Premature graduation

Said our official goodbyes to our 08' JC2s in a little ceremony that comprised mostly nostalgic yet inspirational speeches and well wishes for the future. The latter included a collection of largely self-deprecating video postcards created by the various IP departments just to send the kids off with a smile and a wave.

In truth, I will miss my earnest 06, my giggly 23 and my bewildered 17. We still have a few more weeks to go before the finals, so I don't really have to let go of you yet. Daily consultation slots will remain open as long as you want them.

Must thank 06 for the hand-crafted book of personal well-wishes for me. I enjoyed reading all your positive reinforcement and was amazed by the effort you put into the presentation.

Meantime, I'm heading out-of-town north over the long weekend. Time to reconnect with the wilderness; to commune with nature; to slow down our pace of life -- far from the maddening crowd. Where I'm going, there's not likely to be broadband so I doubt I'll be updating for a couple of days. Hopefully, when I return here I'll have some colourful pix to brighten up all this drab text. Cya!

Not a level field

Study all you want. Ace the 'A's and aim for a place at the U. But apart from attaining a glowing transcript, there's still one little hurdle to conquer -- the university interview. Here's where we separate the merely studious from the true survivors of the kind of cranial gymnastics a good university education should encompass.

The latter are the ones who appreciate that curriculum content amounts to a sum total of zero at this level of study and hence do not rely on it exclusively to get by. The true survivor knows that context is everything. Context gives content meaning and application. Context stretches content and makes connections with other content regardless of subject area. Muggers, therefore, focused as they are on learning by the book don't usually have a very good time at the U. There are simply too many books to learn in the library.

We've heard that at the university interview, we get asked strange questions that don't seem to relate to the subject of the course we are applying for. That's because grades alone are insufficient to assess the capabilities of applicants. Two candidates with exactly the same top grades competing for a place at the U are not necessarily playing on a level field. The one who is able to process and contextualise content will always have the advantage over the one who can merely retrieve it.

Oxbridge has released some of these odd interview questions and some successful candidates' responses to them. Don't bother learning the answers 'cos I'm sure the questions won't always be the same. Just get your nose out of your book and open your eyes to the world.

Swift action

When Gov Schwarzenegger says he will take 'swift action' on an issue, he doesn't kid around. When pix of his Missus caught in the act of driving while chatting on her cell phone (made illegal in California by his own personal autograph) surfaced on a celeb gossip site, that's what he promised. On the exact same day, the Gov made good on his promise. Rest assured, with his fine solution, that transgression will NEVER happen again.

The last 100m

Education is one of the last industries that follows a seasonal schedule. Today, I've delivered my last lecture for the year. As the kids are preparing for their finals, our attention goes towards personal and small group consultations. Time to focus on specific kids targeting their specific problems in the subject and helping them deal with it. I'm busier than ever now that I have to entertain individual students, but this really is the best kind of teaching; directed, focused, customized... and appreciated.

Clear and conspicuous

Not sure what hold the US FTC has over our MDA, but it seems we S'porean bloggers likewise will have to come clean and "make clear and conspicuous disclosures" of any rewards we might have received for endorsing products or services in our blogs.

Not sure which consumers make their purchasing decisions based on a single blogger's opinion of a consumable item, but we do have a civic and moral duty to protect the uncritical buyer from biased reviews.

So I'll pre-empt the imminent legislation and hereby clearly and conspicuously disclose that I have not received any rewards whatsoever from any producer or distributor of any of the consumables I have reviewed to date. In fact, keeping this blog has yielded neither financial nor in-kind benefits of any sort for me, but instead is sending me to the poor-house for buying with my own money a whole bunch of stuff to review just for the heck of it.

If not for my predilection towards hearing the sound of my own waffle, and for the grand total of roughly three (3) daily readers who have sustained me over five (5) years of postings, I'd say blogging is as un-rewarding an activity as it gets, contrary to what the FTC-MDA collective might think.

Loss leader

Where in this economy of rising prices can we find any product or service the price of which has reduced? Believe it or not, my usual $4.80 haircut cost me $2.80 when I went for my quarterly shearing yesterday. Where the place? Snip Avenue, 418 Yishun.

Service was brusque but that's the way I like it. I was there for a haircut, not chit-chat. I got what I asked for, and for what I paid that was more than satisfactory.

Chances are, they're using this pricing model as a loss leader. It'll entice clients who want more than just a haircut and from there they'll start the real commercial negotiations. But they're happy to take in cheapos like me too because at least I represent a bum on a seat in between the real customers. Win already!

When 100% is not enough

If we accept the theory of evolution as true, then S'poreans deserve to be the first species to go extinct.

Look at the fuss and furore over this year's PSLE math paper. Kids are crying, and parents of kids who are crying are "up in arms" and threatening to storm Castle FrankenMOE with torches and pitchforks. What monstrosity has arisen out of the beleaguered castle this time? Only the hideous spectre of an exam that was difficult to score 100% in.

And why do I assess the local citizenry to be deserving of extinction? It's because we've proven yet again (as we did two years ago) that we're too easily satisfied, too complacent in thinking that 100% = everything. That kind of thinking is what's going to kill us all.

There are certain assumptions that go with a score of 100% in a written exam. 1) It means having studied all there is to learn of the subject. 2) It means all conditions played out to one's best advantage in order for every problem to be solved within the time limit.

The first assumption cannot be true because knowledge is too infinite to confine within the limited scope of a curriculum of study. 100% therefore means we're satisfied with what we know, and there's nothing more to learn.

As for the second assumption, perfect results means perfect conditions, and perfect conditions seldom occur in real life. In truth, perfect conditions usually occur when we lower the bar of our expectations and accept fudged standards as "good enough".

Always gunning for 100% is dangerously closed-minded, especially for kids aspiring to pursue further education in Math and the Sciences. 100% is good enough for lab techs and test-tube washers (do what you're told -- get 100% every time!), but unacceptable to leading edge researchers who are constantly working to devise new methods to learn more about our universe. Trial and Error. The journey, not the destination.

We cannot afford to breed a generation of children who think 100% is an end in itself. Going by their response, parents aren't helping here. This fixation is a mental rot that will translate into their children's lives, making them unable to cope with the need to think and read beyond their curriculum, the need to sometimes reach beyond our perceptions of "necessary" and "possible" in order to create and maintain this "knowledge economy" we are struggling to remake ourselves into.

It's not the kids who aren't scoring 100% anyway that I'm worried about, but the ones that are and are now viewing themselves as failures because for them only 100% will do. Unfortunately, they're to ones who represent our best and brightest, and if their minds remain trapped in the 100% box, I shudder for the rest of us who will fall under their leadership one day. Most likely, it'll be their parents who will be making their decisions and wiping their noses for them at the same time. A recipe for disaster, if I ever saw one.

Please, don't be content with a hundred per cent. Rather, score below and work for mo' (or MOE! Heh.)

Pain in a bottle

At Sunset:

Our table: half-dozen buffalo wings, Level 5.

Immediate neighbouring table: half-dozen buffalo wings, Level 30!

Ok, I'm not sure how Sunset's Levels compare with the official Scoville-scale that runs into the millions of units, but To*ny was already being (as Wayne described) "dramatic" over his Level 5 wing. At the next table the two Aussies, after some of their own dramatics, plunged into their Level 30s, while making sure everyone around them knew the magnitude of the feat they were attempting.

We were an easy mark for them to ham up to, right up to them offering one of us (i.e., To*ny, though Wayne was seriously assessing his own level of bravado) a wing, but failing which came round with their plate and gave each of us a finger dip of evil red sauce just to savour on the tips of our tongues. As a dutiful audience, we absolutely and publicly confirmed to the other diners in the restaurant that just a smudge of Level 30 was unadulterated liquid pain in a bottle.

It starts out with no sensation, then as the seconds tick by the intensity of the burn builds up until all consciousness collapses into a single shard of focus on the points of direct contact between lips, tongue and throat and the liquid sauce that probably originated from Seletar Airport's jet fuel supplies. Both June and To*ny reported temporary auditory dysfunction, though that was not my experience.

Amy, HP and Mel were content to just sit back and watch our self-immolation.

I think our confirmation of the two guys' insanity gratified them more than both the cert they received and having their names pasted on the Wall honouring those who have completed the challenge. There is no bravery without an incredulous audience to witnesses the performance.

Congrats, Mr Black Dog and buddy! You've inspired Wayne to come back next time and try Level 6!

Paperless clinic

Bukit Batok Polyclinic goes paperless: "no paper trail... from registration to check-out." But I have to ask, what about my MC? Oh, and the toilets? Hmm, not stocking toilets could help ANA enforce their go-before-you-fly approach to reducing aircraft carbon emissions. As long as they don't serve baked beans in-flight.

Random. Sorry.

Talking c*ck on TV

On his nationally televised talk show, Mr Letterman confesses his indiscretions and the consequences are a nasty letter from NOW, and an angry wife and co-workers to whom he makes a public apology. On another talk show halfway around the world, Mr Abdul-Jawad "brags" about his exploits on national TV and gets handed a 5-year jail sentence and 1000 lashes.

When are East and West ever going to find any common ground from which even the faintest glimmer of hope for peace between the two can spark? Not in this lifetime, anyway.

Gaming and youth

see more Funny Graphs

And S'pore kids too, apparently. lolz.

MUA2 side mission tips (spoiler alert)

I hate to brag, but I can be justifiably proud of myself for unlocking the entire team roster in MUA2 on Hard mode. On the Wii, that means completing all the Bonus Missions within the time limit and garnering a quota of points after which the character becomes playable as a team member in the main quest.

The more challenging missions are the solo ones, so I'll share the secrets of some of my successes here.

Jean Grey: use telekenesis (hold B) to slam those cranky bipedal bombs into the cars, thus clearing them easily and quickly so there's more time to devote to the battle with the Grey Gargoyle.

Gambit: use 52 Pickup liberally to break open boxes, junk and hidden rooms hiding those pesky hard-to-find data disks.

Thing: stun everybody with Hand Clap. 'nuff said.

Green Goblin: Spinning Blades is insanely lethal. Repeatedly 1-shot kill respawing Negative Zone guards until very close to quota, then after setting a bomb in the middle of the irritating electrified room, run for cover and stand at the exit doorway, continuing to kill guards until the exit door opens. As long as Gobby remains in the doorway, he can't be electrocuted.

Venom: Same mission as Gobby, except without the bomb setting task. Venom is easier because the mission allows a full team complement. Just keep killing respawning guards until quota.

Songbird: The most challenging thing is to keep the scientists she is escorting alive through the whole mission. Cast Sonic-Scream Shield and refresh often to keep her healthy and enemies weak. When she gets to a door, use Crushing Discord BEFORE opening it to kill enemies on the other side. She can hit them through the door, but they can't hit her. While Crushing Discord is good to use on Light mutants, Shrieking Slice works better on Heavies and Moonstone (Boss). Alternate the attacks when facing Moonstone 'cos Light mutants are attcking the scientists at the same time.

So, getting the whole team was do-able after all. Now the next challenge is to attain the Gold bonuses: same missions, higher quota of points to aim for.

Edit 01:

Huh! Been put in my place by the ST reviewer. Game is too easy, he says. So what? I like easy games.

Fishing for ideas

Gained a little insight into the kids' thought processes as they select essay questions. Facing 12 possible questions, they brainstorm as many anecdotal examples as they can think of per question, thus eliminating the questions they have no examples for. This wouldn't be a bad way to narrow 12 choices if not for the fact that most of the time they end up eliminating all 12, leaving the final option of 'whatever' which they then proceed to write -- example after example after example randomly associated with the topic area in question but with no regard to the question itself.

The kids are puzzled because they are not getting the rewards they think they are entitled to just because they've been able to re-tell several brain-cell killing pointless anecdotes they've forced themselves to study. They did study, didn't they? So why aren't they scoring like they expect? Simple, examples don't answer questions, no matter how long the list. I mean, examples are a fine and necessary thing, it's just that they alone are not the answer we're looking for.

If the question is "why?" the answer is "because." If the question is "should?" the answer is "why (or why not)." If the question is "how far" the answer is "under these specific conditions." If we think about answering the question, paying respect to its particular demands, then from a list of 12 questions, we have 12 options from which to choose our favourite.

By addressing the question, the relevant supporting evidence will surface without much effort. That is, as long as the kids have been keeping up with their daily readings. That's because the right context will locate the appropriate content. It's the difference between fishing in the ocean with random bait and fishing in a fish farm with a net. Ocean fishing is fun, but if we don't use the right bait we have no idea what we're going to catch, if anything at all. Fish farm fishing is hardly sporting, but we know what we're fishing for every time and we'll catch what we want.

GP is different. Unlike the other content subjects, we don't care what you KNOW. We care about what you THINK and if you have good reasons for thinking that way. Which is why our kids are still all lost at sea.

MUA2 comes up short

The Wii version of MUA2 has less going for it than the PS3/360 version. I was wrong about alternate costumes -- there aren't any. Likewise, there aren't any special team bonuses for particular quartet combinations. And no special dialogues between particular character combinations. There are fewer cutscenes and storyline missions too. Overall, the game (regardless of whether we're playing Pro or Anti Registration) is short, lacking the cosmological scope of the previous MUA. :P

These little features don't really add all that much to the overall gameplay, but they are nice little touches, like garnish on meat and potatoes. The meal is still quite substantial, but the presentation doesn't make us go 'wow'. If the previous MUA didn't have them, I wouldn't have been looking for them in this one. But to remove them from the follow up is short-changing us players on quality while substituting it with, um... nothing. Well, the control system is easier to use, I'll give them that.

Ok, anyway, I think the best characters to have on the team are either Iceman or the Invisible Woman for powerful ranged attacks, a psionic like Jean Grey or Psylocke who can fusion with a bruiser like the Thing or the Hulk for a player-guided "Billiard Ball" attack (creates a hamsterball around said bruiser who then charges masses of enemies for huge damage -- even bosses don't stand up to this kind of assault for long). The fourth member can be just about anyone else, 'cos they're just coming along for the ride.

Don't get me wrong. I am having loads of fun with MUA2 as it is. There are still lots of team combinations and fusions I have yet to try out, and side-quests yet to conquer. They haven't taken the best bits out of the game, but it could have been so much tastier.

Talented and bemused

These are the days of messing around with a video camera and shooting my friends and colleagues for a short little thing that will soon see the light of day.

We're shooting under very tight constraints, yet I've amazed myself in being able to capture the primary footage as of yesterday evening, and already get the rushes edited by this evening.

Wish I could say more about the final product, but there's still some post-production left to be done. The good news is that despite my deadline worries, I will deliver to my client on time after all. No extensions necessary.

Couldn't have done it without the cooperation of my talented and bemused co-workers who lent their faces and bodies to the shoot. I made them do things even though they didn't have much clue how my directions could possibly have made sense, especially since I involved different people in only different fragments of the shoot. Thanks for the trust, people!

Domestic violence

Woke up past midnight from a commotion in the house. There was the sound of scampering feet and unusual vocalizations that were quite unnerving. Turns out that Q-tip had been caught in the act of sniffing around the cats' feeding area, probably trying her luck scrounging for leftovers, and got a pummelling for her indiscretion. Chasing her off apparently wasn't enough. Whoever it was kept taking swipes at Q-tip's retreating behind all the way back to her territory, our bedroom.

When cats take swipes, they do it with claws extended. We found a spot of blood on Q-tip but when we cleaned the wound we found lots more scratches all over her butt and back. She looked like Wolverine had tried to shave her, quite ineptly too.

Back at the crime scene, we examined each cat's claws for blood trace, but the perfect crime had been committed. No blood to be found anywhere to indicate which suspect was the perp. Regardless, each of them will get their claws trimmed today, just to be safe.

98 years old

Been going to the vet's over the last couple of days. Mimi is 14 years old, and though she doesn't look or behave like it, her age is taking its toll. We took her in yesterday for a urinary tract infection and Dr Kasey advised spaying while treating this uncomfortable symptom.

Spaying, as I understand it now, amounts to a hysterectomy and Mimi's womb clearly needed removal. The infection had swollen her womb to several times its normal size, weighing in at 600g. That contributes to quite a sizeable percentage of her total body weight, considering she's quite a small dog to begin with.

Mimi's doing fine as of our visit tonight. She's no longer in an anaesthetized stupor but was very happy to see us. She wolfed down the chix leg we brought for her and paced her cage, barking weakly the whole time, clearly wanting us to take her home. But she needs one more night of observation before she can be discharged. That should be tomorrow night.

Dr Kasey also showed us some other areas of concern including her weakened heart and worrisome-looking liver, and informed us that he was putting her on long-term medication for those problems. But going by her reception of us tonight, there's still a lot of fight in the old girl yet.

Lunchtime toast

There were four of us at Charco's for an off-campus lunch: me with Dee, HP and Jojo. Don't know if she was inspired by Mel singing drinking songs she'd learned in the UK (Mel firmly believes in an all-rounded education) but in the middle of lunch, Jojo raised a glass and offered a toast to our workplace for being the happiest workplace she's ever worked in.

Hear, hear! For those of us who have worked elsewhere before, we can really appreciate the faculty life on our campus. It may not be so obvious to newbie employees who arrive fresh on our doorstep yearning to spread their wings further afield, but to us battle-scarred veterans of the corporate trenches, even amidst the chaos and hubbub of JC academia, I honestly number ourselves among the lucky few who've made it back to Old Blighty.

Undo the damage

There is a very compelling reason why we need to undo the damage to the quality of spoken English around here. I mean, Singlish is fine for friendly, personal, letting-yourself-go social conversation. This localized lingo is one form of culture we can truly say developed naturally from our little island, and is a touchstone of our identity at home and abroad, but it simply won't do as a medium of academic discourse. Especially if the local version of the language is the only one we use, but our written secondary and post-secondary language exams are set and graded by language academics in Cambridge, England.

But exam grades are just one little thing. Rubrics and tolerances balance each other out and collectively, grades simply point which direction the wind is generally blowing. What matters more is the level of engagement our kids have with texts that are not primarily written in the local vernacular and responding to them at the same level.

It's not a matter of which version is 'superior' or 'inferior' but rather whether one's command of language either facilitates or impedes understanding between people trying to communicate with one another. If there is no or little understanding, then there is a failure to communicate. In school terms, either the text is not getting through to the candidate, or the candidate isn't getting through to the marker, or both. Whichever, that is what the 'FAIL' grade pragmatically represents.

But that's just the grade. On the grander scale, too many people stuck in Singlish mode, unable to code-switch to the standard English of academic and intellectual discourse means too many Singaporeans being unable to participate in and contribute to complex and abstract thought.

If this is true, then our Colonial Masters haven't really left. We've just made it easier for them to give us our orders because we're proud to have 'upgraded' ourselves to speak a little more like them. But with this level of language ability, we are still unable to view them on equal terms.

Outside my window

Look at the time. 0213 hrs. I don't have a good reason for being up this late. Nevertheless, here I am sitting on my horrifically clawed sofa and listening the the howl of the wind just outside my apartment windows. And now the rain has just started to come down in large splashy drops. There is going to be such a storm tonight, once the lightning and thunder get going. I'm actually tempted to just stare outside and witness what looks to be a very dramatic climactic event. Maybe I'll do that for five minutes, then try to go to sleep.

Cognitive catatonia

Help! Swamped under with prelim grading. Dunno why it's taking so long. Maybe I'm thinking too hard and being too careful with each question, causing bouts of cognitive catatonia between answer scripts. In that kind of mental state, somnolence sneaks up like a ninja in bedroom slippers and delivers a chop to the back of the neck for the coup de grace.

Cannot. Deadline is too close to fool around. Focus. Focus...

A major change of policy

The industry is putting more emphasis on speech as our new policy for teaching the languages. Hopefully, that will translate into more in-class talk to train more articulate kids. The idea is, I suppose, to avoid further embarrassments when our people get interviewed by the media and the video goes viral over the 'net.

This policy will be interesting to implement in primary and secondary schools. For far too long, too many of them have been tending to operate on the policy of "shut up".

Hopefully, now things will change and in a few years down the road, by the time they get to JC the kids will have been more acculturated to seminar-style discussions in tutorials with more participants contributing views than just the tutor. We've long been waiting for the day.

I no can has faceburger?

So much for vaunted Japanese hospitality. A bear goes berserk sampling tourist-y fare at a bus station in scenic Takayama. It is then herded into a souvenir shop where the employees hold it against its will until in the end, it gets shot dead. Talk about pressure sales tactics! I've heard of tourist traps, but this is ridiculous.

We be travellin'

Yarr tharr, me hearties, an' welcome aboard! Here be ye bucket an' mop; I want me deck swabbed spotless by the time I be done entertainin' ye with me salty sea story. Ok, it be not much, really, but it'll take ye mind off ye sore back and knees fer a wee bit.

We be plannin' a little voyage, the woman and I. Right 'round the Christmas season, ay? We set course as we've always done. Covered up me good eye with me eyepatch an' put a dagger through the old sea chart. Arr... Chiang Mai. Exotic enough for ye, lad? Shut yer hole an' keep swabbin'.

So today we gathers up the last of our doubloons, to pay off our creditors (blood-suckin' scallywags, every last one of them, they be) an' spent -- nay -- invested the remainder on a seaworthy bark an' crew. We be hoistin' the Jolly Roger at the next high tide.

I'm done tellin' me tale, but what's this? Ye missed a spot, lad, ye missed a spot! Lily-livered landlubber, walkin' the plank's too good fer the likes of ye! Be off me deck before Davey Jones hisself comes a'callin' for ye scurvy rum-soaked soul!

In case you haven't figured it out, happy Talk Like a Pirate Day 2009!

Sheepish

This post is late because I done something I don't want to talk about just yet. Let's see how it actually works first before I review whether it sucks or blows. Whichever, all I'm gonna say right now is that perhaps I paid a bit more than was wise. So what else is new?

BFC ventures afield

This is to record the first off-campus meeting of the BFC. This was quite an accomplishment, to get representatives from most of our departments to meet at the local McD's for breakfast before the start of the school day.

Amazed how organized and committed we were about it, with Wayne sending out an SMS reminder the night before, and even President Tommy making a special effort to wake up early and grace our table with his pre-caffeinated presence.

The only item on our agenda was to eat. AOB was about enjoying each other's company and cracking jokes at Tommy's expense while his brain was still in reboot mode.

MUA2: first impressions

When superheroes split apart, forming opposing factions to fight for the cause they feel is right; when hero battles hero with no quarter given even if they had been the closest of allies before, we have a Civil War on our hands and literally so with "Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2" for the Wii.

Gameplay is in a similar format from the original MUA, a 4-hero team of which the player controls one hero, teaming up with the other three to fight waves of enemies. There are basic melee punches and kicks, custom superpowers (special attacks and buffs) for each hero, and the latest addition to the game: "fusion powers" by which team members combine their special abilities in a devastating attack against enemy hoardes. Fusion powers have limited usage, so there's a strategic element in choosing when to use them, and with whom.

The tone of MUA2 seems slightly more serious too. The opening sequences set New York amidst a massive terrorist attack, the perpetrator and her army spouting clearly anti-American sentiments. However, her attack is not unprovoked and this revelation begins unravelling the seam that ties the heroes to a common cause, and sows deep-rooted mistrust against each other.

The player has to choose which side to fight on, Iron-Man's pro-government side or Captain America's personal freedom side. Two sides to choose from allows for two separate story threads with separate missions, and great potential for replayability after playing one story through. Other replayability factors are the vast array of superhero team combinations and their resulting fusion power effects, the strategic use of item buffs (so many items, what's the best combination to use for which situation?) and alternate costumes among the many other unlockables including more heroes to use in the team roster.

Wii controls between MUA and MUA2 are a little different from each other and I have to get used to the new controls. My fingers have to be retrained to use them properly. Less shake for example, and more thumbs-on button mashing.

In MUA2, the isometric perspective brings us a little closer to the action so it's easier to observe character animations, though it's still easy to lose your character in the onscreen chaos. Also for the Wii, activating fusion powers involves pointing the wiimote at the hero you want to "fusion" with and finding the cursor to match with your desired hero can sometimes be a challenge because of the short time limit to "fusion", and sometimes because the hero is out of position for the most effective use of that power. Kids are more likely than grumpy old me to be able to keep track of everything going on at once and make the best of the fusion effect. Me, I'll just do it for the pretty colours.

In between the fighting are cinematic cutscenes that stitch the story together and sets up the next mission. There is decent voice acting, but what I like about the cutscenes, oddly enough, is the superheroes' costumes. The heroes look like they are really wearing clothes and not just having painted-over nude bodies because the artist can't be bothered with such details. The cutscenes make an interesting contrast with the results screens that appear at the end of each mission. The results stats appear on stylized renderings as 2-D artwork which is reminiscent of the comic book medium that inspired the game. Nice touch, I think.

As it is, I've only had time to play through the Prologue. Even then at 'Easy' setting the Boss battle was quite a trial and error -- until I figured out the rules of the game I was supposed to be playing. It was a matter of matching verbal instructions with the automap with the onscreen action, which took my brain a bit more time than usual to process. Duh, slow. But I think I've got the hang of it now.

MUA2 promises to be a fun romp through a dark period in the Marvel archives. I've only scratched the surface of what feels like a ripping story, and there's the other side yet to be explored. That's gonna keep me occupied for a while. 'Arkham Asylum' (released on the same day) will have to wait.

The sky's the limit -- even for student projects

A bit of old news here, but one I stumbled upon only today. It's something to remind me about being open to possibilities rather than pre-conceiving impossibilities when and if I get to supervise another bunch of project groups next year.

What usually holds us back from great projects that work is that we constrain them tightly within the parameters of the exam question, and there we have the edges of the box, clearly defined for us -- the lines we are not supposed to colour outside of. The question then has to be, "how big is your box?" Well, as far as the students involved in the story (above) were concerned, the box was as big as the stratosphere.

Projects don't have to be microscopic for the sake of 'manageability' and 'feasibility'. The beauty of the subject of Project Work is that if the size of the project overflows the box, the project can still take on a life of its own. The important thing is that it's meaningful, it's real, and it's done. And by the time the examination comes around, we'll find that the box is in fact infinitely enlargeable.

Historical interlude

Not much to add for today. Everyone's back at work, including Mel who's finally back from her Dreamtime. Busy, grading prelim papers, and everything else. So I'll let the vid below entertain you for a change. So nostalgic, these scenes of pre-WW2 S'pore. For historical interest only.

Mmm, more mussels

First, I have to apologise to Cat and Sam for taking a rain check on our lunch date. It completely slipped our minds that June and I had a prior engagement for a detoxing treatment until we got a late reminder yesterday.

We'll get our dates right next time, 'k?

Anyway, after detoxing we went straight back to devouring this lovely pot of Belgian mussels (moules au vin blanc). We've had our eye on Oosters at Suntec City for a while already, and since we were in the neighbourhood, we couldn't pass up the opportunity.

All we needed between ourselves was this 1kg pot of mussels, cooked soft and tender, simmering in this clear vegetable soup that was knockout delish. But that's not all, this order also comes with a side of fries and two dipping sauces: creamy mayo and honey-mustard. That would actually have sufficed, but we got greedy and shared an onion soup as well. A bit salty, that one, but a liberal sprinkling of parmesan put things right... for me, at least.

Although this place prides itself with its range of imported beers, it served ice-cold water to us two cheapos at no charge. Nice.

Rag(dolls) against the Machine

"9" is a melange of plot elements from "Terminator", "Half-Blood Prince" and PS3's "LittleBigPlanet". The leading characters are LBP's Sackboy-like ragdolls numbered from 1 to 9, each with his (or her in 7's case) own personality traits. They are mechanical beings physically, but are animated with a life force that is a source of both energy and intelligence for them.

The ragdolls are the only semblance of life remaining on a completely devastated world that has seen a global war between organic life and machines, with the machines coming out tops. Nothing biological has been spared, and in a macabre twist to functionality, the self-replicating machines salvage human and animal bones to incorporate into their own designs.

The ragdolls are hopelessly outmatched as they seek sanctuary from the marauding machines. It is only when 9, the latest and most improved model, awakens that sanctuary is no longer an option because he holds the secret to bringing life back to the world. He just has to discover what it is first, by piecing together the clues left behind by his creator. Complication: he doesn't get it right the first time and as a result makes a bad problem even worse.

This was a fun movie to watch because the trials these tiny ragdolls have to undergo seem so insurmountable. The balance of combat strength between them and their mechanical adversaries is completely asymetrical, but they do prevail with ingenuity, cooperation and a pretty strong survival instinct. But frail as they are, some sacrifices are made along the way.

It may be animated, but it isn't cute. It has rather dark themes too, so it's not really meant for the kiddies. Just as well. I'd say with the complex story, the drama and pathos, and the quirky bizarreness of the entire concept, "9" is one of the better movies of this year.

On the 5th day, he rested

Tired of my labours, I took the day to just enjoy lunch with NBS whom I haven't seen in ages. Well, since Monday, anyway. She's been doing me a small favour of which I don't have the liberty to discuss here. Spoilt myself with a carbonara and an RB float at New York New York. Not sure what my Wii Fit taskmaster would say about that, and I don't intend to find out. The Wii stays off today.

NBS noted how I've been spending the week wandering the island alone. I have to acknowledge that that is the reality of my situation. Looking ahead, when it's time for me to retire, the people I hang out with now will be only just peaking at their careers. There's a gap of a whole decade at least before the oldest of them will be able to join me rocking our chairs, together on the porch of our retirement home while we watch the world go down in flames.

But what the heck am I supposed to do for 10 years until then? And in the meantime, a lot of things could happen in 10 years, especially for someone that advanced in age. So either I get used to my own company, or I keep right on working and staying relevant to the world. Thus all the more reason for me to keep fit, healthy and active now, while I'm still able. After all, retirement is for old people, not me.

Thankfully, there's still June, though I wonder how she'll cope with a sexagenerian juvenile in the house? But why scare myself now? All that is still far off in the future. Let's just cross that bridge when we get there.

Knees, quads, glutes

Healthy activity du jour: A short but intense burst of 'blading at ECP

Distance: 5-6 km

Time: 1 hr.

Mundane stuff for today. Think my wheels are getting worn out 'cos I'm moving only with a lot of effort, and it's difficult to pick up any significant speed.

Felt the burn early in the knees, quads and glutes. But the pain went away as I kept pushing, and after a while, I felt I could have pushed further than I actually did. Guess that means I'm making good progress.

Kinda' makes me wonder how I'm going to find the time to keep up all this healthy activity when term begins again next week. It's almost like work and being healthy are mutually exclusive propositions.

Segway adventure

Today's healthy activity: er... well, it wasn't all that strenuous, actually. Segway riding along Tanjong and Siloso Beaches

Distance: does it matter?

Time: 1 hour

I've always wanted to ride one of these things. They seem so practical to use, so easy to get around with, and they look like a lot of fun too.

The Segway is really an expensive kick-scooter without needing the kick. The motor is battery-powered, charged from an ordinary wall socket.

The controls are intuitive, easily picked up as soon as you get on board. Lean forward to move forward and the further you lean the faster you go. Likewise lean left and right to wheel in the direction of the lean. To decelerate, lean back or return to vertical to halt. The handle grips mostly function as a point of reference so you brain knows which way to lean, but they don't actually steer the device. Just shifting your weight does the trick. Oh yeah, the handles are also a way to steady yourself over bumpy terrain.

Sentosa is the only location in S'pore that operates the business of Segway riding. The facility is at Beach Station where they offer a basic fun package, and a beach "adventure" -- guided, of course. I opted for the latter. Cost $35, and because I was alone I got a guide immediately (normally, there's a 1 hour pre-booking for a guide).

My guide was an affable chap who engaged me in easy conversation throughout the ride. Because it was just me and him, and he seemed to think I could handle my Segway with ease, after a while he raised my speed limiter from 8km/h to 20. I still couldn't catch up with him, though, and I didn't really want to. Didn't want him to think I was some kind of danger to myself and others and cut short our ride. He took the pix, in case you're wondering.

Riding the Segway is effortless fun. Once the speed limiter is off, it really moves. It requires only a little fine motor control and is quite maneuverable even within crowds of pedestrians, up and downslope even.

As a workout, it didn't work anything to speak of. Maybe an hour in the sun helped me to sweat out toxins, but that's about it. But if anyone (LTA?) is thinking of cutting off vehicular traffic from the CBD and Orchard areas, Segway rentals could be one way to do it!

Bedok Park Connector finally found!

Today's healthy activity: Cycling the Bedok Park Connector.

Total distance: 12.4km (return)

Timing: 2+ hrs

This is the reason we never found the Bedok Park Connector, though we tried several times before. The entrance is blocked by all these construction barriers.

Finally, the entrance -- found! A steep flight of stairs leads to the tunnel under and across the ECP. There's no slope; bikes have to be manually carried down then up the stairs.

First checkpoint: Strange radio tower at the Guards' Camp.

The cycling path takes us on a tour of people's backyards and under the MRT line.

Across the canal is Big Eater, where we feasted on salt egg crab the other day. We had no idea how close we were to the elusive Park Connector we had been looking for.

After a number of traffic light pedestrian crossings, we finally reach an overhead bridge. Please alight and push your bicycle across.

Looking back from the bridge. The sky is overcast, though no rain. Perfect weather for bike-riding. No tan lines!

Earlier on, we had a little argument whether this was a canal for drainage or a concretized river. Turns out the former. The water filling the canal earlier represented high tide from the sea. The closer to the source, the drier the canal is. Can't be a river, then.

Finally, objective achieved. ECP to Bedok Reservoir Park. Discovered several other Park Connectors branching out from here. Decided not to push it but u-turned and headed back the way I came. Scroll back up slowly for the route details.

Lane workout

Today's healthy activity: bowled three straight games. Focused on keeping centred, balanced and vertical through the line-up, push-off and follow through. Also conscious of breathing and maintaining a steady rhythm, more like yoga rather than a strength/cardio workout. Everything felt aligned, except the release which tended to be inconsistent and untidy. Need more work there.

Three game average: 153, not too bad considering I haven't bowled in months.

Up early for Tiong Bahru tsui kueh

First day of the September hols. Not really much of a hol, just a short break from routine. Woke up early nonetheless for brekkie at Tiong Bahru market. Dunno why but I had a craving for the famous tsui kueh from there. Early because there we had to beat the crowd.

Parking was already crappy by the time we got there (though I got lucky with a lot just at the market entrance). Whole place has been upgraded. It's now a two-storey complex with the wet market on the ground floor and cooked food upstairs.

Was worried that the food would have been likewise 'upgraded', but the tsui kueh is still good, the shell maintaining its silky smooth texture, and the chye poh (pickled radish) filling a delicate balance of salt and sweet. Not too oily.

Oh, this stall is the one with the less flashy signage. We picked it 'cos it looked more genuine. Think we made the right choice.

Feel the burn

Since I got myself a Wii Balance Board, I might as well try putting in about 30 minutes of fitness activity regularly from now on. By stating my intent here, I'm hoping it will be the motivation I need to keep me going if my commitment should waver.

According the the Wii Fit assessor, my Wii Fit age is still quite a few years below my actual age, so that's good news. But my BMI is high so I'll be working to reduce that figure to a more acceptable level.

There is quite a variety of exercises on the Wii Fit um, game, that work on balance, strength, aerobics and yoga. They are surprisingly intense (or maybe that's just my level of unhealthiness talking) and as we progress, more exercises get unlocked.

These aren't exactly the kind of exercises to build Arnold-grade mass, but they're non-threatening, with encouraging virtual instructors that praise and analyse performance on-the-spot.

As of today, my Wii Fit age is 36 years. Let's see if consistent daily workouts really do have any effect on my 2-month goal...

Exhibitionist

Got to see what life was like on the other side of the exhibition counter. I'm not usually the go-to guy for this sort of thing, but times being what they are...

Anyway, iLine needed a partner with wheels and a little muscle for the heavy lifting, and since Amy wasn't available, nor X, Y or Z, I was the next logical choice. So both iLine and I set up our booth at Cedar's career festival thingy to publicize our college as an option for the girls' next port-of-call on their way up the Education pyramid.

Our collaterals were the three standees we used as the backdrop, and our giveaways: our standard flyers, our custom bottles of distilled water, and our little bags of AAA-grade rice. It was the rice that was unusual enough to be the first item to disappear from our display. They made great conversation pieces 'cos the girls wanted to know wassup with the rice?

Truth be told, I'm not actually part of the crew that gets sent to these events, so I don't actually know the standard pitch that go with these materials. However, this was an opportunity to invent wild associations about how rice is a staple, it's nutritious, it's down-to-earth, and its triple-A grade is meant to symbolize the triple-A experience they will receive in our care, should they become our students next year. Oh, and it also reminds us of home and family, which as a college, is one of our more identifying and endearing features... if you like that kind of thing.

There were other more mundane questions as well, practical things like our cut-off, curricula and co-curricula programmes, success rates. The usual.

Not sure we made that great an impact in the end. We were only one out of many competing exhibitors, after all. I guess I'll only know when I see some familiar faces in my tutorials next year.

The lull

And now we have come to the final official test the class of 08 will be taking before their finals at the end of the year. I've taught them everything I know, I've consulted everyone that wanted consultation, and I can only sit back and watch reality put the endgame into gear for them.

This evening is one I'll enjoy sans guilt... before the grading begins again. Tomorrow.

Night Safari, almost

Today will be known as the day we almost made it to visit the Night Safari. But this being a school night, and the fact that we still have work tomorrow morning, our collective weekend anticipation dried up as the day progressed. Thank reality for bringing us back to our senses.

Meantime, what used to be the North Pole is experiencing such drastic climate change that it has temporarily become the Sahara Desert. Yes, the air-conditioning has broken down again. :p

Rah rah for Sports Resort

The perfect Teachers' Day off is with "Wii Sports Resort" that comes with the much anticipated Wii Motion Plus attachment. All it takes is a quick update from the game disk, and we're good to go.

Sports Resort is the new Wii Sports, with more games to play and all set within a coherent theme: the resort island of... Wahu! Now, doesn't that sound like all-out fun? It is, with a tiny element of cute to boot -- I love tossing Frisbees for my little doggie to catch. He jumps somersaults to celebrate perfect catches.

The Motion Plus attachment really does add a dimension of fine motor control to the old remote controller. As I swing my controller, my sword in the fencing game moves exactly the same way, as does my table tennis bat with more precision and accuracy than before. Now, losing a game cannot be blamed on a dodgy controller, it's down to player skill alone.

I miss tennis and baseball from the previous incarnation but Sports Resort makes up for them with lots more games and challenges in so many varieties. Now to find a few more friends to play with...

Teachers' Day 09

X23 are always bright, cheery and enthusiastic, and here they are celebrating Teachers' Day with me. I appreciate their gift of a notebook (the paper type) with their personal messages written in the pages. I'll also thank x06 for thoughtfully feeding me with a tray of tarts, and for a little cactus plant that I promise to take good care of. Erm, my last cactus plant came from June, and it died within a month due to over-care. Think I watered it too often and it drowned. Will do my best not to let that happen again. Also x17 for the hand-made card with a group photo of them wearing H1N1 masks with big smiles drawn over them. I've had three great tutorials from this batch, quite a pleasure to teach and I will miss 'em when they graduate... too soon.

This is the campus think-tank. We got interviewed by campus news on our role and function since we are making a publicity push for our committee and our activities. Doubt we're in the brain-trust because we're particularly smart. It's more like telling the college that if we can think, then everyone else should have no problem. Something like that.

Wandered far afield for lunch to celebrate. The usual lunch party found out the hard way that Baba King was closed on Mondays. Activated Plan B: Big Eater (Upp Changi Rd) for seafood in the afternoon. Their specialty was the salted egg crab. Despite the dubious-sounding combination, it turned out pretty ok. Heh, as long as the crabmeat is firm and chunky, I'm giving it the thumbs up.

Cheers, everyone! And have a happy Teachers' Day!

Laughing till it hurt

In the entire cinema hall, I was laughing the loudest at the antics of Bruno. Was I trying to prove to the rest of the audience (just a handful of us today) that I "got it?" -- every single prank, every single awkward moment, and laughter was my best way of covering up the embarrassment?

I dunno. As a movie, "Bruno" is genuinely situationally and absurdly funny, but at the same time playing a caricature along with real people who won't see the joke, let alone play along with it, it felt like SB Cohen was trying too hard to get the laughs. My laughs. And I guess I kinda' felt bad for him, and I did pay for two movie tix to watch him in action, so I felt obligated.

The Cohen formula is to piss people off by making them encounter the things they revile the most. And surprisingly, these people still respond to the silly Bruno with more restraint than we'd give them credit for. They still try to salvage some dignity from the inimaginable situations they find themselves in with him, and as far as possible still try to treat him with some measure of respect.

What results is that "Bruno" has to go to great lengths to sacrifice his own dignity to get some kind of reaction that at times I don't know if I'm laughing at the reactions or at Bruno himself. Whichever it is, it is funny, I am laughing, but the humour is painful. It's one of those cases where someone has worked so hard at something that you feel bad if you don't reward the effort.

Oh my red face and aching ribs.

Wrap. Print. Party!

A production still from last week's shoot. Here we see Weng briefing his talent about the coffee mug scene. Coffee looks pretty strong in this photo.

At the wrap party tonight, Weng debuted his rough cut for the entire cast and crew. I must say, although the raw footage didn't look like much, after editing and with the inclusion of the mood-setting background music the final product looked very good indeed.

Most importantly, the client was pleased as Punch with it. Said he had plans to air the final copy around the region. He can't wait to see how the regional offices will react to it.

As for my role, I had a single line of dialogue and a shot of my very talented left arm holding the coffee mug. Yes, that one in the picture.

Teachers' Day dinner interruptions

Usually at Teachers' Day dinner, our objective of enjoying our meal counters the MCs' objective of interrupting our enjoyment with silly games and activities to "enliven" the evening. At tonight's dinner, the role of the latter fell to me, Fen, YF and iLine, to deliver a programme based on the theme of the Oscars.

To be honest, we weren't all that prepared for the task even though we'd agreed to it months ago. The scripting mostly comprised a flurry of hasty email back-and-forths based on a rough guideline of the programme and coordinating MC patter in English and Mandarin. We were still scripting lines right up to our sequence run -- I wouldn't call it a rehearsal 'cos we were only running lines and not working out movement, traffic patterns, transitions and technical coordination.

Adding to the nerve-wracking situation were the many dynamic changes in programe, including a formal toast by the VIPs that was not previously scheduled. And although the programme was going faster than expected we were instructed to hurry up even faster. We ended up saying goodbye to everybody before dessert! I think that was win-win for all of us. Heh.

But this is the job of the MC. It's not theatre where there's time to figure things out and plan for contingencies (and even then things still do screw up). For us MCs, we ran lines for the formal bits of programme -- it's the formal bits that are the most scary 'cos it's unseemly to mess up people's names and titles --and here, reading off cuecards became an absolute necessity for me. My runs without cuecards were disastrous.

But rehearsals apart, most of our air-time was ad lib, going with the flow and trying our best to converse coherently between Fen and myself in two separate languages. Oddly enough, I felt more relaxed with the ad libs than the formal bits. It was fun to run the games and introduce the performances 'cos then I could focus on what was necessary rather than fret over not getting it wrong.

Fen and I had a great table to retreat to in between stage appearances. Thanks for keeping food for us, encouraging us with chatter, playing our games, impromptu rehearsing the formal toast with me, and doing some behind-the-scenes running that was necessary to keep the programme flowing smoothly. My on-stage tribute to you guys was sincere, if inadvertently cut short by an over-enthu Fen.

MC'ing for a combined three schools needed more prep time. There were many niggling mechanical problems, gaffed lines, moments of awkward tongue-tiedness, nervous voices cracking, for a functional but unpolished product. Nevertheless, we had excellent tech support in Events Architects who improv'ed effortlessly with us yet were very understated and nearly invisible the whole time. Their presence covered up a lot of sins.

Overall, I think we did ok. Not great, but a serviceable job despite our nerves and inexperience. It helped a lot that the audience was as generous as it was.

And now, I'm going to take a whole weekend off. Zzzzz...

Criminals, all of you!

Whoever designed the survey for Ipos may have arranged it such that our local intellectual property watchdog got only the feedback it wanted to hear. TNP summarises:

"IN THE real world, almost all of the 100 Singaporeans polled by The New Paper believe that stealing goodies from a store is wrong.

But they feel it's okay to illegally download copyrighted material from the Internet. In another survey of 1,011 Singaporeans done by the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (Ipos), released this April, about 44 per cent of Singaporeans think that illegal downloads of copyrighted material is not considered theft."

The more people appear to have unlightened views about respecting intellectual property, the more justification Ipos has for continuing its crusade. And the more reason it has to consider punitive measures, like the new 'three strikes' law, against these all these unrepentant criminal scumbags.

But take a look at the two survey questions given to the respondents:

1) Is it wrong to illegally download music, movies and shows?

40% of total said NO which shows how hardcore recalcitrant they are to willfully commit an illegal act.

If it's illegal, then of course it's wrong, hence 60% said YES. But the answer might have been more interesting if the question had been, "Is it wrong to download music, movies and shows?" Chances are, remove the word "illegal" and 100% will say NO. And since they aren't admitting to committing an illegal act, 100% of them won't think they are criminals.

2) Is it wrong to buy pirated CDs, VCDs and DVDs?

Only 26% of total said NO, which means most people DO think buying such stuff is wrong.

Of course buying pirated CDs, VCDs, and DVDs is wrong. Why waste money on pirated goods when you can download the same thing for free (see Q1)? Duh!

Ipos needs better, less confused, less ambiguous data if it really wants to act in the best interests of society. As it is, they see criminals everywhere, though the people don't quite see themselves as such. Getting all litigious isn't the solution. Enforcement doesn't make a law right, not if the people aren't convinced it is in the first place.

The industry's next leap forward

For the week I'm having, I suppose this is a good reminder why. Presenting our industry's new 'mantra' that'll take us into the 2010s: Lead. Care. Inspire. Not sure why the first word refers to a toxic heavy metal, but we'll do our best.

Bolts of intellect

I suggested before that we human beings take pride in the athletic successes of world record breakers like Usain Bolt because we take them as proxies of ourselves and our own achievements. Boris Johnson, writing for the Telegraph, goes a step further suggesting that Bolt's achievements could be an indication that we are continuing to improve: "faster, higher, stronger," and because each successive 'A' Level reaps an ever increasing harvest of 'A' grades, he asks, "why not cleverer," too?

At the heart of this debate is the issue of grade inflation, and the dumbing down of the curriculum which his critics lambast him for. It's not that Johnson ignores this possibility -- he readily admits to it himself -- but he offers a more optimistic position than his critics can stomach.

In exam-crazy Singapore, our 'A' Level curriculum in math and the sciences makes my own head swim. As it is, our primary school math already makes me stare and blink blankly at the questions the little tykes have to work out. The 'A' Level timetable is a marathon sprint event, the kids being swamped with so much of revision, homework, tutorials, remedials, consultations, it's no fun being a JC student any more. Academic rigor we have... almost to the point of mortis, if you ask the kids themselves.

But curriculum and exam results don't impress me. They're a poor indication of intelligence, biased as they are to a particular kind of left-brainedness. If I were taking my 'A's in JC today, I'd probably be curled up in the corner of a darkened room awaiting my next sedative shot by the time I got to my prelims. It's the fact that our kids actually survive the stress we put them through and are still able to move on towards their next step in life that I respect about this generation.

I'd like to think our kids are getting smarter, at least for for the simple reason that more kids than ever are getting access to an education. Sure, they may not all be able to handle a chemistry paper set in the 60's like some of Johnson's respondents were suggesting, but that's because the kids taking their 'A' Levels in the 60's were truly the creme de la creme of their cohort, both intellectually capable as well as being able one way or another to finance their further studies.

Besides, the 60's generation didn't have access to electronic secondary memory systems (Google, Wiki...) they had no option but to store everything they learned within their own biological primary memory. In that capacity, they were limited to only what they had memorised regardless of how much that might have been. So perhaps they might have been smart in that sense but they could only deal with information stored within the realm of their own heads, and only if they kept updating it manually.

Public education made intellectual development available to pretty much everybody. That might have meant a bit of levelling out of the curriculum towards an average, certainly not as high-level as what it might have been before, but a drop from the top meant a raise in the smarts of everyone else.

And where Johnson's critics pooh pooh computing and the 'net, it's because they see these newfangled developments as inert, inanimate objects rather than the living network of streaming information that actually runs under the hood that our kids are tapping into. The only problems we're facing on this front is the immediacy of access due to the clumsiness of our current interface technology, and the literacy skill that we need to develop in our kids so they can navigate it.

When we figure out these speedbumps on the highway of digital intelligence, we can do away with our archaic biological memory based exams and set exams that are not just open-book but open-'net. They'll be answering exam questions through the usual Wiki and Google, but also through online forums, chats and other forms of interaction with real people (friends, strangers, idiots and experts alike) interactively and collaboratively. That'll be more realistic to the digital age. After all, what's the equivalent of an "exam condition" in the real world today? A power failure or system crash, I suppose, which doesn't happen too often to be a concern.

What if Bolt runs under 60's conditions, the critics posit? Would he still run 9.58 secs? The answer is, it's not the 1960's any more. Times have changed and we have changed with them. We have created the conditions under which running 100m in 9.58 secs is possible, and that is the story of human progress.

Are our kids smarter today? I don't know if we have got the conditions for intellectual Usain Bolts to exist just yet, but on the whole our kids know more and have access to even more useable information than their parents did and way more than their grandparents ever did. That's a good enough yardstick for me.

Back in the Democratic Republic

It seemed like fun to commit to a few little extra things outside of what I'm normally doing on campus. Ordinarily, I'd be fine with these little things, but why did they all have to coincide on the same week in the calendar? Now I'm back in the DRVBGA. Be so relieved when this week is over.

Corporate video shoot

It began with a call for my "expertise". Not actually having any, I still found myself in the midst of a video shoot in an office unit with a fantastic view of Marina Bay. This would have been the perfect location to view the NDP fireworks, I thought as I prepped for my scene.

The camera, lighting and sound crews were real pros, with Weng calling the shots. The shoot was for a well-known pharmaceutical company that wants some attention paid to a little-known physical condition: Over-active bladder (OAB) syndrome. Stop laughing.

I doubt this shoot would be the one to put my name up in lights and my face on the map. My role was to be a sympathetic buddy to the OAB sufferer and offer him coffee. Of course, that's the last thing he needs and so I get a pained but polite brush off. Throw in a couple of lines of dialogue, and that's my scene. Doubt I even get much face-time 'cos the camera is kinda' over my shoulder or ECU on the mug o' joe in my left hand.

The vid's not exactly for public consumption either, it's more like for a corporate presentation. So, no, not quitting my day job yet.

Overall, the shoot was brief, intense and professional. But it was nice to see Anthony and Wendy, Weng and Gwyn again, even if it was only briefly in the middle of a busy set.

Doctrine of equal misery

My experience with the Service was not a particularly pleasant one. It was arguably the lowest two-year point of my life. In the capacity I served, I had no identity, no autonomy, no society, and I saw myself as mere cannon-fodder and slave to all. My proudest accomplishment was being singled out to exhibit my latrine-cleaning prowess, though my admiring audience left behind a stampede of bootmarks all over my spotless floor while they inspected every pristine surface and nodded their approval.

But it was my Service to my nation, and if it saw fit to deploy me in such a manner, then that was my duty. So I protected what was mine and thus earned my Citizenship with a monkey-wrench in one hand and a toilet-brush in the other. The Service was a humbling experience for me, and I probably still bear some psychological scarring from those days, but unlike my fellow citizens writing in today's Forum pages I see no reason for our new citizens to share that experience with me.

It's with a misplaced sense of fairness and justice that today's letter writers are proposing some kind of equivalent Service for our new citizens. But insisting on equal misery is neither constructive nor effective for the purposes of national security. Military service isn't primarily for the purpose of making people unhappy (although that might be a consequence) but it is for the purpose of keeping our nation safe from the threat of external armed aggression.

Unless we're already under attack, a rational defence force isn't likely to stick a gun into the hands of just any turnip that fell off the turnip truck and give it instructions to guard the nation with its life. From a security standpoint, it isn't wise either to give a newbie citizen access to our sensitive sites and facilities, or give him much opportunity to rise in the ranks such that the top brass could possibly comprise of his fellow first gen newbies. Yet, if we don't give them these opportunities but still conscript them into our military, there'll be cries of discrimination, making everybody defensive and nervous around everyone else. Best wait a generation or two, when they've sunk in their roots deep, then they'll actually consider what's ours theirs too, and therefore worth defending.

Besides, the military isn't the only line of defence we have. Our defensive doctrine relies on five pillars working together: military, civil, economic, social and psychological defence, so in reality everyone contributes to our overall national defensive strategy. I'd rather let every citizen serve where they can contribute best. For the newbies, that's in the pillars of economic, social and psychological defence, maybe civil too. But to serve in the military we'd have to build some trust over a couple of generations before we let them wear the green No. 4.

And to the letter writers, you may yourselves have worn the green as your Service via military defence. But going public with your stinky attitudes is actually undermining at least two key but undervalued pillars: social and psychological defence by your petty, unfriendly, jealous, shortsighted, us vs them mentality. Sure, you've served the military, but your Service counts for nothing if you do a Disservice to our overall defence strategy.

Steamy surprise

In commemoration of a certain special event that took place, oh, quite a few years ago, June and I had a little celebration at Jumbo@Dempsey. And this bad girl was the very highlight of the evening.

It would have been a sacrilege to sully her pristine purity with any kind of sauce: black pepper, chilli, or otherwise. Served plain, she's been steamed to perfection with just a dash of rice wine for flavour, on a bed of silky smooth steamed egg. She's Marilyn Monroe wearing her favourite nightwear, Chanel No 5. Gorgeousness, indeed.

Lookit the size of the claws on this magnificent crustacean! The claws were so big, they weren't cooked all the way through. The meat at the pointy tips were gelatinous and faintly translucent. Biting into them released the saltiness of brine that shocked the tongue. But I tell you, the texture of the meat was so smooth and tender that it was all down my gullet before I realised I was eating unintentional crab sashimi.

I may have had a couple of runs to the bathroom since then. Coincidence? Probably not, but even if it was, for a crab like this, it was certainly worth it.

Must also sincerely appreciate the good folk on campus, Amy, B-lo, HP, Jojo and Wayne for the most excellent surprise gift of... yummy options that I know exactly what to do with -- before the year is over. Why so long? There's a matter of appeasing my conscience first before I act, and that could take a little while. Meantime, many thanks, my friends, for commemorating the occasion with me too!

Converting the heathen

Considering my own religious background, I really shouldn't be discussing this. There's been quite some unhappiness over the enthusiasm of my fellow believers in making converts out of the heathen. Up to a point, even I get uneasy about this practice because it just comes across as hard-sell. And it's easy to see how that enthusiasm can rub people the wrong way, living as we are in a society that values religious plurality.

If we don't proselytise, we're told we're not doing our part in the great harvest that our supreme authority wants us to bring in while we still can. So being able to proselytize is an integral part of the belief we have the freedom to enshrine in this society. But I also believe that my freedom to swing my arms ends where your nose begins. And this is the balance we have to accept, living in this society of ours, where everyone else's beliefs are equally accepted and respected.

Because of our religious freedom in this society, no one is about to curtail our freedom to express our beliefs, even the ones entailing making converts. But no one asked us to be obnoxious and offensive in exercising those rights either. Perhaps it may be beyond my limited wisdom that there is indeed a place among us for our full-time walking religious billboards with their fervent deathbed-stalking-fanaticism (they do have the best of intentions, really), but I don't think we need to pursue proselytising so aggressively. All the time.

If we truly lived up to the ideals espoused by our beliefs, people will see in us something of the divinity that we purport to represent. When we walk the walk, people with the, um... more existential questions will have the confidence that we can also talk the talk, so we don't have to accost random people, they'll come to us instead. I may be being somewhat judgemental, but that's how real, effective proselytisation takes place.

Sure, easy to say. Have I done anything of the sort yet? Er, as far as I can tell, no. Then again, what do you expect from the family's black sheep? Baaa...!

Noone wants to see the back of a pickup

I'm not exactly sure why it is but private car drivers will absolutely avoid driving behind a pickup carrying a cargo load of people. It doesn't matter how many passengers there are, even a lone rider is enough to put a wide buffer between the back of the pickup and the car directly behind it.

I've seen cars frantically signalling (if they're polite) then switching lanes as quickly as humanly possible just to clear the rear of such offending vehicles. That's pretty dangerous road behaviour, and I don't quite understand the rationale behind this traffical bizarreness. But monkey see, monkey do, I've picked up this habit too and dance the ol' lane-change switcheroo as safely as I can. I can only speculate on the following possible reasons:

1) Pickups have a speed limit -- slow -- and no one wants to get stuck behind one of those things for long because we all have places to see, things to go and people to do. Three minutes ago.

2) The passengers are not secure in their seats, and at any time can get flung out back, denting the car immediately following.

3) No one wants to make eye contact with a hoarde of tough-looking manual workers 'cos no one wants to see them for the people they are, but are happier to just let them work behind the scenes, out of sight, out of mind.

There's nothing we can do about 1) and 3), but at least for 2) there are going to be new safety regulations regarding their personal security being transported in pickups, so no more fling-dings to worry about any longer.

Oh, wait. There IS something we can do about 1) and 3)! The Traffic Act should make it compulsory that the only passengers allowed to be transported by pickup are babes in bikinis. That way, every male driver will absolutely want to plant himself behind a pickup, and that might bring the overall highway speed down to safer levels.

Over the mountain, not over the hill

A couple of the ladies from our local Everest climbing team, Joanne and Yi Hui, dropped by on campus to deliver a motivational talk. It was an easy going session with a pair of very ordinary gals-next-door who have done some very extraordinary things.

Their message is typical of many Singaporean success stories. Dream big; learn from the best; plan everything knowing that sh*t happens anyway; take small progressive steps training like mad; be persistent in asking for financial and moral support; be open about the scary stuff; go it alone but as a team; set realistic goals; get the job done; be humble about the accomplishment; give motivational talks and write a book about the adventure. More or less in that order.

Nice girls with a story to tell their grandchildren.

Back to God

Attended my first burial service. It was a plot at CCK Lawn Cemetery on which there is no room to stand around, other than on top of the plots of the other previously depated. A couple of hymns, a short message by the Pastor -- just long enough to allow the mechanical excavator to complete filling up the hole -- and a prayer of blessing for the family.

We lingered just a little longer for a little chitchat and for the immediate family to shoot some commemorative pix. Then as a group, we turned to walk towards our cars, leaving one of our own behind, beneath the peaceful, sombre, silent lawn, returning the body back into the hands of God.

The bravest of us

Yesterday, a kid in tutorial asked me if I had to choose between brain and body, what would my choice be? I shot back quite arrogantly that I already had both so I didn't have to make the choice. Well, it was an impertinent question meant to disrupt the session, and sometimes my mouth shoots off faster than I can control it.

Not too long after, Dad texted me about the passing of my eldest cousin. Tshoong was indeed someone who didn't have the choice between brain and body. At some point earlier in life, he developed a condition that atrophied his muscles so badly that he lost all motor-control over his whole body. Whatever was happening in his brain was firing off all the wrong impulses through his nerves, causing him to become a mass of twitches and tics that never abated.

I can imagine how frustrating that must have been for him. There was a perfectly good mind trapped in a ruined body. Even the simplest normal human function that we take for granted, for him he had to depend on other people for assistance.

It wasn't this condition that killed him in the end. He'd lived this way for many years already, anyway. The docs signed off that it was a heart condition with a diabetic complication that eventually took him.

Thinking back on the question if I would choose mind or body, I don't know if I would have the courage as Tshoong had to maintain his mind and intellectual faculties for as long as he did, even when he didn't have the body to carry it around in. And it's only now that he's still... and at peace at last.

This is my Facebook status update for today, preserved here because I wrote it with him in mind:

[Xmac...]

gathers with the clan. Black umbrellas and the rain.

Time to rest now, cuz.

Among his generation, he was the bravest of us all.

Yo, Joe: the technological arguments

Good stories often reflect philosophical debates. By that proposition, "GI Joe: ROC" has a decent story to tell. Here we have two antagonists, both equally well-armed with highly advanced technology. Both are out to establish order in the world: the Joes by maintaining the status quo, MARS (it's a pre-COBRA universe, hence the title) by changing the balance of power through force, intimidation and deceit. We know who the good guys are already.

ROC contemplates the use of technology:

MARS' tactical philosophy is to place technology within the individual soldier, effectively making each one a super-soldier but simultaneously eradicating morality and independent thought, and placing the army's total control in the hands of a single Commander. MARS troops are dedicated, dependable, unquestioningly loyal, but ultimately dispensible. They're basically no fun.

The Joes apply technology to the outside of the soldier, encasing him in an Iron-Man like armoured suit that also effectively turns him into a super-soldier, but with a crucial difference. The soldier can take off the suit and become human again. The Joes' humanity comes through in situations requiring moral decisions (apart from the ones that involve consideration for trash-the-place, make-things-go-boom 'cos that's the default option); but also in the expression of emotion (a small issue for Scarlett); and in being committed to a cause by volunteering rather than coercion -- even if it means countermanding direct orders from Authority and/or risking personal sacrifice.

Despite ROC being quite the Saturday morning cartoon-inspired CGI thrill-fest, I got a better story our if it than I had expected (I have very little hope left in this Summer's releases). ROC clung tenaciously to one consistent through-line: the application of technology can only solve the immediate problem at hand, so can we put technology aside in order to make the really human decisions that count for the longer term?

Pickin' my brain

Been spending the past few weeks since term began living inside my own head. It was a necessary condition in order for me to deconstruct my thought processes and bare the dissected bits of my mind for all the kids to see.

Partially that's because Amy, Sha and I are responsible for the GP lectures this term and we're using our air time to fine-tune the kids' abilities in approaching essay questions with intelligence, scope and logic. It's also because Liz, Jojo and I are organizing the 'enrichment' programme this term that I felt we really needed to examine our own fundamental literacy skills, breaking them down into tiny sequential bite-size pieces so that the kids can see an order and a process at work when they think through possible approaches to their essays and comprehension papers.

I've been examining my own hare-brain as a model for identifying the system I use to improvise answers to essay questions. It's something I do that I take for granted as instinctive, but I've been quite surprised to realise that I do actually have a systematic approach after all. It's just never been articulated and spelled out so precisely before.

Likewise, in terms of the comprehension paper -- which I think is quite an archaic artifact from the Dark Ages -- I discovered (again from improvising in class) that there is some sense to it after all. The main lesson to learn from the compre exercise is not how to answer the questions per se, but rather to ask the right questions as a means of accessing inaccessible texts and thinking critically through them.

I know I haven't been specific at all about what I've discovered about my processes, and what I've been instructing the kids in based on my findings. I'd like to divulge more details but I should observe the kids' performance over the next couple of weeks first to see if using my newly developed methods will really help them improve. It could be disappointing to count my chix before they're hatched, so I won't just yet.

But what I have observed lately has been encouraging. I had some good discussions with some very interested kids today, and there's some demand for me to further elaborate on what I've developed so far too. That tells me the kids see some potential in it, and perhaps some hope as well.

Well, hope it does them some good, and I'll share more if it does.

Need help sleeping?

"You'll be amazed" got repeated a number of times by a speaker who couldn't stop being amazed at today's industry conference on the New Media. I'd already attended a presentation by the classification guys in their HQ a couple of months back, so his information about how we classify the media here isn't exactly new.

What amazed me was that the people in the audience kept harping on issues relating to the quality of our local media content (which they felt was basically trash) whereas the topic of discussion was more like media regulation. It became a complaints session rather than the enlightened discussion that I was hoping for. Then again, an engaging dialogue no matter how trivial is always more entertaining than blinking in silence, and it was fun to watch our speaker squirm at the unexpected turn of our questions.

What else is amazing is this NYT report that people with insomnia are seeking help online, such as through the imaginatively named SHUTi 9-week programme, and other sleep restriction methods. There's even online "cognitive behaviourial therapy", and some programmes might cost US$20-30 when they become commercialized.

Psst, I offer a very similar online service to all insomniacs -- for free with instant results. Just read my blog.

Saving the world

I wonder if there's any merit to this OSU study regarding the impact human populations have on the environment? It seems like a no-brainer, but if we accept that mass human activity is the primary cause of climate change, it should stand to reason that the human population has exceeded the planet's capacity to provide resources to sustain all of us.

Solution: reduce the number of people back to a more manageable level and the planet would be able to start healing itself again.

Of course, it would be rather impractical to just machine-gun down all the unnecessary people in the world. That would be an environmental disaster all by itself, 'cos, like how are we going to dispose of so many bodies responsibly? Burial on that scale is sure to cause further deforestation 'cos nobody wants a mass grave in their backyard; cremation is out of the question 'cos we're trying to reduce our carbon footprint, not create a whole new cloud of CO2 and soot to choke up our atmosphere any more than we have already.

So, fine, we have to let everyone who's alive right now continue to live, but have fewer babies. The study projects that "in the United States, the carbon legacy and greenhouse gas impact of an extra child is almost 20 times more important than some of the other environmentally sensitive practices people might employ their entire lives – things like driving a high mileage car, recycling, or using energy-efficient appliances and light bulbs."

By this reasoning, I could defend my right to not have kids, live like a pig and still feel good that I'm saving the world, one carbon atom at a time. Yes.

The Parade that tried too hard

I guess I had to be there at the Parade to appreciate the spectacle, but watching it over TV (even in HD) wasn't quite as stirring. Cringeworthy, a couple of bits were even.

Some very sheltered people may have had their objections to the couple of girls dancing on poles during the Parade but for all the bluster, this storm in a B-cup only got two seconds worth of air-time overall. I thought the entertainment prior to the President's arrival was in far worse taste.

I don't know if anyone else felt the same, but I was especially put off by the Mark Lee and Suhaimi skit for the schoolboy standard of narrative in their retelling of the apocryphal Sang Nila Utama legend. Fine. "Heartland" humour if you want to call it that, but if our neighbours immediately South of us want to kick up a fuss, they can legitimately do so for the "insensitive" and "insulting" remarks the two clowns made about them. Lighten the mood, by all means, but try not to start a diplomatic incident at the same time. Please. They might send more haze over here in retaliation.

Immediately following was another eyeball-rolling narration, this time thumbing our noses with impunity at the very real threat of terrorism. They made it look so easy: snip a wire (think it was the red one) to defuse a "bomb", then chase around some hooded assassins on boats until they run out of fuel and give up. That's how we deal with terrorism over here. Right. On the one hand, it was purely national propaganda, on the other we're "just asking for it", tempting fate like that.

The remainder of the Parade went on as it does every year without much further hoop-la. National songs and formation dancing shoehorned into some theme or other, climaxing in a shower of fireworks that always mitigates the direness that had gone on before.

I like a birthday party as much as any other little kid, but hiring Bozo the Clown to provide the entertainment doesn't always work. Sometimes he just gets abused and kicked in the groin for his efforts. And maybe I'm being a party-pooper 'cos I didn't get my invite this year. Boo.

Up for a breath of fresh air

Disney-Pixar's "Up" has shot straight to the top of my list of fave movies for Summer 2009. It was funny, it moved me to tears, it was fantastic dreams and painful reality, all sensitively packaged together with absolutely spot-on timing, along with a palatte of colours that so aptly matched the different moods depicted in this animated treasure.

To say any more would be spoiling it for anyone who hasn't watched it yet. Just go and get the high of the season. :)