Abraham Heschel

The prophet was an individual who said No to his society, condemning its habits and assumptions, its complacency, waywardness and syncretism. He was often compelled to proclaim the very opposite of what his heart expected.

Haruki Murakami

You don’t analyze a dream—you just pass through it. A dream is sometimes healing and sometimes it makes you anxious. A narrative is the same—you are just in it. A novelist is not an analyst. He just transforms one scene into another. A novelist is one who dreams wide awake. He decides to write and he sits down and dreams away, then wraps it into a package called fiction which allows other people to dream. Fiction warms the hearts and minds of the readers. So I believe that there is something deep and enduring in fiction, and I have learned to trust the power of the narrative.

Link

circumcision

this is probably a case of TMI:

the NYT reports that “Circumcision’s Anti-AIDS Effect Found Greater Than First Thought”.

too bad for me.

but i’m not excessively worried. it’s unlikely that i will get any blood transfusion. i don’t do drugs and hate needles. and the other thing is well…

happy

the danes are the happiest people on earth.

the reasons are plenty according to this study but perhaps the most interesting one is that danes have low expectations. a danish professor explains it like this:

“If you’re a big guy, you expect to be on the top all the time and you’re disappointed when things don’t go well. But when you’re down at the bottom like us, you hang on, you don’t expect much, and once in a while you win, and it’s that much better.”

in fact, when the news came that the danes were the happiest people on earth, the newspapers headlines in denmark were:

“We’re the happiest lige nu.”

lige nu means “for the time being, but probably not for long and don’t have any expectations it will last.”

at tony robbins’ date with destiny seminar, we were taught to set small, simple rules for certain values or emotions you want to feel. for example:

I will be happy if:

1) i can smile or laugh at least once a day.

2) i can pet my dog and talk to him.

3) i take a short walk in the morning and breathe the fresh air.

4) i read for 5 minutes every day.

these simple rules work in the same way as having low expectations – easy, manageable and within your control.

and the payoff is huge. but if you want to start enjoying more happiness by trying these methods, don’t expect much.

Harold Bloom

To read in the service of any ideology is not, in my judgment, to read at all.

花樣年華

It is a restless moment. She has kept her head lowered to give him a chance to come closer. But he could not, for lack of courage. She turns and walks away.

She dresses like that to go out for noodles?

如果一個人，自己做得好就夠了。但是兩個人在一起，只有自己做得好是不夠的！

If there’s an extra ticket, would you go with me?

如果有多一張船票，你會不會帶我走?

In the old days if someone had a secret they didn’t want to share you know what they did? They went up a mountain, found a tree, carve a hole in it and whispered the secret into the hole. They they covered it with mud. And leave the secret there forever.

That era has passed. Nothing that belonged to it exists any more.

He remembers those vanished years…the past is something he could see but not touch. And everything he sees is blurred and indistinct.

那些消失了的歲月，彷彿隔著一塊積著塵的玻璃，看得到，抓不著。他一直在懷念著過去的一切。如果他能衝破那塊積著塵的玻璃，他會走回早已消逝的歲月.

gay

on the eve of chinese new year, i told my mum i was going to meet mr. tan for a late movie.

like any good old-fashioned chinese parent, she then asked me not to have homosexual relations with mr. tan.

she shouldn’t worry. i am not inclined to being gay with men.

i much prefer to mourn over women.

sad single depressed no friends miracle

a search engine told someone searching for “sad single depressed no friends miracle” to come to this blog.

i was astonished at how six simple words could so succinctly describe one’s life.

i was a little disappointed that i was only on page 2 on Google’s search engine. hopefully, this entry will be sufficient to rectify that mistake.

The Laws of Simplicity / John Maeda

(49) – In the martial art of karate, for instance, the symbol of pride for a black belt is to wear it long enough such that the die fades to white as to symbolize returning to the beginner stage.

(53) – I was once advised by my teacher Nicholas Negroponte to become a light bulb instead of a laser beam, at an age and time in my career when I was all focus.

(89) – Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful.

John Maeda

Difficult tasks seem easier when they are “need to know” rather than “nice to know”. A course in history, mathematics, or chemistry is nice to know for a teenager, but completing driver’s education satisfies a fundamental need for autonomy. In the beginning of life we strive for independence, and at the end of life it is the same. At the core of best rewards is this fundamental desire for freedom in thinking, living and being.

uncommon dishes

Eat them while you can

YOU can still find these dishes in a handful of places here:

Loh kai yik: A Cantonese dish of chicken wings, chicken liver, fatty pork, pig’s intestines, stomach and skin stewed with nam yu (red fermented beancurd) and garlic, then served with blanched kangkong.

From Loh Mei Specialist, People’s Park Food Centre, 01-1106. Price: $4 to $8. Open: Noon to 8pm, closed on Tuesdays.

Beef tripe and liver satay: Instead of meat, you get marinated tripe and liver that is grilled over charcoal.

From Wedang, B1-28 Golden Mile Food Centre. Price: 50 cents a stick. Open: 5 to 11pm daily.

Seaweed agar agar: Nonya-style agar agar made purely from seaweed, pandan juice and sugar.

From Saint Francis, 117 East Coast Road, only during Chinese New Year. But it is already sold out this year.

Pig’s trotter jelly: Called ter kah tang (chilled pig’s trotters) in Teochew. It is pork and pig’s trotters boiled together, after which the skin releases collagen that turns the mixture into a jelly.

From Ah Orh Seafood Restaurant, Block 115 Jalan Bukit Merah 01-1627. Price: from $8. Open: 11am to 2pm, 5.30 to 9pm daily.

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Almost gone

IT’S hard to find these dishes in Singapore now:

Ter kah mee sua: Vermicelli in soup topped with sliced pig’s trotters, pig liver and kidney.

Satay perut: Beef intestines on skewers.

Jenganan: Like a tofu and vegetable gado gado salad, but instead of a spicy peanut gravy, this salad is tossed with a belacan-based one instead

Kueh keria: A doughnut made with tapioca, then coated with sugar and deep-fried. The sweet potato version is still commonly available.

Hati babi bungkus: Nonya pork liver balls. Balls of liver and minced pork are wrapped in pig’s caul fat then steamed and shallow fried.

Copyright © 2007 Singapore Press Holdings.

William Lim

Today, the architects go to the client’s office and sometimes end up waiting an hour for them. There is no respect for the creative person.

Kim Jong-il and Singapore

On the occasion of Kim Jong-il’s 65th birthday recently, the world media, citing official North Korean media sources, took the opportunity to remind us of this man’s amazing achievements.

Some tributes:

For previous birthdays, North Korean official media have reported on the “Wonders of the February holiday” that included sunrises so brilliant, frost exploded with the sound of firecrackers, rainbows appeared and frozen lakes thawed with such a noise that it caused mountains to shake…

Kim was quoted as saying he has never had a night of comfortable sleep because of the days and months he spends giving field guidance to factory workers, farmers and troops…

“His profound knowledge in electronic engineering made the scientists listening drop their heads in humble respect,” official media said…

Here in Singapore, we are similarly blessed with great leaders, who recently announced a Budget that will surely thrust the country forward in great leaps and bounds. This is what a highly-respectable, award-winning newspaper says about the Budget, under the headline, “Govt shows its capitalist head, socialist heart”:

“A CAN-DO Budget with buzz.”

“Mr Tharman turned a traditionally dry fiscal policy speech into a mini National Day Rally”

“Mr Tharman’s enthusiasm for the benefits that globalisation can bring was infectious.”

“I never thought I would hear a minister from the anti-welfare People’s Action Party say it, but there was Mr Tharman yesterday committing the Government to long-term income support for the able-bodied”

“Mr Tharman grew misty-eyed recalling her grit and quoting her words: ‘Whatever I can do, I will do. And whatever I do, I will try to do well.’”

“Call Budget 2007 the can-do Budget: when Singapore showed it dared to surf the tidal waves of globalisation and provide permanent lifeboats for those overwhelmed by the rising tide.”

I see many similarities in both countries. I’m not sure we have diplomatic ties with North Korea. We should. We should start building ties by having an exchange program for journalists and media practitioners.

Then again, maybe we already have.

6.5 million diet plan

at the lower end of what are supposedly food establishments, the quality of food has gone to hell.

which makes you want to pay more for better food or prepare your own. paying more is no guarantee unless it’s a lot more and even then, you hope and pray.

my problem here is i have limited cash and less than limited ability in the kitchen. still food is important.

after many hours of thinking outside the tummy, i have worked out my ultimate diet plan. i’m calling it the 6.5 million diet plan, in recognition of the Govt’s brilliant plan to increase the population to extreme levels which means surely more bad food for more people.

6.5 million diet plan

Breakfast – Fruits only (no chance of human screwup)

Lunch – Weak soupy stuff like noodle soup / yong tow foo (minimise chance of human screwup)

Dinner – Salad (no chance of human screwup and idiot like me can prepare) and POWER DESSERT.

Lunch, of course, is the ultimate danger since it runs the risk of human screwup but if it doesn’t work out, i’m prepared to make healthy turkey sandwich.

But the rest is a risk-averse, human avoiding, away-from-the-crowd kind of approach to eating. I can shop once a week for some of this stuff, maybe even get a delivery service going.

as you can tell, the POWER DESSERT is the heartbeat of the whole meal since the rest will taste like crap. these are the exciting options- ice-cream (Gelare, Häagen-Dazs, NZ Natural), cakes (awfully chocolate), durians, potato chips (Kettles, Tai Sun Wasabi), waffles.

you may find this a little extreme, just like the 6.5 million population plan which promises a premium lifestyle for a small majority (i have an ocean view, i can employ cheap masses, i can go back to my own country should things go bad) and miserable madness for the rest of us.

there will come a time when the POWER DESSERT will be all that you live for.

love yourself

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.

- Marianne Williamson

crazy women

thanks to the marvelous wonder that is science, i finally found the answer to one of life’s great mysteries -

why am i surrounded by crazy women?

from work, to my neighbourhood, to my best girlfriends, the whole lot are truly crazy. my guy friends, on the other hand, are quite normal.

except for mr. tan.

A study released recently, found that:

“A chemical in male sweat can boost mood, brain activity and sexual arousal in heterosexual women.”

now, as far as i know, i’m the sweatiest person around and that explains why all the straight women in my life are crazy.

i drove them crazy.

my shame

at what was supposed to be one of the highlights of my adult life, i went up on stage to receive a prize during my university convocation from a very important business leader, hailed by the World Economic Forum as one of the top 40 “New Asian Leaders”.

i shook his hand and he congratulated me enthusiastially. my peers were there, my mom was there. all in all, a glorious day.

this week, this same gentleman was expelled from the Chinese Communist Party. Not the worst thing that can happen to him considering he’s serving a 4 year jail sentence at Changi Prison.

he wasn’t a very honest man, i’m afraid.

his shame is my shame. i haven’t told my mom yet. she still thinks i’m brilliant.

Milan Kundera

All we can do in the face of that ineluctable defeat called life is to try to understand it.

***

The novel alone could reveal the immense, mysterious power of the pointless.

no new love

blame it on hormones or the imminent Valentine’s Day, but i reached out for a book of Pablo Neruda’s poetry to read on the 7.33 train that brings me to work.

reading it reminded me that when it comes to the all-too-familiar topic of love, so much has been written about it that it’s difficult (not impossible) to be original.

despite having been in love and very much still loving, i only have one original wholesome thought about love:

most days i feel unloved, unattractive and somewhat impotent. but at a bookstore like Borders, i feel like all the women there want to ravish me here and there, there and there. it’s a mystery but i definitely feel a lot more confident and lovable in a bookstore. even sexy.

in fact, my one wholesome fantasy is to see Scarlett Johansson in Borders reading Norwegian Wood and she turns around and says to me All you have to do is stay with me like this all the time.

deep in the box

“Whenever you see someone say, “I like to think outside the box,” you know that they are so deeply in the box that they’ll never get out.” – Michael Lewis

I’m in total agreement. It’s like the guy who keeps saying, “I want to get laid,” never gets laid, unless of course, he pays for it.