly white or black trunky boxers painted in Calvin Klein and Renoma brand names.

Post PhacoEmulsification
It has been almost 10 days now since my surgery. The shading effect of a bright white hue in my good eye contrasted with a gloomy yellow in the cataracted eye on the first day after the op was very, very, very pronunced. This is because of the UV protective nature of the new intraocular implant which has a blue light filter.

This has now become a thing of the past while today, I have to cope with adjusting to what I perceive to be an imbalance between the two eyes which makes ocular orientation slightly skewed.

Two postulates here : (1) the new implant has been undercorrected a full 100 degrees maybe in anticipation of some future changes or for my presbyopian needs or (2) the artificial lens isn't doing its job as well as its former natural counterpart

Research Stem Cell Technology Here AssHoles!
I am beginning to feel like a cyborg and yes I will have to ask doc when I next consult her.

I am afraid ocular surgical techniques have advanced well ahead of intraocular implant technology. I am also fully aware of possible future ocular complications that can occur

In the meantime, lens implant technology has to do a quantum leap in researching better lenses like multifocals in enabling sharper and more focussed vision while all its attendant complications are minimised if not eliminated.

What I Have Learned From This!
You can't wait till your golden years to relish the freedom of economics or the freedom of time! You may not have the good health to enjoy it!

You have to do it today! While you are still young and you have the energy, the vitality and the youth to flaunt it!

I have suppressed myself enough the first half of my life. Due in part to my kinda upbringing! What a sheer waste really! Think: you have only one life, live well.

Live Today Because You May Not Be Able To Or Be Here Tomorrow!
Today, I told myself I have to look my best and youngest possible. That means personal grooming in fashion and looks like my hair. Yes, I am keeping it long forever. You can only do it once in your lifetime, so do it!

I am into Oakleys (and WOW, do they ever come in the most fashionable and best crafted frames and lenses with the right mix of color to boot), basketball jerseys and what have you to look my best!

Aspirations
I am gonna pursue that higher education if not to gawk at guys (sounds like it is gonna be an international pool so it better be good) or make firm friends then to frame and paste that meaningless piece of paper on the wall.

From what I read about its overseas university partner, it sits in very well with the kinda university I wanna be affiliated with (it offers sports science and a 26m pound sports building is coming up in 2010 - the kinda industry I hope to be in) and part of the country I wanna visit one day (castles galore, nature, beautiful sceneries and the biggest man-made lake in the world).

Yes I am gonna finally push for that gym bod! If it means steroids (hopefully it will have none of its purported side-effects) so be it!

And all those new places and parks coming up in Singapore! Those sports and adventure I wanna do and of course those countries I wanna visit!

Don't forget the kinda job I wanna pursue armed with a new found certification (silly and sad as that sounds as I believe education isn't about certification) because of the kinda industries I know I will soar in! Fashion, sports, product design, tourism, education/training and yes SEX and porn.

*Smiles and winks*

Right here and now and not tomorrow.

In the meantime, that elusive thing called love and a place of my own just seem unreachable!

Fuck you motherfuckers!