My World Is Mine

Somehow, I have the nagging feeling that the poem is fake. To be honest, I put that up despite not being able to corroborate that the poem actually exists.

Well, for the fun of it. I won't be held responsible for this, whether or not it is geunine.

True, however, was my giddiness which started three days before the actual Sichuan earthquake. And after the quake, I began to feel better.

I wonder why I am not that accurate about striking lottery for myself.

I mean, if I said, Al, Fraser, I have this weird feeling. I think you're going to win US$20 million this weekend. I wonder if Al and/or Fraser would go out and buy a ticket just for the fun of it because they read this. And I wonder what would happen if they really struck the lottery as I foretold.

I bet if Al and/or Fraser did buy and won, my blog would explode. I bet then that everyone would want me to name them for striking lottery...

1.25 snow disaster = disaster of the heavens
3.14 Tibetan independence = man-made disaster
5.12 earthquake = disaster of the lands

1+2+5=8
3+1+4=8
5+1+2=8

The Olympic Games 08.08.08 are away from for 88 days.

When it happened is a afternoon 2.18 point .8 suffix.
What happened is a 7.8 magnitude of earthquake .8 suffixes.

China has the superstition that 8 is a propitious digit. Actually when one reviews history, most inauspicious matters are related to the digit 8.

We thought frequently 8 means "prosperous" (or a direct translation means good tidings occur). However, what "tidings" have really occurred?

A Li Bai's actually foretold the happening in a poem he wrote:
The first words of the 4 verses read: Beijing Olympic Games
whereas the last words of the corresponding lines read: Sichuan earthquake.

- Bad English courtesy of BabelFish; decision to use the bad English is mine.

1.25 雪灾=天灾
3.14 藏独=人祸
5.12 地震=地灾
1+2+5=8
3+1+4=8
5+1+2=8

奥运会 08.08.08 距离88天。

事发时间是下午2点18分，8后缀。
发的是7.8级地震，8后缀。
中国有迷信传统，说8是吉祥数字。
其实回顾历史，很多事情都和8有关，而且是不好的。
我们常常认为8是"发"，反问下，到底"发"出来的是什么。

李白的一首诗

北幕苍山兰州四，
京无落下缀清川；
奥年叶落缘分地，
运水微漾人却震。

李白早知道【北京奥运，四川地震】。

Snafu, tarfu, toufu. Fido, dido, libido. Bleh!

FIDO - Forget It-Drive On
FUBAR - Fucked Up Beyond All Repair/Recognition
FUBB - Fucked Up Beyond Belief
FUMTU - Fucked Up More Than Usual
JANFU - Joint Army-Navy Fuck Up
TARFU - Things Are Really Fucked Up
SNAFU - Situation Normal: All Fucked Up
FUBAB - Fucked Up Beyond All Belief

A new cliche I learned:

I tenderly and lovingly smother each script liberally with X O sauce.

Doesn't it sound like I'm really ready for my own cooking show?

The set of Vectors lecture notes sat on my table. I flipped through it nonchalantly.

It'll be the second time this year I'm running the full Vectors package to another class.

I guess that's part and parcel of teaching. But while teachers teach the same topics around the same time when they are teaching the same level and stream, I straddle across two different levels of students offering different syllabi for their national examinations.

But one good thing has come out of this: Because I don't teach the same topic ad nauseam over a short period of time, I guess I'll have more enthusiasm.

Interestingly, there was too much bee hoon (rice noodles) compared to laksa gravy at the promotion treat today. Hard to eat plain, dry rice noodles without the gravy!

And there was really not quite enough food. For instance, the yam ring ran out before most of us managed to get any.

But as the vice principal said, "We thank Lord for providing the feast we are going to have despite the global shortage of food yadah yadah yadah." So, apparently, we should be happy that there is food at all. However...

Eh, I think the 20 promotees paid for the meal lah!

The lemon balm leaves make an excellent infusion when you steep them in hot water. I got flavoured water which tasted like lemon grass tea.

I now can make lots of it for drinking. To think it costs $2 or more per glass outside! And what you usually get is a coyingly sweet drink with just that hint of lemon grass. Now I can have it often and cheaply and best of all, without the sugar.

My herb garden is indeed an excellent decision!

I "lost" my temper at a bunch of students today. They were part of a history making class where everyone failed math.

I was not so much perturbed by their failure but by their poor attitude, irresponsibility and denial.

Made them write a reflection today. Most were self-critical and honest about what went wrong. A few finally came to terms with what and who they really are. I have no idea how long this sense of urgency would last.

There were still some who chose to hide behind the fact that they had failed math ever since Secondary 1 and they were not confident of the subject. Yet, they failed to come to terms with their difficulties and get their hands dirty when I asked them to try.

Ostriches. That's what they are. Unless they are willing to enter the trenches and get low down and dirty, learning will never take place.

One can't mine a diamond without getting into a hell hole and getting dirty. I wonder when they will understand this simple theory.

这样的一种由自己的心智而决定的人生会给我们每个人开拓出不同的境界。这是什么，这就是生命的觉悟。觉悟这个词是一个佛家用语。大家可以看一看觉悟这两个字的写法很有意思。觉是下面有一个见字。悟是什么？竖心一个吾。也就是说，悟其实是我们的心。觉悟，用我们今天的话说是看见我的心。这种觉悟我们问问自己，终其一生有几个人看见了自己的心。你可以了解真个世界，你可以了解他人。这个世界太难了解就是看见我的心，这才是觉悟。而觉悟在佛家禅宗的开悟中，被描述为两个阶段。觉是一个阶段。比如说你听了某种知识，有一个人跟你说了一句话。所谓醍醐灌顶，突然之间眼界通透，这叫有所觉。但是你长长的一生的修为，遇到任何一个事情做反观内心，去考虑突然之间又明白一点什么。这个长长的感受和如何参化的过程叫做悟。也就是说觉是一个瞬间，悟是一个过程。把所有点的瞬间与长长一生的感受结合起来，你所到达的就是终于看见我的心。这是人生的大觉悟。

于丹心语

She had to pass her N level examinations before she could be promoted to Secondary 5 to complete her O level examinations. Or, with the N level passes, she could have gone over to the Institute of Technical Education, where she could get some form of "tertiary" education. In any case, she had completed her 10 years of mandatory education, stipluated by Singapore law.

Yet, since she had decided to attend Secondary 5, an almost inordinately tough additional year to obtain her O level certificate. One of the reasons for the difficulty is in the difference between the syllabi to be tested at the two years. Another reason, which might or might not be true, is that while the O level certificate has international recognition, the N level certificate has none.

What's my point?

I was invigilating a paper where this student placed her head on her table and dozed off less than 30 minutes into a 75 minutes Physics paper. She was not alone sleeping in the middle of the paper.

Being a responsible invigilator, I went round waking people up. There was no way the 75 minute paper is going to be completed in 30 minutes. I couldn't even do it myself. And when I tried waking this thing up, she lost her temper and threw a tantrum.

I begin to wonder if we have gotten it wrong. If so, what went wrong? And finally, what are we going to do about it?

I may be jumping the gun here but I think the woman is really trying to delay the inevitable.

She's already so far behind and she's already lent her campaign US$6 million!

But perhaps that's small money.

I hear Billy gives talks at USD 250k per pop. And given his prowess and the practice that he had with and on his intern, he could probably take on a sideline.

What made me amused was the fact that he did not ask her to back down. Or did her. Because the numbers are hard to deny and overcome. The opponent had a significantly strong hand.

Party members would also realise that even if she wins, her winning margin would make her target for opposition gunfire because of her highly fractious campaign. If people really wanted her, she wouldn't have had to settle for such a nomination on such pathetic numbers.

In fact, both her and her opponent are either so damned good that the party is having a hard time to decide or are so damned that the party is having a hard time to decide. Finally, the whole people will have a hard time trying to decide as well.

If she threw in the towel now and graciously backed him, she could probably claim credit as a "king-maker".

But only time will tell if this post has jumped the gun.

Can anyone tell me why I keep getting a particular kind of caterpillars in my rosemary plant pot? It seems to crawl round the pot in circles, not really eating the rosemary (presumably too pungent for it). But it makes me frustrated because I keep having to kill the worms daily. Sigh.

I've been receiving calls from banks offering me loans at special rates. These banks are fair weather friends. They will offer you all sorts of things to induce you to take a loan and get in debt.

As long as you can pay, they are fine. But wait till you miss a payment or two.

So I told the umpteenth telemarketeer that I wanted only free cash. Any loan that I needed to repay (i.e. non-free cash), I am not interested. Neither am I in need.

She asked for friends or colleagues for referrals. In response, I told her that my friends and colleagues are also only interested in free cash.

You could hear her enthusiasm after my response. Comparing to the initial chirpy self, she sounded like a deflated ballon dumped to the floor with a thud.

How I love giving it to these unsolicited calls. The worst ones go, "Mr Tan, are you a customer of XYZ Bank? Can I know what services you are subscribed to?" They have absolutely no idea what relations you have with the bank, the client they are acting for.

Given this age of illegal data mining, no way am I going to divulge such secrets. I'm no rich man but still, my privacy remains private.

If you think I was mean, wait till I tell you the time when I told another telemarketeer to pass me the $50 000 insurance payout immediately. I'll just make sure something happens to me.