Chinese New Year 2006...

I was amazed today at the empty streets around Bukit Timah up to Bukit Batok. Never have I seen the streets so empty from traffic and people.

It has been 11 years since I spent my Chinese New Year in Singapore. And yet for some bizzarre reason, my family decides to fly to Thailand for a Holiday when I am trying to have Chinese New Year in Singapore for the 1st time in 11 years and I am somewhat left behind.

I have never seen shopping malls completely closed except for a few food outlets, Guardian Pharmacy and Watson's open. Even Sakae Sushi was closed! Yes, I was actually at West Mall since I had nothing to do.

Everyone had their families to spend their Chinese New Year with, even in Coffee Bean & Delifrance and well... I am still figuring out as to why my folks are all in Thailand except me.

Hell, I can't be bothered much about it further. Guess I will never have the opportunity to celebrate Chinese New Year properly.

If you are asking about relatives, well I have no relatives in Singapore. The nearest ones are somewhere in Malaysia and the rest are all over the world. So there you go, no relatives to spend Chinese New Year with either. I have absolutely no intention on barging into any of my friend's family affairs, so I guess that sums it up for me this Chinese New Year.

Have a good one everyone :)

p.s: It just got me thinking about my Chinese New Year in 1993 after I walked past a funeral. My deepest sympathy goes out to them, when people are celebrating away, they are in deep mourning.

In 1993, my grandma had passed away during the 3rd day of Chinese New Year, and in that very same year, 2 more of my relatives passed away. Although I did not know them well at all, it was like before I could get over the grief for one, another came and another...

Damn, now I am depressed.

My Life Revolves around...

1) Giordano Clothes - I can rarely and I do mean rarely, find t-shirts that can fit my shoulder width other than Giordano. I have tried almost every brand there and really... I have no luck. The closest luck I have had so far, is shoulders that fit, but not my arms. Singapore really needs more than XL shirts.

2) Bata Shoes - They seem to be the only ones who have the sense in importing size 12 shoes and above. Although only 2 outlets of theirs have it only, it beats most shops! I can barely find sandals or shoes. If I do find any ones beyond Bata, I have to go for shoes and sandals that have crazy prices with only 1 or 2 models that I can choose.


This is driving me nuts.

I can barely EVER shop in Singapore.

On another note, Happy Chinese New Year to all :)

Catching Up...

Finally, I am back to doing some entries. Laptop seems to be quite stable now, but it seems to have slowed down. I will figure on formatting the HDD all over after I get to backup everything. And I have quite a fair bit to catch up on. I have drafts sitting there, half done or barely done. I kinda lost my trail of thought for them actually. Guess I will try to catch unto those trails again.

Speaking of which, I recently caught up with 2 old friends who were both back in town for these couple of weeks.

C, is German and D is English (well he is half-Irish technically speaking). The both of them flew back from UK together with C's girlfriend and we were gathered at D's home in Singapore as his folks reside here.

There was plenty of beer to go around, C brought some and D has an entire normal sized fridge dedicated to beer (yea, it's absurd.) But ack, if I could drink that much beer, I would be very happy. Unfortunately, I must profess that I am not an avid Tiger Beer fan nor a fan of canned/bottled beer like them :p

I mean, give me Erdinger or Kilkenny from the tap anytime, but just not Tiger or any beer in canned/bottled form (I think I will get murdered by them for just saying that... heh) Well, since I am not drinking on a consistent basis like them (D wakes up in the morning and goes for beer immediately), I guess it is not too bad to have a can, once in a while. I am in fact, a terrible beer drinker although I used to do a fair bit of hard liquor. But those were younger days.

At any rate, we were catching up over some lost time, discussed over several things that happened recently and others, including the hanging of the drug trafficker from Australia. I was surprised by their views, the both of them had actually agreed that he should be hung.

Why surprised? Well I was quite expecting them to advocate some form of human rights and non-violence or even the morality of it. They were and maybe are still pretty wild. C was talking about some german girl who was caught not too long ago for drugs in Singapore and got fined or something (I cannot remember the exact details as I did not remember about this incident), said that she was now in UK doing the very same thing. Selling Drugs, being a Drug Peddlar.

And for that C felt that anyone who sold drugs should even be hung as well. My view was somewhat similar, except that I felt the law should be expanded to cover beyond heroin. Drugs, that are meant for "pleasure" are destructive in many more forms that some might even realize.
Time has change and in this age, it is really beyond heroin, cocaine, weed and marijuana. Synthetic drugs should be tackled as well.

I know that there will be always people who disagree with it, but to me, these matters are quite subjective when it comes to personal feelings. We must of course, at the end of the day, consider the objective of any matter at hand. I will not be going further into these issues as I know that there have been repeated discussions about death sentences and so forth. There will always be those that advocate for it, are against it or are fine with either.

People, just please stay clear of drugs. Although there are things out there that can cause even more misery for people, by people and through people themselves. A good step to keeping things from turning worse, stay clear of drugs.

Spyware, Adware, Malware... Underware?

Alright, I know it has been days since I've updated from the supposed "Update later tonight" entry. My wireless connection to my modem got knocked out.

This is all thanks to my laptop being hit by some annoying Adware and Malware (Trojan). Spyware of course, is always there if you use IE.

It took me ages to weed out the stupid things and I am still trying to, as of now, getting my internet connection to work properly. My Winsock2 apparently got whacked on top of all things, which in a way I was thankful as there was no access for the author of the trojan to access my laptop since my laptop became disabled in a way.

I had Spybot-Search & Destroy, Ad-aware, ZoneAlarm Professional and NAV installed, YET the confounded Trojan and his buddy adware managed to infiltrate my system! The adware actually hijacked my toolbar and kept popping up annoying messages...

There I was, cringing everytime I saw a new pop-up with some error or ad message, trying so hard to save my 4 year old laptop with some precious data in it. Countless cups of Coffee and Tea, absent-mindedly scooping a big spoon of Chilli Padi unto my fried rice that triggered of the fire alarm after taking a huge mouthful of it. All that stress and pain over these lines of code.

All thanks to Adware and Malware.

Authors of these programs... I am beyond words as to what I would do to them if I can lay my hands on them...

Will update once my laptop stabilizes.

Aftermath of the BlogQuake... The Blognami!

The most recent happening in the blogsphere has taken the entire scene like a Tsunami from an earthquake, which I hearby pen and name it as The Blognami. The usage of this analogy is just to show how much an effect that this entire incident have had on bloggers and in no way is meant to be an insensitive comparison to the actual Tsunami.

This is a brief followup before I start another entry later tonight. I have abandoned my previous draft entry all together which spoke on various issues that had nothing to do with this entire matter. Most probably when the aftershocks are settled down, I will start on it again.

Sandra has spoken recently about the debacle that had happened. http://sandrapowerpuff.blogspot.com/2006/01/through-my-eyes.html

From what it seems, she is apparently not behind the blog site with accordance to her claim.

I have my own analysis to the situation given the circumstantial evidence, which now includes a written statement by a witness. Please note that however, it is ONLY an assumption:

1) The Site was definitely created by one of the 3 ladies.
2) If you cancel out one, assuming that S has given a truthful statement, it leaves only 2 persons possibly behind it.
3) Both X & SC are unusually, in fact extremely quiet about the entire matter.
4) X is supposedly the mastermind behind the site due to the evidence found in bloglines due to some identity switch bungle up. http://www.bloglines.com/preview?siteid=2044082
5) Now, X cannot and will not b*tch about this entire matter on her own blog, even though it has blown up in her face. This is simply that she will not allow her readers to find out what has happened and or any of her 20,000 to 50,000 readers to gain knowledge about it. It would be in fact, drastic towards her imagery and put her forward to admitting about this fiasco.
6) I have no explanation to SC's silence.
7) It seems that after what has been exposed, the site interestingly declares that there are 3 authors, namely the ladies behind it. And it was ONLY a JOKE to use XLX's identity as the editor.

Based on the above, I would say that the Mastermind is now scared about what has happened and is trying to drag others into the matter as well, although she might be actually acting alone WITHOUT the knowledge of these supposedly "other" authors.

So there we have it, a classic scenario where someone does something wrong and tries to pin the blame on others or rather, create a situation that has everyone who met her that night, drown with her in the furor of things ("I shall not die alone!")

Maybe we should have expand the scope of the law on the following found in our Penal Code and have it revised further:

Cheating by personation.
416. A person is said to “cheat by personation”, if he cheats by pretending to be some other person, or by knowingly substituting one person for another, or representing that he or any other person is a person other than he or such other person really is.

Maybe this should be made the equivalent of Online Identity Theft. Individuals with nicknames online could be identified as legal entities if they are willing to come forth and register themselves. This would allow them to legally protect themselves if required. This is of course, just generally speaking in which the framework or infrastructure has to be worked out. But note that it is both theft and cheating in this situation. Stealing XLX's identity and Cheating the Public on who the author might be.

I mean, there is:

Criminal intimidation by an anonymous communication.

507. Whoever commits the offence of criminal intimidation by an anonymous communication, or by having taken precautions to conceal the name or abode of the person from whom the threat comes, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 2 years, in addition to the punishment provided for the offence by section 506.

Online threats, emails and other forms of communications are included. So why only nail threats and not theft? Afterall, theft is something that was committed and threats are only intentions.

The following would apply to the drawings found on the site:

Word or gesture intended to insult the modesty of a woman.

509. Whoever, intending to insult the modesty of any woman, utters any word, makes any sound or gesture, or exhibits any object, intending that such word or sound shall be heard, or that such gesture or object shall be seen by such woman, or intrudes upon the privacy of such woman, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.

I have no idea if this section or clause would apply for the incident pertaining to the drawings found on the sight and the specific reference to an individual.

Maybe BM can make a police report on the outrage of modesty online at a nearby Police Post and let's see what happens? It would be most interesting.

Honestly though...

This matter will eventually die down, just like the NKF saga.

Bloggers will continue with their lives, the culprit will try as hard as she can to be a "celebrity" and this will be just news.

Why you might ask?

Well, there is no such thing as Justice in this World :)

Caught in the Act...

IF you want to do something with an agenda that was devious, evil, sinister, criminal or anything else, please do it surreptitiously. Try not to bungle it up in the process of things too ;)

I was actually working on a new entry for my blog when recently, there wasn a flurry of actions happening suddenly between a "celebrity blogger", http://xialanxue.blogspot.com and http://blinkymummy.blogspot.com with regards to a hate site set up against BlinkyMummy recently at http://weloveblinkymonkey.blogspot.com/ (Disclaimer: Due to references of the female genitalia in the site, please do not visit it if you find that you are unable to accept such entries online. It is indeed very offensive. Parental Guidance is Advised. But if you do read the site, do note that the site conveniently creates a link to the "celebrity blogger" and seems relatively geared to the "celebrity blogger" instead of hating another despite it supposedly be a Hate BM site.)

The incident all begun with the new "hate site" owner impersonating as Xialanxue and this entire matter now is known as the XX - The Exposé (http://xialanxue.blogspot.com/2006/01/xiaxue-expos.html)

While reading the earlier entries by the real Xialanxue about the impersonation incident, I thought it might not be that particular "celebrity blogger" that created the site and possibly be a friend's of her or even someone who is childish enough to try and start a flame war amongst them. With the internet and annoymous identities nowadays, anything seems possible. Not to also mention the mentality of kids.

With that said, I actually gave the benefit of the doubt to the "celebrity blogger" (although she will most probably say, Who needs YOUR benefit of the doubt? Or something that tries to put her as someone above the rest.) as I do believe in the theory of "Innocent until Proven Guilty."

As much as many might say, hey this is a HATE XX site, you will brand her guilty that's for sure! I think it is a little inappropriate for my blog to be categorized as one.

Hate for starters, is a very very strong word and I do not personally know this "celebrity blogger" in real life or person, have any form of rivalry, or even have some previous family generation after generation kind of hate story (although if we both did go for a job interview to be a Mascot, I would most probably get hired as I think she is a tad too short to be one or wear any costumes. Well I mean, they would require the Mascots to see where they are going yea?).

I do however, reject her views and have some strong criticisms against them. But what is there really to hate, I have no answer for that. Some people will most probably mix up the subject on rejecting her views and hating her.

Nonetheless, with regards to her Mascot entry, I think it takes quite a fair bit to be a real mascot to people and even more to work as one. It is however demeaning to use these people as part of an insult as they do their work with sweat and hard work to keep children happy while masquerading around in a costume that weighs maybe 10 to 20 kgs? There is absolutely nothing wrong in working as one, it is a honest job.

But if you idolize me anyway, sure! I can be your personal mascot! Hehe :)

Never mind the fact that she decided to put up an entry about people who hates her, hate sites, mascots and most probably included me as part of that group mentally, as there is a very thin line differentiating between hating her and rejecting her views. Both of them, submit her equally to criticisms. It seems that the entry was to be used as some form of cover to create some form of imagery. Seems rather political doesn't it? It is almost like running for some sort of post.

*Shrug* maybe the traffic for the "celebrity blogger" has been dipping recently after the racist entries and her latest entries. (I guess you do have to execute some form of marketing plan if you find a popularity dip ;)

In summary, recent developments now have exposed this "celebrity blogger" to be the perpetrator of the impersonation, as evidence show in:

http://blinkymummy.blogspot.com/2006/01/why-like-that.html
http://xialanxue.blogspot.com

I will leave it for everyone to decide on your own verdict or sentencing :)

Seriously, I now really know who buys their brains off E-bay or Yahoo Auctions ;)

Now picture this:

Someone is scrambling around in a craze to have evidence eliminated and have some things re-edited.

That wasn't too hard was it? But I guess it was really hard trying to switch identities without forgetting it ;)

p.s: My mind was wandering all over as I typed this entry. Pardon the lack of structure in my entry.

Blogs that I read...

After some dabbling with HTML, it has finally brought back some very basic knowledge that I managed to learn during a crash course on it. That course was almost a decade ago.

However, when I mean basic, it is... well... below fundamentals. Anything beyond that bit that I know, is all through trial and error :P

Damn, I just discovered that the words "Recent Posts" and "Archives" are not done using font types but graphics. No wonder I could not replicate them at all. Yes I know it sounds stupid, but back in the earlier days of HTML, such text are usually done by determining the font type.

Pardon the major rusty HTML version 0.* knowledge :P

So there you go, the section on Blogs I Read have a completely different font. I guess it is not that bad for a try. Importantly, it is up and running!

I have written to a few bloggers who's blog I read, for permission to link up to them and have so far managed to establish permission from the ones that you are looking at so far :)

Meanwhile, have a great weekend!

Edit: Do take the time to read up some of their blogs as they are really good at what they do ;)

Flabbergasted and more shocking revelations...

To all 12 to 16 year old children or teenagers, please do not ever fall in harm's way while trying to find out what a Big O is.

It is amazing what can really come from someone who does not have anything much to blog about. Maybe, it would be good sometimes not blog about anything if they really have nothing to blog about.

I mean, get this. Based on the theories established so far by a reowned blogger, I see the following:

1) It is right to be a racist... wait I mean it is not right to be a racist although I made racist remarks, made my blog entries like a true racist and I am not going to be apologetic about it. I am peace loving alright? So, down with racism! I shall edit my post now to be a non-racist and therefore defining that I am not one!

2) The key to solving molestation is to BAN foam aerosol sprays and all molestors are definitely Foreign Workers from the regions of India & Bangladesh (East Bengal if you like). So if the government bans all foam aerosol sprays this year and keep ALL Foreign Workers away from any celebrations, I am sure no one will get molested and if anyone gets molested, it is definitely done by a Foreign Worker in disguise and somehow managed to sneak in. Or wait, was it someone who resembles them?

3) While it is Right to be a Racist, Wrong to be molested, it is now Right to talk about what little 12 year old girls are missing out on! The BIG O! I mean, here is a person who does not want to have women molested, but yet want little 12 year old girls and above to be curious about what is this great and wonderful thing that they are missing out on! ALL 1,664 times of it! Maybe I can pay for each one of it in the form of 1 cent coins and have it all made affordable for me! THAT's the price I would pay! Now... I just have to find 1,664 1 cent coins to use! Teenage boys cannot give it to me, maybe I should go find some adults to know what this BIG O is all about.

With the above, I am just flabbergasted about point number 3. One moment there was the advocating of Preventing Molestation and the next moment, 12 year old girls are missing out on 1,664 orgasms. So if these 12 year olds have no idea how to attain one and are really curious about this thing that is of such importance to a "celebrity", surely it is definitely fine afterall it was put up on the blog for everyone to see, including all 12 year olds (in case if there is any lack of knowledge about the educational system here, primary school children go online too.) who read her blog for entertainment with their young impressionable minds.

And if it sets some 12 year olds and maybe slightly above, to find out about it and expose themselves to the danger of being molested or even raped in the process of it, who will answer for it? I have no wish to hear the first children or gang children rape cases happening in Singapore like what I have heard from UK. Imagine hearing this: "Oh uncle uncle... what is a Big O? Can you show it to me?"

Surely someone who just advocated about Preventing Molestation, has much more sense to move into such an area.

Beyond that, this shall be the 2nd image I will put up which also caught my attention.



This comment made by her, was absolutely personal and below the belt. I will not venture on the area of vagina insertion when it is dry or if the girl's story was even true. It is all dogmatic to me.

But asking someone who did not agree with her dogmatic views to go finger his or her own mother and see the results is unspeakable.

The person is basically implied inter-alia to:

1) Have a mother that would even allow that.
2) The commentor to be some crazy sexual predator.
3) And is associated to be a molestor because he or she rejected her views.

I have absolutely no idea what she has tried to solve, is solving or has done to solve anything.

Racist entries do not solve anything to begin with.

A petition to ban foam aerosol sprays is not a solution either as molestation is not limited to that particular item. Yes, give her credit for attempting to do it, but it is more to just foam sprays, foreign workers and a not-so-well written petition that resolves such social problems. It is not even close to being a social safeguard or guideline.

My sympathy goes out to all the victims. But there are better ways to approach this matter.

I am not against her as a person since she is entitled to her own views and has every right to stand by them.

Likewise, I am entitled to my own views about such views.

Edit: I just read the atrociously written petition, in which somehow the standard of writing dropped suddenly from the usual entries. Again, it is being insisted inside that ONLY MALE FOREIGN WORKERS bought those sprays and are solely responsible for the spraying. So, therefore no Singaporeans bought those sprays I suppose?

Fiddling around further...

I have just managed to add Sitemeter to my blog!

For some reason, Firefox 1.5 does not seem to work too well with Sitemeter in creating an account for me and well, I had to switch to Explorer to get it going.

Is there anything else I should be adding to my new blog?

Feel free to share it with me!

I just simply wonder...

This shall be my very first entry in my blog, which I have created today after reading through a blog of another blogger.

It has been utmost disturbing for me over the last few days in which how irresponsible some bloggers can be with their comments and views.

In recent, I was reading a racist if not seditious entry by a certain blogger who has claimed renowned fame in the blogsphere. The entries were definitely edited after an outcry by some people and I think she may have realised the trouble she was getting herself into, by such seditious postings. And interestingly, there was moderation for comments that were to be left on her blog.

From the opportunity I had in reading the most recent ones, it is quite certain that she had only allowed comments that glorified or else, pointed to her that she was supposedly going in the right direction, be published and anything close to opposing her views were interestingly missing. Some of the comments in which I believe, were made by people who never had the chance to read the Original Entries. While the blog may be hers, the method in moderating comments leaves much to be desired.

Say for example, I make a post that was racist and seditious, re-edit the thing and then let comments that applaud my post be shown only. This would definitely allow people to think that whatever was done and written was correct. Thus forming sub-conciously in the minds of the young and gullible that it is right to be racist. Nevermind that you make another post to plea that you are not racist, it was not racist or provide any further explanation when there is the state of denial that the message in the entries were wrong in the first place. It takes courage to admit mistakes and yet in this instance, the blogger still thought she was right.

While the main topic was to be circulated around molestation by the opposite gender and foam sprays, multiple comments and references were directed at Indians, Bangladeshis and other Foreign Workers. This can be substantiated by her earlier reference of calling them Banglas in which it was edited later to a more subtle and politically correct term of Foreign Workers along with things such as not going into a club if it was filled with them. The photos that were posted were all of individuals that might have been related to that of those nationalities. Interestingly, the photos were only targeted at them and not any individuals from a Caucasian lineage or other lineages.

1) Is this not clearly racism?
2) Are Caucasians or people of other nationalites that work here, not "Foreign Workers" as well?
3) Are they also not capable of committing crimes as such?
4) By constantly berating away about them online with photo reference, does it not form an impression that these people are supposedly the "criminals"?

I have witnessed more unruly behaviours by other nationalites beyond Foreign Workers. It is not right to molest, but neither is it right to rub the idea of only Indians, Bangladeshis or other Foreign Workers who resemble them, being the perpetuators of trouble.

This form of stereotyping is extremely foul in my opinion. I have met and spoken to several Indians and Bangladeshis in Singapore who take up roles as labourers here. I have to admit that I was surprised that several of them were University Graduates who had no job opportunities in their own countries and were desperate to take on any job that was available to them. These are also the people who have contributed to the growth of Singapore.

It also seems that there was an much earlier post that was done about Malaysians, Religion and Malays made by this blogger. It was subsequently edited as well despite her famous line of "I will NEVER edit my post due to editorial integrity." While this might not have been the exact words, but it was definitely close to it.

Regardless of Nationality, Molestation is wrong;

Reckless Spraying of Aerosol Foam is wrong;

Racism is wrong;

Blogging like a person who recklessly sprays Aerosol Foam is just as wrong too.


The cycle of :

1) Posting something wrong;
2) Editing the post to make it sound right for people who have read it and allow people to read the edited version only;
3) Claiming that everyone agrees with her by moderating comments;
4) Be angry or sad that people do not share her views;
5) Receive support from people who have been severely mislead;
6) Come out stronger and make more irresponsible postings.

is severely disgusting.

I understand the freedom of expression and the right to talk so on etc. Who wouldn't want to enjoy that freedom?

But being responsible about it, is something that everyone should learn as well. The term "Freedom of Expression" should not and never be abused or it might eventually be taken away.

I tolerate loud expressions and many things beyond. But I cannot tolerate the representation by deluded people who think that they are a celebrity and yet never worked a single day in becoming one. Oh yes, living a lifestyle like one too and starting to put themselves above the rest.

Meanwhile, I shall be fiddling around with the controls in this new enviroment!


Edit: You might want to read the recent report by ChannelNewsAsia today about the molestation. It is a little ambiguous as the comments made are not confirmed victims as they might not be 1 of the 8 reported victims. But it has been indicated that they are of various races.

So there you go.

Be safe people!