yeah....Things will only get better

已经很久没有听到潘安邦的消息了，更别说是他的歌。老实说，除了这首以外，我已不记得其它的歌曲了。

晚风轻浮澎湖湾　白浪逐沙滩
没有椰林缀斜阳　只是一片海蓝蓝
坐在门前的矮墙上　一片片怀想
也是黄昏的沙滩上　有着脚印两对半

那时外婆柱着杖　将我手轻轻挽
踩着薄暮走向余晖　暖暖的澎湖湾
一个脚印是笑话一串　消磨许多时光
直到夜色吞没我俩　在回家的路上

澎湖湾　澎湖湾　外婆的澎湖湾
有我许多的同年幻想
阳光　沙滩　海浪　仙人掌
还有一位老船长


也就这么巧在费玉清的节目上听到这首歌。

As much it didn't take a PhD holder to figure out why I normally blog more during the begining or the week, it won't require one to provide the answer.

But seriously, where are the cows? I mean... yeah.. the promotion period is over and the company has decided to take them down. But well, whoever came up with this particular idea defintely did come up with a brilliant one.

From Changi to Jurong, From Woodlands to Telok Blangah, I'm sure you would have seen some of them along the way of major roads and expressway. The impact is defintely there and I'm sure that this entry further attest to the fact that people have taken notice.

One of the reasons I can think of that prompted the company to remove is for public safety. You know when you travel along stretches of roads and you notice the vehicles in front of you suddenly slow down... well you know, or rather you knew that cows were sighted.

Or perhaps to minimise loses. I notice that some stretches of road have been losing their precious moo moos. Well, they ARE cute. However I'm not so sure where would you display them even if you manage to sneak one home. Try displaying it along the corridor? Or just inside your house in the living room. It's pointless to convince others that this moo moo lost its herd and somehow ended up in your house.

I don't think anyone would buy that story. At least I know I won't

It doesn't take a PhD holder to realise that I normally blog more during the begining of the week.

Any explainations for this?

Somehow I woke up.

As I tossed and turned in bed, hoping to get back to sleep, I decided to come online.

What greated me was news of the elected new pope. A video clip showed the famous white smoke coming out of the chimey of the Sistine Chapel and that Chilean Cardinal Jorge Arturo Medina Estevez proclaimation of " Habemus Papam !!"

May he guide us all into a new era.

God bless Benedictvm XVI!

I didn't find out about the decision of the parliament until today. I mean.. I didn't bother to. I can't remember what I was doing yesterday at 1500hr, when the decision was supposedly made. It was on TV , but well.. I don't have a TV set at work. But then again, I have access to the internet. I can always surf into a news site and get the answer.

But I didn't. Yes... no point. It was so obvious right from the beginning. Then again.. kudos to all that were lobbying against a casino... now you have two. The government gave you two.. so in a way, you won!! COngrats!!!

Before one starts asking me if I'm pro or against it, I tell you, that's not the point. Somehow I believe that this decision wasn't made taking into consideration the sentiments on the ground. I'm not pro opposition, or some would say a PAP basher. I'm felt some of the arguements put forward FOR the casino kinda amused me.

--- A survey conducted found only 2% of Singaporeans very prone to chronic gambling?

I'm not sure how did they arrive at this. Would like to take a look at the study? Is that up for viewing?

---Singapore must move on with the rest of the word. We cannot sit and watch the rest of the world overtake us. Even if it means social problems, we must, for the sake of economic gains. We will think of a way to contain it.

GOing by this arguement, what are we going to allow next? Expand our red light district? Encourage more night activities? Allow whore house to advertise lah... make it more competitive mah. Cannot have monopoly... must have more... the more the merrier? What about the social evils huh? Things like unwanted pregancies..STD... divorce cases on the rise.. blah blah blah... Well I'm sure the gahmen will take measures to contain it. Perhaps things like.. free rubber, free pills, free treatment at the clinc at Kelantan Street after 5 sessions.. complimentary ones somemore. As for unwanted pregancies... aiyah.. can help increase the population mah.. so it's contained lor.. hahaha

I know I'm just bullshitting. After all, the government's not building any casino ok.. it's an Intergrated Resort. Now, with a different name, perhaps the conerns of the people were heard. You don't want a casino, you give you an intergrated resort. You don't want a casino, we give you two casinos intergrated resorts.

Was having lunch at a coffee shop opposite a particular Secondary School in Ang Mo Kio. It's one of the few coffee shops that actually have zi char during the day. Love their baby kailan with fish fillet. It can be a little oily though.. but well, it's still a pretty healthy dish if less oil.

I have always enjoyed lunching at this place. Apart from the food, it's always a great joy to see groups of secondary school children having a meal together. I still remember this particular scene whereby a group of 8 students forked out 50 cents each to treat a junior who couldn't afford his lunch. It was defintely heart warming. Or watching teachers reward their students with a meal or two.

But somehow this impression changed.

As the title suggests, yes, it was raining. I won't call it a downpour, however, you won't want to be standing in the rain at this point of time. I wasn't moving my butt, afterall, I don't have an umbrella.

I moved my attention to this particular table. There were some 5-6 adults sitting there. A pretty common sight during lunch hour anywhere, let alone some 30 metres from a school gate. One of them , an Indian lady beckoned a young boy over.

" Could you please go to the office and fetch some umbrellas over?"

Nodding obediently, the boy ran back to school with another friend. After some 3-5 minutes or so, he reappeared, all drenched. Every single inch of his white school shirt was wet. I couldn't see if his shorts were wet too. He handed over the umbrellas to this lady and left.

I looked at the skies, yes it was still raining. I 'm not too sure where these two boys dissappeared to.

I waited till the rain subsided and left. However, before I left, I glanced over to the table. I still see them sitting there, chatting away, with the umbrellas neatly stacked on a chair.

Moulding the future of our nation? Sounds more like exploitation to me.

为了看日出，我常常早起。周围非常清静，船上只有机器的响声。

天空还是一片浅蓝，颜色很浅。转眼间天边出现了一道红霞，慢慢地在扩大它的范围，加强它的亮光。我知道太阳要从天边生起来了，便不转眼地望着那里。

果然过了一会儿，在那个地方出现了太阳的小半边脸，红是真红，却没有亮光。这个太阳好像负着重荷似地一步一步、慢慢地努力上升，到了最后，终于突破了云霞，完全跳出了海面，颜色红得非常可爱。一刹那间，这个深红的圆东西，忽然发出夺目的亮光，射得人眼睛发痛，它旁边的云片也有了光彩。

有时太阳走进了云堆中，它的光线却从云里射下来，直射到水面上。这时候要分辨出哪里是水，哪里是天，倒也不容易，因为我就只看见一片灿烂的亮光。

有时天边有黑云，而且云片很厚，太阳出来，人眼还看不见。然而太阳在黑云里放射的光芒，透过黑云的重围，替黑云镶了一道发光的金边。后来太阳才慢慢地冲出重围，出现在天空，甚至把黑云也染成了紫色或者红色。这时候发亮的不仅是太阳、云和海水，连我自己也成了明亮的了。

这不是很伟大的奇观么？

－巴金

１９２７年１月

前赤壁赋

壬戌之秋，七月既望，苏子与客泛舟游于赤壁之下。清风徐来，水波不兴。举酒属客，诵明月之诗，歌窈窕之章。少焉，月出于东山之上，徘徊于斗牛之间。白露横江，水光接天。纵一苇之所如，凌万顷之茫然。浩浩乎如冯虚御风，而不知其所止；飘飘乎如遗世独立，羽化而登仙。

于是饮酒乐甚，扣舷而歌之。歌曰："桂棹兮兰桨，击空明兮溯流光。渺渺兮于怀，望美人兮天一方。"客有吹洞萧者，倚歌而和之，其声呜呜然：如怨如慕，如泣如诉；余音袅袅，不绝如缕；舞幽壑之潜蛟，泣孤舟之嫠妇。

苏子愀然，正襟危坐，而问客曰："何为其然也？"客曰："月明星稀，乌鹊南飞，此非曹孟德之诗乎？西望夏口，东望武昌。山川相缪，郁乎苍苍；此非孟德之困于周郎者乎？方其破荆州，下江陵，顺流而东也，舳舻千里，旌旗蔽空，酾酒临江，横槊赋诗；固一世之雄也，而今安在哉？况吾与子，渔樵于江渚之上，侣鱼虾而友糜鹿，驾一叶之扁舟，举匏樽以相属；寄蜉蝣与天地，渺沧海之一粟。哀吾生之须臾，羡长江之无穷；挟飞仙以遨游，抱明月而长终；知不可乎骤得，托遗响于悲风。"

苏子曰："客亦知夫水与月乎？逝者如斯，而未尝往也；盈虚者如彼，而卒莫消长也。盖将自其变者而观之，而天地曾不能一瞬；自其不变者而观之，则物于我皆无尽也。而又何羡乎？且夫天地之间，物各有主。苟非吾之所有，虽一毫而莫取。惟江上之清风，与山间之明月，耳得之而为声，目遇之而成色。取之无禁，用之不竭。是造物者之无尽藏也，而吾与子之所共适。"

客喜而笑，洗盏更酌，肴核既尽，杯盘狼藉。相与枕藉乎舟中，不知东方之既白。

Now can anyone tell me what these 3 fruits have in common??

They all start with the letter "L"!!

1) Lime

2) Lemon

3) LULIAN!!!!

DUH~~

Singapore's economic growth slowed in the first quarter to 2.4 percent, official figures showed, although economists said official full-year forecasts of 3.0-5.0 percent remain achievable.

This headlines caught my attention as I surfed through channelnewsasia.com. With another batch of graduates joining the wokforce soon, it's defintely a sign to worry for many.

For those already working, the chances of finding a job are slim, especially if you 're trying your luck in the civil service. Don't have honours degree good honours degree, you can forget about trying. Well of course, if you're prepared to try out temp jobs at a pay scale lower than what you should expecting.

Perhaps there would be a day whereby all of us have to be our own bosses, in order for us to survive? Companies are employing for sure, just look at the papers. However, what are they demanding and what are we demanding? Is there a match or mismatch?

My comapny is employing . It has placed an ad in the papers, for QC inspectors.

Since the moment I stepped into the office, the phone has been ringing non-stop. And as the receipient took down the particulars, I counted. By 11 am, we have recieved closed to 15 phone calls. And you have all sorts of queries. However, the number of Singaporeans that called , well you can count them with a hand.

And you have so many Singaporeans complaining of not being able to get a job. I'm not sure what is wrong here. Is there really such a gross mismatch in terms of expectations ?

It was kind of expected,but when the truth hits in, it just sinks in.

The Roman Catholic community will always remember him. I'm sure the non Catholic community will also remember him as approachable, having met almost every significant leader over the world. His fighting sprit inspired many ; he may have left us, but his care and concern for his follow brothers and sister in the name of God touched many deeply.

News of his death touched not only Catholics from his native Poland to the Americas, from Africa to Asia, but untold numbers of other admirers of one of the most popular and recognizable popes in history.

Not all may agree with his views, but I'm sure all would agree that the world has lost a great man. He has served God well and God has decided that it's time for him to go. May God bless his soul.

Let us pray