Mas Selamat Jalan

The biggest news in town this week is that the top JI terrorist has escaped from a high security detention centre in Whitley Road and has yet to be found. The question on everybody's minds and mine as well is: How could it have happened? This is a man who has such a high profile and is arguably the most important prisoner in the detention centre. He has no weapons on him and has difficulty walking. And he escaped using an old school method of going to the toilet. Surely, there has to be someone accompanying him there. Even during school exams, there will be invigilators accompanying students to the toilet. The security lapse is just too appalling.

The manhunt has already lasted for about 2 days and there are still no signs of the wanted man. This never should have happened. This, after all, is Singapore. A country where all possible escape roads out of the city are fitted with ERP gantries to make sure no cars can avoid paying. I just hope that somehow, somewhere the terrorist will be nabbed. Our reputation has been tarnished and the least we can do is to get the guy back where he should be in the first place. Locked up and watched upon.

Catenaccio

I'm pleased to announce that we achieved second place in the Air Mauritius Cup on Wednesday. It's been a long time since we got into any final and although we would all have loved to be champions, it proved beyond us and we had to settle for second place. We always make things difficult for ourselves and yet again we had to defy the odds to even qualify from the group stages. It's a minor miracle that we could qualify by just scoring one goal in the group stages. However, we didn't concede any goals until the final and the clean sheets allowed us to progress. We are on our way to perfecting the art of catenaccio, the nut and bolt system of defensive football. Closing shop is the name of our game. I think it must be very boring to watch us play, the football is pretty sterile. But it's the most effective way to play for us and brought us a lot of success so we'll be boring people to death for a long time to come.

I don't know which match gave me more satisfaction. Playing against the Indians who were showing us all their silky skills and then hitting them with a sucker punch or the semi final match where we finally dominated a game. Perversely, I enjoy the feeling of hanging on for our lives. And even more so when I see the look of frustration in our opponents.

We are Liverpool...you'll never walk alone..

Juno

Juno is a great film and I like the songs in the movie a lot. They all have a catchy tune to them. This one is one of my favourites, anyone else but you.

Untold secret

There's an untold secret among all of us. We all miss MRF and the days of staying together as a platoon and knowing everyone inside out. Why else would we then find excuses to meet up every now and then, be it for movies, karaoke, Sentosa or even lao yu sheng dinners? And why do the topics never stray far away from MRF? Encik, Surynn, Chiam, Marshmallow Man, The legend, Mopp up, extrication, HUA....

Maybe secretly we all hope that we'll be back in Nee Soon Camp wearing our Mopp suits all over again and disturbing each other every single day. The days were hard but simple, learning to have fun in difficult times and how to extricate ourselves from undesirable tasks.

There's a kind of bonding between people that only MRF can make. There's no barrier between us, not even after 2 years. No pretensions are needed because we all know each other inside out. MRF...Make Real Friends.

Heartwarming

There is still kindness in this world. I was on my way back today and got onto the 1135 train home to Toa Payoh. Normally, this would have allowed me to transfer to the last bus back home at the interchange. However, the train was slightly late and I knew I would have to hurry to get to the last bus. While rushing up the station escalator, I nearly got into a collision with an uncle who's rushing as well. We smiled at each other and he allowed me to go first. To my disappointment, the last bus was leaving the interchange just as I got up there. I resigned myself to having to walk back home and went out of the interchange. I took a brief look back as I was walking out of the interchange and I saw the uncle from my earlier encounter again. We exchanged smiles again and then he asked me where I lived. He then offered to give me a lift to Balestier where he lived. I was a little suspicious at first but I got onto a taxi with him anyway. When we reached Balestier, I was really grateful to him and wanted to give him some money for the taxi fare. He rejected my offer and said to me: " I helped you not for the money but as friends" He then gave me a firm handshake and I left the cab. I did not ask for his name and I will probably never see him again. Although his help shortened my journey only by about 15 mins, I was very grateful to him. This incident inspires me to try to help anyone in need, even if it's a stranger. For I know that any form of help, big or small, means a lot to someone in his hour of need. I believe there's kindness in this world.

Parenting

My father bought 2 clothes for me from his trip to China and had hoped to see me wear them for Chinese New Year. I didn't want to wear them at all because I don't agree with the Chinese sense of fashion. I plan to ignore them for a while then quietly give them away to the recycling company. I know my dad's intentions are good and I didn't want to show that I don't like the clothes openly. I don't want to make my dad disappointed. I think my father is fantastic and I wouldn't want to change him for any other father, not even if it's the Sultan of Brunei. He's always been supportive of me and has been there when I need him, such as the time when I needed parental consent for a last minute wisdom tooth extraction. He came down straight from his workplace after I called him and accompanied me for the operation.

I will be a father to someone someday and I find it to be a daunting task. I am not sure whether I can live up to my own father's standards, whether I can give my children a childhood as good as mine, whether they will turn out fine. Parenting is about sacrifice, doing things not for yourself but for your children. And it's not just for a day or a week, but for as long as you become a parent to your children. My parents have done it for me and my sister and soon it'll be our turn to do that for our own children. If we can get anywhere near wht our parents have done, then I think we'll have succeeded.

There's some Chinese sayings about parenting that I can still remember. 上梁不正， 下梁歪。子不教， 父之过。 慈母多败儿 Basically, they all mean that the way a child turns out is dependent on the parent, and discipline is important. I think I will be quite a strict father and I will never allow my children to be spoilt. It's only for their own good.

I don't want to hate the taiwanese. I like them as a people, but this is too much. Criticising our English when they do not have a right to, when their level of English is below ours. Watching this video fires up my innate sense of patriotism. I love Singapore!

CNY

It's Chinese New Year again, the time to eat till stomachs expand to their limits, children get to gamble and the time to meet up with relatives that suddenly come into existence. I'm getting more and more apathetic as the years go by, the festival becoming more and more of a routine. I dread having to meet up with some relatives but it's an obligation. That's tradition.

Watching the Channel 8 New Year Show made me feel irritated, the programming wasn't interesting and I felt that I was wasting my time. Listening to the Zodiac Master predicting fortunes, I felt that I can't trust the TV anymore. Almost everyone will have some health problems in the Year of the Rat according to the Master. I find it absurd that people's fortunes can be predicted by some man on the screen.

Anyway, Happy Chinese New Year to everyone! Enjoy yourselves but take care of yourselves at the same time.

X-rated

While shopping for my new year clothes, I came across an Armani Jeans shop. Out of curiosity, I went in to take a look. I quickly found out that I was out of my league. The jeans were selling at 500 plus dollars and there was a normal cotton t-shirt with only the word AJ on it selling for 160 dollars. I can easily get a shirt with a similar quality in any night market. The prices were not just expensive, they were obscene. It was shocking to see people actually shopping in there, as though there's nothing abnormal about the pricing. I can never imagine myself shopping there, not even if I'm rich. There are better ways to spend money than splashing out on these grossly overpriced clothings. It's quite an insult to the poor by spending this kind of money, you might as well just burn money in front of them.

Just imagine...160 dollars for a shirt, it can easily get you 10 Project Angel shirts with money to spare. If only our shirts have the Armani logo on them...